Stick length.....

[Mellow Yellow]

Poll: what length of board do you typically ride on a daily basis?

Why do I want to know: Why not!

Vote above

me ~ 176 F2 Speedster RS

Moderator ~ thanks for correcting the poll

[Derf]

I ride a 166. My previous board was a 155, and was way to short for me. 166 seems to be a good sweet spot for me.

Derf

[zachp13]

Last season I rode a 167 and this season I am patiently waiting for my new coiler 180 RC.

[fin]

Nice Poll Topic!

I do have a stack of boards but I always seem to end up in the high 170,s to low 180's. My saying is this:

You can make a big board carve small

But you cannot make a small board carve big

Given, it takes huge effort to make a big board make a tight turn, but it can be done. However, it is tough to make a small board have a larger side cut and do a GS turn.

[Guest GeoffG]

Now, I just voted the length (171) of my new stick--haven't had a chance to do any more than mount it up (goofy, of course) and click in on the living room floor. I believe it will be my main (only) board this season.

Strangely, my freeride boards have been getting shorter while my carvers have been getting longer. I started on a 166 Gnu Anti-Gravity back in the mid 80's, and have owned several freeride/freestyle boards since in lengths from there down to the 160 I currently ride. My first carver was a 154 (shortest snowboard I've ever owned) and have grown through 157, 163, and currently 171.

[Guest BoulderGeek]

I have a generic wood-core, carbon topsheet capped Salomon 166 for powder, trees, and general kicking around with slow friends. It still rails out pretty nicely. I only use TDs or Cateks on all of my boards.

Last season I got a prior 174 4x4 (4WD). Love it. i do lose the edge here and there. I guess I need to spend more days on it.

My interest is all-mountain freecarve. Salomon has some nice longer big mountain boards that I have considered in 174 or so. I think I'm afraid to get up into the 180s, even though I'm a solid 200lb Guinness lover.

[Mike T]

Donek FC 163 is my most frequently used stick... we'll see if that changes when my Coiler PR 184 arrives!

[Jeffrey Day]

My favorite board is my Donek FC163. Very fun board to ride! I'll have to demo something else though, huh?

[Jon Dahl]

167 because I haven't been able to get out much on my new (02)volkl renntiger 173. If the resorts out here had a little bigger(read wider) runs I think for sure that would change. Still, in the trees and bumps, the difference is, psycologially, enough for me to make a difference.

[Bordy]

Great Poll!

Most of the time I'm on the Biggest stick possible It can be very open out here(Utah)! Usually Some thing Bigger then 190. I only go smaller on weekends and holliday weeks But even then I'll bring a Burner 97 out they turn so easy for there length And when its busy I tend to stay on the ground (Safe for the tail). But I just got some Rossi 190,s so we will see I think they should be way crowd friendly! They feel so soft! And the side cut should be so stable. But I do try to get SL board time as well at least twice a month. And when I help some one with turns! I love laying out the little boards but they are just so slow!

[Guest Oppenheimer]

185 Donek. I've got a F2 RS 172 also that is softer and longer (Donek = 10.5m sidecut). This way if I'm trying to stay with Curt or somebody else without care for life or limb, I've got stability for big wide turns. Otherwise, I can whip the shorter turns that I prefer to do riding alone.

[NateW]

170 and 174, with another 174 on the way.

Next year, probably, ~185.

[Daneille]

Prior 159 4WD

Daneille

[Guest george]

Size isn't everything, you know.

[David Kirk]

This is a good poll. Sometimes I dislike being poled . . because we all know how painful that can be.

I ride a 195 Coiler. It's my only carving board and it will turn pretty darn tight when it's needed. I live and ride in Montana so I'm not worried about fight the crowds on World Cup at Okemo.

Once you go big you'll never go back.

Dave

[Guest bugaboo2]

173 mostly, 164 really crowded days, 185-196 weekdays.

[utahbob]

174 Mavic for carvin

145 for the pipe

155 cruising around when it gets crowded on slopes

[C5 Golfer]

Verrry interesting.. would have thought the <170 would be 3x more than the rest, but it is a nice to see bell curve.

[mtnpig]

My main stick is a Donek fc171. I'm starting to use longer stuff more regularly. I was wondering if the area you are at would let you go bigger or is it just a mind set. The east coast has more traffic on tighter trails? is this maybe a reason for the smaller lengths having the bigger market share? Big sticks can carve tight but it takes alot of effort, however speed is fun.

[philw]

IMHO it kind of depends how stiff the board is, how much you weigh, and how you ride, and what you ride on doesn't it?

Right now I ride a 163 Slalom which is fine for legal speeds. I have a GS board somewhere which is I think 167, but that's a plank and isn't really sensible anywhere that's not roped off as it needs lots of speed to camber properly.

I have a big floppy 168 powder board, but I've switched to a 156 Fish which works the same way for me.

I suppose this is a carving board (?) so I have to answer 163. Make of it what you will.

[BBQ Chef]

I've been riding a 173 Volant GS primarily the last 2 seasons.

[Guest Roach]

I just stepped up to a 173 Volkl RT GS from a 162 Burton UP. Can't go much bigger that the 170s when you ride on old garbage dumps, the Midwest sucks.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I note that so far in the poll with 101 votes, over 95% of the people are riding boards longer than 160. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say 95% of the general snowboarding populace are riding boards under 160.

[Derf]

Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill

I note that so far in the poll with 101 votes, over 95% of the people are riding boards longer than 160. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say 95% of the general snowboarding populace are riding boards under 160.

Don't forget, most of the people here are talking about carving boards, not freestyle boards. And especially here, people like long boards.

Derf

[Neil Gendzwill]

Originally posted by Derf

And especially here, people like long boards.

That was kind of my point.