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Donek Freeride with Catek Freerides?


Guest zion611

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I ride a 160 wide with freerides. It's a blast. I had serious issues with the freerides at first. It took me an entire day to dial into the perfect stance. Since then, it's been a dream.

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Yes, as long as you do not want to spend your whole day "trying", to EC. Still need to play with my angles a bit. I am actually going to lower them to 36/33, at the higher angles I did not even come close to booting out and I need to get more pressure on my edges. The ride does not hook up nearly as hard or as deep as with a narrow board, hard boots and Olympic bindings. With that said, you can do your normal push/pull turns and lay out a carve every now and then. I seem to lose too much speed trying to link laid out turns. Probably has to do more with the shorter sidecut (10.2) than the Freeride Pros. Would I recommend this setup to someone trying to learn to carve? No. Would I recommend this setup to someone who rides hardboots and wants a freeride setup? Definitely. You can transfer the style to this setup but the feeling is too different to learn the style with this setup. Well, we will see where it goes from here.

Good Luck,

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I'm thinking about getting a setup for Colorado powder that also holds its own on hardpack, and also is nice on a halfpipe. How does the Wide + Freeride Pros like the pipe? How does the Incline like the powder (compared to the Wide), as I assume the Incline like pipes better than the wide? Should I go for a Tanker instead?

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Originally posted by DrCR

I'm thinking about getting a setup for Colorado powder that also holds its own on hardpack, and also is nice on a halfpipe. How does the Wide + Freeride Pros like the pipe? How does the Incline like the powder (compared to the Wide), as I assume the Incline like pipes better than the wide? Should I go for a Tanker instead?

I know the Incline isn't very happy in powder at all, but it seems like some people have gotten better results with the Wide. In my opinion, the Donek Incline/Wides are too stiff for tree powder since I like softer, turny boards for powder... but that is just my preference. Similarly the Catek Freerides will be overkill (in my opinion) for powder (I'm assuming you are refering to fresh powder and not packed powder).

I think both the Incline and the Wide would be fine for the halfpipe (I've ridden my Incilne in the pipe and it was a decent performer). I doubt the Wide is going to be that much different in that respect.

I don't know much about Tankers but my guess is that they won't be good for halfpipe riding because they are stiff AND extra long... so long that they might not be able to conform to the curve of the halfpipe transition without springing back and pushing off and away from the wall.

Oh yea... unless you ride high angles (30+) I would be careful of boot drag on the Incline. I have size 8 feet, ride 18/3, with over an inch of rise (as much as I dare put on the screws) on my Catek Freerides and I still get boot drag. I've ordered extra long screws and hope that will help... so be aware.

Actually... have you considered the Donek Phoenix? I think with its slightly wider waist, medium stiff flex, would make it ideal for what you are looking for... in fact... based on the board description it is the board you want from the Donek line.

Donek website says:

If you want a board that you can really push in the park, but still fits the bill on a powder day or outside the park, this is it.

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Hum, the Phoenix is indeed looking like a nice choice. And being a Donek board, it probably still holds an edge fairly well on the hard. I'm looking at the Freeride Pros simply for edge hold on the hard stuff...how would they be overkill? i.e. Would they inhibit performance on the pipe or powder or you just talking about their cost?

I hate to say it and I know it's more expensive, but what about a T6 or perhaps CustomX? Also looking at the Arbor boards, but I'm not sure how they do on a pipe.

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Originally posted by DrCR

Hum, the Phoenix is indeed looking like a nice choice. And being a Donek board, it probably still holds an edge fairly well on the hard. I'm looking at the Freeride Pros simply for edge hold on the hard stuff...how would they be overkill? i.e. Would they inhibit performance on the pipe or powder or you just talking about their cost?

I hate to say it and I know it's more expensive, but what about a T6 or perhaps CustomX? Also looking at the Arbor boards, but I'm not sure how they do on a pipe.

My thoughts exactly about the Phoenix (that being a Donek, I bet it still hold a decent edge since I doubt Sean would make a board that couldn't carve decently).

Sorry, I meant to say that Freeride Pros are probably overkill for powder riding, like using a ginsu knife to cut warm butter. I don't think they would be that "bad" for powder riding though... just the benefits of edge hold don't really matter for powder. So I'm referring to the slight extra weight of the bindings (normally insignifant compared to the responsiveness on hardpack) and the extra cost when I mean overkill.

Again based on Burton's website description, I doubt the T6 is going to rip in the pipe - it specifical says "for natural terrain" and never mentioned freestyle like it does for the Custom. Of course, Terje did help design it, and his two loves are freeriding and halfpipe... so who knows. But I'm skeptics. If the CustomX is just a lighter, snappier Custom, then I think it will be a decent pipe board.

The one thing I'm pretty sure about is that the Arbor boards aren't going to be good on hardpack or in the pipe because they are just super-soft. The bamboo gives it a really springy flex that is probably great in powder, but it just flaps away in firm snow.

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Originally posted by lonerider

I know the Incline isn't very happy in powder at all, but it seems like some people have gotten better results with the Wide. In my opinion, the Donek Incline/Wides are too stiff for tree powder since I like softer, turny boards for powder... but that is just my preference.

Great riding with you @ Snowperformance, lonerider! You rip!

My Donek Freeride experience:

160 Incline

161 Wide

very old 168 Incline

When I had the 160 it really sunk in powder and I was about 185 at the time? Going to the Wide made a huge difference. I'm 195 w/o gear nowadays and the 161 Wide is very nice in tree powder. The 168 Incline, which is used and probably softened, works well in powder for me as well, and OK in trees.

If I were lonerider's 155 pounds I would not want to take these boards in the trees so much, but my wife does ride her 150 (130 pounds) in the trees w/ no problems.

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