| |
Re: Slightly different new board?
Hologhoul@googlemail.com wrote:
> How much difference will the 2 cm make in other ways
> though? Any thoughts welcome..
Basically none. Those boards are the same length as far as your feet
will feel, and any difference in how they ride will be due to other
factors (stiffness, flex profile, sidecut radius, damp or lively, etc).
If you're after a touch more control and looking to switch boards to do
it when you're already on a pretty short board, maybe you should put the
money into lessons.
Neil
|
|
|
| |
Yup wrote:
> Hi folks,
> Just finished up a great season, my 4th with a Salomon Fastback 163.
> I've been riding for about 6 years, and reasonably advanced. I've
been
> toying with the idea of getting a new board over the summer - mostly
> to replace my Fastback, but also a nice complement to it for some
> variety.
>
> The Fastback is a beast, and I can roast down the mountain without
> worrying about my edges holding or any tricky ice. I love it.
However,
> I've been trying to do more tricks out on the mountain and park (just
> jumps, not many rails), and the Fastback feels a bit unwieldy at
> times.
>
> The issue for me, I think, is stiffness. When I bought the board, I
> was told to get a stiff board for freeriding. However, when I watch
> Afterlame or Saturation, I see these pros on the big mountains with
> boards that seem a lot less stiff than my Fastback. They can lean
back
> on their tails while on flat ground, which I cannot do at all. Ok,
> they are pros, but my point is that perhaps I don't need a board as
> stiff as the Fastback for the powder that I am riding.
Hi, I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago... I was riding
a Salomon 450 154cm (which I believe is the ancestor to the current
Prospect) for a couple of years and it was a great all-mountain board -
stiff enough to let you carve, soft enough to let you do jumps. Then I
switched to the Salomon Definition 156cm which like the Fastback is a
very stiff freeride board (but a little less taper I think). It had
tremendous edgehold and was incredibly damp and I could carve fast and
blast through crud without even noticing it. However, it felt unwieldy
at slower speeds and particularly going through trees, park and pipe. I
just assumed that I somehow just got worse in freestyle, until I
switched back to my old 450 did I realize it was the super-stiff flex
of the Salomon Definition that was the cause.
> I am 6'2" 165lbs, so the choice of length isn't straightforward. I
had
> thought Burton Custom 158, Custom X 156, and Salomon Forecast Era
159.
>
> Has anyone had experience of shifting from a long, stiff board like
> the Fastback into something shorter with more flex - but still riding
> the same pow? Any thoughts on the boards I have mentioned?
As for flexing your board I think you are partially correct that you
need a board you need to be able to easily flex at your weight and
ability level. There are boards the my friend who are 200 lbs will find
soft that I will find very stiff and hard to manuever at 150 lbs. Also
as you get better, you will learn how to handle longer, stiffer boards.
I recently picked up an alpine board the is 170 and stiffer than your
Fastback and while it does have some limitations... I am confidant
enough on it do straight airs in the park and the pipe (a few weeks
ago, I managed to get enough guts to take it above the lip of a 18 ft
quarterpipe and it was fine). I often ride the very stiff 170 on the
groomers in the morning and then switch to my medium stiff 155 to ride
the park in the afternoons... it takes a run or two to get use to the
change as suddenly you feel like you are riding a floppy lunchtray, but
you learn to compensate.
Longer boards tend to be stiffer and have more effective edge (more
edgehold) and I agree with the other poster that getting too stiff a
board can limit your riding style as the board will feel unwieldy and
heavy at slower speeds. I don't agree with his claim that stiffer
boards chatter and tend to blow out an edge more. All things else
remaining equal, a stiffer board will be a lot more stable at higher
speeds because it flexes less when you hit ruts and bumps... a softer
board will deform it and overflex and then snapback, causing you to
blowout your edge. Now in addition to stiffness there is a lively vs
dampness quality to flex as well. A damp board (like Salomons) and you
will be able to blast through and carve choppy snow/crud without having
to really use your legs shock absorbers, a side effect is that at
slowers speeds, the boards will feel a little dead/dull under you.
Lively boards (like Burton) tend to have a lot of pop in then, letting
you be very dynamic in your riding without you having to put a lot of
energy into it, but tend to chatter and bounce in the chop at high
speed. For both types of boards, a better board builder can maximize
the benefits while minimizing the inherent drawbacks. Burton boards
also have much shorter sidecut radii and have a softer flex between the
bindings than other boards in general, while Salomon is the opposite...
I probably mentioned a lot of terms you aren't used to... let's just
say there are a lot of subtle aspects to the way a board rides.
Personally... out of those three I would prefer the Salomon Forecast
Era 159 as a general replacement with a bit of overlap. The Burton
Custom 158 is a decent board - but it is a bit soft and not very damp
(it be more lively and have more pop off the tail) such that it will
feel completely different from your Fastback - it *would* make a great
a complement to it though if you think you Fastback has some life in
it. I bet the Custom X 156 is fun too, but it is expensive (maybe if
you can get it for 50% off) and it won't float nearly as well as your
163. I can suggest a few other more "obscure" board brands as well if
you are interested.
In reference to the videos you saw, as your surmised, pros are riding
relatively softer freestye/all-mountain freestyle boards which I've
found to be also kind of limited... great if you want to hit every
little drop and kicker on the mountain, and okay in the trees/power,
but a little boring and nervous on fast groomed trails. A long time
ago, I saw my friend Blake (http://tinypic.com/4sh55g) flex his Salomon
450 in ways I thought were not possible with my 450. He taught me that
you shouldn't try to pull the board up with your leg (your thigh
muscle) instead keep your leg straight and use it like a rope and pull
with your core (hips/torso) and it is much easier - in general you
should be using your core for power and your other muscles as secondary
adjusters. A few years later I had a friend asking me the exact same
question "how do you flex the board like that?" Here is a shot of me
also on a Salomon 450 http://tinypic.com/4sh6dl. Now granted the 450 is
softer than your Fastback, but it isn't a soft board by any stretch of
the imagination and I was able to flex my Definition (just not as
much). From this you can draw that either you can learn how to flex
your board more as you get better (and stronger) or... that the
Prospect might be a good choice for you :]
|
|