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New custom deck showed up today!

3K views 38 replies 11 participants last post by  txb0115 
#1 ·
New custom made/spec deck showed up today.

Made by Prior, based off their Khyber deck.

160cm
7.5m sidecut
26cm waist
25mm taper
Carbon construction
Blacked-out graphics

Gonna ride it with NOW Drives...

This deck should just kill it in deep pow in tight trees, can't wait to try it out next season on a huge pow day...









 
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#18 ·
The FA gets great reviews, if you got it for a deal that's solid. I was going to get a prior splitboard but after hearing some group consensus / alonzo's experience, I decided to go with Kindred and ordered a custom deck from them. fully custom seemed like a way to get exactly what I wanted.
 
#19 ·
You can get fully custom with Prior too. I think the best from Prior is 2 things: 1 the carbon kevlar (the boards are very light). and 2) their standard shapes. They are really nice.

As far the FA, I basically wanted something very similar to my Landlord just slightly more versatile. The FA is a bit softer and damper with more camber so it's definitely more versatile. I went one size longer as well, so the slightly softer nature of the FA is neat.
 
#20 ·
I explored a full custom option with prior, would love to share the experience and why I did what I did. I spoke to Anne-Fred at prior (super friendly) on the phone a few times, and finally sent her an email regarding my ideas for a full custom. She replied back with an email basically directing me back to the website to simply click on a customization option for Carbon or no carbon from one of their premade shapes. She briefly spoke to a production manager who said they could alter the taper / shape a little bit, but they certainly didn't show interest in creating a completely new template / fully custom setup. They have pre-drawn shapes you can slightly modify from what they offered me - not full custom.

I then called Evan & Angie from kindred. I explained who I was, my riding style, and what I wanted from my board. We went through EACH part of the board in detail, and he laid out the pros n cons of each decision to arrive at a place that worked best for me personally. We arrived at a full basalt layup with mag-tek edges, early rise RCR profile with 10 setback and 10 taper. Like each little detail about the board was narrowed down from a conversation about what my priorities as a rider and style. the level of customization I experienced with them wasn't touched upon by prior or offered. Prior does more a la carte customization of, "ok you want different taper, that's $300 more, ok you want flex adjustment, that's $100 more)..etc. Had I come to prior with EXACTLY what I wanted I'm sure they'd make me a ripper board, and I'd still love to have a board from them. But in terms of taking information about you as a rider and translating that info. into a specd out piece made specifically for you, I couldn't have dreamed up a better process than what I experienced with Kindred. I have yet to ride it / know of the quality so I can't speak on that yet, but so far the process has been a pleasure where Prior wasn't really trying to do that for me. Hopefully that explains why in a fair way.
 
#21 ·
Kindred are the real deal, man, and Evan and Angie are the shit. My dealings with them were amazing, just as they were with Jasey Jay. Dialing in every aspect of your ride to fit your wants with someone who knows what they're doing can produce some killer results. When you're dealing with a small outfit, things take on a different, more personal vibe. Their quality is tight, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I feel confident recommending those guys to anyone, based on my experience.

I'm jealous of you Americans. Given the trade rhetoric of the past weeks, our dollar is very likely headed to the shitter. I wouldn't be surprised to see it hit similar lows as the early 2000s when you guys were getting closeto 50 cents on the dollar. We have some really good builders up here, and you'll be able to save so much money. Between Kindred, Prior, Fullbag, Jasey Jay, Coiler, High Tide Mfg., Trapper, etc., there are just so many ridiculously sweet options.
 
#22 · (Edited)
So what do you think of this board?

I want something that’ll float, but that isn’t too wide (chattery and less maneuverable). I’ve been riding for decades, I’m currently down to 140 lbs (but have been considerably heavier). I like the trees at big white in bc.

So I’m considering a Carbon Khyber 156, but narrowed 7mm...
Waist = 248
Nose = 305
Tail = 280

I wear size 9 boots (302mm), though my feet are only 258mm. The boots are new and comfy, don’t tell they’re too big.

Bindings are at about 15 deg, putting my angled foot width at 249mm (and angled boot width at 295).

I contacted prior and this narrowed board would have:
Front board width at binding = 259mm (same as my current board at front)
Rear board width at binding = 253 mm (current board is a 261)

So I’ll have 21 mm overhang on the rear foot.

I’ve never had a tapered board, so I’ve never had something that narrow, or with that much overhang at the rear foot. I had a set back stance on another board with about the same overhang up front, which I didn’t like, but it didn’t float. Never a problem carving though.

According to the snowboarding profiles site “how-important-is-snowboard-width-sizing-and-how-do-i-get-it-right“, that’s actually about as wide as I should go for my foot (253 has 4mm underhang), but I don’t want too much boot overhang.

But then the front is considerably wider (259mm like my current board).

I don’t have a huge problem with the 252mm waist width of my current twin board, but I’d like better edge to edge response (like my last 148mm wide waist board, but it was shorter and didn’t float).

I like the idea of this 25mm taper, but do wonder if it’s a bit much.

If I’m paying $150 to get it narrowed, I want to get it right!
 
#23 · (Edited)
So, I’ll give you my opinions, but take them with a grain of salt, and also maybe consider demoing something similar first.

So I wear sz 9 boots. I ride all my decks at 26.0 in the waist. They don’t turn slow, not at all. For one I get the Carbon construction which makes the decks nice and snappy, then in addition to that i ride stiff responsive bindings along with stiff boots.

So why are you getting a Khyber? Maybe that is a question you need to ask yourself. They make pow decks wider and then with taper for a reason. Wider with more surface area makes the deck float better, narrowing the waist will counter that. The taper does two things, it helps with float by allowing the tail to sink, and then it helps make the deck turn easy, a tapered tail will really release easy into turns.

So if you mess with less taper and less waist width the board you get will not ride to it’s full potential as it was intended, that doesn’t mean it won’t ride well, per say, but it won’t ride quite like it would have.

I made changes to my deck, yes, but I was on the R&D program of a major MFG for quite a lot of years and was in the industry for a long time and have literally ridden hundreds and hundreds of decks, and with being on the R&D program ridden a lot of prototype decks and many times would get 3 or 4 versions of the same deck at a time to try out and to notice the subtle differences with and to be able to feel exactly what those subtle changes in specs would equate to on snow.

That explains why my custom build experience with Prior went differently than the other poster on this thread.

When I called I knew exaxctly what I wanted, I laid out all of the specs and told them to build it and put a Khyber nose/tail on it.

I can tell you from experience, and I’m willing to bet you a swift kick to the balls, that the deck you seek, will turn much better with a pair of stiff boots and bindings then it would by narrowing the waist 7mm. You would also then be retaining the float afforded by “extra” width.

Obviously, it’s different strokes for different folks, but, as I stated in the begening of this reply, maybe you should get out on a tapered pow deck to see how they ride before you go droppping $$$ on custom specs. Because if you have no frame of reference to how it rides to begin with, how do you know what you are doing to it is gonna make it ride any better???

YMMV

FYI, you spoke of how you like how your 148 board turned better than your 152....

I can tell you, this could be due to waist width, OR it could not have anything to do with it.

I could literally give you two 152cm decks with the same waist width and could give you one that turns way quicker than the other.

Waist width is such a small, small, small, part of the equation. The type of core, type of glass, the bias of the glass, torsional rigidity, sidecut, effective edge, running length, stiffness, type of and/or amount of camber.... All of those things will equal a much greater sum when it comes to how a deck turns, then the single sum of waist width... Then factor in a pair actually stiff binding/boot combo and waist width doesnt really mean hardly anything with how either on of those identical waist width 152cm decks will turn...

While making snowboards isn’t exactly rocket science, there’s quite a bit more to it than, “I want something that’ll float, but that isn’t too wide (chattery and less maneuverable).”
 
#24 · (Edited)
Thanks for your insight.

I’ve ridden tapered boards, but it has been a long time. Freeride boards are often too long for me (5’8” & 140#), though I see the current powder trend seems to be short and wide.

My current board is a Rossignol Krypto 156, with a 152mm waist and it’s very stiff (8 in the front/middle, but a stiffer 9 in the tail). Both nose and tail are 291mm wide. With some setback it floats, but it could be better. This board likes to turn at speed, so it can be a chore when it’s slower.

I’ve got the DC T-Rice boots, which are fairly stiff (according to reviews and my opinion).

I just got the Genesis X bindings, but they’re not really responsive enough for this stiff tail. It feels like the heel is lifting, though it’s really just the reflex base that’s bending. Otherwise I like their feel, and I think they’d work on a surfier board.

So I want a board that’ll maneuver and float, which is why I’m thinking about a tapered directional board. I don’t need to lay down high speed carves, but I’d like it to be competent on groomers and end of day chowder. If conditions are lousy I’d probably ride the krypto with the magnetraction.

There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of options. The Burton Flight Attendant has a decent width with a 10mm taper, but I’m hesitant about the channel system, and I’m afraid it’d have too much flex as well.

My email exchange with prior was really good... I’m just a bit uncertain. Also I’m done for the season and there are some other good deals.

BTW, narrowing the 156cm puts the nose and tail widths similar to the 150cm. The nose would still be wider than most on the market... and I think it be a good balance of float and handling.

How does your height and weight compare with mine? Did you adjust the stiffness with the custom board?
 
#25 ·
Not only there's options.... there's A LOT of options available for you.

5'8" 140 lbs and US9 boots have you perfectly for a 152-154 board with no problems. Specially for Big White...

Also, your boots and bindings are stiff enough for anything you may throw at it.
 
#27 ·
Hmmm... I was originally thinking the 153 Khyber, even though the waist is a bit wide. But because it’s shorter with a tighter radius, the front binding is getting into the nose (270mm at the binding, which just seems crazy wide). That’s what got me thinking about narrowing the 156...

Yeah I definitely wouldn’t recommend any reflex binding for a stiff freeride board. I do like the feel though, so I think it might work on a Khyber.
 
#28 ·
As I kinda stated above, I think you are over analyzing and/or putting way too much weight on an individual spec ( 270mm at the binding ) other than taking all of the specs together and getting the sum of those as to how the board will perform, and with that being said I think there are some specs that you aren’t even taking into account that can have a drastic effect on a board.. I.E. effective edge, running length, camber/rocker and what kind of combo is it...
 
#36 ·
Thanks again, I was at the same conclusion... either the Dump Truck or Khyber.

If I see a good end of season deal on the DT, I might grab it. I’m concerned that the nose might be a bit soft, and I’m not really keen on the channel system, but a good deal might be persuading. Currently 20% off, which already puts it considerably cheaper than a Carbon Khyber.
 
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