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#1
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Freeride board recommendations?
I've got a 2000 Burton Custom 160. I'm 6 foot, 175 pounds, so my board is on
the small side for me, I suppose. I'm looking to get a new one that's a bit bigger when the spring sales kick in. I freeride (not really sure how freeriding differs from all-mountain, but I certainly cover the whole mountain--everywhere but the park). I'm thinking of getting another Custom or a Custom X, but maybe I'm not being that creative here. If there's a better board out there--say, the Burton T6 or Salomon Definition--I'd go for it. More to the point, I'm wondering if the high-performance boards from the top mfgs--Ride, Salomon, Nitro, Burton, Palmer, etc.--differ that significantly. I mean, the main complaints I hear about Burton are more political than qualitative. Do certain brands have unique qualities? |
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#2
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Freeride board recommendations?
"msegal" wrote it. More to the point, I'm wondering if the high-performance boards from the top mfgs--Ride, Salomon, Nitro, Burton, Palmer, etc.--differ that significantly. I mean, the main complaints I hear about Burton are more political than qualitative. Do certain brands have unique qualities? Yes they certainly do differ quite a bit. Custom is quite soft compared to most "expert" boards. Try Johan if you want to stick to Burton brand, but other than that demo as much as you can and figure out what characteristics you prefer. Say, I recently found out that I don't actually like narrow-waisted boards. I do like the feeling of having a leverage over the edge of the board, and being able to "dig it in" using that leverage. Boards with waist below 25cm just don't have that trench-digging quality, I don't feel like I have a sharp knife attached to my feet. Also, turns out that I just love extremely stiff boards, even though I'm very light for my size (145lbs, 5'11"). But I do not like the narrow tail in my Palmer Carbon Circle at all, because it basically forces me to either work harder than I'm willing to, or to descend at speeds I'm not comfortable with. It beats everything else I've tried so far in high-speed stability, but that's something I'm willing to compromise for other things. I also very much like the idea of supporting small companies like Donek, Neversummer, Prior. Isn't it super-cool that you can actually talk with the dude who will be hand-making your board over the phone? Sure, they can't afford technology that's required to make boards like Burton T6, but it's not all that important. My understanding is that for example Donek boards have a very long effective edge for their size, so if you're comparing swing weight they might actually come out on top of all uber-espensive hi-tech boards with less effective edge. Out of the "mainstream" stuff, I recently tried Palmer Classic. There's definitely some merit in their ad saying it's the best value on the rack - great board for the price, and it's actually quite close to Custom in geometry and flex, maybe a tad stiffer. So if you like your Classic, it's worth checking out - it's quite a bit cheaper, and I personally would actually prefer Classic to Custom even for the same money. -- Dmitry |
#3
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Freeride board recommendations?
"msegal" wrote in message ...
I've got a 2000 Burton Custom 160. I'm 6 foot, 175 pounds, so my board is on the small side for me, I suppose. I'm looking to get a new one that's a bit bigger when the spring sales kick in. I freeride (not really sure how freeriding differs from all-mountain, but I certainly cover the whole mountain--everywhere but the park). I'm thinking of getting another Custom or a Custom X, but maybe I'm not being that creative here. If there's a better board out there--say, the Burton T6 or Salomon Definition--I'd go for it. More to the point, I'm wondering if the high-performance boards from the top mfgs--Ride, Salomon, Nitro, Burton, Palmer, etc.--differ that significantly. I mean, the main complaints I hear about Burton are more political than qualitative. Do certain brands have unique qualities? I demo'd the top of the line boards from Ride, Burton, & Salomon this year and liked them all. Don't know about Nitro and Palmer. The ones you mentioned are good. If you have larger feet, look at the midwide boards out there. As far as top of the line, the T6 was very nice as was the Salomon ERA. -todd |
#4
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Freeride board recommendations?
"Dmitry" wrote in message news:SN%Wb.21244$yE5.97527@attbi_s54...
"msegal" wrote it. More to the point, I'm wondering if the high-performance boards from the top mfgs--Ride, Salomon, Nitro, Burton, Palmer, etc.--differ that significantly. I mean, the main complaints I hear about Burton are more political than qualitative. Do certain brands have unique qualities? Yes they certainly do differ quite a bit. Custom is quite soft compared to most "expert" boards. Try Johan if you want to stick to Burton brand, but other than that demo as much as you can and figure out what characteristics you prefer. Say, I recently found out that I don't actually like narrow-waisted boards. I do like the feeling of having a leverage over the edge of the board, and being able to "dig it in" using that leverage. Boards with waist below 25cm just don't have that trench-digging quality, I don't feel like I have a sharp knife attached to my feet. Also, turns out that I just love extremely stiff boards, even though I'm very light for my size (145lbs, 5'11"). But I do not like the narrow tail in my Palmer Carbon Circle at all, because it basically forces me to either work harder than I'm willing to, or to descend at speeds I'm not comfortable with. It beats everything else I've tried so far in high-speed stability, but that's something I'm willing to compromise for other things. I also very much like the idea of supporting small companies like Donek, Neversummer, Prior. Isn't it super-cool that you can actually talk with the dude who will be hand-making your board over the phone? Sure, they can't afford technology that's required to make boards like Burton T6, but it's not all that important. My understanding is that for example Donek boards have a very long effective edge for their size, so if you're comparing swing weight they might actually come out on top of all uber-espensive hi-tech boards with less effective edge. Out of the "mainstream" stuff, I recently tried Palmer Classic. There's definitely some merit in their ad saying it's the best value on the rack - great board for the price, and it's actually quite close to Custom in geometry and flex, maybe a tad stiffer. So if you like your Classic, it's worth checking out - it's quite a bit cheaper, and I personally would actually prefer Classic to Custom even for the same money. I rode a Ride Timless 161 for three seasons and loved it. Parks, pipes, groomers, powder, cliffs, ice, gates, and teaching lessons. That board rocked, super stiff but still responsive and forgiving. They are spendy, but there often seems to be a good supply of last year's boards available for reasonable money. |
#5
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Freeride board recommendations?
Definitely, different boards and different manufacturers have
different board qualities. I have ridden many differnt boards, currently ride a donek wide. I recommend you check them out, especially if you are looking for a responsive freeride board. |
#6
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Freeride board recommendations?
"Biff" wrote in message om... Definitely, different boards and different manufacturers have different board qualities. I have ridden many differnt boards, currently ride a donek wide. I recommend you check them out, especially if you are looking for a responsive freeride board. I'll definitely demo if I can, but I don't get to the mountains as much as I'd like--I'm a fairly new dad; this season, I may top out at the 9 days I've gotten in so far. Which is why I'm trolling for opinions. Now, if the Custom is considered on the soft side, what are the pros and cons of a stiffer board? I'm assuming I'd be gaining in the carving and speed departments. But does stiffness make moguls more difficult, for instance? |
#7
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Freeride board recommendations?
On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 22:27:02 -0800, "msegal"
wrote: I'll definitely demo if I can, but I don't get to the mountains as much as I'd like--I'm a fairly new dad; this season, I may top out at the 9 days I've gotten in so far. Which is why I'm trolling for opinions. Now, if the Custom is considered on the soft side, what are the pros and cons of a stiffer board? I'm assuming I'd be gaining in the carving and speed departments. But does stiffness make moguls more difficult, for instance? Stability at higher speeds for one....Less chatter coming out of turns at higher speeds as well... Spiff |
#8
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Freeride board recommendations?
"msegal" wrote I've gotten in so far. Which is why I'm trolling for opinions. Now, if the Custom is considered on the soft side, what are the pros and cons of a stiffer board? I'm assuming I'd be gaining in the carving and speed departments. But does stiffness make moguls more difficult, for instance? To me the difference between riding soft and stiff board is just going down the slope versus ripping it real good. The dynamics are quite different, stiff board is one big spring I can play with and use its force in creative ways, it almost adds another dimention to riding (how about jumping OVER that bump using the kick-out force getting out of the carve?). Moguls.. Depends on conditions and type of moguls. Soft board lowers the bar of the steepness where you can carve. Most moguls I'm interested in are not carveable anyway - you need to surge down and rotate the back of the board while it's in the air. In this case stiff board is definitely preferable because it just holds a much better edge when you land. I was amazed how well my 3-year old (but still new Timeless held an edge on icy black-slope moguls at Baker last weekend. I just wasn't going anywhere but where the board is pointing at, period. The other two things I like about stiff boards is that they show you your mistakes and bad technique much sooner, and that they're quite a satisfying workout if you actually start using them the right way. -- Dmitry |
#9
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Freeride board recommendations?
"Dmitry" wrote in
news:kRuXb.315692$na.468497@attbi_s04: Moguls.. Depends on conditions and type of moguls. Soft board lowers the bar of the steepness where you can carve. Most moguls I'm interested in are not carveable anyway - you need to surge down and rotate the back of the board while it's in the air. Dmitry Can you talk more about your mogul technique? And does it vary depending on soft/hard bumps? Steepness? Narrow trail? Thnaks Mike |
#10
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Freeride board recommendations?
"Mike M. Miskulin" wrote Can you talk more about your mogul technique? And does it vary depending on soft/hard bumps? Steepness? Narrow trail? Ugh.. I can, but by no means I'm a mogul expert. First off, I think that trying to ride moguls makes you a much better overall rider. Moguls teach you a lot about separation of upper and lower body, about weight transfer and balance over the board. If you feel like you've reached some sort of plateau and stopped progressing your smooth-slope riding - go ride some moguls. Now, I think there are a few key things with riding moguls. First and most important is this very hard thing of leaning forward. Bacically, your body should be perpendicular to the slope, and your shoulder line should be parallel to the BACK side of the bump. Which, on black slopes, is almost falling down face-first, at least it sure feels like that. This is very unnatural and it's very hard to fight the natural urgency to lean back to the mountain. But without leaning forward you are completely hopless on moguls. Second, it's the infamous "relax and commit" thing. Again, it's more of a phsychological barrier, because you'll be ways out of your comfort zone which in turn makes you stiff and worsens the technique quite a bit. As ridiculous as it sounds, sometimes I have to just go get a stiff drink if things don't click - helps me to relax a bit and get things flowing. Oh yeah, and there's the usual "look way forward", three moguls ahead at minimum. In steep mogul runs what I'm doing is essentially aiming for the top of the next mogul with my weight on the front leg and knees bent only a little. The key here is to keep as much weight on the front of the board, because otherwise you just won't be able to use it to turn - the board needs to grab with the front part of the edge. When I hit the top (front) side of the mogul, the board is pointing almost perpendicular to the fall line. Make a very deep squat, absorb the energy of the impact with the mogul. At that point the upper body is still traveling along the fall line, so I almost "go over the handlebars". With knees bent and weight way forward I slide the board off of the top of the mogul, and then jump to unweighten the the board and rotate it in the air to point at the top of the next mogul, changing from heel to toe side or vice versa in the process. Loop to the beginning of the paragraph here, until too tired or reached the end of the mogul run I think the dynamics are no different from what skiers are doing, so you can observe good skiers doing the moguls and do the same on the snowboard. |
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