automaton manimal 158 or rome garage rocker 156 help!!

Posted: 04 March 2012 11:18 PM

hiya guys, great forum!

im a new snowboarder!
ive got everythink i need but having trouble with the board!
i weigh 79kg and im about 5.8” ive been using a 151 on dry slopes to learn on as the teacher says that a smaller board is easier to learn on?
im trying not to spend to much for a first board and when i progress i wanna give park/freestyle a go :-/ the two boards above are what ive come up with
so questons are-

which board would you suggest?

is a 151 to small for me?

am i thinking about freestyling to early?  hah

thanks for advice

Posted: 05 March 2012 06:27 PM

Hey Tomster,

Firstly… yeah 151 is too small. tbh it doesn’t make much difference what board you ride on dryslope just don’t ride one you intend to keep for a long time. I rode Plymouth Dendex for 4 years while at Uni and Christchurch once or twice, then when Warmwell got changed to Snowflex I rode there for a couple of years. I found a soft flexing twin shaped board is all you need. I ruined every board I ever took on dryslope… only place I’ve ever snapped a board.

So regarding your choice. To give you an idea of sizes. I’m about 72kg and 5’8”. For all mountain riding, a bit of pow, groomers, kickers… general riding I ride a 159cm Amplid Paradigma. It’s zero camber, has a directional shape and a slender waist. The flex is about 5.5/10 and the zero camber means it floats amazingly in powder but sill pops nicely, feels liverly out of turns and has plenty of edge hold on all conditions. For spring rider I ride a 153 rockered board. In pow I usually ride a board between the 163 to 165 mark. If you want to develop all aspects of your riding including freestyle, I’d suggest something in the region of 156-158, so the two boards you have selected kind of fit that mark.

I haven’t ridden the Garage rocker or the automaton. I’ve been told the Garage rocker is exetremely soft. You might find that riding a board that is really soft is a bit like trying to run before you can walk. Get a medium flex board that you can learn to carve on and work the board through it’s flex. Something like the Nitro Rook or the K2 happy hour. These will be great for learning in te park but you also won’t miss the fundamental ingredients for learning to snowboard properly. Zero camber is aslo a good choice, it’ll make learning to ride pow a breeze and should keep your 156 afloat.

Hope that helps,

Rich

Posted: 05 March 2012 11:22 PM

Thanks for the advice rich,
Think I’ve been jumping the gun abit trying to learn the how to butter before linking turns haha
I’m gunna shop around maybe test a few!