Jump to content
Note to New Members ×

All mountain board advice


hotracer

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

It's been a few years since I last rode but before that I was riding 300+ days a year for 12 years, mainly on race boards, coilers, burtons, even still got a Simms Burner 197 in the cupboard but now being a bit older and wiser (not wanting to kill myself!) I want to get back into riding again. I was thinking of trying an all mountain board, maybe F2 El Diablo 166 or something similair, as I am currently living in Europe at the moment, has any body ridden one or got any recommendations on other all mountain boards that a great to ride in all conditions but still carve pretty well. Any info would be great

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since you live in Europe the costs of importing a board from the USA are quite large. If you've got the budget go for it, I feel the boards from the US are far more universal and all-mountain than their counterparts in Europe. Here the push is for more narrower and racier stuff except boards targeting the extremecarving market.

 

The freecarving boards from F2 (El Diablo and Silberfiel) are fine performers and easy to find a good deal on, especially on ebay.de. The Swoard Extemecarver is also very versatile as is the Pureboarding Bastard, these are wider (relatively shorter) boards that make them more universal. You can also look at the Swoard 'copies' by Virus, Oxess, Goltes, or Plasma.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on what you mean by all-mountain. Will you spend a lot of time off-piste, or will it mainly be on-piste with a few forays off? Is the compromise between groomed and powder or do you also like bumps? Steeps? Park?

These are the key questions ^ 

Other important part is your boot size, angles that you want to ride and weight. Strength and skill we've got the idea :) 

 

I'll throw in few Euro options here: 

 

For most versatile "of the shelf" board that still carves ok, but only if you are pretty lightweight, I'd recommend Nidecker Proto 167. At 180 Ibs I'm too strong for it to do high speed or steeps carving, but does all the rest great for me. True play board! 

 

The ElDiablo 166 is similar a bit stiffer, rides pow less good then Proto. Will do higher speed carve then the above. It does everything ok, but not stellar. 

 

Another similar board is SG Cult 169. A great steep pow and tree board. Still carves very good. 

 

You could ask Kessler to build you a hard boot specific BX, narrower then the regular one. I've got one that's a bit soft for me. Still very sweet - way better carver than any of the above. 

 

Or, ask Alexey of Spanish brand OES to build you a wider version of his SL 162. If he could incorporate a slightly rounded upturned tail, it would be a true all-mountain slayer, for everything but deep pow. 

 

Last but not least, there are a lot of freeride / big mountain boards out there that would take hard boots and carve just fine... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are in Europe, why not get a board from Pure Boarding? Having one board for everything is what they are mainly about. And I can personally attest to the high all-mountain capability of those boards. Their product is not the cheapest, but it will cost you far less than most European custom boards - somewhere between EUR 600,- and 800,- IIRC. And having a board sent over the pond is prohibitively expensive, as someone already mentioned. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've listen to BlueB and was able to find a Nidecker Proto 167 (I'm 160 pounds) , I've ride it once so far in soft snow and I had a lot fun, Can't wait for next big snow fall.

 

On the other hand, It's too soft for real carving on hardpack .

 

I've sold my SG Cult 159, the Cult carves better . I would love to try a Cult 169. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its all about perspective, but definitely for European conditions I would not look to the US for boards.

If the caricature of the euro board is a 15cm wide board, the us equivalent is 2m long and requires "slopes which are good for carving" to ride.

There is probably a wider choice of pre-built stuff in Europe, some of which is listed here.

Personally I have a piste board (Kessler) and then powder boards. If I need to pick just one I take the Kessler and rent powder boards when there's more powder than piste (not often in Europe for me).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Guys, thanks for all the great responses, if I was in the US or Canada, iI would for sure go for Coiler or Priors as used to ride them when I lived in Whistler, but unfortunatly importing becomes very expensive so ended up getting a F2 Diablo 166 for 300 euros new on ebay, I will keep you posted on how it rides. As for selling the Burner Carvedog, unfortunatly not as I think I would like to be buried with it as it seemed to get me as close to death on many times as possible!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...