Technology
The FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology
is a new material technology developed for the application as a gliding sole for winter sports products like skis and snowboards. Within the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology the latest know how in composites nanotechnology as well as the state of the art in thermoplastic material science is combined. In comparison to common running bases made of Polyethylene, which is the most common low cost mass plastic, the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology is a new plastic copolymer blend based on Polypropylene. Polypropylene is known to be harder, lighter and stronger to mechanical and environmental stress, like for example UV radiation, than Polyethylene but it is not applicable in cold conditions because it gets stiff and brittle below around 0°C. Now the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology managed to develop a new Polypropylene based copolymer composition, which keeps all the material benefits from Polypropylene until -50°C and implements an intermolecular effect which is tuned to make the surface of the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases changing its surface hardness dynamically suitable to the snow temperature without a significant influence to the materials flexural strength. Furthermore the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology shows a total new approach regarding the achievement of continuous good gliding properties in all snow conditions by making the materials surface itself behave like “the right wax for the present snow”. At common Polyethylene running bases wax is brought on its surface and sticks to the base by hooking in its pores, so the gliding agent here is structure based incorporated into the Polyethylene surface. That is why while riding the wax gets rubbed out of the pores and the Polyethylene running base does not glide so well anymore and abrades. Unlike this the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology generates the gliding agents out of its molecular compound, what makes the material itself gliding. So with the FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology the gliding agent is molecular based, it is incorporated into the molecular network. And if one FX - SMARTBASE® - molecule should get scratched away the one below replaces it and brings up the same properties, this feature of the molecular incorporated gliding agent is called surface active polymers (SAP’s).
The following principal illustrations will revisualize the just described differences between the old Polyethylene bases and the new FX - SMARTBASE® - Technology:
Summary
As a result of the properties combination to adapt on the one hand its surface hardness dynamically to the snow conditions together with on the other hand the molecular based gliding agents, the SAP’s, the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases always behave like “the right wax for the present snow”.
Features
As described the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases show in comparison to common running bases outstanding properties, which result in the following described performance features.
Because FX - SMARTBASE® running bases adapt their surfaces dynamically to the snow conditions, the bases glide very well in all snow conditions even in fast changing snow conditions without any wax treatments. The FX - SMARTBASE® running bases never get dry and grey, so the base designs always look crisp. Also the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases are extreme low - maintenance as they do not have to be always waxed to look good and to perform.
The following pictures are microscopic photographs of the surfaces of running bases at the edge of snowboards. In picture 5 you see the surface of a sintered Polyethylene base after 50 hours of riding, before the test the board was new and serial waxed. In comparison you see the FX - SMARTBASE® running base 3.1 also ridden 50 hours in the same conditions in picture 6, the board was also new.
 Sintered Polyethylene base |
 FX - SMARTBASE® 3.1 |
Besides the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases are able to be repaired in common way with their origin FX - SMARTBASE® material, which enables a full restoration of the bases after damage. Furthermore the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases are eco-friendly. And even though it is not necessary for leisure riding requirements to wax the FX - SMARTBASE® running bases it is of course possible to wax them for instance for competitive riding preferably with the FX waxes from Holmenkol Sport technologies.
