Rocker or Banana Traction (BTX) Best for Halfpipe?

Posted: 01 March 2012 08:58 PM

With pipe finally available, want to make the most of limited time left this season…Have 2 boards to chose from: Roxy Ally with Banana Traction (BTX) 2011 and Burton Gypsy Rocker 2012…Recommendations/advice for fast intermediate rider with good progress in park this season? Thank you!

Posted: 02 March 2012 04:38 PM

Ideally neither for riding pipe as rocker doesn’t really do too well with holding strong edges through the flat bottom or up the walls (if it’s hard and icy)... but choosing between the two, I’d probably go for the roxy Ally because of the Magnetraction.

Posted: 04 March 2012 06:00 PM

With the magna traction, i feel like it would dig in too much and may slow you down, I would go along the lines of a board with a thin sharp edge to dig in and speed up. The Magna Traction would slow you down. This is my thinking at least.

Posted: 05 March 2012 04:33 PM

Well, neither seemed great this weekend and I won’t get another board this season for sure, but if I were to next year, what would you recommend?

Posted: 05 March 2012 06:14 PM

No mag edges don’t slow you down noticeably. The hardest thing riding pipe is taking the right line up the walls, holding your line through the flat bottom and having the bottle/confidense not to scrub speed off. It does help to have a board with a firmer flex, camber certainly helps when you land a little tail heavy and you need to get your weight back to a centred position. A reasonably long effective edge is nice for edge hold on icy walls as are sharp edges. It’s also important to keep the weight of your setup down. So a cambered twin… not too much shorter than your standard all-mountain board… medium to firm flex… lightweight construction… oh and a fast base. A stiff plank or a spoungy jib board won’t really cut it.

Posted: 05 March 2012 06:48 PM

Thank you so much for all the advice…Would anyone have specific boards to recommend for women for halfpipe?

Posted: 05 March 2012 06:59 PM

High end boards would be - Burtun Fortress, K2 Wolfpack, K2 Eco Pop and Nitro Carrara.

At a lower price tag check out the Burton De Ja Vu and Rome Vinyl. The Nitro Fate and Salomon Lilly might also be a good call, they’re zero camber but I’m riding zero camber at the minute and it holds a good edge in the pipe.

Posted: 05 March 2012 07:09 PM

Try having a look at the following:
Burton Fortress or Feelgood (team riders use both in pipe comps - pretty sure Kelly Clark rides the Fortress and Hannah Teter rides the Feelgood still…)
K2 GB Pop - used by Gretchen Bleiler - stiffer, camber version of their EcoPop. I own the EcoPop and it’s pretty stiff all-mountain, but don’t know how much stiffer the GB Pop is. I think they only made this board available for sale in 2011. FYI, the normal EcoPop is all-terrain rocker.
Nitro Carrara - this is one stiff cambered board. Stiffer than the usual EcoPop, so probably more on par with the GB Pop.

Also, Torah Bright rides the Roxy Eminence - I know there has been a couple of comments about MTX earlier in the posts but she seems to cope OK with it! :-)

Posted: 05 March 2012 08:01 PM

We’re on the same page :)

Yeah just to clear this up… there is no issue with Magnetraction in the pipe. Until you can air 20ft out of the pipe MTX isn’t slowing you down!

For some reason thought the Eco Pop was Zero camber… but it’s definitely all terrain rocker… scrap that one then.

Posted: 05 March 2012 08:28 PM

I think the EcoPop was flat camber 3 seasons back….

If I ever manage to clear 20ft out of the pipe I’ll be asking for my own pro model! :-)

Posted: 05 March 2012 08:59 PM

Yes, it will be a while before I get that high, though thanks again everyone…very useful info and will help me ponder next step…what about GNU Park Pickle PTX?...anyone have experience with it or further advice?

Posted: 06 March 2012 12:00 AM

Park Pickle is the same as the Ally, only difference is that the heel edge has a tigher radius than the toe edge, still uses the same Banana profile (reverse camber / rocker) as the Ally. Reverse camber doesn’t really work in pipe as well as camber, flat or hybride… camber being the best from my experience.

Posted: 09 March 2012 05:34 PM

What size of board would you recommend for a maybe still growing, now 5’7”, 145-150 lb., size 8.5 women’s foot if board is to be used esp. in pipe…I’ve been reading that “shorter” is better….What would you do for K2 GB Pop? I am only seeing it left in 154 and think that may be too long?  Also, Good Rider is recommending the K2 Eco Pop as excellent for pipe, though I see from the discussion here, you don’t think so given it’s not camber, right, so are they mistaken? It looks like I might have trouble finding anything quite right that is nice looking too:) at this time, but I’m having fun looking. Thanks again!

Posted: 09 March 2012 06:57 PM

So - Gretchen Bleiler rode the 154 GB Pop for pipe and I think the 152 Eco Pop for an all mountain board. She’s only 5’5” accroding to one of the snowboard mag sites, so I guess the 154 was giving her a lot of stability. It’s also the only length that K2 actually made for sale - explaining why it’s the only size you can find to buy.
If it was based on the EcoPop, it’s also going to be quite a light board as the EcoPop weighs pretty much nothing, but the I guess you need to consider whether you want the extra stability you might get with a longer board against the added weight that length will bring. Also if it’s longer than what you’re used to riding, will it affect your landings?

I own the EcoPop - it’s really stable when it’s on an edge and is uber-responsive, but I do find that the rocker makes it catch a bit in the tail when I’m on a fast flat, which means I’m more on my edge with this board than I would be with a camber equivalent. Not sure whether this gripe of mine would affect you in the pipe. Other than that, it’s actually difficult to notice that this is a rocker board when riding as the rocker profile that K2 use is pretty minimal - flat between the bindings, mid-rise at the nose and low-rise at the tail. I think it’s the low-rise tail element that gives me the catchiness.
The Nitro Carrara is stiffer than the EcoPop & cambered - I haven’t ridden the Carrara but had a good old mess around with one in a shop a while ago to see what it was like. It’s a directional board, but looking at the actual specs on Nitro’s website, the nose is the same width as the tail, so I’d imagine you’ll be fine for switch.
The Burton Fortress is supposed to have pretty much all the features you could possibly want in a camber performance board - but it’s got a pretty hefty price tag too. A lot of the Burton riders use the Feelgood, which is a bit softer, but definitely holds it’s own and is light to boot. And thankfully a lot cheaper than the Fortress. I own a Feelgood 144 camber, and regardless of the fact that it’s softer than the EcoPop, I think it actually gives a better performance on edge and because of the camber, is less catchy, which makes me more confident on it.
The Rome Lo-Fi camber version might also be a good option - Rich mentioned the Vinyl earlier, but I had one of these and I reckon it might be a bit soft.

Going smaller does reduce the swing weight and makes it easier to spin. The only thing is that the smaller the board, the higher you tend to be in the weight ranges for the board, and if you go too small it’ll be difficult to get the pop from the core and you might not progress as you want to. I might be talking absolute rubbish here and I’m sure someone will correct me if I am, but that’s my experience of shorter boards.

Posted: 09 March 2012 07:30 PM

Wow, thanks for all the great info…It’s helpful, so much to consider. I like the designs on the K2’s, and it’s too bad if 154 was the only K2 GB Pop sold; any other opinions whether it would work for me or if I’m better off with something else for pipe? I of course have to decide on function more than the graphics.

I hadn’t looked very much at Burtons and understand I’d have to go with Burton bindings too, but just found a good price on the Feel Good Flying V…Is it comparable to the Feel Good and recommended for pipe? I’m confused by the tables for weight…Why do they vary so much from brand to brand? I am riding shorter boards now, 147 and 151, but it looks like for Burton Fell Good Flying V I’d fall in the middle of what’s recommended for 152 or at the lower end for 154…Would either work for pipe? What would be best? What about the Nitro Carrara? It looks like I’m at the upper end of a 153…Would that be a good “shorter” board for the pipe? Thank you so much!

Posted: 09 March 2012 07:52 PM

Definitely don’t go with the flying V - edge hold hasn’t been particularly good on them over the last couple of years, and although Burton have sorted out most of the issues, the camber version is a much better option for you for pipe.
You don’t have to go with Burton bindings on a Burton board - some manufacturers make adapter plates that allow you to use their bindings on the ICS system. However, I do like the ICS system for it’s flexibility in stance widths and binding positioning. Also, some of Burton’s bindings are much better than others. I really like a pair of Cartels I pinched from my b/f, but I have a pair of Lexa’s I bought for myself which basically fell to pieces after half a season. I have also ridden my Union Contacts on my Feelgood, which works absolutely fine.

Weights vary by brand because core materials and construction varies. The properties of each core will affect the weight range given to the board. But, I believe that boards are tested well beyond the weight ranges given so there is an element of interpretation here.
On the Feelgood camber, you could ride the 149. The Rome & Nitro reckon more like 153.
The other thing to take into account is the effective edge of each - the longer the edge the more you will have in contact with the snow. The Rome 153 has a 1180 effective edge, whereas the Feelgood has 1095. The bigger the effective edge, generally the more stable you are, so check each one as if you can get a shorter board with a longer effective edge, you might find it works better for you.