bigwavedave

Has anyone tried the F2 S-flex absorber plate? ...or the vist duo? ^^^Have you used the xpe plate?^^^ Looks similar to the K plate. Is it more for power transmission or vibration reduction, or both?

You have to be a strong rider to get full potential out of it at your wt. You'll have to work hard to make tight turns. It will probably do nice big turns for you.

If the waist is 20cm it's likely a stock board or custom for a larger racer/rider. You're on the very low end of the wt range for that.

I have to say Al's review above really sums it up quite well. This board might be the one board to bring that will put a smile on your face carving groomers and surfcarving powder. I just spent my first day riding this new 181 PC swallowtail, not in deep powder, but soft groom with an inch of fresh on top. Think soft 1st day groom with 3+ inch deep trenches. While waiting for this board to come up in his build schedule, I actually picked up a pre-built smaller version, the 169 PCjv. So, I already had a sense how the 181 might ride. I asked Mark to make it softer than my all-out carving sticks and wider with a 22.5 cm waist for extra float in soft snow and powder. It's an asym for reg (LFF). What I can add to Al's comments above is that this thing carves as well as any of my carving boards! The sidecut feels somewhere around 12-13m. Something between the Super and the 8rw, for those familiar with Thirsts. Big surfy carves across the hill, happy doing quick rhythmic turns down the fall line and one of my favorite things, doing lazy upright turns by just leaning into them. You wouldn't know it's a powder swallowtail while carving groomers. I might try it sometime on really hard or icy conditions just to see, but I suspect I'd rather be on a more aggressive carving stick. That said, I think this might end up being my favorite soft groomer carving board. It feels less likely to borough into soft snow. I now have 6 Thirst boards. After the first demo ride a few years ago I was hooked. It was the ride I was looking for, and more. After having owned several "stock" custom builds, I had a couple of custom titanal boards made with experimental sidecuts that came close, and I still like them. But... After riding my Thirsts for a few years I have noticed that they still have that snappy new board feel, whereas my titanal boards seem to mellow out and lose that liveliness after the first year or so. I was thinking maybe it had something to do with metal fatigue, but after Mark sent me photos of my board's build progress, I'm starting to think that it has more to do with the way he builds his cores. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want me to share details. I think the term Al used above was quasi-isotropic. While it may be easy enough to copy his sidecut design, his core build is incredibly detailed and complex (at least to me), and I'm pretty sure it's unique. It led me to wonder how he can make any money with the meticulous detail that goes into his boards. Anyway, thank you Mark for another great board with its own unique personality. ...a few days later... I rode the PC on much firmer groomed snow today (think 1" deep trenches) after riding my carving sticks all day and I have to say I would be happy riding the PC all day on firm groom. It's a really great carving board. It has a gentle, soft finish to turns and seems to tighten them up a little if you keep it pressured all the way through to the end. Can't wait to ride it in some real powder.

Posted December 26, 2020 Thirst PCjv, the 169 swallowtail powder carver 169cm, 22.5w, N28, T26, EE151, not sure of the sidecut, but it's turny like a slalom board. I'm really liking this board! It rides and feels like a carving board, even in powder. So far, I've been riding with my normal hardboots & SW bindings. I like that you don't have to shift your bindings back or lean back for deeper snow. I was able to ride centered & balanced through varying snow depths from a couple of inches to more than a foot. The nose always stayed near the surface in the deeper stuff. I was even getting some of those soft pillowy powder turns where you gently sink in and rise back up. I rode through some tracked out and drifted snow that I expected to be a rough ride, but it just carved through smoothly. Maybe that's the swallowtail effect or that this board doesn't have a soft floppy nose like a lot of softboot powder boards. I made a video on my last run the other day. Fresh, wind blown and drifted polar powder (-5°F). The hill was closed due to dangerous wind chill, so it was a hike & ride day. I have taken full advantage of Mark's multiboard discount, 6 and counting. Each one a unique ride. Apparently each model has a unique core construction. Boards come with a professional tune (.7° base bevel, 2° side bevel) and ready to ride with a Fastik® treatment roto-brushed into the base. (And, btw, I have no financial connection or compensation arrangement with Thirst. I just love the boards.)

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that. I haven't had the need to experiment with it myself. Maybe try contacting the person from the original post in this thread.

You can add or subtract the cork molding material (OMfit).

We had about 2". One inch groomed in overnight left 1 " on top of the groom. Off & on snow all day with peeks of sun. I was up top for 1st tracks. It had that first day soft groom feel where trenches are actual trenches, 3+inches deep. My chance to ride the new 181PC swallowtail. It's a little softer flex than my carving boards, but man, it carves just as well, yet soft enough not to burough in too deep in a carve in soft snow. Sooo fun! Didn't want to stop. Rode for 3 hrs til about noon. Ken was there. He quit one run before me and it turned out to be a good call as it got way more crowded fast. There were races over on Gandy along with big lift lines. It was also fat bike Sunday which slows the express lift loading. Fortunately the Summit chair was running too. And it's still snowing.

It's snowing here in Duluth. Might go out later if it accumulates. For sure tomorrow. Me, also tired from riding Indianhead yesterday. An early start and long drive adds to the fatigue. The snow was old & hard. A few runs had great carving plus it was sunny. For once, conditions are actually better at Spirit.

Didn't see this ^ before I took off this morning at 6. I rode from 9-noon. Had lunch and hit the road. My legs were done. Catch you next time...when it snows. Where the snow was good, it was about as good as Spirit is now, but that was just on 3 runs, Old Flambeau (best), Chippewa and Voyageurs. This is the first time in memory when conditions weren't better than home. Sundancer was all marbles and ice cubes. I never even wandered over to the other side. At least It was sunny and didn't start getting crowded until around noon. I had an awesome time on the XC. It's been my favorite board this winter. Perfect for all the low vis days, when it's icy, or when it's hard like today (only ½" deep "trenches"). Man I love ripping into those last turns on the face at the bottom! Stopped by the post office to pick up something from da man in northern Idaho.

I've been waiting for this! 181 PC swallowtail powder/carver, for hardboots. kinda blue with midnight sky. 22.5 waist ~2cm taper LFF asym/warp If it's anything like its little brother (the PCjv169) this will be super fun for carving soft snow and surfing powder and we've got some fresh snow in the forecast this weekend ps: just realized you can really see that asym sidecut in the base photo.

looks like an opportunity for a back to back comparison Barry. @workshop7 did your Contra come with a tune, or did you do your own? I had a 167 Throttle with the same topsheet. My first symmetrical, square-tail board. Loved it til I got a Donek FC1.

@Algunderfoot Thinking of making a day trip to Indianhead tomorrow, Friday. I see they have a race camp. Hope they keep it on one run. Probably FIS, it's one of my favorites. You gonna be there Al?

Now we're talkin'. Much better grooming today. Wonder if they are reading this as I type it? 4pipe, SkyHooker, Gandy all good, even humpy JugglerJoe. Snow is still hard, but the groom was deeper, consistant and smooth enough to ride hard. ScissorBill was great, picture below. Russ was there and so was Ken. Another cold day starting out below zero, warmed up to about 10°. Rode hard for 2½ hrs. til the light went flat. Word is that they're building a banked slalom/borderX course on our private carving section of the park. They're still working on it today. Thinking of a day trip to Indianhead tomorrow.

I don't claim credit for it, rather lay blame on the groomer not setting the tiller deep enough. Laziness?...or probably just saving $$ by doing a quick drive by. Yet they'll have 5 guys plus a Piston Bully spend all day working the snow in the park. It's like they're totally ignoring my efforts to improve the gooming on the rest of the hill. Maybe if we had an EXCAVATOR! here, we'd get some results. btw, calling myself "the renovator" is purely aspirational.

Huttner is forecasting more winter cold ahead and some nice satellite pics of today's lake effect plumes. @rwmaronCotton, MN -35F this morning, again. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/01/27/lake-superior-icecover-running-way-below-average

-5°F at the top of the hill this morning at 10 AM opening. Very firm groom, grippy enough, and soft enough in places, to get an edge in, but you really had to make an effort to penetrate the cord. SkyHooker getting better, no exposed ice patches. I could still see leftover tracks from Sunday under the groom on Gandy. We need more snow! I could see some lake effect snow working its way across the lake to the south shore. Dreaming about Indianhead and some soft carves. But where do we always find nice soft groom? Say it together, "In the park." But my smile didn't last long, as the favored left side was roped off and being dug up and reconfigured. Looked like they were building a giant berm (maybe ¼ pipe?), so that might be fun for banked carving. Back over on the other side I found Leighton and Ken doing laps on 4pipe. A lot of the groom is real hard everywhere. My old knees are pleading for more snow please! I lasted 3 hours, but it was fun. Nice thing is that these cold days keep the crowds down for hassle free carving. Finally got in to see my Chiro this afternoon after my crash. Turns out he wasn't on vacation, but had to quarantine for two weeks after testing positive.

Spirit is closed M & T, so fat biking on the river today with 1½" of snow on the ice. Coyote got first tracks.

Really liking these boots especially after getting ZipFit liners. After some experimenting, I ended up with 6° (~1" F2 lift) under both feet, front toe and rear heel. No canting. Widened my stance a bit to accommodate the lifts by moving binding center from 19.5" to 20". In order to get heels and toes equidistant from the edges I always end up moving the binding heel & toe blocks to the extreme ends of the plate. This actually gives me a 20.5" stance width if measuring the distance from toe to toe of bindings. With UPZ's I had 6° (~1" F2 lift) front toe, and 3° (~½" F2 lift) rear heel. I think I also used a little outward cant.

I feel partially responsible since Bob offered the board to me at a reduced price when I was joking. Kind of like when I suggested that he get a Thirst 181 PC so that he may offer it up for sale at half price a year later. I ended up having to order one for myself. Sorry for hijacking your sale thread Bob.

I think this seller has donated more $$ to this site than you know, while at the same time giving exceptional deals on great boards that have seen little use.

Message answered. Let me know if you're still interested.

Just make sure your mask covers your nose

Visualize Da Vinci's anatomical man for how toe & heel lift and stance width interact.