Coiler Prototype Test Ride

[Gabe T]

This was shot this past weekend. Riding one of Bruce's prototypes designed for soft boot riding. Wide and soft in the middle. Review to follow. :D

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[Titan]

Is there as much rebound in that stick as I think I saw in the vid?

[twelsch42]

Nice moves. You're tearing it up!

I'm curious if there's enough flex/forgive to be ridden all-mountain?

[Corey]

It's a shame you didn't have any fun on it. ;) Looks great!

[Gabe T]

I do not break out the soft boot gear very often. It is mostly reserved for trips to big mountains out west with its allure of powder or glade runs. In days past, I would occasionally take the freestyle board out for a spin later in the day when conditions got choppy, but now they barely see the light of day since I took up skiing a couple of years ago. So when I saw Bruce come to hill one day in soft boots I was intrigued to say the least. In tow was one of his boards with the unmistakable silver and black look of a Coiler in its close to finished state; missing only the topsheet but prepped to be test ridden. Almost as odd were the goofy looking bindings that were on it. Looked like something you might find at a yard sale for $10! Close enough … I think he said it cost him $7 at a ski swap. :)

A couple of weeks later, I dug out the soft boot gear, got my hands on the board and eventually took it for a ride. :D

Note that the video was shot the morning after a warm sunny day where things were on the wet and slushy side. Lower temps overnight set up the day with some firm conditions. Although it would have been nice to ride hero snow (seldom seem around these parts this season), the hard snow conditions provided a good test for the board and its edge hold.

When I took the board out for my first few runs, I was rarin’ to go and pushed it aggressively. Riding it hard and fast is where you get rewarded with this ride. One thing that I noticed immediately was that the board had quite a bit of pop coming out of a turn. This can be seen in some of the shots where the board catches some air during the transitions, particularly coming off a toe side where it was easier to load up the board with a soft boot stance. I’m not sure how much of the liveliness was a trade-off for more edge hold but its ability to bite and grip in a carve did not seem to be compromised.

Given the 10m sidecut radius, the wider waist as well as the conditions of the day, I found medium tight turns to be the most fun and comfortable for me. (Basically the riding that is seen from the trailing shots on the video.)

As with any traditional soft boot stance, it was more of a delicate balance on the heel side when trying to get high up on edge. A bit harder on the legs too when you’re trying to edge up the board aggressively when compared with hard booting. I did try to see how far I could push a heel side to the point where I would eventually slide out; can’t say for sure whether it was due to the edge breaking loose or due to boot out though. I was using a size 9 Burton Ion boot with binding angles set at 33 front and 21 back. (BTW, Bruce has tried this board with the new Bomber power plates and found the pairing with the board to be an even more favorable ride.)

One aspect of soft boot riding that I find appealing is having the versatility to ride fakie and transitioning back and forth via nose and tail rolls. Can it be done with this board? The short answer is yes, but judging by the shape, I don’t think it was designed with this in mind. With the 10mm taper, I was riding somewhat cautiously not knowing how the board would behave. I got fairly comfortable but did not push it too aggressively on the fakie side. Rolling on the tail back to regular stance wasn’t much of a problem although there wasn’t much energy generated from the transition. I am guessing the stiffness as well as the shape of the tail may have something to do with that as it doesn’t have the same pivot point that a traditional freestyle board would have with its rounder shape and higher scoop in the tail.

I can definitely say that this is better than any soft board I’ve ever owned. I must qualify this by saying that I have only had 3 in my lifetime though, with a couple of them dating back about 15 yrs or so. I realize that freestyle board performance has also come a long way since then. I have demo’d some later version Burtons in recent years and I recall enjoying some runs with one their rockered boards a couple of seasons ago. It turned nice and smooth (in some very nice snow conditions at the time) but the reverse camber all but killed the pop coming out of a turn.

For most of us, this latest creation is not going to replace an all out carver on hard boots, but it definitely offers something different and fun for a change of pace. I can definitely see this being a nice option on a bigger mountain with access to varied terrain or changing conditions throughout the day. This should work well in the powder given its large surface and should be fun for ducking into the glades; something that I wouldn’t venture to do if clipped onto an alpine board. (Not too much experience in the pow; perhaps some tweaks in the nose stiffness and shape might enhance the ride in the fluffy stuff.)

I believe Bruce has a few soft board designs he’s been tinkering with and gathering data on, so he should be prepared to start producing for next season. ;)

I thought about posting this in the Gear Reviews section too but have no idea if the board even has an official name yet. ‘Softy’ is hand written on the top along with a few specs, but that name; well, sort of sounds ‘soft’. A fellow hardbooter mentioned how ‘fat’ the board looked so here are my suggestions:

The Fatboy (alt. spellings – PHATboy)

The Fatty (Can’t smoke it but you can still get a high from it)

The FATSO-FT (FATSO Full Tilt)

Here is a summary of the board specs and the setup I used:

Length – 164 cm

Waist width - 26 cm

Taper - 10mm

Sidecut - 10m

Stance Width: 20.5 cm

Bindings: Flow NXT AT (Large)

Angles: 33 Front, 21 Back

Boots: Burton Ion (Size 9)

Rider weight: 170 lbs

Gabe

[lowrider]

Great review Gabe. Looks like MSLM has some good coverage compared to the southern banana belt. I put a request in to Bruce for one so if your in the shop maybe you can slip it ahead on the build list. Now that your back on softies what is your criteria for deciding whether to ride the softies or hard boots ? That video looks like you need to do a little more research better keep the board a little longer !

[BobD]

Great video and review. What's the camber profile? The wide angle lens make the board look full rocker.

[jtslalom]

Nice video of soft riding. The board looks like it has a nice and long edge contact length. Now that I am almost exclusively riding softboots, I would be interested in a demo. It would be great if one was brought to ECES. I would definately want to take it for a spin.

[Gabe T]

Now that your back on softies what is your criteria for deciding whether to ride the softies or hard boots ?

Not sure I'm officially back on softies, but I'll be more than happy to test out any future designs. :D

That video looks like you need to do a little more research better keep the board a little longer !

So I actually did take the board out again this past weekend for a few runs! Snow was a bit better (at least first thing in the morning) so it was a fun ride with the heel sides being even more sure footed in better snow. Experimented a bit with the angles too. Got it up to around 33/45. Rideable but the lateral movements made it feel a bit sloppy... Better with the lower angles. For carving, the board works best on a moderately pitched slopes. Once you get the turns pumping, the sensation is that you're going at a pretty decent clip though. Can you ride this with hard boots? Sorry, did not try. :( Bruce commented that he thought the board would likely be overpowered with hardboots. I think it’s more about the pitch of the slope and the speed you’re carrying though. I am guessing I could probably make similar turns as seen in the video on the same run, but if I try carving big fast turns on the steeps it’s not going to work well given the softer flex pattern. In that sense, I think you can potentially overpower the board on soft boots too.

It so happened that Burton was also demo'ing boards on the weekend so I decided to try out a board. It was a Custom X (158 I think). I never did get a good feel for it though. I set it up at lower angles this time (5/20). When I looked down, the board looked quite narrow at the waist, although to my surprise I would find out later that at almost 25cm, it was only about 1 cm narrower than the Coiler. Despite having ridden boards of that length before, the board felt very short. (Guess it's been a while!) It felt like the grip was pretty good although I never really put it to the test as it just felt like I was going to get boot out if I edged it too aggressively. I might have gotten more comfortable tweaking the setup but I never did and returned it after 15 minutes (3 short runs). This was in contrast with the Coiler which felt very comfortable with just a few turns. Mind you, when I finally switched back to my VSR, the first few turns felt kind of odd too. :)

Regarding the camber on the Coiler, I don’t have the board with me to measure, but I’m guessing it was in the range of about 1 cm or so ... Probably not that different compared to my VSR 173.

Gabe

[jtslalom]

I have ridden quite a few soft boards in the last four years. When the demo tents come to my mountain I rarely pass up the chance to try a new board. The one thing I have learned about riding new boards is to really give them a run for their money. I rode a Libtech Skunk Ape last year and had the board out for about a dozen runs. I placed the bindings at angles that I usually ride. I thought it was a great board. I also rode a Burton Custom somewhere in the mid 160's range. Again I rode my normal riding angles and once again I thought the board was great.

I currently ride a Status Uno 166. This is one of the best soft boards I have ever ridden, however there isn't much difference between all three of them. I prefer riding the Status board but the other two are also good rides. The problem I have when riding new boards is the fact that there is such a subtle difference in the ride that it is difficult to tell which board is better. I was riding a Ride Timeless 168 and thought it was the best soft board I have ever ridden. Then I got on the Status Uno 166 and now it is the best soft board I have ever ridden. I will soon be getting a new Status board built with more carving charecteristics in mind. I'm sure it will be the best soft board I will have ever ridden. It is so very difficult to describe the subtle differences in how a board rides that I find myself liking any board I ride. Obviously I am partial to the Status boards but I can honestly say that I have never been on a "Bad" board. Even as a hard boot rider and all the different hard decks I have ridden none of them were bad.

[Jack M]

Nice video and review Gabe, good work, thanks!

[stewart Hodgins]

So I also got a chance to ride the Coiler soft boot board and it blew my mind! Super edge hold and speed! Soft boot boards typically have a 7 or 8m radius forcing riders to either carve so slow that’s its no fun or slide the turns verses a boardercross board which almost has a GS side cut and you end up going mock 10 which is too fast for us every day riders. This board allows the rider to carve as hard as they want but with out the GS speeds as it only has a VSR 9.5m radius. Gabe said he liked the board on the flatter hills but I found it way more fun on the steeps. Compared to a typical glass soft boot board the grip is amazing because it has titnal allowing the rider to lay down carves. Here is a short video I made riding the board.

Stewart

[xy9ine]

i'd be totally down with a slightly longer / narrower hardboot iteration of this; a mini monster, as it were. looks like too much fun.

[scrutton]

Great video Gabe. I want to try one, now.

[av_dumitrascu]

Thumbs up for a sweet review for a great board...I have launched my order to Bruce, all over the Ocean from Romania, based on the valuable info available here, on BOL!

Hardly waiting the Softy & the snow now ;)