If I wanted a narrow twin tip board, what are my options?

[mirror70]

Doesn't even need to be a twin tip, just something with enough tail to let me ride switch, and 18-19cm wide at the waist. I think I would like the F2 Speedcross if it were narrower, and also the Speedster GTS if it had a little bit more of an upturned tail.

What are my options for a board like this?

[D-Sub]

not sure how wide it is, but what about the nidecker escape? Dryer showed me one and it had what youre lookin for, altho it might not be stiff enough. havent ridden it so cant say for sure.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Coiler AM comes in 19 cm width.

[Guest Randy S.]

Get Sean at Donek to make you a narrow Axis. Then post the specs in case I want to order a copy. Either that or just have him turn up the tail on a Freecarve (and maybe round off the rear corners).

[mirror70]

I don't think a Coiler is a real option since I can't get one until some time after the year 2020.

The Donek FC doesn't come in a length short enough for my liking, so it would have to be custom and that is too much $. The Axis has the same issues - length and width.

Dave - I like the idea of the Nidecker. Soft boards are good, especially for this application.

[D-Sub]

yeah...I drrooooolllled when Dryer showed me his wifes. too small for me maybe. dunno...stuck in toobigboard syndrome?

see if you can find one!

[mirror70]

I have yet to reach a speed where I needed any more edge than my FP64 had to offer. Plus, this isn't a race board, it's for playing on. Any extra length would just get in the way.

[Guest Randy S.]

You can get a Freecarve in a 163. Isn't that short enough? Are you a midget? Plus if you turn up the tail, its going to ride even shorter. What you are asking for is a cutom board anyway. How do you know how much Sean would charge you until you ask him (I know he posts custom prices on this site, but that doesn't mean he hasn't already made something similar that he'd sell cheap since its already laid up). He even has an 800 number so you don't have to pay for the call.

[NateW]

I know it's a long wait, but Coiler has built two of them for me... I liked the first one so much I ordered a second with a narrower waist. If you're OK with 174x17, 11.5m, and a long wait, you could have a duplicate of mine.

Prior might be able to make a custom based on the 4WD, at lower cost than Donek and shorter delay than Coiler. I have no real experience with Prior so this is just an FYI, not a recommendation.

[alpinegirl]

is the need for a slightly upturned tail based on having actual snow to ride through??? i've rarely had a problem with the tail of my boards while riding switch. granted i do hesitate to land relatively large airs switch with questionable landings, but that's more of a rider problem than it is a board problem.

think about it, people had been skiing backwards on older straight skiis for years with little tail upturn, so do you really need that much more of an upturned tail in order to play around on your board??? length is probably more of a true issue as far as playful comfort goes. then you don't have to think as much when you spin

[cfj04]

What length are you looking for? I have a Nidecker Escape 159 in great shape that might fit your need. Not quite as stiff as a Prior 4X4 and twin tipped

[lonerider]

Originally posted by alpinegirl

is the need for a slightly upturned tail based on having actual snow to ride through??? i've rarely had a problem with the tail of my boards while riding switch. granted i do hesitate to land relatively large airs switch with questionable landings, but that's more of a rider problem than it is a board problem.

think about it, people had been skiing backwards on older straight skiis for years with little tail upturn, so do you really need that much more of an upturned tail in order to play around on your board??? length is probably more of a true issue as far as playful comfort goes. then you don't have to think as much when you spin

I ride my Madd 170 (18 cm) with a squared tail switch on *groomers* but I rarely ever ride it in bumpy snow, off-piste, or jumps switch (welll I *tried* landing a tiny 10 ft jump switch and it didn't end well). What do you call "relatively" big? Riding regular I would call any gap greater than 40 feet a big air. Switch anything greater than 20-25 gets me nervous, but I'm a wuss.

[mirror70]

Originally posted by alpinegirl

is the need for a slightly upturned tail based on having actual snow to ride through??? i've rarely had a problem with the tail of my boards while riding switch. granted i do hesitate to land relatively large airs switch with questionable landings, but that's more of a rider problem than it is a board problem.

think about it, people had been skiing backwards on older straight skiis for years with little tail upturn, so do you really need that much more of an upturned tail in order to play around on your board??? length is probably more of a true issue as far as playful comfort goes. then you don't have to think as much when you spin

I do have actual snow to ride through (got some fresh stuff last night actually), occasionally make runs through the bumps, don't want to land everything on the nose, and am looking to carve (not skid) turns switch. I need more of a tail for that than my boards currently offer.

Originally posted by cfj04

I have a Nidecker Escape 159 in great shape that might fit your need

A 159 is as long as I'd want to go. Email me the details and a couple of pics?

[rikytheripster]

Mirror,

A point to note is that the nidecker is soft and is bent very easily. Thus turning on a dime is not a prob. Its also light as hell. Whats your weight? I have a 165 model, like the one pictured in the reviews. At 185lbs I am to heavy for it, just over flex it and dont get long enough carving per turn. Edge hold is not bad, the waist width is 20cm I believe and the 165 has a sidecut ~9m. Well constructed board also. let me know if there is anything else about the board I can try to answer.

[mirror70]

Soft is good. I'm not looking to go warp speed on this, plus I don't weigh a whole lot.

[cfj04]

you've got mail

[NateW]

It may well be more about psychology than physics. My current boards have tails 3cm tall... while that may be more than necessary, I'd rather have extra that I don't need than need extra that I don't have. The latter sounds painful!

Question for anyone: How tall is the nose on your board? I'm curious how low the nose can get before it becomes a liability, and in what circumstances. Maybe I'll move to tails of that height...

I recall Shred getting a custom built with barely any nose at all... Shred, if you're reading this, has it ever hung up on you? Have you taken that board into moguls?

[Phil]

Mirror was not asking if it was possible, but saying what he wanted - so I did not reply. But...

This was just talked about in another thread:

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5719

Here was my reply:

I don't really think that any board has too little of a tail. Unless you ride really deep powder or slush, or the the halfpipe wall is severely kinked (and maybe a few other scenarios that you guys could think of) a small tail will do. For that matter, barring the above conditions, a small nose works as well. You know the questions that we all get - people ask me all of the time how you can ride switch with that flat tail. I then point out the nose - it is not that different. Race boards really don't have much nose either.

and here:

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5563

My post:

The only thing that I have found that I don't like to do on my hard setup is switch moguls. I really don't like riding moguls switch on my softies though either. If I am going to spend the day in the park, I will not take out my hard gear, but if I am on my hard gear, I won't think twice about going anywhere on the mountain. As far as switch is concerned, I believe that race boards excel at switch carving every bit as much as they excel at forward carving. They are stiff and stable at speed. The square tail thing is all mental. The only times that I ever dug the tail in was switch moguls (see above) and when I was teaching riding switch in the pipe when the pipe was waaaaay kinked out. That was a bad idea - and I paid for it. (deep snow is bad for switch too, but we never get any of that)

[alpinegirl]

i will admit that there is a bit of the freak factor while riding a square tailed board switch. i tend to envision myself "spearing" something and consequently not being able to walk afterwards. and yeah, i do feel more comfortable doping around on an all mountain board than a race board when conditions are not "perfect groomers."

so yeah, even with a minimal difference in the tail, the mental aspect of it is affected. given the fact that it is possible to dig the nose of a board into the snow, i must acknowledge the heightened risk of doing so with the tail.

hmmm, and yeah shred, if it's true about that board, please do share.

relatively large airs when landing switch = 15-20 feet. i avoid gaps with knuckles. and i tend to more often straight air jumps in an effort to work on "sucking"

[lonerider]

Originally posted by alpinegirl

relatively large airs when landing switch = 15-20 feet. i avoid gaps with knuckles. and i tend to more often straight air jumps in an effort to work on "sucking"

Whatever... landing switch with a twintip and neutral angles is already a little unnerving, doing with high angles and a flat square tail is downright impressive.