The last couple of weeks Mountainboard.net has been posting sections of One 5 Media’s, “Shralpdown!” their latest mountainboard video. If you haven’t already watched it you can watch the whole thing at www.onefivemedia.com.

Shralpdown! has been captured it full HD in order to deliver an amazingly crisp view of some of the best riding out there. Personally I love the editing job- killer film effects that really set the mood. I’m a freeride guy so I wanted to see more carving and mountain riding, the video was heavy freestyle but still good.

Check it out for yourselves and post your comments on this page. Everyone has their own opinion, what’s yours?

Here’s what Ground Industries themselves has to say:
Finally an ATB travel Bag truly designed for travel. Whether you are going across town or around the world, your board and gear will get to where you want to go safe & sound. The conveniently placed shoulder straps and hip harness make long terminal hikes seem like a walk on the beach. And when you’re ready for a little backcountry riding, the bag quickly converts into a daypack with horizontal board carrying and a Large Stow and Go pocket for all the necessities. The inside of the Bag is lined with a durable insulating layer that keeps your gear cool in the heat & can be washed out with a hose in a pinch. So, throw in your dirty board & gear and all of your messes are safely confined until your next clean up opportunity arrives.

• Travel worthy 600 Dinear Nylon outer.
• Dual function Travel Mode and Day pack Mode.
• Insulated to protect your goods especially composites from heat.
• Heat resistant “Easy Clean” inner.
• Fits 1 complete with wheels on or two completes with wheels off, plus gear.
• Ergonomic shoulder and waist straps for convenient hands free carrying.

But who cares what the dealer says, here’s my own personal review!

Finally, as I got off the plan and after waiting anxiously at the baggage claim I found my board in one piece. The Ground Industries Sherpa Board Bag is a good piece of gear. Built to last and not a bad price. If you’re a traveling rider I definitely recommend this product.

One day I had a dream, more like a vision I guess you could say. In this vision I saw every mountainboard manufacturer in the world lined up at my doorstep. When I asked them why they had come they told me that the mountainboarding community needed a quality source for mountainboard reviews and that they wanted me to assemble a crew together that would test and review their boards for them.

Unfortunately that dream has not yet become a reality. So until that time comes we will need to work together to make MountainBoard.net a quality source for mountainboard reviews. If you have any experience with the product or center being reviewed please add your comments to the review. Spread the word, we need your help!

LENGTH: 41.7inches/ 106 cm WIDTH: 8.5 inches/ 21.6 cm WEIGHT: 14.9 pounds/ 6.77 Kilos DECK CONSTRUCTION: Bomberlite BUILD: Professional Grade KIT INCLUDES: 2008 Balistik MAK 2 ply tires Green & White Vegas Hubs Green Bionic Pro 16″ suspension Torsion Cube Technology, includes HD4 T3s Talon II Bindings, Green Bomberlite Patrol Deck Tool Kit & Instructions

This is from Ground Industries themselves, “The name says it all. The Patrol’s aggressive cut provides stability at speed and its Bomberlite TM composite hybrid construction offers an optimized strength to weight ratio. Combined with our most advanced componentry, the Patrol offers a truly explosive ride every time.”

It appears that the Patrol 106 is basically the same as the Conflict 106, only the Heliocore deck has been swapped for what GI calls the Bomberlite deck, a composite hybrid. How aggressive is this board and how well is it holding up for it’s riders?

If anyone owns a Patrol 106 or has taken one for a test run, please share your input with us. Help out your fellow mountainboarders by sharing your personal experience with us using the comment box below.

One day I had a dream, more like a vision I guess you could say. In this vision I saw every mountainboard manufacturer in the world lined up at my doorstep. When I asked them why they had come they told me that the mountainboarding community needed a quality source for mountainboard reviews and that they wanted me to assemble a crew together that would test and review their boards for them.

Unfortunately that dream has not yet become a reality. So until that time comes we will need to work together to make MountainBoard.net a quality source for mountainboard reviews. If you have any experience with the product or center being reviewed please add your comments to the review. Spread the word, we need your help!

New for this year the MBS Leon Robbins Pro 100. Replacing the Pro 16, MBS claims that the Pro 100 is “more bomb-proof than ever.” With Rock Star Pro aluminum hubs rolling under your feet this board is ready for anything. (CLICK HERE FOR A CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE BOARD GRAPHICS)

Check out the stats that MBS has put together:

FEATURES:
MATRIX LITE CHANNEL TRUCKS
ROCKSTAR PRO ALUMINUM HUBS
RED EGGSHOCKS
T3 TREAD
F3 RATCHET STRAP BINDINGS
REVERSE CAP COMPOSITE DECK
STAINLESS HARDWARE

SPECS:
OVERALL WEIGHT: 16lbs / 7.26kg
OVERALL LENGTH: 46.85” / 119cm
AXLE TO AXLE LENGTH: 38.8” / 98.4cm
DECK LENGTH: 39.4” / 100cm
DECK CONSTRUCTION: Reverse Cap Composite RCC
DECK STIFFNESS: 5
DECK TIP ANGLE: 30 degrees
TRUCK WIDTH: 15.5” / 39.4cm
AXLE O.D.: 12mm O.D.
BINDING: F3 Ratchet Strap
TIRE: 8” / 20.3cm
HUB: RockStar Pro Aluminum 5 Spoke
BEARING: 12X28mm

Although there does exist a certain fascination with riding the raw untouched mountain slopes, mountainboard parks and mountainboard centers have definitely become a welcome gift to riders. New parks keep popping out all over the world as the sport of mountainboarding continues to explode.

Winterburg Park in Germany is having it’s grand opening this weekend, the 19th and 20th of July. This is a beautiful mounainboard park that was approved by MBS Europe. The park includes a freestyle park and a boardercross that stretches over 1000 meters and the two lifts keep riders riding and not hiking.

Our “Where to Ride” map has been updated with the location of Winterburg Park.

For more details on the park check out www.rockon.de, unless you can read German, you’ll need to translate it using one of the many free online translators, like Google Translator.

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.