This board has had a long time in the making, but it’s finally here!

The Formula has its quirks, so here’s an explanation and setup guide.

Lately, many board manufacturers are building straight to the desires of their riders. This is producing some amazing new products and I’m stoked that Sayshun is on board with this kind of input! For years, I’ve been looking for this very configuration (3 years ago: click here for the link on silverfish) but no one was making it. I tried custom builders and even tried building it myself, to no avail. It has only been in the last few months that I was finally able to sit down, draw up and perfect what has been in my head for so long.

The specs:
9 ply Canadian hard rock maple
Length: 38”
Width: 9.75” at its widest
Wheelbase: 30-30.75”, three options, fits old- and new-school
Concave: Deep progressive tub
Rocker: 1/3”, biased towards the front third of the board
Wedge: 7* Varian wedge
CNC’d wheel wells

There’s a lot of bending happening at the front of the board. While I’m a fan of rocker, I found that most of the available products overdid it and needlessly put it right in the center of the board, uncomfortably angling your feet inwards. On the formula, the front foot sits right in the peak of the rocker, locking it in without going too deep, all while not impeding the back foot.

The wedging was the tricky part. We wanted to have the concave run straight through the board, including through the wedge, rather than ending, sitting flat, then wedging up. The first presses had a straight 7* wedge and, once the veneer was able to stay together out of the mould, there was a serious lasagna effect happening; unhappy wood rippling from all of the stress. The only solution was to wedge the interior of the board without affecting the edges. Luckily, Sayshun’s Drop Dead was also on the drawing table at the same time and its v-shaped Varian drop and concave inspired what is now the Varian wedge on the Formula. This v-shaped wedge follows the line of your foot, keeping you in place like a toe-stop, while not affecting the concave that locks you in over the edges. The end result is a massively locking, yet comfortable, foot pocket that inspires control while keeping your foot all but right over the front truck.

However, this combination of wedging and front-biased rocker has a significant effect on the ride height of the board. Both reduce the height of the front a slight amount and, combined, produce a significant front rake. To remedy this, there were two options: lower the back of the board (not what I wanted) or raise the front back up to its original height. And, the latter of these options comes with some added benefit. By adding 5/8″ of riser (only to the front,) the board returns to its intended ride height and angles (0* back, 7* front), without the rake, and, as a result, produces a significant gain in wheel clearance. Without this, the board would not be able to be so wide, so close up the front truck.

The end result is a ride that is massively versatile. With nothing more than a bushing change, I’ve taken it freeriding on bike paths, racing banked slalom in ditches and over 100 km/h down mountain highways. The front pocket locks you in and the wide rear rails allow from proper leverage to kick out the back in either direction.

The icing on the cake is the graphic, or lack thereof, on the board. What started as a joke played out to be a winning idea. The Formula comes with a blank slate of chalkboard paint on the bottom. You can start your session off with whatever’s on your mind, keep track of your outlaw heats or write down your favorite formulae! Very soon the Fomulas will even be shipping with their own Sayshun chalk!

I’m fully stoked on the Formula and I’m sure that others will be too once they get the chance to ride it.

Nick