Fangs nullified a 19mph nosedive

2 March 2019, 21:28 UTC

It finally happened after a couple of months of owning the XR. I was trying to keep up with my cousin on his bike and out of nowhere the nose dropped straight to the pavement. I knew at the time I was hitting top speed for the day's ride. I didn't think, I just reacted by dropping my front foot down and raising my back foot and tucking my knee inward and slightly forward, while keeping my center of gravity over the wheel. I rode it out for about 3 seconds before the gyro kicked back in while I gradually increase pressure to the tail. Now if I was carving at the time the nose dropped, it would have possibly been a different outcome. Moral of the story is....the fangs gave me that fraction of second to let the proper reaction take place. I've ridden vert, snowboarded and I surf, so that dropped angle for riding out was not that bad at all,...I just had to have my COG in the right place, which it apparently was. Be safe and ride w/in your limits.

2 March 2019, 22:53 UTC

May all nosedives with fangs be this successful in the future. Glad to hear it worked out so well for you. I hope this never happens to me but glad to know it’s possible with the fangs. Gives me a fraction of Hope if my nose ever drops.

2 March 2019, 23:32 UTC

@Rough-Cutt Good to know. Even though I have Fangs on my boards, I and most people have been skeptical that they'd be able to do much in a high-speed nosedive, since so much depends on the smoothness of the pavement, the rider's reaction time, and what maneuver they were performing at the time (like you say, if you'd been carving, you'd probably have eaten it).

But it's nice to know that even in a high-speed situation they may occasionally still be able to do the trick, and I have enough anecotal evidence from people that they can work in lower-speed situations that I feel comfortable with my decision, as primarily a pavement rather than off-road rider, to equip my boards with this failsafe device. I'd encourage everyone to at least consider them. There's nothing wrong with a piece of unobtrusive, reasonably-priced safety equipment that buys you a tiny bit of extra reaction time in the event of rider or board error.

In the past I've likened them to airbags, or the curl-ups at the nose of a ski or snowboard, but you could just as well think of the way that a seatbelt can keep you in your seat long enough to execute an extra bit of steering or braking.

If you've already been launched from the car or board, ain't no further accident minimization or recovery action possible.

4 March 2019, 18:13 UTC

I am a believer in the Fangs. They're of no use offroad or on really rough asphalt/concrete, but on most road and sidewalk surfaces, they are a lifesaver. I have had a similar experience to Rough Cutt in which I got a little too aggressive at like 12mph or so, and nosed my board down. Instead of a dead stop nosedive, the fangs just rolled and i rode nose down for a second or so and then recovered. Had i not had them, results would have been significantly different lol.

6 March 2019, 01:28 UTC

The fangs have saved me twice and once not. Both saves were going uphill onto a sidewalk with a wheelchair transition and the nose touched, fangs rolled and saved my ass. The "not" time the transition (a ditch in the pavement going up a steep hill) was too much for the fangs and I went down and rolled with the punch. Minimal damage to me or the board. I hit the back of my head hard enough to draw a little blood but don't feel any dumber than normal so am not going to buy a helmet quite yet. 500 + miles so far. BTW, I'm 74 and have taken (exactly) 4 falls (so far) LOL.