[chokly]

I'm looking for a new carving board, and I love Mervin stuff. So I've made my decision to get either a B-Pro or a Beauty. Their Beauty is new this year and I don't know much about it. I'm looking for a board where I can go ridiculously fast on and carve like no other. Mostly on groomed terrain, maybe a bit of pow in there. Size 8 women's boot, 130lbs, 5'7.
I already have a 148 Gnu B-Nice and a 151.1 Gnu Ladies Choice, but the B-Nice is my freestyle board and the Choice is my all mountain one.
I'm seeing the only difference is that the Beauty is directional and has asymmetrical toes/heels. But I can only get one in a 152 max. I think this might be too small for me for a carving board. Should I get a B-Pro 155 or Beauty 152?

 

[Noreaster]

Never had a chance to try Beauty but read good things about it. B-Pro, however, is a solid board for your purposes. It carves well and holds its own. Good in powder. You might also want to look at Jones Mothership, which I believe should be closer to Beauty in profile and flex. Also a terrific all-mountain board, super stable with mild MT and equally good if not better in powder than B-Pro. Both are very cool boards.

 

[wrathfuldeity]

a 155 bpro might be a bit much for your weight. Its fairly stiff...I think its about perfect for my 180# lard ass. I've demo'd several times the 155 bpro and its one of the top 3 of my list of purchases for a resort/inbounds/Baker board....also a rider's choice in 154 and 156 billy goat are the other 2...all three are fairly similar but just a slight different emphasis and anyone of the three I be perfectly happy with. However if you just want to carve and blast groomers I'd go with a cambered.

edit: Just looked at the beauty...it has the specs for what you want to do...with the c3

 

[BigmountainVMD]

You do not need a 155 to carve hard. At 130 lbs I would strongly suggest against it.

Just based on a quick search, the effective edge of the B-pro is 4.5 cm longer than the beauty. That is a pretty big difference, which will make the B-pro ride like a longer board (than the same length Beauty) and also hold an edge better (if the boards are similarly stiff, which I think they are).

I've also seen both C2 and C3 B-pros, so you could go with the C3 option for even more edge hold, but it won't be quite as good in powder or as easy to turn as the c2 version.

I think you would be perfect for a 152 C2 B-pro. Last years model seems to be a bit more stiff than this years and luckily, evo.com has one in the sickest colorways I have ever seen.

This is last years model C2 B-pro but it is the coolest looking board... http://www.evo.com/outlet/snowboards/gnu-pendleton-b-pro-c2btx-snowboard-womens.aspx#image=56497/294367/gnu-pendleton-b-pro-c2btx-snowboard-women-s-2013-front.jpg

 

[chokly]

Thanks for the advise guys! I see what you mean. I'm not sure if a 155 would be too much board for me. I already have a 151.5 Gnu Ladies' Choice from last year. It's a C2 so I'm looking into getting a C3. The thing is I have no problems turning with that board, so I figured I'd be able to handle the 155. I don't know if it will be a waste getting such a similar board. Do you think I should still get a 152?

 

[wrathfuldeity]

idk...haven't ridden a c3, but have lots of camber experience. It kind of depends c2 vs c3 vs camber. ime carving blasting groomers...do you want to roll edge to edge or pop from edge to edge and do you want to be more centered or on the nose a tad more, i.e., moving fore and aft. Ime camber pop is going to be quicker and more stable and more centered when blasting verses quick agility/nimbleness of tight turns and more on the nose are more easily done with the c2...I'd imagine the c3 will split the difference.

 

[BigmountainVMD]

Thanks for the advise guys! I see what you mean. I'm not sure if a 155 would be too much board for me. I already have a 151.5 Gnu Ladies' Choice from last year. It's a C2 so I'm looking into getting a C3. The thing is I have no problems turning with that board, so I figured I'd be able to handle the 155. I don't know if it will be a waste getting such a similar board. Do you think I should still get a 152?

The 152 C3 B-pro already has 2 cm more effective edge than the 151.5 C2. So the added stiffness of the B-pro + C3 (more camber, more difficult to turn) + 2 cm more effective edge (more edge, more difficult to turn) will surely give you a more free-ride oriented deck than what you currently have.

The 155 B-pro has only 1.5 more cm of EE over the 152 B-pro. It is also wider than both the 152 B-pro and 151.5 Ladies Choice by almost 0.5 cm. That doesn't sound like much but if you are really interested in carving, 0.5 cm is a lot. The closer you get to a camber board (C3), the waist width becomes more of a PITA. You really want a more narrow width so you can make quicker edge to edge transitions. Unless your feet are bigger and you are currently experiencing toe drag, I would think you would be most happy on the 152 B-pro, unless you think you will be riding more powder with it, then I'd go 155.

Do you slide or lose carves that much on the Ladies choice?

I also just noticed the Beauty it tapered, so much more geared for powder than any of the other boards mentioned.

 

[Nivek]

I can't speak for the ride, but now with C3 they actually significantly softened up the board. It is noticably softer in store. With C3 it might ride similar to last years with C2 with the softened up flex, but if you're looking for something more aggressive I'm inclined to lead you somewhere else. And if you're looking for a carving board why not go directional? And then there's magne. If you get a board built for carving it'll likely be camber. Camber should be giving you all the grip you need and Magne can slow you down. So if you were in my store I'd be pulling down: Burton Feelgood Camber, Ride Berreta, Signal OG, Jones Mothership, K2 Spotlite, Salomon Idol.

155 is a little on the big side but if you're a strong rider that uses more power than finesse its totally doable. Otherwise between 150 and 153 is what to shoot for. And don't ignore some of the narrower smaller men's boards as well, no reason you can't ride something as big as 24.8 in the waist.

Make sure you've got some responsive bindings on it too (and don't read responsive as stiff, they aren't always the same)