need advice on new board

[kipstar]

Dear Bomber-ers

A friend of mine are both in a similar position of wanting to buy new style boards and I want to ask on Bomber since we will likely need to both buy without seeing the boards or demoing them in advance.

Both of us are similar size (me185lb him 175lb) similar height (6 foot) similar feet (me 27.5, him 26.5) both of us now have TD3s although I also have a couple of sets of F2s for some reason as well (I am called the gear vacuum for some reason).

He currently rides an oxygen proton 168 which has probably reached the end of its life; I have the longer oxygen 178, nidecker 177 and an oxygen 185, would probably sell off the 185 and the 178 and keep the nidecker as an early season board, but you can never have too many boards or too much gear, especially when you ride as little as I do :_)

Our requirements are fairly similar; a carving board to be ridden mostly at what I describe as medium speed (probably similar to what most freecarvers do rather than GS racers do), doing the full variety of turns, cross through cross under cross over (no EC style), short medium long radius, from steeps to flat, riding in the variable conditions and mostly harder snow of NZ/Korea up to the much softer hero snow you guys get in Tahoe and Colorado. In my case, I may do some racing in Korea, USA and NZ (I have also raced at a club/university level in the past), he probably won't. Neither of us want to ride plates, at least not yet.

Our skill level is probably quite similar; would describe as advanced but not expert. I have a bit of a fitness issue since I hardly ride (not since 2006) and have a health problem so I suffer from fatigue pretty quickly (although this is manageable) so probably a board that is crazily difficult to ride is not ideal for either of us.

So in other words:

- versatile

- very good edge hold on manmade/icy conditions and spring freeze

- capable of handling less than hero snow

- enjoyable to ride but not a massive handful (so a little lively, quite damp)

- most likely new, but would consider an ex demo or last season's graphics

I think we have a reasonable idea of what we need.

- probably a carving board, rather than a raceboard designed to be ridden with a plate

- modern shape, possibly metal

- probably 175 - 178 in length

- sidecut probably somewhere around 12-14m but might be a quadratic or variable sidecut but you get the point, reasonably turny

- need to be able to deliver it abroad probably (NZ, Thailand)

- needs a waist at least 190mm to ride the angles we are used to (and what you need in NZ IMHO)

- Ideally to fit with our Eurofag lifestyles, with bright neon jackets, headbands, red bull logos on our pants and fake swiss accents (ok this one is joke)

I love everything about the Rev, and they are cheap at the moment ($600) for ex demos, but no point to get a board that is designed to be raced with a plate if I am riding without, according to Mr Sean (which I agree and understand fully). I don't know much about priors. I have read enough to think that metal boards no longer have the issues of falling apart that they used to and most people claim they reduce fatigue a bit as they are just a little less effort to ride; is this really the case (I think you get what you put in, but would be nice to be able to take the foot of the peddle sometimes)?

These are the shortlist and all contenders too narrow already taken out as well as boards that are long waiting lists (e.g. coilers), and this is where I really appreciate (we really appreciate) comment beyond the reviews from people who have actually ridden them.

- SG full Carve 175 (waist 190mm) (non metal)

- Donek full metal free carve 175 or 178 (waist 200mm) (metal)

- SG full race titan 175 (waist 190mm) (metal)

- Oxess RG race non metal 178 (waist 196mm) (non metal)

These are listed in price order from lowest to highest (price difference of the first 2 is quite a lot lower than the last 2).

Personally I am maybe leaning towards the Donek firstly because it's the one that is widest at a reasonable price, it's metal, plus the owner has shared a bunch of info and I've seen how they test the boards on the little youtube clips at least, which is something akin to how I see myself riding (only a fair bit worse) rather than doing day after day in the gates with a plate. I know my friend is leaning towards the SG full carve, partly because of the price and partly because, well it is a frigging good board on paper. What we are both wanting to know...is have people actually got more to comment about these specific boards?

If there is something missing on the shortlist then feel free to suggest it as well. Or if you think I won't notice much difference to my oxygens then feel free to say so.

Edited October 3, 2012 by kipstar

[jacopodotti]

SG Full carve 170 or Kaane Kingdog 172 Wide ( http://kaaneboards.nl/boards.html Kaane use to ride in NZ during summer), I dont know the other boards.

[Donek]

Don't forget. The 20cm waist is just the stock dimension. It does not cost extra to alter it. If you want a different waist width, you just need to tell us.

[Beckmann AG]

I think I pm'd you, but might have missed the target...

[leeho730]

Donek metal FC can handle NZ conditions quite well, I had a blast when I straight charged fairly deep powder (~40cm) with a weight shift but had a tendency to sink when I tried to turn. Perhaps I'm not good enough. Has a fairly mellow flex with a corresponding amount of pop (i.e. not much but there is). Depends on where you want to carve in NZ. For north island, wouldn't recommend beyond 171 for laid full turn carving. And Donek boards have most hassle-free shipping (please PM me on this).

[kipstar]

Guys thank you so much for the advice, thanks especially Mr Beckmann for the PM, very very helpful.

Riding in NZ is pretty expensive for what you get as the flight time is similar to get there as to go to USA but the resorts are relatively not so huge, quiet expensive lift tickets, no accomodation near most mountains, and most importantly patchy weather so NZ is probably my less important location and so I would purchase the length I think most suited for Tahoe and Korea; that said Korea Yong Pyeong wasn't dissimilar to Ruapehu conditions (as it is man made, was wet when I was there with relatively narrow trails) and the Oxygen 178 went fine in those conditions so I would imagine a more modern 175-178 should be ok. I did borrow a Swiss instructor's Oxygen 180 I think it was back when I was riding a lot in the late 90s, and it was quite fine to ride on Whakapapa although a bit of a monster in the lift queues.

Not sure how much powder riding I want to do, these days, happier to stick to the groomers because I am getting old ;_) The aim is to make life as easy and simple as possible!

200mm waist is what I am thinking I require, 195mm on the scorpion was ok, but the 193mm on the oxygen I have is maybe a little on the narrow side to ride the flatter angles I would prefer to try out.

Edited October 4, 2012 by kipstar

[piusthedrcarve]

........I would purchase the length I think most suited for Tahoe and Korea; that said Korea Yong Pyeong wasn't dissimilar to Ruapehu conditions (as it is man made, was wet when I was there with relatively narrow trails) and the Oxygen 178 went fine in those conditions so I would imagine a more modern 175-178 should be ok. I did borrow a Swiss instructor's Oxygen 180 I think it was back when I was riding a lot in the late 90s, and it was quite fine to ride on Whakapapa although a bit of a monster in the lift queues.

Not sure how much powder riding I want to do, these days, happier to stick to the groomers because I am getting old ;_) The aim is to make life as easy and simple as possible!

200mm waist is what I am thinking I require, 195mm on the scorpion was ok, but the 193mm on the oxygen I have is maybe a little on the narrow side to ride the flatter angles I would prefer to try out.

I once rode 183 (I think it was HOT) at YongPyeong years ago and couldn't enjoy it much. The 'Rainbow' was too narrow and steep to make decent freecarve turns.. and other interconnecting trails were also narrow to deal with. Few wide spots were there to let the beast go but with too many people.

Now I get to ride variety of boards these days and if I am going Korea to ride, I will take 170-ish with newer technology (metal, decambered, hammerhead nose, or etc) for those conditions. Newer technology embedded board has longer effective edge length and sidecut that is cut to make effective/dynamic turns. If you considering Tahoe (some powder-soft snow), I found metal board is not quite successful as non-metal board. As Jacopodotti recommended, I found SG Full Carve 170 is fantastic on both conditions and currently it's a my go-to board.

Edited October 4, 2012 by piusthedrcarve