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LeeD wrote:
> I actually agree with all you guys, but since James is kinda starting
> out, he can choose a wider board for his next 6 to 20 boards.
> At size 11, 25.8 is about right, even for pure pipe, hiking and not
> riding anywhere else. But my bindings have really high toe ramps, and
> the plasticl rear hoop clears by well over 60 degrees.
> He's gotta start somewhere, and I actually have seen good riders with
> size 12's on Customs (248cm waist) and ride OK.
In general, I agree with what Mike T and Neil G said about not having
more tha 3/8" overhandg, but for this specific case I agree that it
won't be a problem for James because he is still learning to carve
(maybe in a few more years he'll notice that he's deep in a carve and
suddenly the board will "slip" out on him). As LeeD said, if he has a
pair of bindings with a tall baseplate and/or toeramp, then I think
James can probably get a lot out of such a board. Wider board require
more force to get them up on edge, if you are a bigger person with
bigger feet, you will easily have sufficient leverage to get the board
up on edge, however if you have smaller feet and less body
weight/strength, then the board will feel a little difficult to
manuever.
I'm not super familiar with Flows, but from the website the AMP5
doesn't look like it has a the extra thick baseplate that I've seen
with some of the other bindings (the toeramps don't angle up either).
This is NOT saying that the AMP5 are a bad binding, just that they
might not give you the riser effect that would help you avoid boot drag
issues from riding a narrower board.
As mentioned, a 160 is a little short for you. A 163 is a literally 1"
longer. More important differences are the sidecut (the Yukon is
slightly longer, but not by much), stiffness, and material
construction. I personally would go with the Yukon (it's a better
freeride board anyways).
In response to Edward's comments, he doesn't realize it... but he is
implicitly suggesting riding the longer 163. You should notice that he
has noticeably smaller feet (probably a 1 cm or .5") and lighter (~30
lbs = 13.5 kg = 2 stone) than you and he's riding a 161. Wouldn't it
make sense that you, being a bigger guy... ride a board that's a tiny
bit longer and stiffer. I also agree with Neil G that I don't think
Edward understand how much cna change when you are going from board to
board... especially from Burton to a company like Ride, which have very
different board design styles, material constructions, and model lines.
For instance, the Ride Timeless is one of ride's top end freeride
models ($480 USD - sorry I'm not going to convert every single value
between US and European units), where as the a Burton Indie was a
medium range all-mountain freestyle model ($380 USD). I really liked
the Ride Timeless and thought it was an excellent all-around board,
smooth and stable on groomed rides, light and responsive in the park
(some freeride boards are less capable in the park and many freestyle
boards are not very good on regular trails - most Burton boards have a
very freestyle flavor to them and Ride has a more freeride flavor).
Again, I stress that going from 164 to 161 is a only 3 cms (not much
more than an inch) different and barely a weight difference... I'm
pretty sure Edwards is just parroting what he's heard from other people
because it is true that if you go really, really long... the boards do
become more cumbersome in the park and less easy to jib... but when
people say that... they are talking about like 175-185 cm alpine boards
compared to freestyle/freeride boards. Even then, they are some crazies
who can rip it up in the park in super longboards and hardboots (there
are quite a few photos and videos of people riding park/pipe/rails and
switch in longboards, wearing hardboots, and super high angles like
60+) obviously they aren't riding like Shaun White, but I bet that they
are probably better than most of the people who claim increasing your
board by 3cm is really going to mess up your park riding. I recently
just went from 155 to 158 for my park board and I'm 150 lbs = 68kg...
here's an old video of me doing a rainbow rail
(http://www.dotphoto.com/MemViewImage.asp?AID=1380965&IID=110460816&INUM=17&ICT=17&IPP=16).
I apologize for the quality, I tried uploading it to google video, but
it says it will take a few days to be publicly posted. If you have high
speed internet access, there are some more videos of people doing
butters and riding switch on 172-182 cm boards.
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