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Should I trade in my Tanker 182 for a 177/187 oversize?


Helvetico

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I would really step into the Kyber, They make it up to a 175. Tell Chris I said Hello!!!
Hey, I was talking to some people who are riding the Khyber 160 split and they mentioned that one of the tradeoffs for taper is that the board doesn't have good grip with traversing steep hardpack, in fact sometimes the tail "drops" and the board kind of "lists" like a sinking boat and wants to slide down the steep backwards. I definitely encoutered this "nose up, tail down" phenomenon with my old Burton 156MD fish (I'm 150 lbs so maybe I was overpowering the flexy fish). So while the Fish was an awesome board in the powder, the reality was that I need to do some rougher terrain to get to it. I was hoping the slightly mellower taper of the newst Khybers would be better for that. Do you think so? Or should I stick with my 04/05 Tanker 172 (or even the 06/07 Tanker with a bit more taper). With size 7 feet, I don't think the 167W tanker would work that great for me... I would be riding all of these with low angles and softboots though.

Thanks for any advice!

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I have felt the tail drop a bit while traversing but always just made a little weight shift it has never mattered. I may be a bit jaded because all my race boards have alot of taper also so perhaps I just make the correcting move automatically. Since you mentioned the traverse on hard pack is that while skining or riding?

Most of my back country crew rides some sort of tapered shape. Some even still rock big swallows some days. We all hike a bunch and traverse alot and up intill now I nor them have ever considered it a problem, and only notice when am cutting the traverse. What I do and have noticed is when many riders try to ride a tapered shape they over weight the back foot out of habit when you can ride with you weight very centered just like on groomers Perhaps this is why the tail skitches? And when I rail turns on any tapered shape on hardpack or groomers they out carve and out edge anything out there with the same construction. Most high end metal race boards have taper and stick just fine on bullet proof steep pitchs. I have put alot of my tapered pow boards into steep windblown to and from some lines and have never had a problem with edging. Most tapered board really like to go straight but its usally foward. I'll pay specail attention next time I ride steep hardpack, but like I said I've never thought about it intill now.

I do however feel as though many boards ride way different after they have been split. You just cannot maintain torsional strength through just bindings. Perhaps this is what your friends are feeling? Some times my split boards tail feels sketch on the traverse but I just figure its the two piece trying to make one board. Again I just stand on the nose more, But since its so easy to go up hill on I over look it!!! :biggthump I am about to split my old fish 160 I like taper so much....

We have a 165 demo kyber if you in the area ever mI have a bunch of personal fish you can retry also. I really like them.

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I have felt the tail drop a bit while traversing but always just made a little weight shift it has never mattered. I may be a bit jaded because all my race boards have alot of taper also so perhaps I just make the correcting move automatically. Since you mentioned the traverse on hard pack is that while skining or riding?

Most of my back country crew rides some sort of tapered shape. Some even still rock big swallows some days. We all hike a bunch and traverse alot and up intill now I nor them have ever considered it a problem, and only notice when am cutting the traverse. Most tapered board really like to go straight but its usally foward. I'll pay specail attention next time I ride steep hardpack, but like I said I've never thought about it intill now.

I do however feel as though many boards ride way different after they have been split. You just cannot maintain torsional strength through just bindings.

I have yet to get on a splitboard, so right now it is just for riding.

For me it felt like if I weighted the front of my 156MD Fish (this is a 3 year old Fish with the blue/green theme - you still see a them on Ebay), it the big nose would try to crawl up the traverse wall, bending the front of the board up, and then "stall" as the rest of the board wouldn't follow (probably due to lack of edge contact) and then flap/slip back down. When I tried to shift my weight back to keep the nose from "tracking up" the steep traverse, the tail end would again lose it's grip and again I would slide down. Here is the a photo of the Wall that I usually traverse across (above the shadow line in the photo) to get to the gullies on the right.

view_auto_resize_file.php?winter_files_id=190&size=53365508.jpg

I definitely noticed that heavily tapered board like to go straight down, if you turn it more than 45 away from the fall line, then the big nose kind of gets caught with too much "lift" from the passing snow at speed and you will have a tendency to end up with an involuntary 180 and go tail first down the fall line. Do you think this was because of the soft flex of the Fish and not the taper?

Heh, so I guess my question would be what do you recommend for me, Khyber 160 (165?) or 06/07 Tanker 172 (167W)?

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It may have been the soft flex of that first year fish. I have one that I lend out to guest it could be the flex or it may be the input or the snow pack, There is a similiar traverse at PCMR off the jupiter chair. It gets pretty bumpy and the traverse just always sucks. I understand what you mean by the board wanting to hook. In good snow I just stomp on the nose and force it through while bent. But I have seen others get spun out like your saying.

As far as the tanker or the kyber It really depends what you want from the board. The kyber really has some back bone. It has more Pop and life. like a custom x or Salomon ERA etc. The Tankers have a much softer feel like you know from yours. With you foot size I would not think about the W but since you already have a longer board if you dont enjoy the fish alway but like the short board quick turning surfy ride then go Kyber. It is very stable in the Chop and crud and sick in the fresh. The Tanker has more of a cadillac feel, smoth easy ride. They are both great sticks I like them enough that we sell both, what you want out of the board and the slot you want to fill in your quiver only you know :confused: I am riding the 65 kyber I weigh 175 am 5'9 and have a 8 1/2 soft boot If you like a bigger ride the65 kills it but I know for a fact the 60 floats much better then your 56 fish and has a much better nose.

Good Luck.

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I would not say the ride of the kyber is on par with the ERA but out off all the tapered shapes I have ridden it for sure has the most snap and pop. The ERA is hard to beat freeriding allmtn. But the kybers Powder, slush, chop.. perks are worth the trade off. You will also notice the differance switch. But I am sure you'll work right through it in just a few turns. With the right input the Kyber really comes alive and is a blast to ride. The ERA wins on groomers, the Kyber wins off and still digs a sweet line in the cord.

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As far as the tanker or the kyber It really depends what you want from the board. The kyber really has some back bone. It has more Pop and life. like a custom x or Salomon ERA etc. The Tankers have a much softer feel like you know from yours. Good Luck.
Are the latest (06/07) Tankers much difference (i.e. more pop)? I'm looking for a little more spring out of the tail on turns. Maybe I should give the Khybers a chance as I'm looking for a powder/freeride board to complement my Madd TT158 (my freestyle/freeride board).
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