Splitboard.com Forums

They won't return my numerous emails about putting their Magne Traction technology into a splitboard (but they will do it for skis).

Am I foolish to expect a reply from Mervin as opposed to the brush-off?

I thought they'd be stoked on a little grassroot innovation.

isnt that new technology designed for hardpack anyways? splits are for powder. hence the no reply.

IMO

???????

splitboards are for backcountry snowboarding.
backcountry snowboarding covers more than just powder.


IMO

point well taken

sometimes we don't always hear what we want to though.

Isn't Mervin under a larger corp these days? You know who I would be interested in making some splitboards would be Donek. They are a small operation around here and partnered with Bomber. I think they are an ideal company to start producing a few splits.

yeah but they dont make Magne Traction...


something that looks like it could have some reall advantages in firm snow and/or bcriding/snowboard mountaineering.

I agree though...when a company reaches a certain size the focus usually changes.

Kill, I concur. I've been a Donek fan for a while and still have an older 168 Incline as my early season rock board. Great quality and customer service...

I called Sean a couple years ago when I was considering splitting my Incline, but didn't get around to asking him what it would take for him to build some splits... Someone should go over and talk to him to see what it would take for him to throw something together.

Okay, guess this has turned into a bit of thread-creep, but still... Anyone local to them want to chat it up with Sean or someone else there and see?

I suppose I can shoot him an email and see if he wants to start a discusion. I haven't owned any of his boards, but I have demo'd a few and they are of excellent quality. I am surprised he hasn't jumped on this yet.
BCRider, sorry to hijack a little bit. The Magne Traction is interesting. Maybe it's like the shape ski revolution, I'll have to go to Colorado Ski and Golf and see if they have any of those boards to check out. It also seems a little gimmicky to me at the moment and maybe something less "advanced" riders might get more use out. Then again the testimomials are from experts.
Another thought is Steepwater boards. They are designed for steeps and icy conditions. Why haven't they gotten on the splitboard ride?

Carversplit has a custom donek split. It is more geared towards a race style, but the thing is friggin sweet. Maybe he'll see this and chime in but I think he was pretty happy with the process. Maybe he'll show up at scrubfest again with it.

FYI - Sean at Donek is setting me up with boards now... So, you can probably guess what we've been talking about for the past few weeks

Donek is a pretty small shop... which is good in that they make everything in-house, including cores, so they can be pretty flexible. It's challenging, though, in that their resources are limited. Sean is into making splits, but there is a significant hurdle of up-front costs to get over.

Sean has put it to me, in so many words, that if he gets enough interest he will take that step....

I think it would be a tremendous bonus for the splitboarding community to have the variety of shapes that Donek can make, available to us.

SOOOO, give him a call... let him know that you want a split

Zach

I'm sure Donek makes a great product and all but what I really want to see a “splitboard onlyâ€Â

nascent,

There are only two directions that innovation can go/come from in the next 10 or so years.

1. Voile - they, and they alone, have the ability to improve the interface... I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but they hold the patents that cover every element of splitboards. That's part of the reason why everyone uses their interface... the other reasons being durability, simplicity, etc... all the things we love about it.

2. Board shape - this will come from more manufacturers being in the game, and why not tuilize the experience and resources of board-makers who have been honing their skills on solid boards? The principles are pretty much the same.

Zach

I'll send Sean an email. I live probably 20 minutes from his shop so it wouldn't be too big of a deal for a face to face. Plus I got a few ideas that may help him out. I've thought about asking him to do a custom split, but his custom jobs are around $1K. A bit rich for my blood...