Concave Base

[OCD]

I am concerned about one of my boards, which I've just discovered, has a concave base. I took it to a shop recently hoping that I could watch the tech tune my board before I started at home. I didn't even consider any base issues because I bought it recently and thought base change may only happen later on down the road.
When we looked at it using a true bar there was a significant amount of light showing through. He said that a lot of material would have to be removed to get the base flat. I'm a little unsure of what to do. It did look like a lot of material would have to go in order to get an accurate base bevel but I don't have the experience to judge.
I've looked through past threads but haven't seen anything quite this specific. Any thoughts?

[Chris Houghton]

I had the same problem, just chose to leave it alone and ride it. Works fine, just don't try to ride it flat (of course Alpine riders never do that anyway).

[Kent]

I've yet to see a flat "used" alpine board........

[OCD]

The board was brand new, first season on it, so I'm a little vexed. Do boards go out with warped bases?

[Tommy D]

I have a RennTiger from a couple years back that has a concave base. I just leave it alone; it doesn't seem to affect performance.

[ncermak]

I had an RT (SL168) that was railed too...never was sure if it came that way (one Ski tech said it did, but I don't think that he ever saw a race board, and didn't want to risk doing something stupid) or got that way. Nevertheless, It rode awesome on edge. ..

not sure why I sold that one...

-Noah

[AlpentalRider]

Straight from a tuning guide:

"The base should not be concave, or “railed”, with the edges higher than the base. A concave base or railed edges encourages the equipment to run straight and impairs the turning ability of the equipment. Although, a slight concave base may provide some riders with quicker contact for turning and some added stability.

Conversely, the bases should not be convex. A Convex bases (base is higher than the edges) will cause your equipment to wander and make it difficult to put them on edge or grip on the snow.
"

So if it isn't real bad, or you don't notice a significant issue in turning the board I wouldn't worry about it. My guess would be you would really only notice it if you do alot of cruising, but my guess is you'll be on edge 90% of the time :D

[OCD]

Thanks for the input. I've not had any issues riding the board, it's been great. What about the base bevel, do I leave it and focus on the side edges? Guess I'll just have to live with it and make sure that when buying a board over the net, the guy on the end uses a true bar before sending me anything.

[D-Sub]

I dont remember where I read it but something I found said that there are actually more boards out there than anyone realizes that arent flat.

and they come that way from the factory was what this article said

[OCD]

The tech at the shop in Mammoth said that he rarely sees a board that is flat?