[Needmoresnow]

Did some searching on here but still a little unsure.

I'm 5'11, fluctuate between 165-175lbs, size 9 boots. Mostly charging east coast groomers popping sidehits and rollers.

Came across a killer deal on a 150cm excavator and grabbed it. I know I should ideally be on a 154, but curious on other people's experiences with this board and sizing. This will be my first volume shifted board.

My other boards are a 154cm Skeleton key, and a 155cm Kilroy Pow (same as the old Stun Gun).

Any thoughts?

 

[16gkid]

I'm about 15lbs lighter than you and I'm also looking for a 154

 

[Cambered234]

150 if you want quicker turns in the trees, less stiff, etc.
154 if you want to charge, better float, more stability, etc.
Either will work. There’s been many threads about this if you do a search.

 

[Schoobang]

I would go 154 in that case. I’m 80kg/US9 and really enjoy my excavator 158. I have not ridden the 154 but I imagine it would be fun and nimble. The 150 seems small.

 

[Needmoresnow]

Unfortunately I can't find a 154. I have the option of either a 150 or 158.

It seems like people are all over the place with this board in terms of size. Some size down and some don't. Guess I'm just worried that the 150 will be too small or that I'll really miss out on what this thing is meant for. The waist width seems fine and is slightly wider than what I ride right now.

Guess I'll see how it goes.

 

[Board Doctor]

I haven’t ridden it, but I think that’s too small with too little effective edge to bomb groomers. Plus the sidecut is only 5.9-6.9m. Are you sure you even want a volume shifted board?

The Rome Stalefish is similar if you can find one in a 153... But I’m still not sure that’s what you really want. They’re more turny than bomber.

 

[Needmoresnow]

I'm really just looking for something fun that will carve tight, fast turns at speed. Something that's better for quick transitions edge to edge, but still a bit playful for side hits etc. Never tried a volume shift board so I figured why not. Just want to make sure I'm not left with a noodle at 150.

 

[Board Doctor]

It should‘T be a noodle, it has some carbon and you’re within the weight range. It’s not really a playful board, but going smaller will make it an easier ride.

A wider board isn’t going to transition as fast from edge to edge though.

I’m still not sure this is the board you’re looking for… maybe a party board?

 

[sandwi54]

I have an excavator and while it carves fine, the effective edge is too short to be a fast bomber. I much prefer my flagship for bombing on the grommets. Excavator is best used for pow days to carve trenches in trees. Honestly I’d build a three board quiver, 1. Mid-flex freestyle board, 2. Narrow waist width groomer bomber, and 3. Volume shifted pow board.

 

[Needmoresnow]

I guess I'm a bit indecisive with what I'm after.

I never find myself in the park, I'm always cruising the rest of the resort looking for little sidehits etc. And carving.

I really like my 155 Kilroy Pow, but sometimes find that I boot out a bit in softer slushy spring snow (hence why I thought I'd try a volume shifted board).

Maybe I got a bit misguided from some of the reviews I'd seen stating that the Excavator is a great carving board because of the extra width.

I find my other boards more than stable enough at the speeds I ride (60-80km/h.)

I guess I'm kind of stuck with it now.

 

[Board Doctor]

You should like it in the softer snow... When you’re really digging a trench you don’t need to worry about overloading the edge or having it chatter out. With the added width it’ll like some speed to get on edge, but the tighter sidecut is going to limit the top speed.

IIRC, I topped out at 74km/h while bombing on my Rossi Krypto, which was a bit of a plank with a 8.2m sidecut. I don’t ride that fast anymore. On my 164 Shorty I’m probably carving around 50 though. On the 153 Stalefish it’s probably more like 35km/h.

 

[Board Doctor]

BTW, the Ride peace seeker has even less effective edge and it got some carving hype.

I wouldn’t recommend anything like this on frozen east coast crap though (like in the morning after everything has frozen over).

 

[sandwi54]

If you are looking to carve at 60-80 km/h, I think it’ll be harder to do that on the excavator. It’s good for carving but not high speed carving. My top speed is 79km/h that I hit with my jones flagship, but I couldn’t even come close to that speed on my excavator. It gets squirrely very fast due to the shorter effective length. It’s good for pow carves but not optimized for icy groomer carves.

If you don’t find yourself in good pow often, I’d pick up another board instead.

 

[Cambered234]

I guess I'm a bit indecisive with what I'm after.

I never find myself in the park, I'm always cruising the rest of the resort looking for little sidehits etc. And carving.

I really like my 155 Kilroy Pow, but sometimes find that I boot out a bit in softer slushy spring snow (hence why I thought I'd try a volume shifted board).

Maybe I got a bit misguided from some of the reviews I'd seen stating that the Excavator is a great carving board because of the extra width.

I find my other boards more than stable enough at the speeds I ride (60-80km/h.)

I guess I'm kind of stuck with it now.

I’ll chime in on this…
Can the Excavator carve at higher speeds? Yes, absolutely!… but, it’s not that simple (yet not that complicated).
If you fully downsize then don’t expect the board to be a hard charging groomer carver, not that it’ll be bad, but it will shine in a different category. If you want to carve hard and lay trenches, don’t fully downsize! If you don’t fully downsize, the board will be stiffer and very supportive on edge; it will let you push into it and build speed; it will lay a trench; it will surprise you with edge-to-edge transition at speed (for its width); it will also work great in pow, just not as agile in the trees or as light as if you fully downsize. Therefore, there’s a reason my first response gave you the two options.
If you primarily just want the board for carving groomers, get a different board. If you are going from pow to groomers and back, then this board is great. Period.

 

[Needmoresnow]

I’ll chime in on this…
Can the Excavator carve at higher speeds? Yes, absolutely!… but, it’s not that simple (yet not that complicated).
If you fully downsize then don’t expect the board to be a hard charging groomer carver, not that it’ll be bad, but it will shine in a different category. If you want to carve hard and lay trenches, don’t fully downsize! If you don’t fully downsize, the board will be stiffer and very supportive on edge; it will let you push into it and build speed; it will lay a trench; it will surprise you with edge-to-edge transition at speed (for its width); it will also work great in pow, just not as agile in the trees or as light as if you fully downsize. Therefore, there’s a reason my first response gave you the two options.
If you primarily just want the board for carving groomers, get a different board. If you are going from pow to groomers and back, then this board is great. Period.

Appreciate all the advice from everyone,

What size excavator are you riding, and what's your specs?

 

[Cambered234]

Appreciate all the advice from everyone,

What size excavator are you riding, and what's your specs?

Doesn’t matter… but you can do a simple search and find the information as I’ve said before.
But if I need to make a statement in this thread for credibility, then here it is: I demoed the’22 158 and then rode buddy’s ‘23 154 and I settled on the ’23 158. I was in your position (which of 2 sizes) and that’s the move I made. I’ve ridden the snot out of the board this winter because the conditions have been great for it. I don’t think this is a quiver of one kind of board, and I wouldn’t buy this as a groomer only board… refer to my above posts.

 

[Needmoresnow]

So I've been scouring online trying to find a 154, unfortunately they are either sold out, or still being listed as full MSRP.

Decided I'll keep the 150 and see how it rides. Ended up mounting some Cartel X bindings to it.

Haven't ridden it yet, but one thing I noticed is that when flexing it in the house it seems a fair bit softer both tip-to-tail and torsionally in comparison to my 154 Skeleton Key and 155 Kilroy.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out on snow. May end up being the board I'll ride with my kids.

 

[Cambered234]

So I've been scouring online trying to find a 154, unfortunately they are either sold out, or still being listed as full MSRP.

Decided I'll keep the 150 and see how it rides. Ended up mounting some Cartel X bindings to it.

Haven't ridden it yet, but one thing I noticed is that when flexing it in the house it seems a fair bit softer both tip-to-tail and torsionally in comparison to my 154 Skeleton Key and 155 Kilroy.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out on snow. May end up being the board I'll ride with my kids.

man I hope you don’t end up regretting your choice and you can still enjoy the 50.
The only suggestion I’d like to make is that if you don’t feel like the edge-to-edge transition is fast enough, try throwing on some responsive bindings. There was something lacking with the CartelX on my 58, some have suggested that it loses some response when it flexes under load, maybe that’s what I felt… but when I put my Katanas on it (not as stiff overall, but I’d argue definitely more responsive for sure) the board transitioned nicely. I also weigh more, so maybe they won’t have that problem with you.

 

[Board Doctor]

I had read that it feels fairly stiff, and that the S1 core is a little more so than the ‘22 bambooyah. It also has the carbon forks in the tail, so I eventually decided on the Stalefish. I was looking at this as more of a party board, and the Stalefish ended up being stiffer than I thought it would be as well.

I’ve got a K2 Special Effects that is also a ‘7’, and despite the width (280 waist) it feels a lot more playful. It is flat though, no camber. I’ve got Genesis X bindings on it, which are supportive and have plenty of board feel. I absolutely love this setup getting fresh tracks. I feel like I loose A LOT of response with the Re:flex though. It’s alright on a soft groomer, but if it gets hard or choppy it’s not a good experience. The width just has too much leverage on my foot. I feel like I’m along for the ride rather than driving it.

Lots of people seem to like the Burton bindings, but yeah, if you’re not happy look to another binding.

 

[Needmoresnow]

Thanks guys. I ride the Cartel X EST on both my other boards and enjoy them, but this will be the first time with the reflex version. Guess I'll see how they perform. It's Burton's ratchets and straps that keep me going back, but I was also eyeing Union Atlas.

I'm hoping the board feels a bit stiffer on snow, but at this point I don't really even know what I'm after, so maybe being a bit more playful will be a good thing.

I definitely expected it to feel a lot stiffer though considering K2's rating and the fact I'm still within the weight range. Maybe that's from growing up in the late 90s/00s on stiff cambered boards. I'd almost consider this a 5/10.

I'll update this ones I get it out (hopefully this week or next before everything melts around here).