DP Seals is providing Barefoot Boarding with custom rubber mouldings for its new snow surfing product that is taking winter sports by storm. Combining a skateboard-like platform with a conventional single ski, the barefoot board allows the rider to experience the feeling of ocean surfing on snow. The custom rubber mouldings ensure edge control whilst attenuating high-frequency vibration transmission for a more comfortable ride.

The barefoot board consists of a long neoprene-covered, composite-reinforced, laminated maple skateboard deck connected to a conventional 168cm ski by a high-tensile aerodynamic aluminium mounting. A simple single bolt mechanism locks the board, truck and ski together. DP Seals' mouldings sit between the truck and the ski.

"We pour-moulded our first development parts before moving on to a custom moulding for higher volume production," says Stewart Morley, Senior Manager, Engineering and Design at Barefoot Boarding. "DP Seals provided much needed technical and material knowledge, ensuring we arrived at the right production solution without compromising board performance."

Precision moulded from XNBR (Carboxylated Nitrile), the seals are 0.8mm thicker at each end compared to the middle. This accurate shaping of the bottom surface allows for the convex curvature of the ski, ensuring contact along the full length of the truck and eliminating non-contact areas at each end. Close contact is the key to the greater edge control essential to carve and slide turns and fast rail-to-rail transitions, and is similar in concept to high-tolerance bushings in car suspension systems. It also helps eliminate much of the varying vibration input from the rider and the snow/ice terrain, typically between 8kHz and 15kHz.

The hardness of the seals has a direct effect on performance. Currently, the seals are moulded in 50 IRHD grade XNBR, making them suitable for general use; a softer rubber increases flexibility, opening the way to more trick options whilst a harder seal contributes to increased speed.