kamran Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Hagen,...hmm..you are fast, sold proton 172 last week,..just sold limited edition oxygen 170. and will sell (pay attention to this one if you are serious about racing) donek GS 185, 16m scr. email separately if interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagen Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 ...that 186 is too much board for me. I still have to take my 188 sims burner out again - last time I was on it, it scared me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Great report, but we need another report after 5 days on the board. Frank told me that it would take about 5 days to learn all about it, and I felt he was wrong after only 1 day. Then after 2 I started to understand, and after 5 I knew he was right. There's so much to learn about the subtle differences in the ride that you need to experience it on ice, on corduroy, in flat light, in sun light, and after all that, it really starts to come together. I have about 14 days on mine now, and it really is a great ride. See my review in the board section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Chris, Thanks. You just gave me more reasons to look forward to it. I am planning a midweek day in a few days and whole 2 day ride next weekend. I wish Ladia would report again with his Virus Rocket, I didn't see him on the slopes yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywalker Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Hi, I can totally subscribe everything, what Kamran wrote about his Virus. This is, how you feel, if you buy one of the serious tools made by Frank. I have a big smile on my face, when I read Chris' Comments, as obviously Frank and me have been right with our suggestions ;) ;). My WCR for sure is one of the more demanding boards made by Frank and I'm still surprised time by time by it's abilities. I just returned from ECS, where I wanted to demo some other boards. But conditions were so nice, I couldn't miss a minute on my Virus. But: My sister and two other girls took the chance to demo a Rocket. To make ist short: Three girls, one opinion. The Rocket is a toy, not demanding enough for any of the girls. Easy to skid, easy to turn, easy to carve tight. Funny to do short- and jumpturns, but a little too soft and too short for carves with high edge pressure. This is exactly, what I expected when I saw the shape and felt the flex. This is IMHO one general misunderstanding. Not every narrow board with high carving ability is hard to ride. Most of the Virus boards are a really easy ride compared to a Hot Blast for example or other pure race boards. please don't kill me, that's just my personal opinion about some of the boards I tried over th last years ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 Skywalker, I agree. Virus is very friendly, you can make a lot of mistakes and it allows you to rescue yourself. At least a few times I have made mistakes where I would have been in trouble on another board, but Virus was OK and helped me save it before I fell or lost the edge. But it takes time to learn this part of the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 The basic Virus models are pretty easy to ride… But the more special ingredients Frank puts in em the more tricky / advanced they get (off course). My wife is currently riding the Virus Dragster, a 163 BX board with a 19.5 waist. No issues at all. It’s soft and very easy to ride… she has a blast. She tried to ride my Terminator custom, a 165cm, Carbon/Texalium combo with a 17cm waist, Nope, not so good. She actually rode my Pogo Overdose much better… It really depends, like with probably every other custom board manufacture, a) the better the ingredients, the better the board should be and b) you get what you pay for (in my opinion). What I agree most is that these boards (Team, Custom…) really deliver the unexpected – in a positive way - even after a while, when you thought you figured it all out… Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted February 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 I think all above made statements by Ray, Chris and Skywalker make sense. First of all, all our findings are pretty subjective to a certain degree. Secondly, every board type will (should) have different dynamics and properties. You can't say a Burton Alp behaves quite similar to a Burton FP. Pretty much like you can't say a Mercedes C230 would ride similar to a mercedes AMG55. But I guess Ray already made that point. As for Virus Rocket, I never rode it but Ladia has just bought one and he is one of the better carvers around. I'd wait for his full report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 After having one of the best seasons ever on my Team Tantalus I couldn't resist going the next step and ordering a Gladiator Extreme Carbon. 38mm of camber, and custom flex for my weight. Thank you Frank for the absolutely beautiful craftsmanship, and I'm already hoping for an early start to next season so I can try out the new ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 It's a beauty....I wish, I wish,... I would have ordered one too but I'm planing on purchasing a Titan crew cab 4x4. I think my extreme series virus has to wait,....it's almost summer anyways,...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Originally posted by Chris Houghton 38mm of camber That's awesome. I've always wanted to try a board with mega camber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 27, 2005 Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Chris, Oh yeah, this is a nice one! You will have a blast... Can't wait to see you riding this beauty next season (@ the SES) :D Too bad we have to wait that long... Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted April 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2005 Ray, What's the camber on that prototype zylon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Originally posted by kamran Ray, What's the camber on that prototype zylon? Kamran, my Gladiator currently (after 1 season) has 30mm of camber... I think it's still the same as when I got it... We had to make it way softer for my 165lbs. My 10cm shorter Terminator has 33mm of camber, but also way stiffer than the Gladiator... Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted April 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Thanks Ray. We have to stop this thread. It makes me call Frank and place an order. I am trying to control myself:mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Jack I had a few custom Priors with lots of camber and really noticed how it smooths everything out. Interesting how it totally screws up the BOBSI numbers too. The Gladiator measures as a softer flex than a 167 Burner, but when you flex both by hand NO WAY! If you noticed the other posts I've kinda given up on BOBSI really giving any meaningful results, and this is a perfect example of why it has limited meaning. Oh, and the Team Tantalus measured softer than a 164 Hot Blast. Hahaha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Chris, I agree with you on the BOBSI numbers, never believed in them to much. If a custom board is built correct, it takes care of everything... Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordy Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 My Kessler is softer then some of the freestyle boards in my Quiver but it out holds everything I own? Flex is about to change to suit materals. I am not so sure stiff is going to be the prefered flex for very long. I love the stiff feel the virus line (and some other high end customs) gives, but I sure am learning to like the light balanced imput nessasary to work softer stuff when it really works well. Hope all is well, Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamran Posted April 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Flex is about to change to suit materals. Bordy, I love this topic. The common notion out there is that a stiffer board holds a better edge than a softer one. Is that true for all lengths and scr ? anyone else having comments in this regard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted April 28, 2005 Report Share Posted April 28, 2005 Bordy, Exactly my point. I am a strong beliver in custom build boards… if they are stiff or soft, I really don’t care. What I care about is that they deliver what I demand from them… when I unpacked my Gladiator Zylon I was very shocked and called Frank (Virus) right away to complain… “OMG it is waaay to soft…” He said, realx and ride it first! Well, I was definatly proofed to be wrong… stiffer is not necessarily better So it seems we are on the same page… ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 The Quadrax glass that Prior is using reduces the weight of the board by about 10%, and the longitudinal stiffness by over 15%, but the edge hold is BETTER than the previous construction methods. Perhaps there will be similar results with the Titanal option (like Kessler) but durability seems to be suspect at this point. The new construction sticks I've tried measure and flex softer, but do not ride that way - they feel stiffer than they measure, I suppose because of the torsional stiffness. My new Gladiator has Texalium under the carbon, apparently this is now popular with the ski manufacturers, and there is a board with a plain Texalium topsheet on eBay.de, Trans or Choc I think.Yet another way to add torsional stiffness and change the character of the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted April 30, 2005 Report Share Posted April 30, 2005 have been getting leaps and bounds better very recently the ski companies have come out with some crazy shapes that when paired with the right flex are blowing away skis from just a season or two before the new skis are getting softer and quite turny, some with 11 meter SCR, this would not surprise me so much but these are not SL sticks just freeride skis I have been going to softer stuff recently mostly on the boots one thing that I have found is that boards that are too stiff blow on ice one of the best things ever on ice is a madd 170 which for me is just too soft on everything but bullet proof snow and ice if I were a racer and having to ride tracked out courses full of ruts and ice I sure as hell would be riding much much different boards than I prefer now edge hold on ice seems to drop if a board is too stiff and they are harder to turn on ice as well and it seems to be worse if its too soft torsionally, I notice this with many soft setups what really is noticable on ice is if the board is damp or not, Madds and Coilers have been two best in my book Madds feel very alive but hold solid and are willing to skid if you want, a Coiler is super "quiet" and just holds a edge like no other board I have been on I guess it all comes down to the right balance of materials and flex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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