In another of our reader reviews, Alan Newman brings us details of GI’s flagship product, the Conflict 106

As Ground Industries top of the range board, naturally my expectations were pretty high, and I wasn’t completely disappointed. The board as a whole is well above average with the only let down being the Bionic Trucks and their T3 Torsion Cube’s.

Unfortunately the trucks are a pretty big problem and the cubes are a nightmare. Firstly the provided mid-range yellow cubes are incredibly soft and offer very little stability at high speeds. They are good for carving while freeriding but again speed wobble is an issue. The main problem is that during a turn the cubes become weak and are liable to breaking (mine did after two sessions). I now have stiffer cubes and the board feels a lot better but you cannot adjust the trucks by much unless you spend more money (£20 a time) on different cubes!

In Ground Industries defence the cubes are very easy to change although why the kingpin is so over complicated I will never know.

The Conflict 106 deck is the saving grace for this board, it is very light weighing in at 0.07kg less than the FlightLite 100 (which is 6 cm shorter)and, as a whole, nearly 1kg lighter than the equivalent MBS pro set-up. The pop that you get from this board is amazing and even hitting a small bump can produce a satisfying air.

I have not had the board long enough to comment on its durability but it seems to be incredibly strong and is beautifully stiff. Best of all the graphics are gorgeous and really a mark above any other Ground Industries designs.

The Talon 2 binding are quite simply the best bindings available at the moment and after a few sessions will have shaped to your feet and offer a comfort level well above MBS F3’s. The action of the ratchet is very smooth and very easy to tighten, your feet feel secure and the strap pouch on the front is a nice touch.

The wheels and hubs and pretty standard. I have the basic Crossair Hubs the board is also available with Vegas Hubs. They seem strong enough to take some pretty major abuse and are of a similar quality to the MBS equivalent.

To sum up, The Conflict 106 would be the one of the best complete boards available if it had Scrub Channel or MBS Matrix trucks. Ground Industries has tried to hard to be innovative and have instead came up with something that is a good idea but lacking in practice. Still, I would highly recommend this board to any rider as the good points do outweigh the bad.

Manufactuers Information

Board Specs:

Length: 106cm / 41.7in

Width: 21.6cm / 8.5in

Weight: 6.39kg / 14.1lbs

Deck Construction: Heliocore Comp with V-beam Technology

This is a bit of a tricky review to make due to the nature of the board; it’s designed for kids. So equipped with a Lil Bomber I went off to see my nephew Tom and between us we were able to come up with a review.

Tom is not a mountainboarder, but he rides a mean RipStik and has had a couple of snowboarding lessons so I thought he could cope.

First comes the marketing guff produced by GI:

Inspired by Akoni Dama and his mission to get more kids riding, the Lil’ Bomber 90 is a light-weight, tight lil’ package. The wider side-cut and youth-engineered bindings provide greater turning leverage for increased speed control and stopping power. Built with full size 8″ wheels and 12mm skate trucks, this board packs components that maintian their functionality and durability as the rider and your skills grows.

From this, Tom and myself translated that this was designed for small people wanting to get into mountainboarding, and that it has a wide deck and special bindings to ease turning.

The “youth-engineered” bindings were good, a bit of manipulation and Tom had a really good fit, and was able to control the board fairly well. Onto his maiden voyage.

On jumps Tom and zooms off down the street, an instant expert, carving smoothly down the street, and stopping with a neat j-turn without too much effort.

His first impression was that it does not turn as well as his RipStik and that it does not bend very well. From this I interpret that the ride was a bit stiff. I’m not sure if this was due to Tom’s size (he’s not very big). A more heavy kid may be able to overcome this shortcoming. This aside he had no trouble turning.

A quick session of the basics, and we were off to a gentle hill, this I think, has made Tom a life long mountainboarder. He loved the off-road nature of the ride, and the 8″ wheels handled the terrain we were riding on with ease, full points for using full size wheels G.I.

Tom had one criticism of the board, and that was the graphics on the bottom, he though they were a bit “Lame-o” with the “stupid smiley sun” (his words not mine). So you may want to run that past any kids you are planning to buy this board for.

Our opinion – excellent fun, and pretty easy to ride, an excellent entry level board to bring new riders into the sport. I’ve lost my demo board to Tom, but I think that was a cheap price to bring a new keen rider to our sport.

Manufacturers Information

SPECS:
LENGTH: 35.4 inches/ 90 cm
WIDTH: 9 inches/ 22.9 cm
WEIGHT: 13 pounds/ 5.9 Kilos
DECK CONSTRUCTION: Hard Maple
BUILD: Intermediate
KIT INCLUDES:
Balistik Turff 2 ply tires
5 Spoke Hub Technology
15″ 12mm Skate Style Trucks
Roots Lil’ Pro Bindings
Lil’ Bomber Maple Deck
Tool Kit & Instructions

INSPIRED BY OUR GOOD FRIEND AKONI KAMA AND HIS MISSION TO GET MORE KIDS RIDING, THE LIL’ BOMBER 90 IS A LIGHT-WEIGHT, TIGHT LIL’ PACKAGE. THE WIDER SIDE- CUT AND YOUTH-ENGINEERED BINDINGS PROVIDE GREATER TURNING LEVERAGE FOR INCREASED SPEED CONTROL AND STOPPING POWER . BUILT WITH FULL SIZE 8” WHEELS AND 12 MM SKATE TRUCKS, THIS BOARD PACKS COMPONENTS THAT MAINTAIN THEIR FUNCTIONALITY AND DURABILITY AS THE RIDER GROWS.

In our first reader review, Walker Rice brings us his review of the Ground Industries AK 103.

The AK 103 was and is the only mountainboard I ever had, and I have ridden two other mountainboards elsewhere, both MBS, but I still prefer my AK 103. The AK 103 has a relatively stiff wooden deck, compared to the other MBS boards, but it helps when you are pulling off that one trick that you have been trying to pull off for a long time. The breakdown of the boards is basically the deck, the bindings, the bearings, the trucks and torsion cubes, and the wheels.

The deck, as I have stated earlier, is wood. It can be on the heavier side, but it is still lighter than some older boards I have ridden. The board has enough flex to pop right off the ground, or a ramp, I have reached about four feet of air off of a one foot ramp, which is exactly four more feet than I can do on an MBS board. The board also features a cool design featuring a water tower in a desert-like scene. I am in favor of the deck design.

The bindings were not a strong point, I could never seem to get my feet all the way in the bindings, but once I started going, it felt fine. The real problems were the workmanship, because within the first two weeks, the stitching that held the bindings together fell apart and were un-rideable. The good news was that the bindings were still under warranty, so the replacements were on my doorstep within the week!

The saga of the poorly made bindings continued, though. I received the same pair of bindings, and all was fine for a short period of time, then I pulled a hard turn, and the metal ring that held the bindings together just snapped. I used the rings from the old pair, but they soon broke from the same problem. I am ordering a new pair of the Talon II bindings, which I hope will last better.

I was satisfied with the wheels and trucks, though, the bearing will let the wheels spin for what seems like hours, and the ride is super smooth. The bindings also stay pretty clean, so they won’t need to be cleaned or be lubricated on any sort of basis. The wheels and tires have a great grip and are very light. The wheels are pretty hard to do wrong, but the GI AK 103 doesn’t even have to worry about that in this category.

All in all, I was pleased with the AK 103, even though the bindings were sub-par, I have confidence that the Talon IIs will be better. The board is great for beginners, much like I was, all the way up to intermediate, like I am now. The board will handle jumps and carves great, but will stay stable for beginners just starting to learn how to board. I would recommend this board to beginners, and intermediate riders willing to spend a little money to add better bindings.