K2 Kwicker

[heroshmero]

It's probably a foilboard. Those guys like the Clicker hardware.

[RCrobar]

Hello

Well last weekend I was able to Demo the K2 Kwicker splitboard system, I was on a trip and and just lucked out.  I am a split board back country novice.  I was on the 161 K2 board, it was too small for me as I am over 200 pounds and 6 feet tall, it was the only board they had. I was inbounds at a resort, the conditions were very hard with a few cms of nice fluffy dry pow on top.  I rode in the trees a bit and on perfect grooming.  I also hiked up the run to try all aspect of the system.

Please take my comments with a grain of salt as I am far from a hard core backcountry guy.  Riding down the pow is all I care about and if I could I would rather have my sledneck buddies give me a ride vs splitting the board and walking up.  I do have a Voile Split board and will hike for my turns if the pow is great!

BOOTS
I found the K2 Kwicker boots to be very comfortable and fit my foot well.  I also liked the Boa System, not really being a soft boot guy all that often maded me wonder why the kids like laces?  The boots are pretty heavy and have a thick feeling sole.  I think that the combined boot binding weight felt about the same as a traditional set up.  I can't see using these Kwicker boots in a standard binding, however.  Walking in them, with the build in highback and a shape at the bottom that is kind of rounded at the toe felt a bit weird.  Nothing bad here, just different feeling.  The boots were very comfortable and supportive.

RIDE
I also wondered if I would get a too high off of the board feeling with the thick sole and binding, I personally didn't feel this at all.  The boots are very supportive, I'd guess that they are like a softer hard boot.  The boots felt pretty good laterally, when carpet testing, but it was hard to tell when actually riding in the trees as I did not like the board size and shape; I think this affected my opinions of the boot-binding-interface feeling I got while riding ... in a negative way.  I'd like to try these boots, with the resort Kwicker bindings, on a board that I know well to eliminate this variable. The young kids that were riding with us use soft boots that are more for a park set up, their boots were like soft noodles compared to the K2 Kwickers.  My guess is the young guys may find these boots too stiff, again this is very subjective.  I did rail, or try to, rail a few turns on the groom with the 161.  The boots felt very supportive.  That said, I think I folded the front boot material on the inside of the boot; the material seemed to bend-bulge out (and stay that way) a bit on the front foot while the back boot did not.  The boots did feel very supportive on a hard turn, but it made me question really hard use/turns on groom and durability.

CHANGE OVER
The change over was quick.  But, most of the change over, skins off/on, clips at the tip/tail, etc is exactly the same.  The bindings change over was very smooth, quick and slick ... just like the videos.  Stepping in and out was both quick easy and sometimes a bit of a pain.  Lining up the pins, snow at times was really easy and other times a bit of a pain.  I guess you would get used to it and get quicker over time.  I like the new Voile Pucks and the sliders for setting up the stance angles, but I don't think you can get much more than 30 degrees on the front foot as you run out of the channel to get this angle.  This is only an issue for the guys who perhaps like higher stance angles.

BOTTOM LINE
There are things I liked and did not like about the K2 Kwicker system, bottom line I would not buy the system ... yet.  I think it will be better to wait to see where K2 takes this product line.

All in all a cool system that I hope continues to improve.  Because it is all about the ride down for me, I think I would choose a traditional strap binding and perhaps a boot that is just a bit softer for mobility in the pow.  As with all things this is super subjective from a B.C. novice.  I will seriously consider a pair of K2 standard boots, perhaps some Flow bindings and a nice Pow board.  Next I will look for a ride up the hill from my sledneck friends:)

Cheers
Rob
 

Edited March 3, 2015 by RCrobar

[nils]

Rob, check the thread Fin just moved to this main section :)

I'm getting into split ( 3 or 4  parts board and there seem to be cool new ideas out there..)

 

Nils

[bumpyride]

Same comments on the Splitboard Thread.

 

Old K2 hardboots for original clicker.  The clicker bindings weigh nothing and are incredibly strong.  Have them on my approach skis (Free Heel) and on my all mountain carver.  Wish they would bring these back.  Good Alpine Climbing boots too.