tcross.au Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/Prior-Split-Snowboard_W0QQitemZ7221332929QQcategoryZ21250QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Im planning a trip to Japan and am looking for a pow board. How does this compare to a O-sin swallow tail? will the split slow me down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/Prior-Split-Snowboard_W0QQitemZ7221332929QQcategoryZ21250QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItemIm planning a trip to Japan and am looking for a pow board. How does this compare to a O-sin swallow tail? will the split slow me down? I have a 168 Osin 4807 and riding it and talking to Mark A (who had the 178cm version AND a Prior Powstick) the Powstick is going to be a much better open bowl powder board. The soft nose on the 4807 will help you ride over small tracks and soft bumps, but the Powsticks stiffer nose will really let you blast through the chop. The tail on the 4807 is a compromise, giving you good piste performance with a little bit of float, where as the much deeper Powstick cut will give you superior floatation. From what I heard, the Powstick isn't very good in the trees... whereas the 4807 is decent in less-steep tree powder. The split design is going to affect your torsional rigidity... which is not really an issue in powder, but will reduce your performance on piste and hardpack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcross.au Posted February 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Thanks for that, I know I can get a 168 4807 for cheap in AUS so it might be the best. The chance of open bowls in japan is low, as i have heard from friends so the 4807 would be the best. tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derm75 Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 I own both of those boards, the O-Sin 168 and the Prior Split Swallowtail 172. The O-Sin: Fun in untracked pow, makes really tight "slash" and"cutback" type turns. Carves surprisingly well at slow to medium speeds on good snow. For me this board is not much fun in variable conditions, or when the pow gets tracked out. It likes a perfectly flat canvas or that big boat nose starts flopping around. The Prior Split Swallowtail: Rocks the pow-pow, no back leg fatigue, excels at medium to large turns, but I've had no issues in the trees, it comes around as quickly as I need it to. Also a great carver, at any speed, in most conditions. I think the standard nose makes the difference there. As for torsional rigidity, if I couldn't see it I wouldn't know it was a split. The verdict: For me, the Prior wins, hands down. I'm selling my O-Sin and my Arbor A-Frame 170 and buying a Prior Pow Stick to use as my main resort board. At $1000 US, my Splitboard is just too expensive to use as my everyday resort board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.