Coda Sideways Freestyle / Carver Review

[swissracer]

Over the past few weeks I had the pleasure of testing one of Coda’s prototype freestyle snowboard called the Sideways (http://codaboards.com/ ). Coda is obviously known for their terrific mono and carving boards, so it’s good to see that they have also opted to apply their talents to freestyle boards. As with all their boards, there is the ability to have a completely custom top sheet graphic – great way to differentiate you from all the other freestylers in the lift line.

First the basic dimensions of the prototype

Length: 166

Eff. Edge: 138

Waist: 25.5

Tip/Tail: 29.6

Sidecut: 10m

I ride goofy with a usual stance of +18f/-9r for freestyle and 51/51 for carving in soft boots.

The first day I had a chance to ride it, I spent most of the morning soft boot carving on my Never Summer Legacy 166 (great board btw), so I set up the Sideways the same way to get a quick soft boot carving comparison. I couldn’t believe the difference. Being a much stiffer board in both flex and twist it simply held phenomenally in the somewhat icy conditions. I could really get up on edge aggressively and really push into the board without too much worry that the nose or tail would wash out. It also had a smooth feel in the transition, easily changing edges or, if I wanted to, popping up off the ground if I loaded up the tail. It’s a very confidence inspiring board.

The next day I set up the board for freestyle riding. I was really curious to see what it would be like to ride a freestyle board with a 10m side cut radius. Well, let me tell you, it’s surprisingly versatile.

On groomed runs it's really great just skidding around and relaxing. As planted as the tail seems when pushed, I was surprised how easy it was to just flick it around when needed. I really thought that the tail would catch or be hard to manhandle, but it came around very easily when needed. Then when you put it on edge it just sticks. Since the board edges were not detuned at all, so doing pirouettes did take just a little more attention than a flexy or detuned board, but still easily done. One thing I had to be aware of was boot-out do to my large boot size. Since the board carves so well I would frequently want to do aggressive edge turns, at which point I would quickly be reminded of why I run high angles while carving.

I did some straight lining just to see how it felt with a freestyle stance at high speed. It simply rips!! It's always hard to know just how fast you are going when you're by yourself. There is no way to gauge if you are going any faster than anyone else would down a given run. I was able to catch up with a couple of guys that looked like they were really moving and ended up blowing by them on one of the steeper pitches (and they were not skidding). Since the board was so predictable and stable on edge, I simply let it run. Even though it wasn't the smoothest terrain (caught a couple of unexpected airs), thanks to that side cut I never felt like "Oh man, this thing is gonna pitch me any moment".

I took it down steep and icy mogul sections to see how it does there, and to no surprise it felt great. Eventhough the board was a bit longish for the conditions, it was much easier to maneuver through the bumps than expected. Something about the side cut/stiffness of the board, but I can't get over how well it holds an edge. I can load up the back and it just holds, and when you want to release the energy it does so in a very predictable manner.

The other thing I noticed is how well it jumps. With the longer side cut it’s very stable coming up the face and off the lip and really holds the landing. After a few smallish tabletops I did get a little cocky and took it off a pretty big jump (big being a relative term, none of these 60' gaps or anything). I've never felt totally comfortable doing larger jumps on my other board, but to use the words confidence inspiring again, the board made me push it a bit more than normal. Unfortunately they changed the face on this particular jump from the last time I did it a few days ago and let’s just say I'm glad I was wearing a helmet. Little lesson here kids, check out a jump before you "go for it". The subsequent jumps had less painful results.

I don't really do any park type riding (rails, pipes, walls etc) so I can't report on that.

One issue I had was that, since it was an early prototype, there were only two binding position options. This prevented me from mounting the bindings far enough back to really enjoy the board in the several feet of fresh powder that mother nature provided a couple of weeks ago. It felt great in several inches of powder, but just couldn’t get my weight back far enough to keep the nose from diving in the really deep stuff. Obviously this wouldn’t be an issue on a production model.

After a few days of letting the snow get more packed, I took the board through some off piste trails. There were some tight sections in the trees where I could have used a slightly shorter board, but other than that it behaved just as it has everywhere else.

If you’re looking for a board to expand your carving quiver, seriously consider this one. I have been very impressed by the versatility of this board. By only changing the binding angles/positions, you can use this board for just about anything you feel like doing. Dig trenches in the freshly groomed runs in the morning, then when it gets too rutted or busy, switch to freestyle stance and spend the rest of the day riding wherever your heart desires – truly a do-it-all board. The ability to customize the top sheet graphic with something unique to you is just the icing on the cake.

I sincerely thank Chad from Coda for giving me the opportunity to put his board through its paces.

[slopestar]

This site is to promote HARDBOOT SNOWBOARDING WITH HARDBOOTS AND PLATE BINDINGS. Also please read the title that says All-mountain Hardboot boards. Your review has nothing about hardboot riding. This is a softboot deck that most people on this site would not be interested in. I am sure that it is a good board. I would prefer to read about alpine all mountain reveiws instead.

You still don't have to be an ass about it!

[Buell]

This site is to promote HARDBOOT SNOWBOARDING WITH HARDBOOTS AND PLATE BINDINGS. Also please read the title that says All-mountain Hardboot boards. Your review has nothing about hardboot riding. This is a softboot deck that most people on this site would not be interested in. I am sure that it is a good board. I would prefer to read about alpine all mountain reveiws instead.

I spent most of the morning soft boot carving on my Never Summer Legacy 166 (great board btw), so I set up the Sideways the same way to get a quick soft boot carving comparison. I couldn’t believe the difference. Being a much stiffer board in both flex and twist it simply held phenomenally in the somewhat icy conditions.

It appears to have freestyle in the name, but the above statement from swissracer makes it sound like it is less freestyle and more freeride. It sounds like it could carve well with hardboots for some riders. I don't care to, but plenty of riders on BOL put plates on freeride boards and it could be relevant information for some people. Maybe swissracer could test it out with hardboots and edit the review.

Coda is also building carving boards and it doesn't seem like it would be an issue to post a review about a Donek Incline, a Donek Razor, or a Prior MFR. Tankers and Steepwaters also seem to be used and well accepted by hardbooters but they are primarily designed as softboot boards. What is a hardboot board varies from rider to rider so some leeway should probably be offered. You do not have to read the review.

[swissracer]

Since there were quite a few threads regarding soft-boot carving, I figured that some people may appreciate the availability of a board like this. Since there was no soft-boot carving board review portion, I figured this would be the best place for it. (good thing I didn't post it on the Carving Specific Review portion :D)

I in no way wanted to offend anyone with this review and apologize if I did.

I fully understand that this is a Hardbooting forum. I only wanted to give props to a board that could easily be used as a all-mountain / carving board with either soft or hard boot setup.