Jump to content

steven

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    106

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by steven

  6. long board revelation!

    in Carving Central

    Posted · Edited by steven

    I recently bought a nirvana 180 from someone here on the forum, and am blown away. backstory: I hard booted a little bit 15-20 years ago, and quit after folding the nose of my burton amp 156 and destroying my ankle, requiring surgery. softies and powder (mostly)at that point. Fast forward to 2015-16, and I was looking to get the hardboot setup out again. I had so much fun on it that i upgraded to modern equipment (upz rc-8 with palouse wrap liners) and was very excited to start serious carving again. I bought a used volkl renn tiger 163, and had bruce make me a nirvana energy 168, with a waist width of 21, and a tight sidecut of 9-10.7-10. I was thinking the nirvana was going to be my bigger board, and the volkl my slalom board. Things had been going great, with my technique steadily improving. I was running f2 carve rs bindings on the slalom board, and standard td3's on the nirvana 168. I bought the nirvana 180 on a whim, as it was a good deal, and i was curious as to how a bigger board rode, and it had the same waist width as my nfc 168, but with a 12-14 vscr. It was also built for someone about 15lbs heavier than me. From the very first run i was shocked at how damp it was, and how i could pretty much put everything i had into it with the right conditions, and it would hold instead of chattering. steep runs that were challenging for me to carve smoothly on the 168 became easier and smoother! I now call the nfc 168 my slalom board, and run it with the f2 carve rs bindings, and put the td3's on the 180 nfc, with great results. Who wants a renn tiger 163 in great condition? ha! The 180 nfc has really been an eye-opener for me, and I am more stoked than ever because of the performance of this board. I am more relaxed, smooth, and clean in challenging situations than when on the 168. My question is: is there anything to gain by going bigger? I'm wondering how a 186 or so would ride with a 14-16 sidecut? The 180 is not quite as nimble as the 168 obviously, but i can deal with that. If i can get it up on edge quickly, it will hold mostly whatever i can put into it on a steep run, and carve a pretty tight turn. where do i go from here? i love the damp feeling of the bigger board. plate of some sort? I usually only take out my hardboot setups when conditions are close to perfect, and avoid chop and rougher terrain. no racing aspirations, just fast, clean carves. Thx for being here bomber!!

     

    Screen Shot 2018-01-28 at 3.35.28 PM.jpg

    • Like 3

  21. After switching to UPZ, did you increase toe lift on the front foot ?

    in Carving Central

    Posted · Edited by steven

    so i rode today with the f2 bindings, and was much more in control, and smoother with my turns. It felt like i could be "cleaner" on steeps and higher speed/pressure toesides, even near the end of a hard turn. This could partly be that i was focusing on keeping the board angled higher on edge and on pressuring my front foot, but even when I slacked on my focus, it still felt better with the f2's, which allowed me to better center my boot over the toe and heelside edges. I am going to put the td3's back on tonight, and move the front binding closer to the toeside edge and try and center the boot better, and see if feels as good as it did today. FWIW i'm riding a coiler nirvana energy 168 with a deeper (shorter) vscr than normal, as a lot of my local trails are narrow and steep, and I enjoy the quick lower-speed carves. I ride 58/53 with more rear heel lift than front toe lift. not much camber on either. I love the way the board rides and holds and edge, but feel i may be asking too much of it with its deep sidecut on some hard turns. Still figuring it out, thanks for the input.

     

    oh- lastly- I'm getting quad burn on the outside of my front thigh when holding a heeled edge. May try some outward canting on the front foot to help with this?

×
×
  • Create New...