Donek Pheonix opinions.

After all the good things people had to say about Donek, I thought I go
ahead and get one this year to see what all the fuss was about. I was
looking for a freeride board but I ended up getting the Phoenix, which
is somewhere in between freestyle and freeride. At 165, the board is 5cm
longer than I would normally ride so it took a little time to get used
to. The next size down that wasn't a wide was a 161, I would have liked
to get something in between the two, but you can't have everything.

I've taken it on 5 weekends so I think I've ridden it enough to get a
good impression. I must say, I've been quite impressed so far. The
biggest thing that stands out it how much grip there is in icey
conditions. I was able to carve down icey runs that I would never have
been able to do before. It was great fun passing all the people slipping
and sliding on sleep icey bits.

I wasn't expecting the board to be very good for jumps and tricks but
it's fine. I was expecting the stiffness to be more restricting but it
wasn't. For straight jumps, it's fantastic because I feel really stable
when taking off and landing. You have to be a bit more accurate when
doing 180s or 360s, maybe because the board is quite stiff.

Off piste is very good. I didn't need to set the binding back at all so
it felt very controlled. I haven't had the chance to try deep powder yet
but I think it's going to be good.

My only gripe is that the underside doesn't seem to be as hard wearing
as other boards I have had. I put a nasty scratch in it on some rocks on
one of the first trips. It may have just been a bad situation but I've
done similar things with other boards and they haven't taking as much
damage. Luckily the scratch is down the middle with no edge damage so it
should be easy to have repaired.

Anyway, some links:

flex demo:
http://www.eiski.net/modules/xoopsga...d=Ischgl06_018

nasty scratch:
http://tucker.fotopic.net/p23859399.html

thanks for the report - just ordered my 163w last week...

You have to be a bit more accurate when
doing 180s or 360s, maybe because the board is quite stiff.

did you change the edge angles? as far as i know there's no base edge
bevel
by default, maybe that's making it more likely to catch an edge when
landing.

nasty scratch:
http://tucker.fotopic.net/p23859399.html

that does look pretty ugly...

markus dolic wrote:
thanks for the report - just ordered my 163w last week...


You have to be a bit more accurate when
doing 180s or 360s, maybe because the board is quite stiff.


did you change the edge angles? as far as i know there's no base edge
bevel
by default, maybe that's making it more likely to catch an edge when
landing.

No didn't change a thing. As far as I know, it's still 0 degrees. You
definatly have to get it right when landing. I quite like it though,
anything that forces you to be better is a good thing in my book.

Octes

After half a season, I have very similar experiences with my Donek
Phoenix 155. It is a joy to ride park and pipe with. I added a 1/1
bevel and so spins (180s,360s) are pretty smooth (you have to be near
perfect with 0/0 and I spin like a half-filled water-bottle). The board
is super light and very easy to do grabs and spins. My base has held up
pretty well to the 50/50s and boardslides that I do with it - actually,
wait, no I justed remember I did have to have a gouge repaired. The
board is surprisingly good in powder (although obivously not good as a
powder specific board like my Fish 156 or an Osin 48067.. My one gripe
is that I find the 8m sidecut to be a little too tight. It's fine in
the park, but when I want to hit some fast groomers, I find the board
tries to whip into a really tight arc, one that even it's excellent
edge hold is hard pressed to do. I would suggest making the 155 to have
a SCR of like 8.2.

--Arvin

Octessence wrote:
After all the good things people had to say about Donek, I thought I go
ahead and get one this year to see what all the fuss was about. I was
looking for a freeride board but I ended up getting the Phoenix, which
is somewhere in between freestyle and freeride. At 165, the board is 5cm
longer than I would normally ride so it took a little time to get used
to. The next size down that wasn't a wide was a 161, I would have liked
to get something in between the two, but you can't have everything.

I've taken it on 5 weekends so I think I've ridden it enough to get a
good impression. I must say, I've been quite impressed so far. The
biggest thing that stands out it how much grip there is in icey
conditions. I was able to carve down icey runs that I would never have
been able to do before. It was great fun passing all the people slipping
and sliding on sleep icey bits.

I wasn't expecting the board to be very good for jumps and tricks but
it's fine. I was expecting the stiffness to be more restricting but it
wasn't. For straight jumps, it's fantastic because I feel really stable
when taking off and landing. You have to be a bit more accurate when
doing 180s or 360s, maybe because the board is quite stiff.

Off piste is very good. I didn't need to set the binding back at all so
it felt very controlled. I haven't had the chance to try deep powder yet
but I think it's going to be good.

My only gripe is that the underside doesn't seem to be as hard wearing
as other boards I have had. I put a nasty scratch in it on some rocks on
one of the first trips. It may have just been a bad situation but I've
done similar things with other boards and they haven't taking as much
damage. Luckily the scratch is down the middle with no edge damage so it
should be easy to have repaired.

Anyway, some links:

flex demo:
http://www.eiski.net/modules/xoopsga...d=Ischgl06_018

nasty scratch:
http://tucker.fotopic.net/p23859399.html

Are you the one who posted a pic with you grabbing the nose to do a nose
press a few months ago? I think you are one of the ones who originally
recommended the board. Well, cheers for the tip. I've been very happy
with it.

I'll probably get the edges changed to 1/1 when it needs sharpening.
Hopefully I won't loose too much hold on the ice.

Octes


lonerider wrote:
After half a season, I have very similar experiences with my Donek
Phoenix 155. It is a joy to ride park and pipe with. I added a 1/1
bevel and so spins (180s,360s) are pretty smooth (you have to be near
perfect with 0/0 and I spin like a half-filled water-bottle). The board
is super light and very easy to do grabs and spins. My base has held up
pretty well to the 50/50s and boardslides that I do with it - actually,
wait, no I justed remember I did have to have a gouge repaired. The
board is surprisingly good in powder (although obivously not good as a
powder specific board like my Fish 156 or an Osin 48067.. My one gripe
is that I find the 8m sidecut to be a little too tight. It's fine in
the park, but when I want to hit some fast groomers, I find the board
tries to whip into a really tight arc, one that even it's excellent
edge hold is hard pressed to do. I would suggest making the 155 to have
a SCR of like 8.2.

--Arvin

Octessence wrote:

After all the good things people had to say about Donek, I thought I go
ahead and get one this year to see what all the fuss was about. I was
looking for a freeride board but I ended up getting the Phoenix, which
is somewhere in between freestyle and freeride. At 165, the board is 5cm
longer than I would normally ride so it took a little time to get used
to. The next size down that wasn't a wide was a 161, I would have liked
to get something in between the two, but you can't have everything.

I've taken it on 5 weekends so I think I've ridden it enough to get a
good impression. I must say, I've been quite impressed so far. The
biggest thing that stands out it how much grip there is in icey
conditions. I was able to carve down icey runs that I would never have
been able to do before. It was great fun passing all the people slipping
and sliding on sleep icey bits.

I wasn't expecting the board to be very good for jumps and tricks but
it's fine. I was expecting the stiffness to be more restricting but it
wasn't. For straight jumps, it's fantastic because I feel really stable
when taking off and landing. You have to be a bit more accurate when
doing 180s or 360s, maybe because the board is quite stiff.

Off piste is very good. I didn't need to set the binding back at all so
it felt very controlled. I haven't had the chance to try deep powder yet
but I think it's going to be good.

My only gripe is that the underside doesn't seem to be as hard wearing
as other boards I have had. I put a nasty scratch in it on some rocks on
one of the first trips. It may have just been a bad situation but I've
done similar things with other boards and they haven't taking as much
damage. Luckily the scratch is down the middle with no edge damage so it
should be easy to have repaired.

Anyway, some links:

flex demo:
http://www.eiski.net/modules/xoopsga...d=Ischgl06_018

nasty scratch:
http://tucker.fotopic.net/p23859399.html

lonerider wrote:
My one gripe is that I find the 8m sidecut to be a little too tight. It's fine in
the park, but when I want to hit some fast groomers, I find the board
tries to whip into a really tight arc, one that even it's excellent
edge hold is hard pressed to do. I would suggest making the 155 to have
a SCR of like 8.2.

How are you going to tell the difference between 8 and 8.2? If you're
wanting to hit fast groomers, a 155 cm freestyle board is just the wrong
tool.

Neil

Octessence wrote:

I'll probably get the edges changed to 1/1 when it needs sharpening.
Hopefully I won't loose too much hold on the ice.

Naw. That's probably the most common tune amongst guys who ride carving
rigs, you'll be just fine. 1 degree base bevel for general purpose
riding, maybe go to .5 degree for something like slalom racing. Most
people want at least some bevel.

Neil

No didn't change a thing. As far as I know, it's still 0 degrees. You
definatly have to get it right when landing. I quite like it though,
anything that forces you to be better is a good thing in my book.

I find that zero degree base bevels cause me to be tentative because I'm
nervous about unwanted edge catches. A .5 or 1 degree bevel takes away
that worry and allows me to ride both more relaxed and more aggressively -
both things that "allow one to ride better".

IMHO, the best equipment and setup for a given individual is that which
allows the rider to forget about their equipment and just think about
riding...


Mike T



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I'll probably get the edges changed to 1/1 when it needs sharpening.
Hopefully I won't loose too much hold on the ice.

Naw. That's probably the most common tune amongst guys who ride carving
rigs, you'll be just fine. 1 degree base bevel for general purpose
riding, maybe go to .5 degree for something like slalom racing. Most
people want at least some bevel.

You won't lose any edge hold on ice... as long as you bevel the die edge as
least as much as the base edge. 1/1 still gives your edge a 90 degree
angle. 1 base / 2 edge gives your edge a 91 degree angle which will
increase your edge hold. 1 base / 0 side, would decrease your edge hold
and I don't recommend doing that.

The more you increase side edge bevel over base edge bevel, the better edge
hold you get, but the more metal you remove and the shorter your edges'
lifetime. I would guesstimate that 99+% of riders will either get tired of
a board, outgrow it, damage the base beyond repair, or blow ouut an edge via
collision, long before edges will have been tuned enough times to "wear them
out".




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Mike T wrote:
I'll probably get the edges changed to 1/1 when it needs sharpening.
Hopefully I won't loose too much hold on the ice.

Naw. That's probably the most common tune amongst guys who ride carving
rigs, you'll be just fine. 1 degree base bevel for general purpose
riding, maybe go to .5 degree for something like slalom racing. Most
people want at least some bevel.


You won't lose any edge hold on ice... as long as you bevel the die edge as
least as much as the base edge. 1/1 still gives your edge a 90 degree
angle. 1 base / 2 edge gives your edge a 91 degree angle which will
increase your edge hold. 1 base / 0 side, would decrease your edge hold
and I don't recommend doing that.

The more you increase side edge bevel over base edge bevel, the better edge
hold you get, but the more metal you remove and the shorter your edges'
lifetime. I would guesstimate that 99+% of riders will either get tired of
a board, outgrow it, damage the base beyond repair, or blow ouut an edge via
collision, long before edges will have been tuned enough times to "wear them
out".


Ah. Thanks for explaining that. What I meant to say then, was that I
will get it sharpened at 1 degree instead of it's current factory 0 degree.

If you'll indulge me further, what's a die edge and a base edge? Am I
correct in thinking 1 base/2 edge would give you this shape /----\
whereas 1 base/0 side would give you this shape \----/? Also is 'side'
the same as 'die' edge in your description.

Don't remember seeing any of this in the FAQ but I'll check.

Octes