What's your favorite mass produced softboot carving board

[JRAZZ]

 

I admit, I'm going slightly stir crazy. Sitting all day looking at spreadsheets and then looking at snowboarding videos is not good for my health.

But I digress.

 

I got to thinking that my quiver now has Coilers, a Donek, an Alloy, and a Never Summer in it. I guess you could say the Alloy DO is mass produced but it just doesn't feel mainstream like the NS Swift is. This season I tried a couple of K2s, Burtons, Sims, and Never Summers and came away thoroughly unimpressed. I mean yes, a good rider (which I am not) can carve anything but none of them had the pop, energy and fun of the Alloy DO. 

So what if the apocalypse hits and all the small guys are wiped out. What are the best mainstream, mass produced boards for carving?

 

p.s. Speaking of Yes, anybody got the chance to try the "Y"? Not a huge fan of volume shifted boards but the Optimistic was actually fun.

p.p.s. Image above is simply for attention

 

[scottishsurfer]

Yes optimistic when I rode a friend's felt like my sg soul but with just a smaller sidecut, so that gets a thumbs up from me.

Sg soul is another good off the shelf board not sure it counts as mass produced though.

I did really quite like the Salomon HPS I demo'd a year ago it was super soft but a really fun if you fancied a bit if Japanese style pow surf carving.

[barryj]

11 hours ago, scottishsurfer said:

Japanese style pow surf carving.

Not sure it counts as "mass produced" but gotta say one word - Moss!! 

Really love my PQ60  It's really the renaissance board - it loves to carve, it loves the Pow...even on the Same Run!!

I save it from everyday use only to protect it.  

http://www.mosssnowstick.com/2019-2020/performance-quad-60

Check out Naoto ripping it up below!

 

 

[cbrkid1981]

I really enjoyed riding the Ride Superpig 142cm (baby Pig).  Also, the Slash Happy Place.

The Superpig-  Great stiff little board.  I really liked the ride.  This started off as a bit of a failure due to not downsizing enough.  I first rode the 148 small piggy.  Due to the waist being very wide for my little feet.  I traded that guy for the baby pig and it was amazing.  The ability to carve with a "short and fat"  is awesome, it's very playful and not cumbersome at all.  

 

The slash-  super fun and probably the most flexible poppy board that I have ever ridden.  I really thought that this board was going to wash out when I tried to lean it over and it didn't at all.  Very fun and I got it at a steal.  

 

These two are def the dark horses that came through this year for me. 

[lordmetroland]

3 hours ago, barryj said:

Check out Naoto ripping it up below!

I'm finding the "softboot carving worth watching" is 50% worth watching/50% worth wincing; the cat-butt toesides are really hard on the eyes. It must feel really good, because it looks awfully funny. I cannot figure out the allure. Especially compared to something that's much more aesthetically pleasing and efficient which can, unless I'm mistaken, be accomplished in softies...

 

[Poloturbo]

Best mass produced for me this year was the Nitro Pantera carbon SC 166. Ultra light and the camber was so pronounced for springing you out in the air between turns. Very impressed for a 110$ board from 2016. Not a bad choice if you are in transition to more "boutique" boards in SB.

 

 

 

[Emdee406]

Another vote for the Yes Optimistic...agile, grippy, stable and dances through trees as well as it leaves scalpel lines in the snow.
But adding to my list is the Nidecker 'The Donuts'.
I got to try the Nidecker Smoke 2021model, and loved it. Very similar to the Yes in terms of performance, but stiffer both torsionally and flex wise. I then discovered that it was almost identical to the Smoke, with only cosmetic changes to the tip and tail.
Thanks to a killer deal from a member of this forum, @Poloturbo, I got the 2017 Donuts for a fraction of the price of a new one.
I only got in 5 days on it before the pandemic shut my resort, but they were the most enjoyable 4 days of riding I had this winter.
Being stiffer than the Yes, it's grip at high speed and acceleration out of turns were like an alpine board. 

Nidecker claim that the base is the fastest one used on a production board, and I have to say, I don't doubt it. I think it's easily as fast as my Kesslers were, possibly faster. 
I can't wait to ride it next winter!

Edited March 24, 2020 by Emdee406
Edit

[scottishsurfer]

54 minutes ago, lordmetroland said:

unless I'm mistaken, be accomplished in softies...

 

It can but every turn has its place in terms of usage and some boards require that kind of compressed style of turn. Japanese Surf style boards ive found dont respond so well to a down unweighted/cross under turns like you have in your picture where you extend through out the turn due to there softer nature(atleast ones ive tried) they tend to want to bow and decamber to much during the extenstion leading to the turn becoming super tight. Instead its very relaxed compressed turns where you just flow pitch the board on edge stay small and enjoy the ride and because there is no extension the force decambering the board is much less so it will instead run its natural sidecut giving those big long radius carves even at high edge angles.

Different strokes different folks and all that

[svr]

Define mass produced...

I think the best Softboot carver I have ridden is the Stranda Cheater 177 and 200.

For shorter boards, I would put the Fullbag Diamond Blade 163 and the Asym Nidecker Tracer 161 (regular) up there as well.

But depending on how you define mass production, the Nidecker is the closest to mass produced.

 

[workshop7]

3 hours ago, Poloturbo said:

Best mass produced for me this year was the Nitro Pantera carbon SC 166. Ultra light and the camber was so pronounced for springing you out in the air between turns. Very impressed for a 110$ board from 2016. Not a bad choice if you are in transition to more "boutique" boards in SB.

 

 

 

Interesting.  I had 3 different years of the Nitro 169 Pantera Wide.  That was my go to soft boot carver for years before I discovered my Flux.

[Poloturbo]

The SC is stiffer and more camber. More carbon. No way near the EE of a Flux or boardercross style. Not a bad choice at a good price

Had also the regular Pantera wide 2018. Good but to low scr and low EE in 163.

Fullbag Diamond blade is way up there but not "mass produced "

Defining mass produced by big brands?

 

[BlueB]

I really liked my original (not Arbor) Steepwater 170, but it probably doesn't fit the "mass produced" description... 

From more contemporary stuff that I demoed, the metaltop Ride Timless felt totally like a fat modern race board. 

[lordmetroland]

2 hours ago, scottishsurfer said:

Japanese Surf style boards ive found dont respond so well to a down unweighted/cross under turns like you have in your picture where you extend through out the turn due to there softer nature(atleast ones ive tried) they tend to want to bow and decamber to much during the extenstion leading to the turn becoming super tight.

A coherent argument that seems reasonable and is based on experience. And I suspect it's true. And, at the same time, I'm pretty sure that Japanese snowboards are not solely responsible for the cat-butt scourge among my fellow soft booters, like this fellow on the Never Summer site.

Oh well, as with most things, I'm probably wrong...

[JRAZZ]

1 hour ago, svr said:

Define mass produced...

I refuse to. Want to *talk about snowboards*

I mean "mainstream". But who cares what I think? This discussion is great!

 

FWIW I think the Optimistic is pretty fire. I also like the K2 Simple Pleasures too. As I've said before I'm actually a fan of my NS Swift which is great in trees and pow but scares the brown stuff outa me when going fast. 

 

And @lordmetroland, I tend to agree. Cat butt is an apt description. I suspect that most people simply do not see their own butt and the resulting pointy-butt-to-sky is happening simply because they don't see it. 

[Carvin' Marvin]

54 minutes ago, lordmetroland said:

And I suspect it's true. And, at the same time, I'm pretty sure that Japanese snowboards are not solely responsible for the cat-butt scourge among my fellow soft booters, like this fellow on the Never Summer site.

Man ease up.  I'm sure they're just trying to find a mate, mark their territory, or just show the world how magnificent their bunghole is.  If you can't think up an alternative solution then take yourself elsewhere mister.

Back to the thread.  No love for the Jones boards? Granted my softboot board experience is lacking compared to most posting here, but my little ultracraft will absolutely rail turns in between pow fields and tree runs.

[JRAZZ]

I was just thinking of the mind expander!

 Really want to try it out. People seem to really dig it. I tried the hovercraft 3 years ago and really liked it too!

[softbootsurfer]

Cat Butt...snowboards have 2 edges, one on each side

 

[Corey]

Let's not let this devolve into another soft vs. hard debate.  

Racing is a special application that's very different than freecarving.  You can prioritize aesthetics and sacrifice an exact line in freecarving because it doesn't matter, but in racing you don't care how the heck you look as long as you have a faster time.  Ugly stuff happens and you have to deal with it because you don't get a second chance.  

In freecarving, I'd rather make an ugly skid than hit a tree/pole/person.  Thankfully, we tend to have large margins of error built into our choices.  

[*Ace*]

11 hours ago, svr said:

Define mass produced...

I would start with...

1: Company with 20+ employees.

2: Stock models that are readily available from numerous retail outlets.

[softbootsurfer]

My Favorite, is the One I am using...I would say that about all the new Burton mass produced boards I have had over the last 35 years, from the original Elite, through the Airs and All the Supermodels and the whatevers after that...we can explore many different Sticks, Shapes, lengths, flexes...I have always found, that as long as I kept my stance consistent, it was a quick fix to dial in the stick...some were better than others for Carving and or Pow, though from the Original Air, to the Flight Attendants of the last two seasons, the boards have continued to get better, allowing me to get better and improve...I have noticed the last couple of seasons here, all this Youth on the hill Carving around, with these Moss lookingShaped sticks, Naoto and the Boys and Girls in Japan are having fun no doubt, I really believe though, that it is the Edges that are doing the work,  Swallowtails, Fat Noses and Rocker are not necessary IMHO...  in fact the Flutter that occurs, on my HEELSIDE turns at certain angulation, is very irritating, as it messes up the Line...I personally would prefer Camber only, but such is life...when you would rather pay a couple hundred for a Stick than a thousand Eh ?

[dhamann]

i have had a 166W nitro pantera the past two seasons as my freestyle/freerider. 27.2 waist and about an 8.6scr. it's not that stiff although most descriptions states it is. not damp at all. does hold up an edge pretty good though. a versatile soft playfull knife (compared to the rest of my boards). when you ride either a ptex topsheet or full titanal, not many (if any) stock or mass produced boards are going to perform even close. understood.

 

it's nice to see boards getting wider and having a lot more options than what their used to be. a 26cm waist was a unicorn just a few years ago, which is why i personally have gone customs only (now i'm spoiled). i see a lot of boards hovering around this spec as a wide option. it's definitely a good benchmark for mass produced boards, but i still need bigger. what she said. the bataleon stallion interests me and the weston range. never ridden either. many others perk interest, but not at least 27 waist, full camber 160-65 all moupntain. we all have our own base specs. i'll get to the short/fat trend in a minute. there's probably more out there, but i've found two boards over a 27 waist and they're larger boards: the 67 bat. stallion and 170+ skunkape. nothing this wide between 160-65. there are other options than going the stock route at a fairly reasonable tradeoff if you look around a little.

 

with the mass produced boards i have ridden over the years, all of them have a fairly friendly feel/ride/experience to them. they're mostly a softer flex than what should be for a softy carving board. "should be" can be relative. well, if you're truly carving on a regular basis and riding hard, this aggressive style needs a board that isn't going to have much forgiveness either lengthwise or torsionally. all we can do is go by the description and hope the manufacturer is accurate with the description of the board. there's some good one's out there no doubt. if they were given to me and made in my size i'd like to have/try a 17' or 18' ride Ttimeless and a smokin momentum. the timeless is the only board i've ever seen with a scr of 10 or greater. most every mass produced board has an scr of 7-8. i even read some companies describing boards of doing high speed carves with a 7m radius. makes me wanna throw up. think you'd hook up, chatter out, blow a knee, over strain your back or maybe just get frustrated/angry cause it's not really a feasible theory? if you're an expert and can maneuver such a board to carve at a high rate of speed, congratulations. just not the masses i've seen ride. unless high speed is like 30mph i guess.

 

at the end of the day, it's what people are asking for and what moves off the shelves. snowboarding is hard. it's harder than learning how to ski. there are many board designs out there now to make it almost as easy as skiing. tight sidecuts, super wide, super soft. all these factors, among many other, give the rider within their ability a good experience... or the experience they're after. there's no such thing as a one board quiver for either softboot or hardboot. no, there's not. impossible. just one more. i disagree with the short/fat "carvey" trend or that heavy nose rockered boards rail turns. this is probably why they're not mentioned as carving boards. although, some riders can turn a raw piece of plywood with bindings for a turn or two, film it and use it for advertising as a carving board. buyer beware. some mass produced boards literally ride like plastic toys, where their are a few that ride like a piece of equipment. that is the difference. what are your needs? however, a board is only one piece to the puzzle of getting our snowboarding fix. choose your weapon's wisely.

 

[Jack M]

Got a peek at @Termin8tor's Ride Timeless and Commissioner.  They look pretty darn cool, with full Titanal construction and carbon fiber - as much or more tech than a WC race board.  The Commissioner is the new Timeless.  The elliptical sidecut seems to tighten pretty severely at the tip and tail, I'd have to ride it to see how it works.  However with a waist width of 266mm, I wouldn't be able to lay it over.  Not sure if risers would fully eliminate the problem, so I'm probably not a buyer.

[Atom Ant]

Quote

if you're an expert and can maneuver such a board to carve at a high rate of speed, congratulations. 

Thanks man!

In all seriousness, I have normally had two stock boards in my arsenal at any given time: a Jones Hovercraft which I will never ever sell (super fun board in all conditions) and a Burton Custom X 164W (26.2 wide) which is like, good enough but not great.  I think it has a 8.6 sidecut which is just too tight for how the flex of the board wants to be ridden.  I'm selling it, needless to say.

Regarding the "Cat Butt" comments... guys, come on.  Really: the dude on SB used as an example looks like he is ripping to me and my guess is on SB most people, even those on this forum, couldn't replicate that carve.  I know a few who can--shout out to @Dhamann-- but most everyone I have met on or outside this forum cannot.  Let's drop it--to each their own, keep the stoke alive and all that.  Ever considered that the pomposity of some hardbooters is part of the issue when it comes to growing this section of the sport?

[Neil Gendzwill]

15 hours ago, Carvin' Marvin said:

Back to the thread.  No love for the Jones boards? Granted my softboot board experience is lacking compared to most posting here, but my little ultracraft will absolutely rail turns in between pow fields and tree runs.

I'm very much a softie carving neophyte but my Flagship works very well.  It's stable at quite high speeds and tracks through a carve very well, although the short sidecut (compared to what I'm used to) causes me to skid out the tail from time to time.  I need to get used to the sidecut and simply get better with the softies.  I've got nothing recent to compare it to though.

[Jack M]

16 minutes ago, Atom Ant said:

Ever considered that the pomposity of some hardbooters is part of the issue when it comes to growing this section of the sport?

That exists in every activity.