'07/'08 oxygen proton gs info

[xy9ine]

anybody have any info on the 'new' oxygen proton gs (ie, the cheap ones on ebay)? an amazing lack of data of any type online. decent bang for the buck, or not worth the time? any ideas what the scr's are (only widths listed)? cheers!

[yyzcanuck]

Not easy to read but... from left to right it's:

Board Model, Tip Width, Waist Width, Tail Width, Tip Height, Tail Height, Sidecut Radius, Min-Max Stance Width, Insert Setback. All in centimetres except SCR which is metres.

I can't believe how cheap these board go for on Ebay and Bomber. Nearly identical construction as F2 (including Titanal torsion control system). Template shape is certainly not current race design but... they make a great freecarving board. Somehow they got a bad name or something. I like them and have a complete set of 2007-2008.

PROTON SL

149 24.4 19.5 24.4 3.7 0.6 8.5 36-52 1.5

156 25.9 20.5 25.9 3.7 0.6 8.5 37-53 1.5

160 25.4 20.5 25.4 3.7 0.6 10.0 37-53 2.0

PROTON GS

164 23.7 19.5 23.7 3.0 0.6 13.0 37-53 2.0

168 23.8 19.5 23.8 3.0 0.6 13.0 40-56 2.0

172 23.7 19.5 23.7 3.0 0.6 14.2 41-57 2.0

178 24.0 19.5 24.0 3.0 0.6 14.0 41-57 2.0

185 23.7 19.5 23.7 3.0 0.6 16.0 43-59 2.0

[philfell]

Honestly I didn't even know that Oxygen race boards were still in current production.

[Steve Prokopiw]

and despite riding my coiler the most,I rode my 168 and 185 Protons fairly often last season.The 185 is one of the most fun boards to carve tight ,aggressive turns on steep slopes.The 168 is surprisingly good in many situations including bumps.For what they usually sell for here the 185s are the most bang for the buck.

[xy9ine]

thanks for the info. fairly big scr's for the lengths, though sounds like they can be ridden tighter (steve), which implies versatility. any other appropriate adjectives to describe the performance?

[BlueB]

There are couple of Protons localy. I've got KR72 carbon (old version of Proton), Roy's got Proton 172, George's got Proton 164 and 172 custom ful Titanal. Dave another 172.

KR is somewhat softer then Proton. Has great edge hold (easier to ride on frozen cord then my big Prior). Easy to EC on it, too. Roy and George look great ripping long arcs on theirs...

I'm sure you can demo some of these boards this winter.

Bob will chime in just now, to say how sucky these boards are ;)

[yyzcanuck]

Honestly I didn't even know that Oxygen race boards were still in current production.

They're certainly not well advertised. They now fall under the Atomic brands. Construction of the 2007-2008 is cap with tip to tail poplar & beech woodcore, 4 layers of fibreglass, carbon layer tip to tail, 4 titanal "powerwings" and graphite 7200 sintered base material.

I posted someplace online here that 'rumour has it' the boards are manufactured in the same facility as F2. I have yet to confirm that.

We were going to stock them this season but with their similarity to F2, we decided to stick with the devil we know.

[Maciek]

I have always loved Proton 160SL and been using it when I carved last time... that is several years ago.

I need to get a replacement (new would be the best). Where can I buy it? I am (still) in New Jersey ;)

Thinking of going easy on slope, but restarting the sport. Still have a lot of good gear... I think.

Thanks,

Maciek

("Have good runs")

[bobdea]

anybody have any info on the 'new' oxygen proton gs (ie, the cheap ones on ebay)? an amazing lack of data of any type online. decent bang for the buck, or not worth the time? any ideas what the scr's are (only widths listed)? cheers!

for the same price you can get a board close to new that's WAY better and probably more durable, think

Donek

Coiler

Prior

if you do buy a new O2 board make sure that it's a reputable shop that will work with you if the board blows up on you or something. yyzcanuck is the only person I know of that still has any that are even close to new.

the rest are older, I have no clue about the ebay stuff though.

my opinion on O2 is they are crap, not as durable as burton but don't ride as good as F2. I'm not a fan of either F2 or burton either so I guess that says something. The newer O2s might be different but the old ones felt all wrong.

[crucible]

I use both of my Protons a lot- in fact I spend about 65% of the 50+ riding days a season on 'em.

My 172 titanal Proton gets used in icy conditions with breakable crust- it's when I find the extra dampness of the titanal metal the most useful.

My 164 Proton has been my EDC (everyday carver) for the past three years- at this length it's maneuverable enough in moguls, trees, and winding your way through meatgates on a busy weekend morning, but still stiff enough that you can lay down a rail.

I really like the stiffness and spring in a Proton's tip and tail- if you don't commit to your turn and drive your hips, then it can toss you around a bit. When I ride these boards with softer flexing hardboots like the Raichle 125's - you really notice this unforgiving tendency when your legs start to get tired.

I'm replacing the Protons as EDC's this season with a Coiler 172 AM- primarily because I wanted something with more shovel in the nose for bombing down with Dave* thorugh the local powder stashes- without giving up on carvability for trench digging on the groomers. I spent a weekend last season with him on Cypress on my 164 Proton in knee deep untracked powder, and he was floating through the trees in his Prior Fatjack, but on my Proton I was definitely working hard to keep up.

They will still travel as part of my quivver to the hill though.

my .02 cents.

Geo

[xy9ine]

for the same price you can get a board close to new that's WAY better and probably more durable, think

Donek

Coiler

Prior

i hear that. keeping my eyes open for a used prior.

[Steve Prokopiw]

a whole week for bobdea to respond.There have been days when I actually prefered the 185 proton to the coiler am 182.Thank God my self esteem is not dependent on what others think of my board choice.The great thing is that the haters make these cheaper for those that can figure out how to ride them.Ride on...

[bobdea]

comparing a AM board to a alleged GS board is apples to oranges.

the haters also compare these boards to boards it's fair to compare them to.

there were days I took out my burton FP 185 out over the AM 173 but my AM still did what it was meant to better. My coiler 190 GS blew the effin' doors off of my fp 185 though.

lots of guys here would say that some days they prefer their donek axxess to their Kessler GS. Just not really a fair comparison.

It's not a issue of figuring out how to ride it, it's more the boards don't perform their said duty well for many people. Even as a freecarver there options that don't take as much to "figure out", probably because they're better boards.

Madds and Sims burners are two examples that were better riding boards and still of similar vintage and had at least a similar goal for the end user.

It's also possible you've not "figured out" the AM.

What you're suggesting would be the same as if I tried to compare Burton dominant to a Kessler BX or a friggin' honada civic to a toyota 4runner.

Burton also goes cheap, have fun.

[Maciek]

for the same price you can get a board close to new that's WAY better and probably more durable, think

Donek

Coiler

Prior

if you do buy a new O2 board make sure that it's a reputable shop that will work with you if the board blows up on you or something. yyzcanuck is the only person I know of that still has any that are even close to new.

the rest are older, I have no clue about the ebay stuff though.

my opinion on O2 is they are crap, not as durable as burton but don't ride as good as F2. I'm not a fan of either F2 or burton either so I guess that says something. The newer O2s might be different but the old ones felt all wrong.

Hi Bob,

Maybe you forgot that I own some number of Doneks (still) I know Coiler and Prior a bit as well. I do not mind them. I like all of them and admire Sean, Bruce and Chris for what they have done for the community and for the sport as far as snowboards are concerned (same goes to Fin and Jeff as far as bindings).

However none of them has specs of Oxygen 160SL. I would have to ask for custom board (which I already did and I own some custom Donek). The price of this board would definitely exceed price of serial board. I do not have doubts.

Now tell me who makes as serial board about 10m radius 160-165cm with flex and width of Oxygen Proton 160SL and I may get this.

Honestly, I rode a few Protons and all of them were good for years. Perhaps this has changed - I do not have idea since I was on sabatical from snowboarding;)

Please give me a clue on price of Oxygen and where I can buy it. I bet they did not change that much since last time I was on slopes and did some reasearches. So far I know that Blue-tomato in Austria is very expensive (Euro rates) and Protons were once or twice in Startingate VT but not the size I want. This is how much I remember.

If you say that Burton is so durable now then this is a big change over years. Last time I rode snowboards majority opinions I heard were rather bad about them (and I heard those opinios from some professional tuners).

I would like to avoid these kind of comparisons to avoid flames. I want to stick only to help with easy restart. I also considerd going freeride boards only this time which may happen if I do not get nice short carving board.

The cost of snowboarding for me may not be as attractive today. This is especially when I am more into different sport (summer) that is much more expensive than snow fun... and much more serious about it.

Thanks.

[BlueB]

Check ebay for new protons. There should be a SL one too. About 350-360 a pice, if I remember correctly...

[Steve Prokopiw]

I had a buddy during my one year of community college who drove his civic faster on the dirt backroads up here than I drove my Blazer;and when it bottomed out it was easier to push or get unstuck.My Blazer carried kegs more easily though:)

More to my original point is my opinion that during their searches for the most perfect,easiest to ride boards,some riders dismiss many boards as being crap without much effort to adapt to the demands of a particular board.For me the efforts to adapt to different boards in situations not perfectly suited to their designs is like the cross training I do for bike racing.Yeah,I could just ride and train on the same bike I race on,but the effect this has on me is stagnation and burnout as the 'same ol,same ol' loses it's freshness.I ride a single speed nearly as much as I ride my race bike.I ride a fixed gear nearly as much as I ride my time trial bike.I even ride my road racing bike up and down serious dirt climbs which makes handling the bike in a balls to the wall crit seem easy and fluid.For me this has been an effective method of skill development and refinement.

As for the AM 182 compared to the Proton 185... I have found the Coiler to be usually faster in our typically easy gs courses at Silver and the Proton to be incredibly fun on a couple of steeper,narrower runs that I have yet to see another rider link more than two carves on.

I don't disagree that there are better quality or more suitable boards,although I do wonder if your issues with protons have something to with your size.I only weigh 150-160 and have yet to do any surprise damage,despite pushing them as hard as I can all over the mountain.

I can and do recommend in good conscience that those on a tight budget look at Protons for their great bang for the buck.Used ones average about one third of what used customs cost.That doesn't mean however,that I would I discourage anyone from stepping up to a custom Diablo,Coiler or Donek if they've got the dinero.

[rugger]

There are some at All Boards Sports in Colorado.

Give those guys a shout.

[Maciek]

Thanks a lot, guys. I will for Protons there.

[mr_roboteye]

The worst thing about the Proton that I rode for a year (the 178) was that it just got stuck in a turn. It was so difficult to get it off edge and feather it.

Sounds like my kind of board

later,

Dave R.

[carverboy]

Ive rode a few. All in all good boards. I still have a 160 SL I take out now and again. I used to hate on cap construction but this one has out lasted(camber and pop) 2 Volkl rein tiger SL's, the first went limp the first week I had it! And yes Oxygen is and always has been an Atomic product. Back in the day Ski companys spun off new brands in order to avoid the negitave press of Ski company Boards (this was chiefly caused by K2 argueable the producers of the worst boards ever) So we had Nale=ELAN Oxygen=Atomic After the hate ski company thing died down Atomic realized there name would sell state side a lot better than Oxygen. In europe they maintained the Oxygen brand for carving and rental product.

[xy9ine]

some great prices on new wcr's @ priors turkey sale, so i opted to keep my $$ local. so stoked to ride a modern board!

[xy9ine]

a standard 177 w/ cosmetic blem (hidden by binding) for $450. couldn't say no (prices on remaining wcrs went up $200 on tues).