163sl too small ?

[Guest alakata]

i weight about 150 pounds and it seems whenever i try to rail a low turn at high speeds and really get down and carve hard my board starts bouncing and washes out. is the board too small or too soft, maybe im doing something wrong,

board is a volkl rentiger 163sl, suggestions and comments are apreciated

[Chris Houghton]

No, that board is not too small. In my limited experience, a board washing out is usually rider technique and/or body placement. Stiff legs will kill the carve every time, so try bending more through the knees and see if it gets better. Hard to really say without seeing you ride.

[Guest alakata]

alright thanks ill give it a try tomorrow :) today it was cold and a solid groomer with minor bumps so it wasnt the terrian but i found it very hard to carve while going super fast, actually threw me a few times off the train

thanks agin for the advice

[ncermak]

at 150 lbs, I would bet that the board is not too small and soft, rather too big and stiff...for slalom radius turns (10-15M)...If you are talking about larger turns, well that s just not what the board is designed for. The Volkl SL boards are awesome for just that...slalom...

[D.T.]

I rode me 163SL yesterday and had a blast. The first run or two I was trying to ride it like my 178GS and experienced the same problesm you mentioned. I stepped things back a notch and started railing super tight turns. Ride the 163 like a slalom board and it can be fun and snappy. BTW, I weight ~ 200lbs.

[Guest alakata]

alright thanks, yea what im doing is riding it like a gs board... 350 has a 168 gs that hes going to let my try.. i like speedy sweeping turns not snappy small ones

[Kirk]

at 150 lbs, I would bet that the board is not too small and soft, rather too big and stiff...for slalom radius turns (10-15M)...If you are talking about larger turns, well that s just not what the board is designed for. The Volkl SL boards are awesome for just that...slalom...

I have to agree with noah here. It's a lot harder to make smaller SL decks do bigger radius turns at higher speed. I've noticed this and have to adjust when switching from a 180 something (or 190 something) deck to the SL (I ride a 161cm - 155 lbs.)

I truly believe that there is a finesse or touch/balance combo needed to ride SL deck well. It's a fun challenge and I enjoy riding mine from time to time.

[roman]

ye, i also think the problem is this board dont want to do bigger radius carves. depends on the relatively small radius it has.

if you want a board that can handle all kinds of carve sizes, look out for one with a progressive sidecut. so you can choose your turnsize while in the carve by simply shifting weights.

roman

[Guest alakata]

i actually made a change in my technique that helped, i shifted my weight more towards the front and that helped somewhat, but planning on trying a gs board next weekend and see if thats the problem

[mackDan]

I'm 175# and have a couple 162's, 164's. That length should be fine. Which would leave, binding setup or technique.

[garyj]

For whatever it is worth, I have had a coulple of conversations with a guy trying to make a go of it on the world cup concerning his slamon boards. He weighs in at 185lbs and rides 163s in the slamon and boasts of the fact they turn like 158s. Seems small to me, but I guesss thats what some of the best atheletes are ridding for slamon.

That being said, boards with less than 10 meter side cut radius like to turn; maybe your holding onto the turn a little too long, which is easy to do if you're ridding with people who are carving big old 15 meter gs turns. Go a little more with what the board wants and as Chris mentioned bending the knees can solve a lot.