Another Intermediate board
Posted: 26 January 2010 02:46 AM
Hi Guys,
I’m a long time skier, fairly new boarder (2/3 years) I’ve not touched the skis since learning, I’m completely hooked!
My first board, Palmer Classic 157, is a bit trashed after being used mainly off-piste in Scotland, lots of rocks hiding under there. So ... a good excuse for a shiny new board for next year!
I know sod all about decent kit when it comes to boards, but my experience in other sports tells me not to trust magazines/shops. I know there’ll be some damn good advice out there but I dont know enough to know who’s bullshitin’ and who’s honest. So a good independant website/forum’s the best place IMO, after lookin’ at a few sites I think you guys tick all the right boxes.
I spend most of my time off piste. Steep and deep, I cant get enough of it! I do like hitting the odd jump or rail but that’s not really my thing, I’m a bit too long in the tooth for that :)
Measurements:
Body height: 180cm / 5’11"ft
Weight: 182lbs
Shoe size: 43 EUR, 10 US, 9 UK
Riding level:
[ ] Beginner
[*] Intermediate
[ ] Advanced
[ ] Expert
Riding style:
[*] Piste [ 20 ] %
[*] Powder [ 70 ] %
[*] Park [ 5% ] %
[*] Rails [ 5% ] %
Price Limit: [ 400 ish ] £
Posted: 26 January 2010 03:24 PM
Hi Dirty Punk,
Powder in Scotland… I’m guessing you’ve been enjoying the early season snow! I’ve seen some epic pics of powder fields and cliff drops!
Ok to the matter of a snowboard. Firstly.. although you ride in Scotland, I’m guessing you are riding the majority of your pow abroad.. are you riding in the Alps or in the US? And what kind of depths do you usually ride… around 30cm… a bit more… or less because like me it never snows when you’re on holiday!
Are you looking for a powder specific board that is happy to blast the pistes, or an all mountain board that is happy being ridden in kneed deep pow. THe reason I ask is because there are certain board shapes that kill it in pow but aren’t as versatile as an all mountain board.
When you’re riding, although you’ve put your riding level at intermediate are you an agressive rider, as in you like to crank powerfull turns, like dancing between edges and pumping for speed? Or pretty mellow, crusing around laying down hand dragging carves but not using a ton of energy?
Cool, if you answer those questions, I should be able to pick out some boards for you to have a look at.
Rich
Posted: 27 January 2010 02:17 AM
Hi Rich,
Yeah, we had some fantastic snow up here at the start of the season, you wouldn’t have believed you were in Scotland!
The board’ll mainly be used out in the Alps. Depth… not as deep as I’d like it to be (it rarely snows when I’m out either) so I reckon I’d be better off with an all Mountain board that’s happy in the powder. As for style, hand dragging and carving seems more fun to me but I often find myself following mates on slopes to steep for me to just let it run so theres a fair bit of tight edge to edge turns going on too.
Cheers for the help
Paul
Posted: 27 January 2010 03:42 PM
Hi Paul,
Very envious of the early season stash you guys got up there… never ridden in Scotland, from London it’s just easier to get on a plane and get out to Europe. I will make the pilgramage at some point.
I think you’d be best on an all mountain board.. a slightly setback stance and a directional shape should supply you with enough float. I’m also going to suggest you stick with Camber. I think it’ll help you on traverses and going down steeper stuff with your mates. I’ll list a couple of decks you should have a look at below:
Rossignol One: An all round classic, nice and light, great build quality (Rossis last for years!) a slightly directional shape and a fast as you like sintered base. The jewel in the crown is Magnetraction edges. THese on a cambered board just rip through courduroy and ice. We have’t tested this years yet, but our head of testing Tom has just been sent a One 156, Angus 157 and Experience 163, so we’ll have a review up on the site by the weekend! I’d look at the one in a 159. THis board also represents stagering value for money and the graphics are really classy. Oh.. it also has Carbon and Kevlar reinforcement so it’ll be lively, and damp in the chop.
Amplid Paradigama: Amplid put together some fantastic all mountain boards, the Paradigama is their all mountain ride designed for Intermediate riders and up. Lively in and out of carves and capable off jumps. These boards are super responsive and even though they use biaxial glass, don’t be fooled, these boards will hold an edge as good as any palmer. The Paradigama might be a little over your price range but it’s a nice board. Again the 159 is probably about right.
Never Summer SLR or Lib Tech Travis Rice: THese boards use a rocker/camber profile called RCtechnology (by NS) or C2 banana (by Lib). A compramise of the grip and pop of camber and the forgivingness and float of rocker. I’ve only ridden the Travis Rice, but it was easy to ride, stable and really poppy. Perhaps these boards are a bit expensive, but they’re worth a look at.
Atomic Alibi: A fantastic package at an unreal price. sooo light and actually quite an easy ride. Nice fast base, honeycomb inserts and carbon and kevlar reinforcement. One of my favourite boards at the test. My only thought on this one, is that it’s perhaps a little less directional than the other boards which might effect it’s performance in the pow.
Endeavor Next: Endeavors do everything board with a freeride skew, a very slight taper and really cool graphics. If you’re really keen for a big powder floater, you could look at the 159 reverse camber model in the range, but you’re probably best on a standard cambered version.
Let me know your thoughts
Rich
Posted: 28 January 2010 12:34 PM
Great, I’ll do a bit of reading up on these. The price is flexible, I dont mind spending good money on good kit.
Thanks again Rich
Posted: 28 January 2010 03:35 PM
Hold steady on the One… reports are coming in from Tom that this board is quite advance… quite a firm stiff flex , uber grip… he said a bit like the Burton T6 but slightly more insane. Great for carving and charging all over the hill, but not so great for park. Nice in the pipe though. Shouldn’t have a problem leading your mates on it!
Posted: 29 January 2010 09:35 PM
I’ll will pipe in on this as well. I rode a One-Mag 159 this year, it is a laser beam on the mountain… the board wants to go straight and friggin’ fast. The flex is stiff, too much for my baby legs but as Rich said it’s a blazing fast board. Magnetraction helps a lot too if you get in trouble on some ice. And it is excellent value, around $400 CDN out here which is what I paid for my novice board.
Posted: 11 February 2010 12:54 AM
Hi guys, cheers for the help so far. There’s something about Amplid and Endeavor that I’m liking, I do like to support the little guys when possible as long as the product performs. The fact I can get them both for either side of £300 is a nice bonus :)
Comparing the Paradigma and the Next what’s the pros and cons between these two? Is the Amplid simply the better board or is one better at some things than the other?
Thanks again
Paul
Posted: 21 March 2010 12:25 AM
Well, thanks for the advice and reccomendations.
In the end I went for the Rossi One Mag. I think they missed a trick there and should’ve called it the Mach One, it’s a flyer all right :) I’ve now had about 6-7 days on it in varying conditions, ice, fresh, crud, white-outs, steeps, patchy end of season rock hopping and it takes it all in it’s stride, absolutley no fuss and it just loves charging everywhere. And those edges man!? They’ve taking my carving on to whole new level, flat-out long sweeping carves through steep fall lines feel like nursery slopes to it. It’ll hold that edge even when you start getting lazy and loose. The only downside I can think of is a little pull on the base under the binding bolts, I’ll try slackening them a touch and using thread lock in there. If that doesn’t work I’ll just ignore it and leave a little wax in there.
I found it really hard to track one down and was about to order one from the states, before hitting the ‘pay now’ button I checked the weight ranges and found I was at the upper end of the 159s range. The only place I could find that had any in stock was, luckily, a local Glasgow shop who had a 163. Turns out my 13.5 stone slots nicely into the middle of the weight range for that size.
Once again, cheers for the advice.
One happy boarder!
Next on the shopping list is a new board for the Mrs for next season. I’m thinking Atomic Polarity or a Diva Mag, I’ve a few questions before I part with any $$$, but I’ll leave that for another thread….
Posted: 21 March 2010 03:39 PM
Stoked that you got the Rossi One and that your loving it! It’s definitely punching well above it’s price range. If you’re lady get’s the Diva you’ll have his and hers!
Regarding the pull on the insert, just so I know what the issue is. So the bolt is pulling on the insert and causing it to make a slight pit in the base?
Rich
Posted: 22 March 2010 02:36 AM
That’s exactly it Rich, a slight pit in the base. I noticed it after waxing it, once I’d scraped the wax off there was a few little areas of wax left right under where the binding bolts are.
Posted: 22 March 2010 03:33 PM
Is this something that happens only when you tighten the bolt?
I’ve had the opposite with an old Salomon Fr 400 I had and I’ve had slight pitting under inserts before but they haven’t just appeared when tightening the bolts.
Any chance you can post a pic? Although I haven’t got a clue how to post a pic, so don’t ask me how… I’m useless with this new fangled interweb thing.
Posted: 22 March 2010 04:36 PM
off-topic: You can easily upload any picture to e.g. imageshack or other services like that and then just post the URL here in the forums.
Posted: 22 March 2010 05:04 PM
Cool, I’m gonna give it a wax before putting it away, my season finished yesterday :( I’ll get a pic of it then.
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