ESPN Interview With Steve Walden – Strato-Flex 0
ESPN sits down with Steve Walden to talk about his venture into Strato-Flex boards. The photo speaks for itself.
The Strato-Flex is a series of five stringers. The middle stringer runs the length of the board, just like 99% of surfboards made. But the other four only run two-thirds to half the length of the board. This board bends like a pole dancer. Yowza!
“With thinner, lighter EPS construction, the board flex has never been as apparent. With over two inches of flex on both the tail and nose, I see the need to control the flex, as it is now effecting the integrity of the board design.
The strato controls the flex by limiting it to the nose and tail, where you want to keep some, but maintains that stiffness in the middle of the board to keep the speed and keep the water entry clean.”
Walden put the board down right in the street and stepped on it. Thing just flexed and then popped right back into shape. Now, I’ve seen this demonstration with the Firewire before, but this is a longboard, and a very high-performance longboard. Thinner boards like this do have a tendancy to snap. I’m curious to see what his team riders do with flex control and a stronger overall board.
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