Salomon Man's Board - Length for me - Please help

[dreampow]

Getting all exited about a couple of centimeters.

AT your weight since you are clearly not looking to freestyle much why not go with the 159.

You could also go 156~157 without any issues IMO.

I am 170lbs 6ft and mostly ride a 157 proto, I find it spot on for all mountain freestyle personally. Carves pretty well too. I also have a 161 stiffer cambered deck which is clearly better for freeride and is perfectly OK for 3s and mellow freestyle.

I rode a 165 before that and I personally have found that the newer boards do allow better stability and float at a shorter length. Having said that if I want to bomb I like the 161, the 157 is good at speedy carving, but I wouldn't take it up to the same speeds as I feel comfortable with on the longer cambered deck.

All in all everyone has their preferences and opinions. Lonerider clearly likes longer stiffer decks for riding the mountain, but thats not to say you can't carve or ride steeps at speed on slightly shorter decks.

I personally wouldn't be riding all mountain on a 154, I wouldn't ride anything bellow 157 for what i like to do. Each to their own

[snowklinger]

Originally Posted by dreampow

Getting all exited about a couple of centimeters.

Sorry I'm excited about snowboarding and my wifes got me housekept for a couple days!

I'm starting to consider something more like 32cmx2 with camber zones.

<<see pic

[timmytard]

Originally Posted by snowklinger

Yea i'm high as a giraffes ass and trying to reread all the thread and all of Lonriders shit too. It was all just a response to the age thing.

Also had absinthe for the first time tonight, purty cool for something that tastes like licorice mouthwash.

Dude, aren't you scared you mom's gonna come down & smack ya?

TT

[lonerider]

Originally Posted by snowklinger

Surfing is my first love and I have spent a ton of time shortboarding and longboarding in all kinds of conditions, I truly love both, however if it is over shoulder high I admit you are unlikely to find me on a longboard.

Nice! I recently got to go to Maui (most of the travel and lodging was paid for) recently and went longboard surfing there. It was WAY easier than trying to surf in Norcal (I'm a terrible paddler) and I managed to get a few cross-steps, switch hops (me, not the board), before falling off the board. I learned how to do cross-steps on a longboard skateboard after being inspired by this video.

Originally Posted by snowklinger

Your assessment Lonerider of your buddy who bonks everything going down is similar to me. And also why I made the point that it is important for the OP to understand where advice is coming from on length in this forum. There are a ton of 30+yr old people here who represent a pretty wide demographic within snowboarding. There are eurocarvers.

So... how close would you say your riding style is to the OP's style.

Originally Posted by snowklinger

All of these things nuances are important to consider. I simply feel that the loudest and most heard demographic on this forum is gonna add cm's above the median, even if I personally do ride a bit on the short side.

It's funny - from my point of view I feel like most people suggest shorter than normal boards. Grafta just posted in the other thread I'm on right now that a 158 cm board for a 160 lbs rider "sounds huge for your weight." For instance Snowolf is the most prolific poster on this website and he is riding like a 156-158cm boards at 190 lbs for freeriding only - that's almost the same length I'm riding at while I weigh 45-50 lbs less than him - no disrepect to him, I believe myself to be the better freerider (still just a weekend warrior though).

Originally Posted by snowklinger

Also consider that for a 154, the new blunted proto and evo have exceptionally long rail lengths. Therefore, not only does the extended rail make the board ride like a bigger board, but so does the blunted tips. I think the new 154 evo and proto ride like classic 156 on the CONSERVATIVE side, if not '57 or 58.

See, this is where I think I have more experience and knowledge than you (not necessarily GOOD experience... just experience) because I have ridden much longer board than you and I have ridden boards with very long effective edges compared to their overall length.

The Proto 154 with blunted tips has an effective edge of 122cm - which is a more than the SL 155 has without the blunted tips (120cm) - but 2 cm is less than two fingers widths <insert sexual joke here> or less than 2% difference. That's almost nothing. Compare that to the Virus Avalanche FLP AFT 160cm freeride board Poutanen is getting, which has an effective edge of 149cm!!!! When you compare that to the 129cm effective edge of a Proto 160cm sn image of Crocodile Dungee saying "that's not a knife... this is knife" comes to my mind.

I think a 159 cm is ok for an experience rider who is only going to be doing freeride and powder. It would be different if it were a novice or a jib-oriented rider like yourself. I will end this post... with what I always tend to post when someone attempt to suggest any board over 160 is "way too long" a video the Radical Surf 222 cm board.

[timmytard]

[QUOTE=snowklinger;538816]Sorry I'm excited about snowboarding


Me too

Opening day tomorrow, wwwwoooooooooooo.

Fuck I've been waiting for this for a long time.

TT

[timmytard]

To the OP, I've been browsing Seattle's craigslist & it is stacked.

There are a shit load of lib techs on there, I guess being made there helps.

I would just browse that & do your research on some of the wicked deals you find in there.

TT

[lonerider]

Originally Posted by dreampow

Getting all exited about a couple of centimeters.

You could also go 156~157 without any issues IMO.

All in all everyone has their preferences and opinions. Lonerider clearly likes longer stiffer decks for riding the mountain, but thats not to say you can't carve or ride steeps at speed on slightly shorter decks.

I personally wouldn't be riding all mountain on a 154, I wouldn't ride anything bellow 157 for what i like to do. Each to their own

Yes... if you are only free-riding... then I don't see why you wouldn't go a tiny bit longer and stiffer board than a park rider. You could go a bit shorter if you wanted to, but I don't see any reason to - a difference of 2 cm is not going to make it dramatically easier to jib, spin, and may make it only a tight bit easier to go through trees.

I just get tired of people who keep saying "oh, I don't want to go too long, it is hard to spin with" or "oh it's way too hard to turn a board that is one inch longer" when a lot of them just aren't very good snowboarders (present company excepted) and wouldn't be able to do some tricks no matter what the board is. It seriously like when a woman asks "does this pair of jeans make my butt look fat?"... no, it doesn't... because 99% of the time it's her butt that's fat, not the jeans.

I believe in staying in the middle of the recommend weight ranges... and then adjusting slighty from that for your personal preferences (shorter/softer for rails... longer for freeriding/powder).

[lonerider]

Originally Posted by snowklinger

edit: rereading the thread: Lonerider I assure you I know how to "carve", and I'm not a park rat by any means (trying to get over it and get in there tho).

Sorry about all the posting. I'm trying to explain what I think... and I worry that if I'm not absolutely clear... people won't understand. So I has a tendency to get very wordy when I get animated. I've been using photos and videos as that seems to get my points across more quickly.

So... you clearly aren't a freerider... and you say you aren't a park rider. So why do you have two boards that are almost identical (I've ridden both the Evo and Proto 154 they are like fraternal twins, same shape, almost the same flex/stiffness) that even you admit are relatively short for your weight? Why go short if you aren't riding rails or spinning 540s? Please don't tell me it's because it is easier to turn/swing...

I'm just confused by your logic.

Update: I realize I'm starting to get this thread and THIS thread mixed up with each other. Lol... ok, sorry... will talk to you guys tomorrow.

[laxinchili]

Thanks guys! Just reading you guys bouncing knowledge and different perspectives on the sport has taught me a lot.

I think I will try to get a used board on Craiglist... probably a T-Rice from last year (the never summer cobra looks freakin sweet though!)

I pretty much settled on a rocker - camber - rocker type since I have my old school 161 rossi rs still laying around in good condition and that is full camber

[timmytard]

Originally Posted by laxinchili

Thanks guys! Just reading you guys bouncing knowledge and different perspectives on the sport has taught me a lot.

I think I will try to get a used board on Craiglist... probably a T-Rice from last year (the never summer cobra looks freakin sweet though!)

I pretty much settled on a rocker - camber - rocker type since I have my old school 161 rossi rs still laying around in good condition and that is full camber

Lib Tech Travis Rice 161.5cm

TT