ISSA - International Slalom Skateboarding Association

Who makes them, how the design works, who came up with it,Materials used etc.. Thanks, Terence

..and are they for sale? The Indiana s-camber doesn't work (too extreme of angles) but gilmour's feels damn nice in super tight stuff (Gilmours is one of the HS ones he had in europe in the mid 90s)...

The one you rode is actually a softer flex one. The stiffer flex ones are better suited for our weight.

You won't see me riding anything but JG's S-Camber. I am holding it for ransom until he gets his garbage bag of his dirty clothes out of the trunk of my car.

Jani, the board is se magnifique!

Hey fellas-

What advantage does an S-Camber board have over a regular cambered board?

Henry J

You can run sicko offsets on a tight course without losing much traction. Your front foot is the steering foot and the rear foot becomes the power foot.

Also with a raised heel you don't have to worry about your rear heel clipping a cone.

Rumours goes that Jani is testing some new boards. :eek:

They where supposed to be there for the Paris competition but never made it in time. Maybe we will see Jani on some new setup in Switzerland?

Rumors....mmm, I hope these rumors turn out. I'm dying for a "good" s-camber!

Jani, what is the proper flex for the s camber shape. Should they be stiff, like a plank or have some flex like traditional slalom boards? TK

Jani, If you could tie how you set a S-camber up into your answer to Terence I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks, Tod

Chris, What don't you like about the Indiana you describe above as "(too extreme of angles)"? I'm interested in getting a Roeracing S-camber, but
I'll be buying sight unseen as I live in Illinois. So my hope is to get a bit of a feel for this shape through your post and anyone else who has some experience with these types of decks. Thanks, Tod

I've asked him myself about it and he ain't talking.

He hasn't piped in here, no words from him anywhere 'bout it far as I know.

Jani, (Gareth?) can you give us a tid bit?

I've given up on Jani replying to this one. I do know I'll be doing my own research as soon as I get mine from Gareth. TK

Terence,

You've got an audience of at least one for an S-camber review.

I'm running a PS Unlimited w/ seismics and avalons, my only board so far and I'd like something I can set up for an indoor 5-6ft. c-c course for the winter.

Seems from your avatar that you're a taller guy so hopfully some of your setup ideas will translate. I'll be listening! Thanks Tod

Tod, I'm a little guy. 5'9" . T

Terence,

I,m 6'1" 197 do I win? seems the humor gets about as thin as the corn fields out here this time of year... anyway close enough. Thanks for the response, Tod

Youre right in there . The med stiff in the Roes is what I've been riding and seems to work for me. I think that would be a perfect flex for you. T

TK,
Looking at the pic of this deck in the Roe thread I think the fact that the camber radius is smaller should make this board snappier. That's what I'm looking for (hoping anyway).

I learned how to pump on a GS team rider w/ACS 500s and of course RR4s. Was like magic till those crappy red rubber grommets took a dump in less than an hour. If memory serves that setup was on the tall side and seems that was one of the reasons it worked so well. This is "kind of" the feel I'd like to replicate w/ the S-camber.

Just thinkin out loud.

I'm getting one built with normal Carbon Fibre lay up and one with out any carbon just glass. (JG suggested this) . I'll let you know whats up. Should be done soon. T

Thanks Terence,

I'll talk to ya then, Tod

The s-cambers are rolling off the presses slowly with the first real production batch shipping out just about an hour ago.

Terence- Your boards are in the next batch and will be pressed soon. The one without carbon will be flexier for sure and may be nice for a looser "tight" slalom course. Steve is working in the shop day and night (I'm not kidding) and is getting through the back log quickly.

These boards will be showing up in the UK and France (as well as the US) soon! They are absolutely stellar!
Gareth

TK and others,

I'm sorry I've been so silent on this topic. I thought I had my reasons back then but OK, OK, I'll reveal little by little....


The legend of the S-Camber started when Bob Skoldberg attended the Swedish Summer Camp back in 1979 along with other legends such as Mike Weed and Ed Nadelin. Bob brought along a stack of S-Cambers that he rode and also sold to top riders in Sweden. I got one of those after seeing how fast all the guys were riding on that board. At the time I was using a blue Santa Cruz John Hutson model which didn't provide the traction needed for the rear truck. Actually I started off my slalom career having an almost parallel stance, then separated my feet slightly more with the Hutson deck, then finally got my feet into the "right" position with the Skoldberg S-Camber.

At first this was no easy change. It seemed as if the rear foot was making the turn much later than the front foot. Little did I know back then that it's the key to a great pump. Having the foot firmly positioned towards the rear truck also made it possible to switch to harder wheels and still retain traction. That was badly needed because of the places I skated at the time. For example underground stations during the winter season. The surface was really, really smooth and there was absolutely no grip. Add a little dust and you could imagine what it was like.

The S-Cambers Skoldberg made for some reason never went into any larger circulation and I tried desparetely for some time to convince Eurocana (the best skate shop in Stockholm at the time and the organizer of the Summer Camp) to import more of those boards, but they said that Skoldberg wasn't making them anymore. That was probably somewhere second half of 1980. Not that I needed one, I already had one, but I wanted to make sure other riders could have one, so I kept bugging them but to no avail.

Sometime in the early 1980's I extended my collection of S-Cambers by buying every second hand board I could get hold of. New ones were constantly needed because I had one ran over by a bus, it de-laminated. Another lost most of its snappiness. One broke on the first day I tried it (but that was a foam one, it was kind of expected). Etc. As the boards seemed to loose some of its characteristics with long time use I was sure I was eventually going to run out and not have any S-Camber to skate. And how would I be able to go back to a regular shaped board, now that I had tried the "real thing".

My search continued until....

[to be continued]

Oh crap, my popcorns going to go stale.

Things are going full-circle...

It is my understanding that Henry Hester and Bob Skoldeberg developed the s-camber together back in the 70's.

Henry-can you provide us with the details?

Thanks-
Gareth

Terence,

I read your posts on the S-camber setup at ncdsa. You say you're deadening the rear Indy 101 13-15* can I ask what type of courses your running with this setup? Does the rear end shape(rocker?) add a bit of steering to the rear truck and do your measurements take this into account? . I'm going to order one this coming week w/rtx- rts and cambrias.

Also I've really been messing around with the steering angle of a 30* Seismic rear and have found it is pretty sensitive to small adjustments
Ahla stacking washers between deck and base plate(very ugly). Do you know where I can get harder urethan wedges in 3-5* increments? My wife is calling me Mr. Jerry Rig and that hurts....


Thanks for all your help! Tod

...story continued from above.


The search continued until the mid 80's, probably 1986 (give or take a year or so) when I started discussing board production with Heini Temperli from Hombrechtikon in Switzerland. We had met in 1984 for the first Swiss Open in Hombrechtikon which is a small village (similar in size and location to Gruningen). Heini had been making boards for the guys in his club for a few years now and being a carpenter he took great pride in finding the right material and putting the right craftmanship behind his production. It was nothing like a commercial production, but being individually handmade, all by himself, the quality was way superior to anything else sold at that time (and I'd add probably even now!).

Heini and I struck a deal in which I would reveal the design and share my ideas with him and in return he would make S-Cambers for me so that I could order enough to get a small commercial brand going. I ordered around 50 for the first batch and had my friend Martin Willners do the paint job. The decoration was very simple and with a straight forward message Slalom!



The Jani Söderhäll signature S-Camber was born! It's primary purpose - promote the sport! At the time there wasn't much money to be made in the slalom world. The board made a strong contribution to the development of the sport, as it added a brand and a design at a time when most boards sold were merely re-painted older models.

I had two models made, the S-Camber you probably all know and another model called "Classic". It was actually a Henry Hester copy that Heini had in his portfolio since some time. That was the board everybody was riding in Hombrechtikon until the first S-Cambers started coming out of Heinis wood works.

Jani,

Thanks for the S-camber recounts. I’ve been riding my new Roeracing S-camber for a couple weeks now and I really like how that little bit of “rocker” in front of the rear truck gives my rear foot so much more added leverage for pumping the thing through gates! I think my other decks may grow kicktails this winter. Tod

Jani, what's the wheelbase of your original S-Camber?


rmn

have you ever se the original s-camber?? made by bob skolberg early 80´ look and see

Are these also bob skolberg's feet?

rmn

LOL.. no sorry it's mine the board don't stand by itself.