Rail options

[potatoes63]

which type of rail is the best for popping tricks? boxy, tapered, or hybrid?

[Jim Gordon]

Are you talking about the rail on a skimboard? If so.....to pop tricks I don't think the rail is that important as the rocker or the shape. As a rule the lighter & shorter the board the faster and higher it will spin though.

[mentoneman]

i'm trying to decide on how to copy my current board shape, while "modernizing" slightly.

i've been through two boards in the last two months trying to find a replacement, and the bottom line is i think i need to clone my board because of the unique 3 "rocker, and rails that are rounded off until way back into the last 3rd of the board. there is a bit of tail rocker as well.

what i find is the rounded rails and added rocker are more forgiving for me when getting on the drop, particularly because i get on front foot first, and very sloppily at that!

so the rounded rail doesn't snag as easily on the sand, and the added rocker allows for greater room for not precise foot placement.

i like a narrow width for quick tight turning, but i want carry. i had a slotstik that was like that...surfboardy, maui like nose, thick flat tail.
will removing tail rocker, and adding a little length, and a tiny bit of thickness in the tail, help me plane better without totally changing the feel of the board?

[potatoes63]

Are you talking about the rail on a skimboard? If so.....to pop tricks I don't think the rail is that important as the rocker or the shape. As a rule the lighter & shorter the board the faster and higher it will spin though.

yeah rail on a skimboard.
and what i mean is that i was wondering if tapered rails "puncture" the water easier in the back tail when i going forward so i can ollie higher... or maybe if i got custom rails and asked for really soft rails in the tail. hmmmm, that seems kinda like a good idea. wat do you think jim?
that kinda gets me to another question... why are skimboard rails always hard and never soft shaped?

[Anton]

Basically, rounder rails are more forgiving because a rounded rail is a poor performing shape. Rounded rails, like those found on surfboards, allow water to "wrap around" the rail. Hard rails, like those found on most skimboards, shed water quickly. The abrubt, 90 degree angle at the bottom of the rail sends the water cleanly off the board, and allows the board to maneuver quickly and freely. The water doesn't "grab" at a hard rails like it can on rounded or soft rails.

If your style or skills are sub-par, then yes, a more rounded skimboard rail will be much more forgiving, but you'd probably be better off in the long run just cleaning up your style and trying to correct your bad habits. A skimboard with crisp, sharp rails is very high performing, but can be tempermental to all but the most skilled riders. "Boxy" rails seem to be the best compromise for most riders. The rail is "fat" but still has the necessary hard edge at the bottom for good performance.

As long as the rails at the back of the skimboard are hard and not soft, you should be able to do tricks just fine. Most better skimboards have hard rails. But, if you're having a hard time doing tricks, I wouldn't go looking at the rails for answers.

[tommygallagher]

no tail rocker, low overall rocker, boxy boxy really boxed out rails, 3/4 inches oh lawd u will rip

lawd

[potatoes63]

As long as the rails at the back of the skimboard are hard and not soft, you should be able to do tricks just fine. Most better skimboards have hard rails. But, if you're having a hard time doing tricks, I wouldn't go looking at the rails for answers.

thanks Anton that helped a lot, but wat if the rails on the board were completely boxy on the whole board, but then in the tail (maybe starting like 4-5 inches away from the point on both sides) the rails would turn soft. so it would kind of be like a very very very small tail rocker. and i know that tail rocker adds more pop to your tricks, so why wouldnt that?

and im not having a hard time doing tricks at all. i can do shuvits, ollie, bigspins, and re-entrys fine, but i just wanted to know more about rails.

[Jim Gordon]

Basically, rounder rails are more forgiving because a rounded rail is a poor performing shape. Rounded rails, like those found on surfboards, allow water to "wrap around" the rail. Hard rails, like those found on most skimboards, shed water quickly. The abrubt, 90 degree angle at the bottom of the rail sends the water cleanly off the board, and allows the board to maneuver quickly and freely. The water doesn't "grab" at a hard rails like it can on rounded or soft rails.

If your style or skills are sub-par, then yes, a more rounded skimboard rail will be much more forgiving, but you'd probably be better off in the long run just cleaning up your style and trying to correct your bad habits. A skimboard with crisp, sharp rails is very high performing, but can be tempermental to all but the most skilled riders. "Boxy" rails seem to be the best compromise for most riders. The rail is "fat" but still has the necessary hard edge at the bottom for good performance.

As long as the rails at the back of the skimboard are hard and not soft, you should be able to do tricks just fine. Most better skimboards have hard rails. But, if you're having a hard time doing tricks, I wouldn't go looking at the rails for answers.

Wow.......well said Anton!

[Jim Gordon]

yeah rail on a skimboard.
and what i mean is that i was wondering if tapered rails "puncture" the water easier in the back tail when i going forward so i can ollie higher... or maybe if i got custom rails and asked for really soft rails in the tail. hmmmm, that seems kinda like a good idea. wat do you think jim?
that kinda gets me to another question... why are skimboard rails always hard and never soft shaped?

Also trail rocker makes the board looser (turn quicker) but will make the board a little slower, like the spoon trick. OK.......here's comes the old spoon trick again guys. And I bet no one has even tried it yet.=(

[Jim Gordon]

And here it is again!

Here's a fun test you can do to see why rocker is bad but your board will not work with out it. This is the same reason sideslipping works. I learned this trick from a surfing mag back when I was a young surfer. This is how it works. Get a spoon hold it at the very top of the handle and turn on the water at your sink. Now holding the spoon by the very end of the handle, let the bottom of the spoon touch the running water. The round back of the spoon will be sucked into the water. Now turn the spoon over and try to put the other side of the spoon in the running water. It will push away. Even if you use a flat spoon or anything flat, it will not be sucked in like the back of a spoon. The back of the spoon is like the bottom of a surfboard or skimboard. The more rocker, the more it sucks down. But a surf or skim will not work without rocker. So when you turn your board sideways the water is not going down the rocker, it's going across the flat part of the board. Meaning it's not sucking down making it slow down. If you don't agree with this, what do you think???? If you have a different theory, I'm open to here it.