Board Sizing Question

[jnshapiro]

Just out of curiosity, what symptoms do you notice when a board is too short or too long?

In other words, I'm expecting that I'll buy another board next season and I'd like to know what to look for when riding this year.

Joel

[BlueB]

Hmmm, this is very relative... to the type of snow, slope size, skill, traffic, etc. These are just my thoughts, not a proven recepie.

Lets say you are riding the boards suited to your weight, same flex, same scr, same everything.

Too short:

Sweet spot feels very small or hard to ride

Nervous ride

Chattering

Not holding the edge good enough

Too long:

Rails you into the woods

Not releasing the carve on demand

Too dificult to skid turn or jump turn

It generally scares living sh*** out of you

You are not comfortable with it in the traffic typical for your resort

[Mathias in MN]

my anwser is that i have a FP180 i ride in mn....if that answers one thing. very small hills lots of people. Im 5'7 170 and positively love to be pushing the envelope, although i have been itchy to try a sl board for the quick scr you will recieve with a sl board. very quick turns with short scr is intreging..

but small hills with alot of turns usually will me no speed or at least not enough for me. I think a mountain would be fun hmmmm ya very fun.

Good luck!!

[Chris Houghton]

I thought it was more to do with the board's performance relative to what you wanted to do --- like trying to make big high speed turns on a slalom board, or trying to turn a GS board too tight -- these are not symptoms but more the design (limitations) of the board itself. The board will always perform well if ridden within it's design limitations, given that the rider's skill is at an acceptable level. I don't think I answered your question, but I suppose if you are trying to do something outside of the board's design envelope, then yes you need another board (but not necessarily longer or shorter).