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Thoughts on a big board, and help understanding the dynamics...

4K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  Edvard_Grieg 
#1 ·
Hi! (cliff notes at the bottom since this is long)

I'm currently contemplating a new board- a little background though...I've been riding for about 10 years or so now, and when I started wide boards were few and far between (started with a K2 Fatbob, and then a K2 Trucker)...along those same lines I also rode 'Clickers' for a long time, and loved the convenience, but just this season finally caved and got rid of them because frankly the boots sucked ass lol.

Additionally, in the past couple years I had gotten lazy and fat, and this summer I finally started doing something about it- I've lost a good net of 50lbs, and still shedding more every week. Right now I'm at about 290 (at 6'3" with size 13 boots- I'm a big boy :) ) I probably won't ever be below 220ish when I'm done, which puts me in a heavier bracket for weight-to-length ratio etc (let alone right now).

That being the case, I've been overhauling all my gear- I started by buying some Salomon Malamute boots which have been awesome! On top of that I got a set of the K2 Cinch CTX from last year (I found out last year used carbon fiber reinforcements, and this years did not).

So, I'm currently riding a Glissade Big Gun 175- when I went to buy my boots and bindings, the sales guy commented that the board was actually pretty light on the flex side, and that for my weight I either needed something longer and/or stiffer.

I tend to ride primarily blues/blacks and I love speed., I'm starting to do moguls (never had a taste for them in the past), I don't do any park stuff, but I'm starting to do small jumps and kickers etc. I do enjoy powder/backcountry, but it is not what I end up on 80%+ of the time (generally normal blues-blacks).

What I have noticed on my current board though, is that trying to hold a turn/edge when the terrain is choppy, is becoming difficult- and I don't know if that's just a function of the terrain, or if that is indicative of the board itself?

So given this information, the sales guy had originally recommended the Ride Yukon as a good board for me, I've since also looked at Venture Snowboards and their Zephyr. I've heard some people recommend Burton, and others with Lib Tech and GNU...I've honestly been out of looking at boards for a long time and not sure what if anything else to look at. From what I've seen though, the Zephyr is the most appealing, since it can get pretty wide, and hell, nothing wrong with buying local =)

The other thing I don't completely understand is the dynamics of stiffness as it pertains to weight- I read through the primer on finding boards etc, but it only appeared to address stiffness in regards to riding style, and weight as it pertains to length...

Last question, the straps on the bindings seem to be causing some pressure points...are straps pretty universal? Where would I get replacement ones? Recommendations on type/brand?


So I know this was incredibly long, so here's some cliff notes:

1. I'm a big guy, lost 50lbs, still 6'3", 290lbs, size 13
2. Just switched from clickers to conventional
3. Concerned current Glissade Big Gun 175 may not be stiff enough for body weight/size
4. I tend to ride blues/blacks rather fast, no park, occasional powder/backcountry, occasional small bumps/kickers, starting to try more moguls.
5. Looking at Venture Zephyr, Ride Yukon, not sure about others?
6. How does stiffness effect rider weight and vice versa?
7. Are binding straps universal? Where can I get replacement/better ones?


Thanks! And please provide any general comments too :) I tried to include what was necessary based on the sticky...let me know if you need more information from me!
 
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#2 ·
Stiffer the board the shorter you can get away with, when someone rides a board too small for their weight it basically makes the board a lot more flexible, for instace on my tiny park board whn my fat ass rides it, its like a chattering noodle and hard to hold carves, it'll go whump whump whump, and feel squirrly at high speed. However I can certainly ride it on pretty much anything, and turning it is super quick compared to my stiffer flex longer board.
So I guess theres a banalnce there do you want only high speed big mountain carver or something in the middle? Then you can cheat and get a really stiff board in a shorter length.
Anyways most companies have weight charts for their boards.

What I have noticed on my current board though, is that trying to hold a turn/edge when the terrain is choppy, is becoming difficult- and I don't know if that's just a function of the terrain, or if that is indicative of the board itself?
Could be the board, maybe its a flxier board, or you could be too heavy for it, because thats what happns when you ride a too flexy board on gnarly terrain.
 
#4 ·
I haven't ridden em, but I know the Yukon is pretty stiff from reviews. Also consider Never Summer Titan TX and Legacy-R. My SL-R is a freakin' tank, can imagine the stiffer models are even better for heavier riders.

You can pretty much tell if you go into a shop by handling it and bending the board if its considerably stiffer then your current ride.
 
#6 ·
please get a never summer, they are probably the only boards built that can take the abuse from a guy as large as you, i am about 225 and break boards regularily but i don't ride super stiff boards and do a lot of jumping. never summers have a lot of glass in them which is what makes them heavier than average and damp, both of these qualities will help make the board last for you, but unfortunately people of your stature are generally not considered when building boards, we only calculate up to about 245 or so when we do the durabillity calculations
 
#9 ·
Venture is one hell of a board, I have spoken to a few guys that have them ,and they all say good things about it.

Also consider a Salomon Burner.

You can't go wrong with Never Summer.
 
#11 ·
I called and talked to Venture, and it sounds like either the Zephyr or the Storm would be a great board...I'm leaning a little towards the Zephyr since it's a little more on the all-mountain side than the Storm. She described the difference as the Storm having a slightly further back stance and a softer nose for better powder riding...the Zephyr is still directional, just not as dramatic. She mentioned that the longer the board, the stiffer it would be, but that it sounds like a Zephyr 171 would suit me very well.

I also asked her obviously biased opinion on the Ride Yukon and Never Summer in general, and she did say that if I didn't go with Venture, Never Summer makes great durable boards- the only criticism she had was that she'd heard their boards can be very dampened and feel kind of 'dead'...could someone please explain that to me? Venture touts very lively and 'poppy' boards at the opposite extreme. I guess I really don't understand what that means from a day-to-day riding perspective.

Thanks!
 
#15 · (Edited)
Finally, a post I can help out with. :)

I've got a Venture Zephyr Wide 166, a Titan TX 161, and a few beat up Burton Canyons I hang on the wall b/c of the graphics. I'm 6'3", 200lbs, size 14 feet. Is this getting close enough minus the weight? :)

If you're looking for speed and control at said speeds, pure and simple, the Titan TX is what you want. It's got no chatter to speak of and it's faster than Reggie Bush on crack. I've got a long, very shallow incline at my home resort right off the high speed lift before you reach any real gradients. You can tell who waxes their boards and who doesn't, as 90% of the people have to stop and skate to go further, but on the Titan I woosh by them every time without fail. It's stiff, but at your professed 290 pounds, just about any board has a high degree of flex. It's got much more flex than the Zephyr, and is a bit thinner. It's a Neversummer, so you know it's built like a brick shithouse. It's my everyday board that I throw at anything but fluffy white powder or rocks (I bounce my Canyons off the rocky stuff).

I save the Zephyr for the nice powder days. It's also fast, not as fast as the Titan, but I don't have any complaints. It's WIDE, the 28cm means I don't have to worry about using lifts/risers. It's also stiffer than Michael Jackson watching the tabernacle boys choir - really stiff. Carving is a dream in this, it's easy, fast, and smooth... like a pint of Ben and Jerry's or a good poop. It's relatively light (given that it's a wide 166 board), but I figure it'd be heavier than the Titan if they were the same size. Speaking of brick shithouses, what strikes me about the board is that it's tough as nails. Minus the edge, it's wrapped top to bottom in p-tex, including a nice textured p-tex topsheet that negates the need for a stomp pad. I'm pretty sure it could stop an armor piercing round (or not...). You can whup up on it like a red-headed step child and it will come back for more. It handles much easier than its size or weight would lead you to believe, although keep in mind it is still a big board... and the carving.. mmm.. carving. It'll keep an edge on really crappy snow better than anything I've ever ridden.

That being said, don't discount NS's construction quality as well.

My rear leg is at 0 degrees and so I need every bit of width I can get out of a board. I use lifts with the Titan, but I don't need them with the Zephyr. I don't think you could possibly go wrong with either one.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Awesome! Thank you very much for the reply! Would you say that one holds an edge better than the other? How about in moguls? (just starting to do some, and I know it will be tricky with either)

Is the speed difference significant or marginal? I'm thinking since I'll probably be looking at a 171 ish I'll be getting nice speed one way or the other...not to mention mass does lend itself towards ridiculous speed in its own right :) Do you think I could ride something shorter? Aside from being easier to turn- what other changes would I notice between a 166 and a 171?

loved the analogies btw
 
#22 · (Edited)
Thanks again! I'd also be curious for any comments/insight into Magnetraction/Banana Tech (Lib Tech's stuff) I'm obviously very in the dark on this stuff, and really don't understand what it is/does.
I've got no experience with magnetraction. All I know is what is on their website. I've heard good things about it when it comes to ice. I'd love to try it myself - but there's no place even remotely close to me that does it.
 
#23 ·
Just got a chance to bring out the Zephyr for the first time this season, so I thought I'd relay my experiences with each one while it's fresh in my head. Again, I'm 6'3", 200lbs, size 14, +18/0 goofy stance.

Keep in mind while you're reading this, I fly a Titan TX 161 (26.3cm waist) and a Zephyr 166 wide (28cm waist), and I've got no doubt that difference in length and width affected some of the outcomes. I also use Burton elevators with my Titan and do not with my Zephyr.

The Zephyr is a more forgiving board than the TX, but it's definitely not as agile. Also, I tried to pay more attention to the speed factor with the Zephyr. The TX is definitely the faster board, but the Zephyr is nothing to sneeze at either. Unless you're looking to break records or enter official races, the Zephyr will absolutely be fast enough for you.

The Zephyr got a bit squirrely on me at really high speeds in a few places, but it wasn't anything I couldn't recover from on the fly, and it certainly wasn't major crash-inducing wobble. However, if I had hit the wrong kind of bump at the wrong time on the Zephyr and caught an edge during a squirrel-out, I might have gone flying. All in all, the fact that I didn't go flying in some of those spots is a testament to the Zephyr's more forgiving build. If I were to have gone through those motions on my Titan, it probably would have laughed at me and then used me for impact protection as it bounced me off the slope side until I was its bitch.

The Titan can definitely hold a better line at speed. Just like NS says, you've never experienced a faster, smoother, and more responsive board than the Titan... you just gotta keep the bitch on a leash or she'll put you on your ass.

The Zephyr is an easier board to land when you get air. It came down with a solid 'whomp' and kept going straight as an arrow, whereas the Titan would sometimes wobble for an instant when I landed and I'd have to adjust. This could be due to the extreme differences in width.

The carving trophy goes to the Zephyr, no question (again, keep in mind, 166 vs. 161). If I saw something shiney over there and I wanted to head in that direction, the Zephyr took me there, no matter how tight a turn I asked it to do. It was't as agile (read: multiple quick transitions) as the Titan, but you'd never have guessed you were riding a 28cm wide board either.

At low speeds, when glide-skating from the lift to the top of a run, the Zephyr was easier to control. I sometimes have issues with my board kind of rotating however it wants to while I'm skating long distances, but the Zephyr was much easier to handle in this regard.

At low speeds with both feet in (like hanging with my wife on the novice hill), the Titan was easier to control, but again, size differences surely came into play here.

So basically you've gotta ask yourself if you can handle the Titan (Honestly, I'm still wrestling with the bitch in spots). I think it's a better high-speed freeride board if you have the sack to keep it under control. It asks a lot but gives a lot. The Zephyr is more forgiving and holds a better tight carve (it was also longer, tho). If you're the kind of rider who likes speed, can bend a board to his will and doesn't need its forgiveness, you probably want to hit up the Titan. I still benefit from a board showing me a modicum of compassion, personally... I'm not the double black diamond type yet.

At the end of the day, however, you're going to get a big wide board chubby in your pants no matter which you get.. I promise. These are both superb sticks that deserve every bit of the good rep they have.
 
#24 ·
Thank you for the great write-up! I went up to Keystone on Sunday after tweaking my stance a bit, and I found that ended up helping a lot. I still think a different board would *that* much more, but I wanted to mention that as a valid point to anyone else in a similar situation.

The changes I made were to widen the stance (now at the furthest holes on each side) and to make the back food at a more aggressive angle...I'll probably tweak the foot angles a little more as I keep going, but I wanted to mention that overall making those changes gave me a lot more control which translated to tighter turns etc.

Along the same lines, I'm also now more confident in being able to handle an equally long and stiffer board than my current Glissade Big Gun 175.

Thanks again everyone!
 
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