[MrDavey2Shoes]

Their yearning for turning series is so awesome. I love the simple white/red boards and their shapes.
You don't see much info or reviews on these boards, does anyone riding them have any opinions they'd like to share?
The boards that excite me most are the Pencil, Stealth, Tranny Finder and Cafe Racer.

If I managed to ruin my SPAM I imagine I'd be very interested in one of those.

Lets talk Karua!

 

[Snowdaddy]

Their yearning for turning series is so awesome. I love the simple white/red boards and their shapes.
You don't see much info or reviews on these boards, does anyone riding them have any opinions they'd like to share?
The boards that excite me most are the Pencil, Stealth, Tranny Finder and Cafe Racer.

If I managed to ruin my SPAM I imagine I'd be very interested in one of those.

Lets talk Karua!

I hear you. My favorite shapes from Korua are the Pencil and the Obelix. The classic line is really cheap. I've been looking for an addition to my current board and they are definitely on the radar even if I find it kind of stupid to buy a board with p-tex edges and no side cut to speak of.

 

[chomps1211]

Iir,... @sabatoa rode & reviewed one of their boards. If you can't find the thread here using the search function, go to Agnarchy.com & search for his & dave z's reviews.

 

[sabatoa]

Yeah Dave has three of them for a while. You can read the preview here with links to his full thoughts: http://www.agnarchy.com/2019-korua-shapes-preview/

You can also PM @david_z

 

[david_z]

I really enjoyed riding the Pencil. I've heard some people question their durability but I can't really speak to that. I would suggest if that's a concern that the Plus versions are beefed up construction so they may be a little tougher. however I didn't notice any signs that they were frail, on the contrary the base held up well and even the gloss topsheet, though it took a few chips around the edges but that happens on a lot of boards from impact or lift line dings etc...

the concept line is for deep days only, no edges hahaha you don't want that for ordinary riding days. shape on the Blindgänger looks rad tho.

[ame]https://vimeo.com/259604774[/ame]

 

[MrDavey2Shoes]

I really enjoyed riding the Pencil. I've heard some people question their durability but I can't really speak to that. I would suggest if that's a concern that the Plus versions are beefed up construction so they may be a little tougher. however I didn't notice any signs that they were frail, on the contrary the base held up well and even the gloss topsheet, though it took a few chips around the edges but that happens on a lot of boards from impact or lift line dings etc...

the classic line is for deep days only, no edges hahaha you don't want that for ordinary riding days. shape on the Blindgänger looks rad tho.

https://vimeo.com/259604774

Awesome videos!
So hold on, the regular boards dont have an edge???

 

[Snowdaddy]

Awesome videos!
So hold on, the regular boards dont have an edge???

No that was a typo. The concept boards don't have metal edges.

 

[david_z]

Awesome videos!
So hold on, the regular boards dont have an edge???

no, the regular boards do, sorry I misspoke (paraphrasing from OP who I think also misspoke). the regular boards i.e., Pencil, Cafe, Tranny Finder, Dart, Stealth, etc have edges.

it's the Concept line like the Obelisk and Blindgänger which don't.

 

[Snowdaddy]

no, the regular boards do, sorry I misspoke (paraphrasing from OP who I think also misspoke). the regular boards i.e., Pencil, Cafe, Tranny Finder, Dart, Stealth, etc have edges.

it's the Concept line like the Obelisk and Blindgänger which don't.

I didn't mean to blurt out that I think the classic line is cheap in the middle of another topic... :grin:

 

[Snowdaddy]

Just rode my Pencil Plus for the first time. -8C and blue skies.

I rode it on perfect groomers and some above the knee deep pockets of really nice but semi dense powder.

I was worried it would be hard to get on edge and to turn because of the width but the moment I took my first turns I realized this is a really nimble board.

Easy to get on edge and easy transitions. Easy to make short radius turn but also feels nice doing longer accelerating s-turns. You can slide around on it but it's not really the best feature of this board. Going down steeper runs I had a tendency to put it on edge instead of sliding the turns and it just kept accelerating like crazy unless I checked my speed. The steeps felt a lot steeper than on my old board... haha.

It's really fun carving though. I put my angles at 18/3 with lots of forward lean on the highbacks. The heel side grip felt surprisingly good and leaning into the toe side turns felt awesome. The groomers were ridiculously good so maybe any board would have had that grip though. I will definitely increase my angles further to 21/6 next time.

My former board needed a lot more back leg in the powder so at first I stalled going into the deeper parts because I just pressed the tail into the snow. Once I realized I wasn't going to sink putting weight on my front foot it was a blast charging through the powder. The base seems durable because my third run into powder I banged into a log or a rock and I thought the base was done for. Just some very mild scratches, luckily.

I'm a heavy guy so this board doesn't feel very stiff at all. If anything maybe springy and playful. Can it be playfully aggressive?

Not sure about the top sheet quality though. All in all I'm very pleased with it and I see this as a very nice daily driver for riding both alone and with my kids. A having a fun day on the mountain kind of board for just turning and looking for pow.

 

[Snowdaddy]

After a few more days on the Pencil Plus, I have to say I'm still pleased with it. It's lively and not very forgiving but so much fun to ride.

The Goodride complains that it's more of a "drivey s-turn" board, but I find that laying this sideways it just takes off across the piste like crazy. Maybe it's my weight letting me flexing it more, but I suspect it's just a matter of pushing it. It's more of a problem with not having empty slopes because it turns so much that you cut into other people's paths. Another fun feature is that the board doesn't wait to turn. When you lay it over it just immediately takes off into the turn. What I completely agree with is that it likes picking up speed in the s-turns.

My first thought was that it's fine riding at all speeds and it is fine doing that, but it's not very fun riding it like that and at slow speeds it feels a little catchy and dull. So although you can cruise around on it, it's not what this board was meant for.

 

[Scalpelman]

Cool thread. Trenchdigger looks sweet.

 

[MrDavey2Shoes]

Yea I still want one badly but I accidentally bought a board and will have to wait until next season lol

 

[Snowdaddy]

I really enjoyed riding the Pencil. I've heard some people question their durability but I can't really speak to that. I would suggest if that's a concern that the Plus versions are beefed up construction so they may be a little tougher. however I didn't notice any signs that they were frail, on the contrary the base held up well and even the gloss topsheet, though it took a few chips around the edges but that happens on a lot of boards from impact or lift line dings etc...

The metal edge wraps around the tip of the tail on my Pencil Plus so I'm not much worried about the tail. I asked Korua about why they didn't make it wrap around the entire tail and they said it's because they use the same mold for several boards. So it's the best they can offer for now.

In general the quality of the board seems fine, unless you get a faulty one. I received a board that had a faulty top sheet and I ended up ripping the entire top sheet of the board, after talking to the Korua guys. I've been riding this board like I stole it since I'm getting a replacement board and so far everything else seems to hold up just fine. I just ride it wherever I want and today I ran nose first into the world's toughest ice boulder in high speed speed and the nose held up just fine, even though I was thrown several meters from the collision. The base seems solid as well.

From the little powder I've managed to run I think it's an easy turner and it floats really well. Sadly the weather hasn't been great and there's been a lot of windswept icy hardpack off piste and in the trees it's mixed dense powder and tough crust. I'm riding high altitude birch trees when I don't ride open faces and the pencil is easy to turn in the trees. It's more my own ability that hinders me in trees.

I've turned my angles to +21/+6 and I think that's what I'm sticking with on this board.

Despite the faulty top sheet I have nothing bad to say about this board and the guys at Korua have been nothing but forthcoming. I decided to wait for a replacement board because it just rides too good to return it for a refund or another model.

Cool thread. Trenchdigger looks sweet.

Indeed it does and I've been eyeing both the Trenchdigger and the Cafe Racer. When I get my next board it's most likely another Korua if I don't go for an Amplid.

 

[MrDavey2Shoes]

Yup it would be a cafe racer for me

 

[Scalpelman]

Yup it would be a cafe racer for me

Yeah but TRENCHDIGGER sounds badass.

 

[MrDavey2Shoes]

Yeah but TRENCHDIGGER sounds badass.

Fine, both it is :grin::grin:

 

[Paxford]

After a few more days on the Pencil Plus, I have to say I'm still pleased with it. It's lively and not very forgiving but so much fun to ride.

The Goodride complains that it's more of a "drivey s-turn" board, but I find that laying this sideways it just takes off across the piste like crazy.

Totally confused by the above. Isn't a board laid sideways ( presumably in a turn) that takes off on it's own (drivey) a "drivey s-turn" board? Not trying to be a dick, it just seems to me that the board is doing for you exactly what Goodride said it would do. Maybe we don't have the same understanding of "drivey"? I'm shopping like you and absolutely loved your thread where you almost settled on the Amplid, but then got the Pencil. I want to understand what you are saying about the Pencil now, but I don't get it.

 

[kosmoz]

forget those idiots from goodride, they don't know how to ride, just paraphrase manufacturers product descriptions. Look at those idiots on a serious carving board on a blue run, all skidded turns
[ame]https://vimeo.com/186377311[/ame]

 

[Phedder]

forget those idiots from goodride, they don't know how to ride, just paraphrase manufacturers product descriptions. Look at those idiots on a serious carving board on a blue run, all skidded turns
https://vimeo.com/186377311

Good god that was a painful 20 seconds. Stopped it there and didn't listen to them jabbering, but I've no doubt they said it had good edge hold...How would they know!?