Board Upgrade???

Hi,

I am an intermediate (male, 5 10', 75kg) based in europe. I am looking
to upgrade from my GNU Carbon High Beam 156. I am mostly a freeride
kinda guy and don't go into the park very much.

Any ideas on what sort of board I should be looking at? My mates
recommend the Ride Timeless, but is this going to be too stiff for me?
Any views

Thanks
Bob

Performance boards are getting softer. You can compensate rigidity
with some length and you can compensate manueverability with width. I
went up a few cm from my preferred length but also went with a narrower
board.

Bob Badger wrote:
Hi,

I am an intermediate (male, 5 10', 75kg) based in europe. I am looking
to upgrade from my GNU Carbon High Beam 156. I am mostly a freeride
kinda guy and don't go into the park very much.

Any ideas on what sort of board I should be looking at? My mates
recommend the Ride Timeless, but is this going to be too stiff for me?
Any views

Thanks
Bob

Bob Badger wrote:
Hi,

I am an intermediate (male, 5 10', 75kg) based in europe. I am looking
to upgrade from my GNU Carbon High Beam 156. I am mostly a freeride
kinda guy and don't go into the park very much.

Any ideas on what sort of board I should be looking at? My mates
recommend the Ride Timeless, but is this going to be too stiff for me?
Any views

Thanks
Bob

The Ride Timeless is a nice board, it is stiffer than your GNU CHB
which is a softer freestyle flex and shape, but it is only in the
medium-stiff range - there's no way one of them would be too stiff for
you in the sub-160cm range. At 75 kg, you could afford to go bigger
with like a 158 (I'm 5'8" 69kg and rode the 156 when I demoed it) as it
will give you better edge hold and stability at higher speeds on frozen
hardpack or ice. However, if you are still learning how to carve and
still kick out your tail a lot to steer, you might find the 156 more
comforting... I personally say go for the 158 (there are people who
would recommend even longer boards, but I'm a in-the-middle type of
guy)

If you are looking at other boards, I would be looking for a top-end
freeride board from last season that's like now selling for 30-40% off.
Something in the 156-160 size range with at *least* a 8m sidecut with a
medium to stiff flex (it's pretty hard to buy a truly stiff board in a
regular snowboard shop). The Ride Timeless 156 or 159 fits perfectly
into this range. So does the Salomon Forecast however there are lots
and I think at this point in your life you are better off searching for
something on sale and seeing if it's worth buying as opposed to looking
for a specific model. Boards change very slowly over time so you
sacrifice very little with getting older "never-used" boards. My advice
is to ignore whatever the store salesman tells you, I've found they
*rarely* know what they are talking about. For user reviews of boards,
try www.boardreviews.com and search for the model you are interested
in, ignore any post with someone who has less than five years of riding
experience. www.goneboarding.co.uk is good too.

Good luck,
--Arvin

If you like your GNU try a board from Lib Tech's hard Carving Freestyle
Series. My preference is the Emma Peel. I've had 2 of those and they hold
a special place in my heart.