"Modern" freecarve boards vs UP 69?

[1xsculler]

A very general question. 

What characteristics, performance, feel, physical size, stiffness, etc., differentiate modern freecarve boards,  specifically Doneks and Coilers,  from older boards such as the Burton UP 69? I understand the UP is pretty much a race board but I am interested in how it would ride and perform compared to Donek and Coiler freecarve boards. 

[SunSurfer]

Your profile says you have both, but ride the Coilers. Try the UP some day, and see if you can tell the difference. 

It was only as I became a better rider that I learned the different feel of different boards. Strangely, as I got better, so did my older boards performance. ;-) 

[1xsculler]

Don't own the UP 69 any more but as I have improved I'd like to try it again to compare it to my Coilers.

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

One big change has been in the camber shape at the nose, sometimes at the tail as well. 'traditional' camber put an emphasis on using as much camber, as close to the 'start/finish' points of the sidecut's curvature. Flattening the camber a bit at the extremities has given 'modern; boards a more fluid feel into/out-of carved turns. I first saw this feature on my '88 Barfoot, and it, along with slight base bevel, dual cambered-sections, and 3 different sidecuts, were inclusive on my Safari 205 from '88-89 race season (it won the DH/Super-G at the Open). If you look at the edge profile of a newer Pure Boarding decks, you'll see a slight change in the nose curve along the Sidecut (they retain a nearly full-length camber arc) that does a similar thing, letting the rider get Way Over on edge without the nose 'digging' too deep. Older, 'race' boards often were full-on Camber + edge, no 'glide' between edging events...

Kinda like Fins were; 'On', or 'Off', in engagement...Unless you were on a Backhill, where, the Fins were In, all the time..

 

Edited February 14, 2018 by Eric Brammer aka PSR

[BlueB]

3 hours ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said:

If you look at the edge profile of a newer Purecarve, you'll see a slight change in the nose curve along the Sidecut (they retain a nearly full-length camber arc) that does a similar thing, letting the rider get Way Over on edge without the nose 'digging' too deep.

You mean Pure Boarding? 

Yeah, they have that flat spot in the edge contour... It seems it was an afterthought to their already existing mold profile, rather then retooling to the proper nose decamber... It sort of works, but not as well as the decamber could have. 

[Jack M]

• Metal construction - better edge hold, smoother, more comfortable, capable of higher speeds, generally more damp.
• Decambered nose/tail - a.k.a. early rise, a.k.a. tip rocker.  A much better marriage of the curvatures of sidecut, nose kick, and camber.  The nose slices instead of plows during a carve.  Allows easier carve initiation and release, better terrain handling.
• VSR - variable sidecut radius (optional).  By using different radii in different sections of the board (nose, mid, tail), or even more complex mathematical curves, the board can be more versatile and more responsive to fore/aft weight shifts.

Those are the big ones.  The improvements have been profound.  You'll kick yourself you didn't upgrade sooner.  Also the UPs were not race boards, they were freecarve boards.  They were softer and turnier than their FP counterparts.  Vague and mysterious marketing verbage in the catalog implied UPs were somehow higher performing than FPs, but that was just hype.