Anne-Charlotte PasseraBack in 2019, while attending the last monthly Friday Food Truck Festival with my son, we discovered this new company called Montreal B Board.
We saw a man, the owner Nicolas, wobble on a wooden balance board. Actually, he wasn’t wobbling, he was maintaining perfect balance on the board, and we were just mesmerized by it. Intrigued, my son and I tested our balance on it. We didn’t last long but we were hooked. My son really wanted the board. I struck a deal with him as I don’t tend to buy things out of the blue for my kids just because they asked. So he paid 75% of the price and I forked out the rest.
We used it often at the beginning, even doing competitions amongst ourselves to see who could last the longest. It became a family-friendly competition. Then after a while, when the novelty wore off, it got put in a corner. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that my son started using it again. Admittedly, his balance has greatly improved since our humble beginnings. He can now stand on it for an hour without falling whereas my record is stuck at 57 seconds.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Nicolas Loiselle to talk about his product and his company, Montreal B Board. It doesn’t get more local than this as the balance boards are not only made in Montreal, but just 1 block away from our house!
The inspiration behind this balance board
All it took was a 6-month backpacking trip along the Pacific coastline of Central America with a long layover in Costa Rica for this idea of a wooden balance board to flourish.
It was surfers who introduced the idea of the balance board to Nicolas. By practising on one, it makes surfing for real a whole lot easier.
Nicolas thought it was a great idea to bring back home to Quebec. He built himself his own board once he came home in May 2018. Then, he made some for some family members and friends. He would even bring his board to parties to show it off. As he was being asked more and more to make some, he thought that maybe he could start his own business.
He tested his idea at a 3-day event in August 2018 and sold 38 boards!
By October 2018, only 6 months after making his first board (for himself), Nicolas quit his full-time job and thus began the story of Montreal B Board.
Montreal B Board
From its humble beginnings, the company now employs 5 people, including Nicolas.
Montreal B Board is a company that was able to come out on top during the pandemic. Due to the shortage of training equipment, the closing of gyms and the measures taken by the government of Quebec to promote local businesses, the year 2020 was a good year for this young company. People were looking for new ways to train, and the balance board was one of them.
Moreover, Nicolas and his company were featured on the TV show “L’Oeil du Dragon” (Dragon’s Den) which aired on May 6, 2020, right in the middle of our first confinement. What a stroke of luck. He even received an offer!
The environment is at the heart of this company.
When I first met Nicolas in 2019, different types of boards existed in terms of colour and pattern. It was too complexed to handle so Nicolas simplified the process. Nowadays, it’s 5 different types of boards but only 1 colour which you can find HERE.
You can personalize your board for an extra $50 with a logo or an inscription that will be engraved with a laser. To do so, send them your image that needs to be black on a white backdrop of good quality; preferably in a JPEG, PDF or PNG file format.
The balance boards
At the beginning, it would take more than 2 hours to make one board. Nowadays, from A to Z it only takes 45 minutes.
Since 2018, over 6,000 boards have been sold and only 2 came back due to a construction flaw. Yes, that’s how durable this product is.
The most popular models are the Wake shape and the Classic. People tend to like symmetry, Nicolas told me. But if you want to go off the main path, try the Surf shape instead.
A new model has also been added to the product line and that is the one for kids under the age of 10. The idea behind it also goes to show how eco-conscious this company is. In order to recycle even more wood, with the thinner parts (10 mm), Montreal B Board makes the kid version called Penny. Isn’t it the sweetest name? Since the wood is not as thick, it can’t withstand the weight of an adult, but it can a child.
For each balance board purchased, a tree is planted in partnership with the organizations NatureLab.World and Compensation Co2 Quebec.
Material
The beauty of this wooden balance board is that not only it is designed and handmade in Montreal, but it’s 100% recycled wood.
At the beginning, Nicolas would get the wood from a local company that was just giving its wood scraps away, for free. Unfortunately, other people were grabbing the free wood scraps, making it hard for Nicolas to have a steady stream of wood coming in.
He now purchases the industrial wood waste from 4 manufacturers in Montreal and 6 in Toronto.
The wood used is Russian birch wood; it’s the highest standard in the construction field. It’s a wood that is both thin and resistant. As a result, the balance board can support up to 350 pounds.
92% of the wood bought is used to make the boards and by-products.
The cut of the balance board was designed to emphasize the grain direction of the wood. For the sake of detail, the finishing and sanding were improved to obtain a high-quality product.
It doesn’t matter which style of board you get as they are all designed the same way, for all levels. If you are more agile, you could get the Pro version which essentially the only difference is that it doesn’t have stoppers.
Benefits
These wooden balance boards can be used by anyone who can stand on his own, yes even kids. Of course, for the youngsters it needs to be done under an adult supervision.
Some of the benefits of a balance board for adults and children are:
- Increases focus and concentration;
- Transfer of weight;
- Developing reflexes;
- Balance;
- Posture;
- Strengthens the abdominal belt;
- Motricity.
These boards are also being used in schools for physical education or in classrooms for kids who have ADD.
They can also provide entertainment for your family during a cold wintery day or a party you are hosting. There is nothing wrong with some friendly competition. Laughter and embarrassing moments guaranteed.
Balance Board Exercises
Just standing alone on a balance board is considered exercise. We have ours on a yoga mat so that it rolls better. Place it near a table or in our case behind the sofa to have something to hold on to while you get on it.
However, if you want to maximize your use of the balance board or are looking for an additional challenge, Montreal B Board has created exercising videos with the help of a physiotherapist. Check them out HERE.
These wooden balance boards handmade in Montreal are a lot of fun, don’t take up much space and are a great useful birthday or Christmas gift idea. Thank you so much Nicolas for sharing some of your time with me for this interview.
Nicolas and Montreal B Board will be at the Palais des Congrès on November 5th to 7th for the first edition of the Salon de l’Homme. You can purchase your tickets HERE.
