Virus Phantom 183 race

[inkaholic]

Ok, so here is my review of the Virus 183 Phantom II.

Most comments that I have ever read about the Virus boards are that they like to be ridden on the nose. I have been told this same info by several friends who have and like Virus. Bola let me take a couple out of his shop to test. Both boards are Virus 183 Phantoms but one of them is metal. I have not at this time tried the metal one. I didn't ask Bola any of the specs on the board, I just wanted to take them out and ride them.

Going into testing I really wasn't thinking that I would like the board all that much as I don't like to pressure the noses anymore. My style of riding has changed from pressuring the nose and working the board from there(old racestock) to a more neutral(middle of the board) edge change and working the board from the middle(new racestock). Also, most of the boards I now ride are a bit softer and these Virus are pretty stout.

Bola suggested setting up the board with my bindings forward toward the nose then adjusting back from there. When I was mounting the board I decided to use the inserts that others had used which happened to be similar to my SG 185 Race T.

Yesterday the snow at Lovey was firm and grippy in the A.M. with little to no light for viewing the changes in the terrain. No better way to get to know a board when you can't see any upcoming bumps. As I got the board up to speed and put it on edge, it came around quite easily for a stout board. At first I did as most say and started the turns out more on the nose but after chattering out a few times I decided to switch to my newer style of riding. This neutral positioning suited the board much more and it began to wake up and really give back. There is a lot of energy build up that can be released down the hill to increase speed or up for airborn edge changes. I could just lean over without any input and it would come around nicely. I could drive it hard and would stick without a fuss. Even when some of the unexpected bumps or holes would appear the board would bounce, land and finish like nothing was there to upset it. Oh yeah, being on the stout side of things the board really liked to go fast and needed some speed to flex it into the turns. I took the Phantom on the steeper groom at Lovey and it had no problems coming around to either slow things down a bit by tightening up the radius or letting it go more fall line for GS style turns.

Overall impression of this board is that it is a lot of fun for the faster side of riding with a lot of edge hold. It even carved backwards quite well with even less tail lift than my FCII had. I can't wait to test the metal version next, hopefully tomorrow.

Stance was set at 63* front, 57* rear and 20" width starting the front foot in the middle of the front insert pack. This is the same stance that I use on the SG. I measured the waist at 19.6cm. I have seen some Virus with crazy amounts of camber but this is not one of those. This Phantom only has .5cm of camber.

I will post up thoughts on the metal version after it is tested.

Thanks to Bola(All Boards Sports) for letting me take this out for a test ride.

Ink