While the debate over how much you should detune your snowboard or skis will always be settled by personal preference, many rides and skiers are unaware of the options detuned gear offers them. In fact, many skiers and snowboarders are totally unaware that detuning exists even though new skis and snowboards are often detuned on their first wax!
To help clear the air over detuning, the ASO Mammoth team has come up with a quick guide on what detuning is, why people do it, and a few guidelines to help you decide if your gear needs to be detuned. Check out our guide below and make the right decision for your style while the snow is still falling!
What Is Detuning?
Detuning is the dulling, often by a file, of certain parts of the edge on a ski or snowboard.
While the area that gets detuned and how far the edge is word down is up to the rider or skier’s preference, in general the contact points of a ski or snowboard are what’s going to be detuned. By contact points, we mean the flat part of nose and tail of the ski or snowboard the makes contact with the ground when pointed downhill.
Why Do People Detune?
The job of an edge is to cut into a surface and hold while weight is put against it, meaning sharp edges hold better and dull edges slide easier. For example, if you only ride down groomed runs or your home mountain gets icy then you may want sharp edges since they will make your gear more responsive and help your edge hold for longer. On the other hand, If you like to hit rails and boxes in the park then those sharp edges might get caught on rust or any other rough surface and send you to the ground. If this is the case, skiers will detune the edges around their feet and snowboarders will detune the edges around and between their feet.
Detuning can still help your riding and skiing even if you don’t hit the park though. When skis and snowboards come out of the factory, their edges are sharp due to never being ridden on. When a new board or pair of skis is given its first tune up, many shops will recommend detuning the contact points to keep the edges from catching unexpectedly and jerking the rider or skier around no matter what they prefer to ride.
Simply put, detuning helps you customize your board or ski edge so you can use your edge when you want and not worry about it when you don’t want to use it.
Who Should Detune?
If you’re riding a board or set of skis just out of the factory, you should consider detuning or having your new gear detuned. Otherwise, detuning is totally up to the type of riding you like and how you like to do it.
How Do You Detune?
While the simplest method is to take your gear into a shop with trained professionals, detuning comes down to what you feel when you’re using your gear. If you know exactly what you want, then you can detune your skis or snowboard using a course file, a gummy stone, and a diamond stone. Use the file to wear down the edge, the diamond stone to polish the edge once you’re done, and the gummy stone to smooth out any large burrs or bumps along the edge.
Always keep in mind that you can detune further but you can’t build your edge back up as easily, so stay conservative when detuning!
Where Can You Have Your Gear Detuned?
The professionals at ASO Mammoth are happy to detune your gear as well as perform any other needed maintenance and answer all your questions about ski and snowboard gear and Mammoth Mountain. Stop in or give us a call today!