I think one of the reasons a kicker is often included is due to the sharp angle made by the board and the ground making the bottom 25cm of the board unusable anyway? (i.e. your foot doesn't fit in the gap, unless you inside/outside edge or really point your toes.)
Quote from: mr chaz on February 08, 2023, 06:00:17 pmDon't bother with either! Got rid of my headwall after a few months, last moves were always easy. Never had a kickboard, makes the pull-ons nice and hard.100% this. I do have a small finishing rail, but it's at about 40' (board is 45') and is only about 7cm with the roof of my shed above it, so finishing moves are to slot type edges so you have to be accurate. Absolutely none of the lobs to finishing jugs you get on so many boards.
Don't bother with either! Got rid of my headwall after a few months, last moves were always easy. Never had a kickboard, makes the pull-ons nice and hard.
I've got a beam along to the top of my board with a beastmaker 2K in the centre (and various slopey holds on either side). The beastmaker is easily the best part of the board, it introduces a seemingly endless supply of novel finishes. My current favourite is doing a rose move across the sloper 30s, which is desperate. For bigger moves you usually can't see any of the slot holds, so it's loads of fun trying to stick them. And who doesn't want to do a climb which finishes on two monos?
The top surface of the lowest row of feet on my 45 with no kicker is 9cm above the floor. It doesn't feel dabby when I use them front on. I suppose it might for someone with very large feet.This is with a sitstart pad below the feet. Not that I need the padding for protection; I've got a terraced house so I use the padding to stop the neighbours having to hear my heel thudding into the wooden floor every time my foot pops.QuoteI've got a beam along to the top of my board with a beastmaker 2K in the centre (and various slopey holds on either side). The beastmaker is easily the best part of the board, it introduces a seemingly endless supply of novel finishes. My current favourite is doing a rose move across the sloper 30s, which is desperate. For bigger moves you usually can't see any of the slot holds, so it's loads of fun trying to stick them. And who doesn't want to do a climb which finishes on two monos?That is a good reason to add a headwall if it is the best place you have to mount a fingerboard.
The problem I find with setting arbitrary rules (e.g. no kicker) is that it doesn’t tend to be the norm and it’s often the path of least resistance that’s used (e.g. using the kicker). On my previous board I had a range of feet on the kicker and almost only used three of them. laziness often set in when creating. Also depends what you use to record problems, if there isn’t a way to make a note specifying rules, it gets lost semi-quickly.
Though I got good mileage out of having three finishing holds though. Two jugs either side for warm ups and then a campus rung that everything finished on.
I have a 50 with a 400ish kicker, with no holds on it. I can recommend it if the space suits!
Quote from: Probes on February 10, 2023, 11:37:30 amI have a 50 with a 400ish kicker, with no holds on it. I can recommend it if the space suits!Again, I don't really have a kicker and my board twists from 30 to 45 degrees across its width. I splashed on some decent mats for it (£££) and I've just set the footholds at a height as you'd expect at a local wall but I've got the height to do this.
Quote from: Paul B on February 10, 2023, 01:46:52 pmQuote from: Probes on February 10, 2023, 11:37:30 amI have a 50 with a 400ish kicker, with no holds on it. I can recommend it if the space suits!Again, I don't really have a kicker and my board twists from 30 to 45 degrees across its width. I splashed on some decent mats for it (£££) and I've just set the footholds at a height as you'd expect at a local wall but I've got the height to do this.If you'd had a kicker on yours, it would be justifiable to have lower offs too. I suppose the point I'm making, is with limited head space (as in my case re building height regs) then going without a kicker doesn't necessarily make a board climb bigger... in the case of a 45-50. Pete's 50 with 150 kicker always was a squash to me at the bottom, and most of the time the first move/s were just a case of keeping your arse off the mats, and making a big move to clear up space to get feet up. That said, his is massive (high) so after this there's plenty board still to go at.
Hey all, im about to build a board in my garage this coming week. I plan to have a kicker and top, looking at 40-50 degree. The only thing is my floor is quite sloped. Im talking like 15-20degree sloped upwards towards the door to the kitchen. Will this effect it much? I imagine it’ll be like one of those big walls like they have at depot Manchester where the floor slopes up as you climb up the wall.