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Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 3rd 03, 01:17 AM
Johnny1
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Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

Hi All,

My background: I ride about 10 days a year. I've been riding for five
year at this pace, and I've been an intermediate freerider almost the
whole time. I like powder and groomers the best, park and bumps the
least. For four years I've had a Burton Supermodel 62. This past May
at Mammoth I was having the best boarding day of my life, relaxed and
despite the icy conditions and everything was flowing. But I got
tired and started boarding with my legs too straight. Then I swerved
to avoid a skier and got launched over a bump, and tumbled. I
dislocated my right shoulder and subluxated my left shoulder (like a
partial discloation). This crash cost me $1000 in doctor/hospital
costs and also was a huge bummer to recover from.

Now I still want to board, but would like to take it easy. If I crash
hard and stick my arms out to break the fall, I'll dislocate again and
maybe need surgery. So I don't want to get high speeds. I just want
to have fun cruising the groomers making carves at slow speeds (if
that's possible), and enjoying the pow.

My question: I've had my eye on a Donek Wide 161 for a while. I'm
5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet. I figured the 161 would
float me better in pow, even if I could get away with an Incline. I'd
be going from a very noodly board to a super stiff board. Will it be
the wrong board for what I want to do? Will it still be fun to ride
more slowly? I don't want a board mismatch.

Thanks for any opinions!

Johnny

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  #2  
Old December 3rd 03, 02:46 AM
Brian
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Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

A friend of mine who has skied for about 15 years at about 50 days a year
was in Mammoth last May, and said the same thing you just did.... The best
skiing day of his life. Man why did I decline going with him that weekend?

Anyhow, the board will probably be good for you. You say you want to take
it easy and not go too fast, and yet want to ride on top of the powder.
Hmm. In any event, the Donek will ride on top of the powder well, and its
pretty much a carving board at heart so you'll love it on the groomers, but
it does love to go fast - make no mistake. Of course you can always control
your speed for the most part with the angle of your traverses. I wouldn't
buy a lesser board so your equipment intentionally limits you. Buy
something to grow into that you can limit yourself on in the meantime. With
more years under your belt, your comfortable speed will go up and you'll be
glad you bought the right board.

Brian.


"Johnny1" wrote in message
news
Hi All,

My background: I ride about 10 days a year. I've been riding for five
year at this pace, and I've been an intermediate freerider almost the
whole time. I like powder and groomers the best, park and bumps the
least. For four years I've had a Burton Supermodel 62. This past May
at Mammoth I was having the best boarding day of my life, relaxed and
despite the icy conditions and everything was flowing. But I got
tired and started boarding with my legs too straight. Then I swerved
to avoid a skier and got launched over a bump, and tumbled. I
dislocated my right shoulder and subluxated my left shoulder (like a
partial discloation). This crash cost me $1000 in doctor/hospital
costs and also was a huge bummer to recover from.

Now I still want to board, but would like to take it easy. If I crash
hard and stick my arms out to break the fall, I'll dislocate again and
maybe need surgery. So I don't want to get high speeds. I just want
to have fun cruising the groomers making carves at slow speeds (if
that's possible), and enjoying the pow.

My question: I've had my eye on a Donek Wide 161 for a while. I'm
5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet. I figured the 161 would
float me better in pow, even if I could get away with an Incline. I'd
be going from a very noodly board to a super stiff board. Will it be
the wrong board for what I want to do? Will it still be fun to ride
more slowly? I don't want a board mismatch.

Thanks for any opinions!

Johnny



  #3  
Old December 3rd 03, 03:33 AM
4matic
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

Stick with the Supermodel. It's one of the best boards ever made and easy
to ride. Spend the money on a quality tune-up and some step in bindings
and you'll be good to go.

My buddy rides a lot! And he's about your size. Supermodel 163 is favorite.

"Johnny1" wrote in message
news
Hi All,

My background: I ride about 10 days a year. I've been riding for five
year at this pace, and I've been an intermediate freerider almost the
whole time. I like powder and groomers the best, park and bumps the
least. For four years I've had a Burton Supermodel 62. This past May
at Mammoth I was having the best boarding day of my life, relaxed and
despite the icy conditions and everything was flowing. But I got
tired and started boarding with my legs too straight. Then I swerved
to avoid a skier and got launched over a bump, and tumbled. I
dislocated my right shoulder and subluxated my left shoulder (like a
partial discloation). This crash cost me $1000 in doctor/hospital
costs and also was a huge bummer to recover from.

Now I still want to board, but would like to take it easy. If I crash
hard and stick my arms out to break the fall, I'll dislocate again and
maybe need surgery. So I don't want to get high speeds. I just want
to have fun cruising the groomers making carves at slow speeds (if
that's possible), and enjoying the pow.

My question: I've had my eye on a Donek Wide 161 for a while. I'm
5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet. I figured the 161 would
float me better in pow, even if I could get away with an Incline. I'd
be going from a very noodly board to a super stiff board. Will it be
the wrong board for what I want to do? Will it still be fun to ride
more slowly? I don't want a board mismatch.

Thanks for any opinions!

Johnny



  #4  
Old December 3rd 03, 03:38 AM
Mike T
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

My question: I've had my eye on a Donek Wide 161 for a while. I'm
5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet. I figured the 161 would
float me better in pow, even if I could get away with an Incline. I'd
be going from a very noodly board to a super stiff board. Will it be
the wrong board for what I want to do? Will it still be fun to ride
more slowly? I don't want a board mismatch.


I've got a Wide 161 and my 1st board was a Supermodel 168, so I can
offer as close to a direct comparison as you are likely to get. (The
Supermodel 168 was made for the same weight range as the 162, btw).

The Supermodel excels at powder riding for lighter riders, and slow
carving on groomers for heavier riders. At 175 pounds, you're in the
"heavier" range for the 162. So if your goal is to make slow, short
radius carves your Supermodel might be about the best choice there is.

But...

Keep in mind that Supermodels are not particularly stable boards
especially when you put someone your size on them. I was about 210
when I got my 168, and have ridden it at weights all the way down to
about 175. Anywhere in that range, uneven terrain made it difficult to
maintain stability. This is one of the areas where a Donek excels -
stability. It cuts through uneven terrain as well as or better than
anything else I've ridden. And this stability leads to a comfort zone
that includes higher speeds. Which, in light of your recent injury,
might be just the ticket - rather than slowing down, make it so that you
are more sure-footed at any speed.

My Wide is just as fun as my Supermodel was at lower speeds - turning it
hard at lower speeds requires you put a little more energy into it, but
its still fun.

BTW I did own the two boards concurrently for two seasons - I actually
just got rid of the Supermodel over the summer.

So overall I think you should not shy away from the Donek just because
it is a "faster" board. It's you, not the board who ultimately
determines speed. The faster base will help you on the flats, the
higher stability will hopefully help you keep from injuring yourself
again.

FWIW my wife dislocated a shoulder in mid-season three seasons ago.
She was riding again after four weeks (probably pushing it) and did
fine. I recommend strengthening your shoulders as much as you can, it
will help make future crashes less injuring!

Mike T


  #5  
Old December 3rd 03, 04:02 AM
4matic
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet.


258cm waiste is the widest board I'd suggest at US 10.5 feet unless you want
a much shorter board.


  #6  
Old December 3rd 03, 04:56 AM
Johnny1
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

Wow, thanks a lot all three of you for your great replies. They were
very informative and helpful.

I have been strengthening my shoulders a lot. In my crash my right
arm got pinned behind me and I rolled over it hard, pulling it out of
its socket. It made a "snap" like I broke my arm (I thought that's
what had happened--it would have been a much better result). I doubt
I could stop that again no matter how strong my shoulder was, but I
have the definite impression that the stronger shoulders make me less
subceptible to it coming out in other types of falls.

My Supermodel has Flow FL-11 bindings that I just put on last year and
I love them. I will keep them no matter what. Hopefully they are not
too flexy for the Donek, and the Donek won't take *too* much effort to
turn slowly if I use good technique.

I will let you know if I go for the Donek!

Johnny

  #7  
Old December 3rd 03, 10:05 AM
Playdreamer
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Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

"Johnny1" wrote in message
news
My background: I ride about 10 days a year. I've been riding for five
year at this pace, and I've been an intermediate freerider almost the
whole time. I like powder and groomers the best, park and bumps the
least. For four years I've had a Burton Supermodel 62.


When I started riding I bought a Supermodel 62 and I loved it - really easy
to ride. After about 4 years of riding 7-10 days a year it got stolen while
I was having lunch in a mountain restaurant. This was on the first day of a
week long holiday in the Alps so I spent the next few days trying out lots
of boards and ended up replacing it with a K2 Eldorado 164.

For the first couple of hours I rode the Eldo I felt like a beginner all
over again as it was so unforgiving compared to the Supermodel, mainly
because it was much stiffer, but I very quickly got used to it and found
that my carving, in particular, improved due to the greater stability. Now I
realise I was ready for a stiffer board and I have no doubt that it helped
my riding. It is also a faster board, due to some high tech stuff on the
base, but this has never made me go faster than I want to (does help on
flats though).

Luke

-------------------------
http://www.snowgo.com


  #9  
Old December 3rd 03, 03:01 PM
Brian
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?


"Johnny1" wrote in message
...

I love them. I will keep them no matter what. Hopefully they are not
too flexy for the Donek, and the Donek won't take *too* much effort to
turn slowly if I use good technique.

I will let you know if I go for the Donek!



You'll be fored into good technique with the Donek, like it or not. This
was by far the biggest adjustment I had to make to my riding when I bought
my Donek Wide midseason last year, after spending my first year of learning
on a low priced flimsey piece of carboard. It honestly took me 5 or so days
on the snow to fully adjust and feel 100% comfortable with knowing how to
make the Donek do exactly what I wanted it to. I probably didn't know what
good technique was before riding this board, probably because I never needed
to know. And before I really figured it out, I was fighting with it at slow
speeds and initially got quite frustrated. But just like learning anything
else, eventually things fell into place, and that's when the real fun began!

Brian.


  #10  
Old December 3rd 03, 05:07 PM
Sean Martin
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Posts: n/a
Default Donek Wide too "fast" a board for me?

Johnny,

You may be more interested in our new flight line. It's not even available
yet, but should be by January. It's designed with more of your needs in
mind, but will maintain the same stability of our other boards. Give us a
couple more weeks on it and we should have just about everything lined out.

Sean Martin
Donek Snowboards Inc.

http://www.donek.com/
phone:877-53-DONEK

"Johnny1" wrote in message
news
Hi All,

My background: I ride about 10 days a year. I've been riding for five
year at this pace, and I've been an intermediate freerider almost the
whole time. I like powder and groomers the best, park and bumps the
least. For four years I've had a Burton Supermodel 62. This past May
at Mammoth I was having the best boarding day of my life, relaxed and
despite the icy conditions and everything was flowing. But I got
tired and started boarding with my legs too straight. Then I swerved
to avoid a skier and got launched over a bump, and tumbled. I
dislocated my right shoulder and subluxated my left shoulder (like a
partial discloation). This crash cost me $1000 in doctor/hospital
costs and also was a huge bummer to recover from.

Now I still want to board, but would like to take it easy. If I crash
hard and stick my arms out to break the fall, I'll dislocate again and
maybe need surgery. So I don't want to get high speeds. I just want
to have fun cruising the groomers making carves at slow speeds (if
that's possible), and enjoying the pow.

My question: I've had my eye on a Donek Wide 161 for a while. I'm
5"10, 175 with size 10 (sometimes 10.5) feet. I figured the 161 would
float me better in pow, even if I could get away with an Incline. I'd
be going from a very noodly board to a super stiff board. Will it be
the wrong board for what I want to do? Will it still be fun to ride
more slowly? I don't want a board mismatch.

Thanks for any opinions!

Johnny



 




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