Nitro Epic 170

[rjnakata]

I recently pick this old school goofy-foot Nitro Epic 170 from a guy that ran an indoor ski instruction shop in a German-town village here in SoCal. It's got a ton of camber and has never been drilled.

Memories of endlessly perusing the Nitro pamphlet (the one with graphic representations of the boards--no pictures) in the 90's came back and I had to have it. I would have bought one back then, but $400+ was just not in reach. And how would I get one anyway since none of my local shops in the SF Bay area carried Nitro anyway.

Maybe you can help my inquisitive mind...

1) Did anyone ride one of these back in the day? How was it?

2) I presently ride a "modern" setup. Would it be a waste of time for me to take this thing out today? I'm not talking about the merits of asym vs symettrical here, just would it have any "fun factor"?

3) How does one tap holes in something like this? What kind of bindings?

4) Did they make a lot of these? What year is this?

Thanks!

[jonbass]

I used to have one of these for a short while but a shorter version I think. It didn't last long as I preferred my PJs and I sold it. I remember that I didn't like the ride very much. The nose felt like it would catch at weird times but I probably never gave it the time it needed to find the sweet spot. At the time I was riding Burton PJ's and assymetrical Mistrals.

it is definitely a walk down memory lane. It is pretty cool to find these in such good shape. It would be neat to ride and compare to newer boards but a shame to drill it.

[b0ardski]

I bought & mounted a 186 Nitro diablo of this era(same base graphic), it's a '91 or '92 I beilieve.

The year before Nitro used burton 5 hole inserts (pre 4x4) they had a thin aluminum plate under the binding area for screw retention, it should be drilled carefully (tape or a bit stop as depth gauge) using a bit the size of the central shaft of the mount screw and then tapped. Make sure the holes are were you want your stance as extra holes allow the retention plate to bend easily.

If you use a modern binding, because they only mount in the center, an extra pair of screws at the outermost position of the center disc slots is cheap insurance against a tearout.

Get good binding screws from a ski shop.

I still use my asym burtons one rare occasions for the fun of it, not an everyday driver.

[P06781]

I rode that exact Nitro Epic in regular foot for many years with burton 5 hole variplate bindings. I ripped the bindings out of this board several times and had to t-nut it keep them on....

I finally broke the board in half after going over the handlebars on a spring day on Mt Hood. When it broke I was forced to buy my next alpine board which was a Ride Kildy 169.:)

Jim

[b0ardski]

must be before they used the screw plates under the binders?

[kipstar]

I used to ride on nitros, as I recall this is the 2nd year of boards, possibly the 3rd; the first year the top sheet was matt and they were called EFTs and had slightly more euro fag graphics. Plus that was the nitro betty catalog with the boards and a hot chick in the middle labelled as nitro betty.

Most people wanted to ride the betty that year ;-)

As I recall the 3rd year, the tail cut out changed to a more of a 2 straight lines cut out rather than this hoop; the asyms of that year were quite a bit softer, and I think were the first year of the scorpions coming out.

Anyheeow, I know a guy who rode that exact board pretty hard, and it lasted quite well; the same guy snapped 5 hot logicals in a single season; he broke the nitro slamming his car door on it by accident.

So you might have some fun on it.

I rode the EFT 154 from the year before this one a lot, and it was a pretty nice board for that time; then I also used to ride on a nitro epic 165? I think it was called, but from the year after this one, which was a very soft board but excellent to ride and very very smooth; much easier to ride than the burton stats and I think the first of the factory prime asyms as well as the PJs that came before them. This board being a little longer, I think it should ride ok. That particular year of the one you have, the 164? I think it was, wasn't up to much nor was the smaller 154 which I have at home also undrilled.

The only problem....I suspect the modern approach to bindings is going to make the board suffer a bit. I would T bolt the 4 hole pattern into it; there is possibly no way to find out where the mounting plate is but it might be a bit narrow as back then the way people rode was a lot narrower. Will make the board look a bit ugly though. Ah well, nevermind. I presume and someone who builds boards could back me up, that you'd have to be a monster to rip 4 T bolts through the core of the board in one go. Those older bindings might not last too good depending how hard you ride.

There is a video of Bordy riding somewhere on a PJ7; that would be maybe the closest you would come to it; it isn't going to ride exactly like a kessler or something of the modern era, but great for the retro days ;_)

[rjnakata]

Hey thanks all for your input. I'm not sure if it's worth it if the board is prone to breakage, and it sounds like I'd have to through-bolt the bindings if I really want to be safe.

Maybe this ride is better in my mind than on the hill. :rolleyes:

[Derf]

This?

Higher resolution available on my website.

[Jon Dahl]

The now-defunct snowboard shop on the way to Stevens Pass had that very same swallowtail, the Retro 171 hanging on the wall, with a Drew Hicken 196 next to it. UNDRILLED! Wish I knew where those sticks were now!

[nitro]

I rode the EFT 167 asym I had alot of fun on this board I was 190lbs @the time.I do remember having to T-bolt the bindings.eventually I broke the tail on the heel side when I launched a huge roller & set it down to hard.

My favorite nitro was the diablo 186 it had a unique heel side cut that made the board easy to ride for its size,Ibroke 2 of these carvn deep heavy pow.