The Official Mervin Manufacturing Thread

[Jean77]

I’m located in Germany and go ride mostly in Hintertux, Austria or Pitztal, Austria. Last weekend I had a blast on the Mullair at the first season run. Right after condola. Full send. Unfortunately I hit a litte rock after a powder jump. My fault. It was just too less snow. But it every time same. Luckily it was not crazy. Just a little scratch. But when you know this board is not available anymore it is a little scary. Just after the hit I directly strapped off to look at it.

Get a BC, you won't regret it!

[Spenser]

BC musings -

This goes back to something Lars got into recently, which is the way Mervin defines their setback. I've always found their directional boards feel a bit too far forward at reference for me, and it's usually because their setbacks are based on material length, not effective edge like the norm. That doesn't mean they can't still put the inserts in the same spot as a board that defines setback based on the edge, but a lot of of theirs tend to be more centered in that regard.

The BC is listed at 1.5", and this is true when measuring from the tips (3" longer nose), but it's only about 1/4" back on edge (1/2" longer nose-edge) due to the difference in kick lengths. I measured by taping the contact points with board tilted on edge, so it's fairly accurate.

The only board of theirs I can think of that I didn't set back more was the original mullair, but he was telling people to mount their stance all the way forward on that deck. They changed the setback after the first year to match how he rode them, thus I started to set them back more to match the first one.

I had a first year mayhem rocket, and because the nose kick was so much longer than tail kick, I think their true
setback was likely slightly forward on edge, or at least centered. I had to set it back quite a bit for it to feel balanced for my taste.

Not a problem, just interesting that they do it this way. Took one look at the BC and knew I would be adding setback per my taste, and I'm simply starting by using one insert pack behind ref - which gives just over 1" actual setback - that's around what I'm used to, and just looks correct to me on this board. It's now virtually identical to how I rode the mullair.

If you like a more centered feel, their factory setback is the way to go on this one, and you'll still get some float benefit from the nose kick. If you like directional boards and having some setback, it's food for thought if you have a Mervin deck.

Also to note - I think we discussed this earlier, but their contact length accounts for early rise. The contact on the 160W is listed at 114, which is pretty accurate, but the actual edge is more like 121 (I'm not accounting for sidecut, but it barely changes the number). I'm not sure why they only list contact length and not EE.

A comparison example - the classic korua platform with 269 waist (TF 57, pencil 64, dart 56, cafe 59) all have a 120 EE very similar to this BC, but they have shorter contact lengths (they call it running length) because they have longer early rise on each end. It's kinda cool to have both, but I'd pick EE if it were only one.

IMG_0962.jpeg (1.71 MiB) Viewed 9989 times

[ad1105]

The term "running length" with Korua made a lot of sense to me.

[jsil]

@Spenser really curious how you like it, when will you test it out?

[Spenser]

Our promising start in November got washed away, and we're back to pretty thin coverage. I'm guessing at least after the new year. They're blowing snow on the lower mountain whenever it's cold enough, so hopefully they can put in an exit route on the service road and will be able to get enough snow at mid mountain before too long.

We have the bunny hill open for now with fake snow, but not fair to judge boards there, hah. I'll get to take it for a low-G spin when they're back open on Friday.

[YukonCornelius]

BC musings -

This goes back to something Lars got into recently, which is the way Mervin defines their setback. I've always found their directional boards feel a bit too far forward at reference for me, and it's usually because their setbacks are based on material length, not effective edge like the norm. That doesn't mean you can't still put the stance in the same spot as a board that defines setback based on the edge, but a lot of of theirs tend to be more centered in that regard.

The BC is listed at 1.5", and this is true when measuring from the tips (3" longer nose), but it's only about 1/4" back on edge (1/2" longer nose-edge) due to the difference in kick lengths. I measured by taping the contact points with board tilted on edge, so it's fairly accurate.

The only board of theirs I can think of that I didn't set back more was the original mullair, but he was telling people to mount their stance all the way forward on that deck. They changed the setback after the first year to match how he rode them, thus I started to set them back more to match the first one.

I had a first year mayhem rocket, and because the nose kick was so much longer than tail kick, I think their true "
setback was likely slightly forward on edge, or at least centered. I had to set it back quite a bit for it to feel balanced for my taste.

Not a problem, just interesting that they do it this way. Took one look at the BC and knew I would be adding setback per my taste, and I'm simply starting by using one insert pack behind ref - which gives just over 1" actual setback - that's around what I'm used to, and just looks correct to me on this board. It's now virtually identical to how I rode the mullair.

If you like a more centered feel, their factory setback is the way to go on this one, and you'll still get some float benefit from the nose kick. If you like directional boards and having some setback, it's food for thought if you have a Mervin deck.

Also to note - I think we discussed this earlier, but their contact length accounts for early rise. The contact on the 160W is listed at 114, which is pretty accurate, but the actual edge is more like 121 (I'm not accounting for sidecut, but it barely changes the number). I'm not sure why they only list contact length and not EE.

A comparison example - the classic korua platform with 269 waist (TF 57, pencil 64, dart 56, cafe 59) all have a 120 EE very similar to this BC, but they have shorter contact lengths (they call it running length) because they have longer early rise on each end. It's kinda cool to have both, but I'd pick EE if it were only one.


IMG_0962.jpeg

thanks for sharing!

i have mine at factory setback right now and it feels practically centered. so this makes a lot of sense.

i saw which inserts Cannnon uses in the tribute video he is in, which would have more of a stance like you have here. going to move things back so i have more nose as this is my preference. having it near centered was nice on a groomers the other day but it did feel odd having a smaller nose than i'm used to recently.

[Spenser]

Just for reference, mine is a touch more setback than Cannon's, based on what he said. Essentially, I took factory setback and moved each binding back an insert, while he only moved one - but it looks like he slides the front back a hair too. I'm guessing he's at about 3/4", while I'm at about 1 1/16 if we're splitting hairs Cannon is better at snowboarding, so I'd copy him

[Jean77]

I talked to Cannon on Instagram and asked him his stance. This is what he send me.

[YukonCornelius]

i moved my front binding to those exact inserts this morning before riding, and have my rear foot on the second backs already i believe....

nose is 3inches longer than tail now. stance width around 21" which is the narrowest i've gone in a while, but we will go with it for now.

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the board was noticeably more predictable, and it didn't have the heelside grabbiness that i noticed the other day when i was being lazy with the front foot. i could do a lot more backfoot driving and that felt wonderful. we got a few inches overnight so it was soft and fast this morning, good testing conditions. great great board, we will see if it supplants the aeronaut for me for my recent favorite in the last few years over the next few months.

[jsil]

@Spenser

I've been kind of back and forth between the Descender, Flagship and Banked Country over the last year, but I found a Descender 161 for 20% off and snagged it. If its too big/stiff for me, I'll pass it on to someone else, and I think, try a Banked Country 159. Lars had told me that he thought the Descender 161 and BC 159 are pretty similarly sized.

Really looking forward to your thoughts on it when you get the board on snow.