mixie

Up until yesterday I'd only been on traditional cambered boards. My current board is a very stiff, very directional cambered ride. It's a cheap extruded base, it sux in pow and it's probably to small for me. After two seasons it's time for that thing to be replaced.... Winter finally came to the eastern sierra and left 4 feet of snow so I figured I would demo some new toys!!! Sunday was a Never Summer Lotus and today the GNU B-Pro. While I loved the Lotus and did not love the B Pro I noticed that neither board had very much pop too it. My cambered deck launches me off nearly anything I want with out much effort or even speed. I couldn't ollie or press it very easily (I suck at both anyway) but I didn't need to ollie to get airborn. I prefer natural terrain but I will hit jumps (no boxes or rails) in the park when conditions suck. You know, like pretty much this whole season!

With the Lotus I did not have that 'launched' feeling at all. Aside from the pop issue I absolutely LOVED that board. I did not want to give it back. I took it to June Mountain and rode the hell out of it. Deep powder bowls off the top, waist deep powder thru tight trees, bombing groomers etc. And stuck every landing except one where I didn't see the kicker in the flat light until way too late and was going way too fast. Oh well, at least I provided a lot of entertainment to the people riding the chair above me. I could even do small ollies and presses. Things that were near impossible on the old board. It flat out rocked. And it matched my boots. Total Win!

My only issue was I was kinda missed that feeling of being launched. Im assuming that's what is referred to as pop? I needed a lot more speed to get in the air and it.... was just a more gentle way of being sent into the air. If that makes sense? On the camber board I could pop off moguls and with the lotus I just kinda of went over/thru them.


Anyway, if does make sense, is this something intrinsic to the shape or is it related to stiffness? Can I find a hybrid deck that will have more pop? If not, I'm willing to sacrifice some pop for the ability to float so well in powder. I can live with that But if not, then I need to demo some more boards. Any suggestions?


Now the B Pro I just did not like at all. But that's for another thread.

lonerider

Yes... in general, reverse cambered boards have less pop than traditional cambered boards due to their shape. Some of my older cambered boards were like trampolines.

That being said hybrid cambered boards like the ones in Never Summer's lineup also have a different "sweet spot" to get the most pop out of the mini-camber sections when you flex the board (either more towards the tail or closer to the binding depending on the board and your stance).

wrathfuldeity

Hi, a guy with small feet, generally ride women's boards because they are narrow for fast edge to edge and love pop. Demo'd a bpro and thought it was quite nice but less pop; however I'm sticking with my traditional cambered fs all mtn twin (option 155 kendra starr) because of the pop. Had a old gnu bnice that was cambered with mtx and loved that one for the edge hold and pop but snapped the tail. So perhaps try a softer fs cambered twin or maybe a gnu rider's choice with pickle...basically the same as a bpro but a little stiffer/perhaps more pop.

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handscreate

I don't really go for jumps much, but I have noticed that I can load up the tail a little and get some decent pop out of my Bully Doubledog when I want it. Coming off my very stiff cambered board (which was like a high tension spring), I find the hybrid camber to be a little mellower as far as pop, but it makes up for it (for me at least) by being a way more playful board with some pretty good edge hold when I need it.

CheeseForSteeze

Not really sure what it is the board is doing that you aren't happy with. From what you said, you didn't ollie your old board to feel "launched". That's what pop is, the power and speed the board rebounds when you ollie it which gives you amplitude. If you don't ollie the board, then the pop, which the camber will affect, isn't even coming into play.

As for the Lotus, not sure having never ridden one, but I owned the Evo from last season and it was one of the better ollieing boards I've ever ridden. Very strong pop out of the cambered sections. I find any type of camber typically pops as well as others.

Nivek

Its just the way camber snaps vs rocker. Its a completely different load. That said, you might have better luck with like a Ride Farrah or OMG. Petty sure they both have pop rods which across the industry provide some of the most snap you can find.

But hey if youre riding June... The Signal Vita comes with Wavelength like on the mens Omni for 2013. Every girl I've put on it absolutely loves it. Camber between the feet and rocker outside. Power and play.

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Snowboarding Sucks.

Cycle4Fun

If you want a stiffer board you'll probably have to move away from women's specific boards. They are softer for an on average lighter rider with less strength. You can't forget the dainty feet either. Moving to the men's board you'll get your stiffness back, but it'll be wider slowing down your edge transitions.

I demo'd the NS SL and Raptor. The raptor was too much of a pure free ride charger for the typical east cost hills I ride. The SL was playful yet let me charge down the mountain with confidence. I also got to ride the K2 slayblade, the Rossi One Magtek, and the Salomon Man's Board. The SL was my favorite ride overall.

However, the Lotus is the most beautiful board in the 2012 NS line up. The top sheet is gorgeous.

poutanen

If you like stiff and cambered, why not demo some more stiff and cambered boards that are bigger. The size may be why you don't like it in powder, because I'm on a fairly large, very stiff, very cambered board and it handles the powder just fine.

I would miss the pop if I went with something else...

Casual

I would just keep trying different boards, the Ride womans line up is really nice and they have plenty of pop. My girfriend has a Ride Canvas and loves it, and I have a Ride Kink. They make great boards that go anywhere... seriously. I've ridden a lot of boards.

Check this one out, sounds like what you are looking for:

Compact Snowboard | All Mountain Freestyle, Park & Pipe | Ride Snowboards 2011-2012

Irahi

There's multiple different kinds of pop. A positive camber shape is compressed from its natural position while it's being ridden, which means that it's always pushing up against you, trying to return to its normal shape. That extra pressure gives you some upward spring, which gives you a bit of pop out of carves, and gives you what feels like significant extra height when you pop upwards with both feet evenly, sort of like just jumping off the ground without a board strapped in. Any center rocker shape will have absolutely zero of this kind of pop.

Ollie/Nollie pop isn't quite the same thing, since it comes from a different section of the board, camber still gives you more of this kind of pop, but rockered boards can still be loaded up on the tail to provide some extra spring.