Single tracks, insanely steep drops, unknown terrain… Great places for a handbrake right? Wrong, if you’re part of the ninety percent that responded to a recent mountainboard survey entitled, “Do You Use Brakes?” This logic can easily be confused by a non-believer in the no brakes philosophy. Each of us have our own reason for ditching the brake but all seem to share a common theme, freedom.
Some mountainboarders avoid the handbrakes because they feel that they become too dependant on them. While there are many brake-users that feel they have found the right balance, there are also many who haven’t. It’s very easy to get accustomed to squeezing down on the brakes in order to stay in your comfort zone. Those who become a slave to their brakes not only forfeit their freedom but there ability to progress as quickly.
There are other riders that use brakes as beginners in order to learn the basics. This might be helpful to some but it’s more of a matter of how you view mountainboarding. If you see it as what the ninety percent see it as, then you might argue that the basics of mountainboarding start with the fact that brakes are not part of the package. To them it’s like fishing in a fish tank- where’s the sport in that.
Still there are others who feel that by attatching a brake to their mountainboard they lose a certain element of style. Having to battle with the cable as you crash through low brush or drop your stance. They feel that it robs them of the simplicity, the flow, and the thrill of the ride.
There are many reasons why the ninety percent choose to say ”no,” to brakes. In the end, it seems they just want to feel free. There’s something inside that tells them to let go and to ride hard. It’s not a wreckless death wish, it’s more of a plea from the soul to find oneself. There’s a very unique thrill to be found in depending on your skills and your instinct alone as you ride. Decide for yourself.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 am
Hi, I have just started mountainboarding and it’s amazing.
I don’t use breaks because I feel that takes you away from the simplicity of board sports.
If you want breaks, get a bike
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
We hardly ever teach people with a brake. We just teach them on easy grass slopes. A brake really does not stop you, just slows you down a little bit. So if you want to end up being able to do rad fast boarder cross stuff. take your tire pressure down and that will help you go slower, but it will teach your body how to properly throw it’s weight around to be able to do it at full tire pressure faster.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Brakes can take the sport to a level which non-brakes cannot, but yes its a different discipline. The challenges, and the terrain that should be ridden, are very different with a brake to without a brake. Infact the scariest days riding i’ve ever had was with a brake because the runs it opens up are so much harder and a brake is not a garunteed safety net.
Before classing them as an infringement to progression you need to see them used properly.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:28 am
Good point Jack. While there are plenty of riders that use brakes improperly, there are those few that have found ways to successfully integrate them into their riding. Still, as you mentioned, it’s a different discipline.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:54 am
I think for learning (especially freeriding) you should avoid using brakes. To me the point of freeriding is learning to ride the terrain, and manipulating the conditions around you to get to the bottom without falling off.
With a brake I don’t think you would learn to make the quick decisions to ditch it into the rough to slow yourself down, or learn to carve properly in order to control your speed.
However, this is just my thoughts and I’m still a newbie to the sport. I can see that having a brake would open up some pretty awesome runs, but like with any sport I think nailing the basics is important, and can only help you down the line.
February 16th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Ok so i’ve never done the sport yet but cant wait to order a board. I skate board and snow board so i guess its something i would really like. I live in a small town with no runs just some pretty steep dirt roads (well out of town). So brakes or no brakes? And any one know if I get brake can i remove them? And two last question, any one know a Canadien dealer? And what would be a good starting board? Thanks!
June 17th, 2009 at 4:52 am
i used to run brakes, but i found that if your going down a fast single track and you use them hard, then the brake throws you forward and i found it hard to keep in control, lucky no crashes, but i got rid of it, so much easier without a brake, i suppose its good to start, but once you get past that then throw them out
July 9th, 2009 at 12:40 am
I build mountain boards and the debate between brake users and non brake users frustrates me. Mountain boards were designed for no brakes they were ment to be a summer version of snowboarding. Get rid of your brakes and go freestyle you will improve and learn how to controll your weight and slow down anyways.
Metro Liger industries
March 20th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
but can you remove the breaks?i want to try, and remove them later, is it possible? and do you think that atom95x mbs board is ok to start with?
March 23rd, 2010 at 2:37 pm
You can totally remove the brakes. As far as the Atom, decent price and basic board makes it a good beginner board- are you a freestyle or freeride guy? Personally, I’m more into freeriding myself, I would upgrade the trucks to the matrix channel trucks, they’re spendy but awesome. I can’t stand riding with skate trucks- but again it depends on what kind of riding you do.
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
One of the hardest things to learn with Mountain biking (stick with me here) is staying off the brakes. ITs always tempting to grab a handful, but most the time it will land you in more bother than letting the bike go. Im not sure exactly what point Im trying to make, but basically, brakes are bad… McKay?
April 27th, 2010 at 10:36 am
Hi i also just started mountain boarding and i can just say that it is AWESOME!!!!!!!! i dont use handbrakes because i feel it takes the adrenalin buz away i’ll rather stay on the edge if i crash i crash you only live once.
June 25th, 2010 at 7:42 am
Great read!!! I guess I’m getting into this thread a little late but….
I got into mountainboarding just a few months ago as an alternative to kitesurfing. We have a few hills around town that I can easily ride down and therefore thought that I could handle going to the ski hill. Surprise!!!!! The skills that I had on the hills in town were crap to what I needed at the ski hill. I probably don’t ride the best board to learn on as I went and bought a MBS Pro 90. I really didn’t learn of tire pressure till now so that might have helped. Going down what normally is a two minute run on snowboard turned into a twenty minute run on the board as I fell many times and scared my self a whole lot. Brakes seemed necessary at the time, but now I think that I will leave them off and try the tire pressure thing. Maybe start half way down the hill too!!!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:07 am
Is it an essential part of mountainboarding that you have to ride out of your comfort zone?
Freeriding in the alps with a brake allows you to admire the scenery and negociate terrain you would otherwise have to walk down.
Do people actually ride mountain tarmac roads without brakes?
It is possible to ride a mountainboard just for fun without being an adrenalin junkie
July 6th, 2010 at 10:31 am
“Silver Shredder” has a good point. While everyone has their own view on what is “fun,” brakes can be a great peice of gear for those looking to soak in a good dose of chill. In riding ridgelines and old mining roads in the Alaskan Mountains, I have found that a combination of lower tire pressure and soft suspension allows me to still enjoy the scenery and feel the flow while being able to apply some extra skill to the decent. I belive that a nice slow carve without a brake allows the rider to absorb the whole of the scene and connect with it, while a brake-forced b-line can limit the experience. As always though, to each his own.
January 29th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
I started mountain boarding when i was young, and relied on the break, because i though going to fast was scary. So i know from experience that it is good for most to start with a break, just to get to know the basics.
Once i had boarded for a long time, and my brakes broke, i quickly learned how dependent i was upon them, and how much skill i had yet to obtain. I had no idea about carving to maintain speed, or how to speed check for a quick and effective, MPH Halt.
Also, i had no idea about getting the speed wobbles. When i had breaks, i could always slow down in time, and when i wanted to. When my breaks broke i finally found out what it was like to eat pavement because of them.
After that experience, i found out what it really meant to ride with no brakes. You ARE 100% in control at all times. You learn every in and out and stance and pressure there is to learn without breaks. You become the master, you are free, and you learn much more about gravity, physics, and crashing.
There is no great way to crash, but i find the tuck and roll method of less bodily harm as the crash and slide 100 feet on your face method to be.
Breaks are of a different skill set in which you will ultimately out grow once you become an advanced rider, which is in almost everybody ability!!!
Ow and plus thanks for this whole web site, it will help me out for this Expository paper im writing for college!!
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:20 pm
It is all about knowing why you have, and use, the equipment you have.
Going down narrow dirt roads where parts have stone wall up your left and meeters down to the brook on your right brakes are good to have. The same comes when putting my dog on the leash. Brakes are good to have.
Decide what parts of the path to use them (to slow down, not stop and fall headfirst into the brook and die) and leave them for the rest of the ride.
May 14th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
Depends on if you ride streets too. You can get yourself killed real quick if you hit the city slopes with oncoming and cross traffic. Not everyone rides mountain boards solely in the ‘mountains’.
May 17th, 2011 at 4:39 am
brakes are nice when you are dodging people and bombing asphalt but other than that they are just about useless. I ride a Dirtsurfer (2 wheeled mountainboard of sorts with built in brakes from the factory) and find that offroad 99% of the time you are better off carving into the rough and dumping speed that way. On stretches of asphalt however i find brakes useful (with there being cops, laws and Massachusetts drivers) and i also greatly dislike roadrash and having scars that exactly resemble the grill of a subaru.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Never used brakes in my life! Even when i was learning. Just slide it out man, it aint hard