AaronG Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 On Sunday, Dec. 20, Chad from CODA snowboards brought down to our local resort some of his offerings that he makes for the alpine snowboarder. Two boards that he brought were of interest to me. V-O Sidecarve 170 cm and the V-O XL Sidecarve The board that I had the most interest in was the one shown V-O XL Sidecarve. According to the CODA website this board measures 185 cm, 19.5 cm waist and a 10 meter sidecut. The dimensions of this board, especially the sidecut were the things that interested me the most. I normally ride longer boards as I am a bigger guy, 6' 02" 190 lbs. so the length wasn't a concern. I mounted my Cateks at 63/58 angles to eliminate boot out, tightened everything up and made for the ski lift. There were a smattering of comments while walking to the lift with this unique looking board. For the first run I wasn't pushing the pace much, just doing some smear turns to get a feel for the board. I tried a few hard carves on the first steep pitch I encountered and the board responded well, easy turn initiation without jumping on the nose at all. Once up on edge, the board took a set and stayed there until my turn out of the fall line was completed. It was very predictable, felt good. We changed to another run on our mountain where it is less crowded and you can open things up a bit. With just a few turns on the previous run that felt comfortable I decided to give her a testing on this run. Look over my shoulder to see if anyone is coming and I let her go. The board responded well under my feet. I rolled it over on its edge and let that 10 meter sidecut do its thing. I normally ride a 185 cm board with a 16 meter sidecut, the V-0 with its much smaller sidecut radius carved much tighter than what I am used to but didn't surprise me at all. A confidence inspiring board so far. I have never ridden a splittail design board before so I didn't know what to expect out of the tail. Chad, uses a design where the split goes up to approx. where the rear mounting plate of the binding ends. To keep the tails from scissoring too far apart, Chad uses a cable to limit the deflexion of each tail. Though I couldn't see the tails of the board while I was riding I knew that they were definitely flexing back there. One thing I did notice, my boards seem to have a bit of pop exiting the turn. The V-O with its splittail design reduces some of that stored energy, not that it's a bad thing just something I noticed. Every run I took the board just seemed to get better, now that I had a few more runs I started changing my COG to see if I could make the board hiccup. An exaggeratd forward weight shift to see if I could make the nose hook didn't upset the board at all, just turned a tighter radius is all. The tail going through the same arc that the nose just did. I was never able to get the tail of the board to slide out, although another rider on the V-O 170cm spoke of having this happen to him. There is one particular run at our resort that is a narrow (60 feet wide) chute that I have trouble carving with my 16 meter scr board. I wante to see how this board did down that run. I was able to complete 12-15 carves within the space of that run. Edge change was very quick and the drop off and embankment on either side of the run was not a concern. I rode this board for approximately 2 1/2 hours and was pleasantly surprised by its performance. This board was built with CODA's standard layup (no metal) and it felt very damp. The other board that Arclite and rus 11 used was built with metal(titanal) but only in the front section of the board. I will be eagerly awaiting try out that model. I hope others here can ride one of CODA's boards, I think you will be impressed, like I was after riding this board.:biggthump http://www.codaboards.com/ Any questions, ask away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loc Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Was there any powder around where you could test how it floats? I assume the V-cut allows the back to sink when the snow is fresh. Do you think it would perform better as an all-mountain board or more carve specific? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 There wasn't any powder to be found that day at Summit, just mostly hardpack. Chad said that with the tail design that it also makes a great powder board, enabling the tail to ride low while the tip points to the surface. If you want to do powder, the V-2-10 might be the better choice, 170 cm long and 21.5 cm wide. It would probably provide some more float due to its additional width. As for carving specific or all mountain I would say it would be a great choice for both. Most all mountain boards from the other three mfrs come with nearly the same sidecut, they all seem to be around the 10 meter mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Any questions, ask away Can I touch you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted December 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Can I touch you? would you care to add some clarification?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 plain cool! That's one of the coolest shapes I've seen.Like the idea of a long board with a short sidecut. Thanks for the review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arclite Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 The one that started the Coda snowboard line. the VO is 170cm long, 19.5 wide, with a 10m sidecut. Was an amazing ride! Lots of pop and spring to the board. Would hop between carves if you let it. You can really lay down your carves and make some deep ruts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wun Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 would you care to add some clarification?? Because of having used a cool board, some of that board's coolness rubs off on you. Transitively, my physical contact (in a nonsexual way, mind you) with you would make me cool, too. One of those little elementary school nonsense :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Prokopiw Posted December 23, 2009 Report Share Posted December 23, 2009 Because of having used a cool board, some of that board's coolness rubs off on you. Transitively, my physical contact (in a nonsexual way, mind you) with you would make me cool, too. One of those little elementary school nonsense :) My wife must be wondering what effect riding my 210cm Diablo Composites board will have on me.:0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 what boards are you on usually and how would you compare? lets say you are riding a current board from kessler and you saying you like a coda is much more useful than if you're riding a checker pig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultan Guy Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Wow, that looks like a really neat board. I have been riding a Prior 4WD 174 that also has a 10 meter side cit and like the tighter turning radius on a more crowded slope. Would love to hear how that board handles in some powder and if you need to move the bindings back or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted December 24, 2009 Report Share Posted December 24, 2009 Not a lot of room to move the bindings back. On the site it shows some of the inserts pretty darn close to the split tails. That said, I imagine the tail would drop fairly well- considering the boards are 19-21mm wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohouck Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Thanks to Aaron, Julian, and Robert for coming out and testing the new CODA Sidecarvers. Here is some video shot with my helmet cam (a vholdr ContourHD). The compression took away some of the quality and there was snow on the lens for some of it (I got a little snow on me while carving ;);) ) <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyVGuZ4BcwQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyVGuZ4BcwQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loc Posted December 25, 2009 Report Share Posted December 25, 2009 Great footage! Now who's who :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronG Posted December 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 Loc, I'm the one in the green jacket. Julian, (arclite) is in the dark blue? jacket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shred Gruumer Posted December 26, 2009 Report Share Posted December 26, 2009 I haven't seen a split tail stay together for very long... So whats the gaurentee? looks like one wrong landing and the tails are gone!!! I would be very tempeted to get one and ride it... so whats the report on durability please!! Right Said Shred:biggthump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohouck Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 That is a good question/concern about the tails on the CODA Boards. To date, there have not been any broken tails in over 5 years of hard riding in all conditions. If a customer breaks a tail under reasonable riding circumstances, I want the board to learn from and I will make a replacement. Unlike the the other split tail boards you have probably ridden, the tails on the CODA Boards are not profiled. The flex is created by the depth of the V and the tension in the tail cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex1230 Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 To date, there have not been any broken tails in over 5 years of hard riding in all conditions. If a customer breaks a tail under reasonable riding circumstances, I want the board to learn from and I will make a replacement. Have you been making the snowboards for 5 yeard or does that include mostly monoskis (I think the stresses will be very different)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Chad was at Cypress today and brought his toys! 185 wasn’t available, but I played for about 3 hours on the V0 170/19.5/10, one of Chad’s first prototypes. I rode it with Snowpro bindings and about 18” stance (biggest I could get). This was narrower then I’ve ever ridden, but this early proto was built for Chad himself, who likes super narrow stance. Conditions were sunny and warm, frozen cord in the morning, then later thin melted layer on top of solid base, then some portions completely softened with mini bumps. I rode it mostly on a wide blue run, except for one run down a black diamond that had so many exposed rocks that I just couldn’t let the board go fly. Board proved to be very versatile, holding nice edge on hard surface, cruising slush with ease and almost effortless to do small quick cross-under turns through baby-bumps. I wish I had some pow to test the float too! Initiation is more abrupt and snappier then on my metal boards (I’m spoiled), but finish can be quite nimble of the tail, when wanted. Then, I could also get wild pop for 1’ airborne transitions when I pushed hard and let the energy release. Edge hold is very good. I noticed the tail and nose not carving the same arc all the time, but not skidding. This was probably due to me not being used to the split tail design and struggling a bit with weight distribution. Nose is just a tad too stiff for real EC, it would start skipping a bit on full lay down. However, that’s really nice when you just want to hammer on it race style! Board would do sweeping arcs, but I loved it way more in the “wild” mode, rushing the turn as much as possible, combining with few unfinished zig-zags, few cross-unders followed by big cross-over-pop transitions. I thought that kind of riding was more in the spirit of 10m SCR. I had a sneak preview of videos taken by Roy, boy oh boy, was my riding ugly with all the arm flapping, but I had huge fun! Chad was really smooth on his monoboard. He took some “follow” vids, too. I tried one run with freestyle elements, a bit of spinning and switch riding. In the beginning I was worried about the cable on the tails catching something, or split tail digging in and braking, but nope, board happily carved switch. Apparently, the newer ones have a bit more tail upturn, so they should perform even better. Structurally, it looked very sound. Capped construction with relatively thick core, tapering at about 45 towards the edges, in transverse direction. Longitudinally, the nose has traditional core taper, but none in the tails – they get their flex pattern from the widening of the split towards the tail. I did one really high airborne transition, changed the direction of travel about 15deg towards the fall line in the air and landed into hard hooked carve, more of the tail. Board just happily picked up carved a beautiful sharp arc. It certainly passed the tail durability test in my books. Now, if someone wants to freeride this thing and tail-land the cliff drops, that’s his own problem… As for the possible improvements, I would love to see gentler nose rise, even if it ended lower to the snow and a bit of nose de-camber. Metal version is already in existence, but I can’t comment on it as I didn’t ride it. I didn’t feel need for the taper – the split tail seemed to take care of the similar role. Zipper graphic is simply coolest idea for the split-tail design! Well, big thanks to Chad for visiting our neck of woods and lending his toys. Keep up good work buddy! I’m looking forward to riding with you again and trying the metal versions. I hope that we would have more snow in the spring, to show you whole Cypress instead of just one run. I attached few screen shots from Roy’s videos. I’ll post the vid too, once I edited into one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 More pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shred Gruumer Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Chad check you mail... I had so additional questions in regards to you product. Thanks for your time.. Nice graphics...Love the chicks! Need more.. with less! Right Said Shred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullwings Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Ahh, you guys are making me so bummed that I missed the demo day at summit last week. One of these days... I really wanna get on a monoboard and try that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohouck Posted December 27, 2009 Report Share Posted December 27, 2009 Bullwings, I will be back at Summit for the Jan 3 Session, and I will make sure to bring some demo monoboards as well Gruumer, I got your message. Lets make a board. Here is the short TR video from Cypress yesterday. Boris was tearing it up! http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27105&page=4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 From Roy's clips: <object width="640" height="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abI3Yl8-N48&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abI3Yl8-N48&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="480"></embed></object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 From the link above: <object width="640" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkAOqRVBphE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkAOqRVBphE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="400"></embed></object> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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