I got an email from a reader asking about snowboard edge bevels and tuning your edges, so I thought I’d do a little series of blog posts covering each area of tuning your snowboard edges.
Today’s part will cover how and why to detune your snowboard’s edges. Detuning your snowboard edges is something many newer riders fail to do, but it’s really something you should be doing with every snowboard you own.
What’s the edge of my snowboard?
It’s the metal edge surrounding the border of your snowboard that helps your board cut into the snow and ice.
Detuning Your Edges
What is detuning and why do I need to do this?
Detuning is basically filing down some or all of the edges of your snowboard so that they aren’t sharp. Think of this as sandpaper on a piece of wood, except you’re using a file on your snowboard’s edge.
This is done because having sharp edges where you don’t need them can result in catching your edge and crashing.
What parts do I file down?
That depends on whether you’ll just be riding rails and boxes or if you plan to use your snowboard for other riding:
1) I ride more than just boxes and rails
Only detune the nose and tail section of your snowboard and keep the edges between the nose and tail for carving and turning. There’s no point in having edges on your nose and tail when you never use them for anything, so get rid of them.
You might be asking, “Why do snowboard companies put edges there then?” Well, it’s cheaper and easier to put one metal ring around your whole snowboard instead of putting two separate metal edges on your toe and heel edge.
Some companies do dull the edges of the nose and tail a little bit, but it never hurts to do it again yourself to make sure it’s done right.
2) I only ride boxes, rails and street features
Since you’re not really doing any turning or carving, you’ll want to de-tune all of your edges. Go around the whole metal edge of your snowboard and smooth down everything. Edges can lead to edge catching on rails and boxes and you don’t want that when all you do is ride rails and boxes.
Do note that this method is ONLY if you’ll only be riding rails and boxes exclusively. You don’t want to remove all your edges if you’ll be using the snowboard for other riding.
How To Detune Your Snowboard
The process is actually pretty simple and easy. All you need is a file to remove the edges and a gummi or diamond stone to polish down any rough spots. You can buy a gummi/diamond stone at any good ski/snowboard shop for $10-20.
Here’s a video on the detuning process:
Next blog: Sharpening your edges and which bevel angles work best for what type of riding.