Girlfriend needs a new board

[subtle plague]

Yes, one.
She does snowboard and i do not know anything about snowboards but i desperately try to convince her that fat and long is good. (of course according to her height)
Sooo... i know that there are some people out here who worship the dark side sometimes and might give me some insight on this.
She is: 170cm, 58kg(116 pounds), boards technically perfect and pretty agressive but has to be pushed to go steep and fast in the back country (she does that really good too, but only when she is forced to do so... hrr hrr)
Right ow she is on a Nidecker 152 Mountain but we(*cough*) found out it is to small..... She definetly wants to go up to 156cm, but maybe more ???
So which board companies offer good stuff for a reasonable price ?
we can get a Burton Indie 158cm 02/03 at a pretty good price
or a Duotone grand style 02/03, 156cm.
what about Ski brands making Boards, like Völkl, Rossignol or Head ?
any suggestions ?
thanks

[DaveTV]

Try these for good deals
www.boardzone.com
www.the-house.com/frameset_sno.html

[subtle plague]

Originally posted by DaveTV
Try these for good deals
www.boardzone.com
www.the-house.com/frameset_sno.html

We sit in Europe here. Shipping overseas would not be the best thing to do i guess.....

[subtle plague]

Oh, i have to JONG myself for ignoring the Tech Talk forum.
JONG.

[Plakespear]

Volkl and Rossi make good snowboards. I've heard that Burton's quality has gone down the last few years- perhaps they've become smug wqith their overwhelming market share. Take a look at Ocygen snowboards. They are made my Atomic.

[DaveTV]

I'll bet they are still a good deal even with shipping to Deutschland

[gonzo]

i have ridden a ton of boards and think salomon makes the best product out there. i ride a 164 W4 that is about 4 years old and is missing 3 inches of edge underfoot. there is not a day that i would rather be on anything else - deep pow, park, ripping carves on groomers, etc. i don't ride alot of pipe. may have to get a new one this year, but you can bet i'll go back to salomon. i rode burton, lib tech, O-Sin, Lamar, Palmer, Nitro, Volkl and more i can't remember and think salomon is the best. Granted, some companies, like nitro, have totally changed their construction since i rode them years back...

Obviously the best bet is to get out and have her testride, but if you can't do that, find a 156 or 58 with a wood core that feels nice and snappy but is not too stiff (unless she is a 116lb power lifter) and is the right width for her feet. It is hard to find a board that is good and snappy/stiff for carving/freeriding and isn't just stiff/stiff. I think burton tends to fall in the later category.

Tap, where are you at?

edit: if she can testride the burton that would be best. they have a womens line this year too...the burtons i have ridden have been big and fat - didn't like them too much - smaller boards and women's line may be totally different...

[DaveTV]

I ride a 163 Morrow Master for everything
http://outside.away.com/magazine/119...rrowboard2.jpg

[gonzo]

did the fastback replace the series that my beloved W4 was in? i can't figger out which one mine has become. i knew last winter but can't remember now. from the website it doesn't even look like they have wide boards this year...not good.

[Spats]

www.donek.com

That is all.

[sweetdaddy]

For a woman, sizing and flex pattern is going to be much more critical than brand of board. In order to get any rebound out of turns youll want a forgiving flex, considering she's only 116lbs. Longer boards like skis are purposely designed with stiffer flex patterns and 156-158cm decks are usually targeted to a man weighing 150-175 lbs. Also, as women usually have smaller feet fat is not good! Consider a narrower waist width board that keeps her feet close to the edges for max power transfer. I'd say it's probably better to hand pick the board doing flex tests etc. I wouldn't go up in length more than 156cm, as longer decks like skis, do take more skill to maneuver and something oversize might cause some skill regression and require adjustment. For her weight she should have no probelm floating on powder on a board in the mid 150cm range.

[subtle plague]

thanks for your insights.
it is much better to know what i am dealing with when standing before these reeeaalllly short and fat skis they do not sell in
pairs
And sweetdaddy: the "oficial" weight for the Indie she is considering starts at 57kg and goes up to the 70s...so i guess that would be ok as she likes rather stiff boards and weighs about 58-59kgs.

[iceman]

What language are you guys speaking?

[FreshPow]

I'm new to this forum, but I thought I would toss in my 2 cents...

I personally love the arbor element as a great all mountain board. Handles high speeds, all types of conditions very well and it is light weight with just the right about of flex.

For something a little stiffer the A Frame is nice; but I just got this deck to use this season and I haven't tried it yet :-)

[watersnowdirt]

I agree with much of what sweetdaddy says. THere are a handful of really good women's boards out there. Check out the Salomon Ivy. I ride an Ivy 156, and I'm about 5'6" and 125. The board is very fast and stiff, but frankly a teeny bit too much for me in trees and bumps. The only complaint I have about Salomons is that they fall apart quickly.

I'm likely augmenting the quiver this year with a Burton Troop 54, which is a softer, but very snappy women's board that's more geared toward freestyle.

The Burton Feelgood is a solid women's board that was (I believe) designed by Victoria Jealouse, who's a big mountain rider. It's not as snappy, and it's got that sandwich construction on the sidewalls, which frankly, I don't like as much as the cap construction. But it's still a great board.

Rossi makes a couple of decent women's boards as well.

Women's boards have definitely evolved enough that you're not compromising stiffness for a narrower board. You won't end up with a noodle or a beginner board.

I think her weight range puts her in the mid 50's for lenght, unless she anticipates most of her days being in deep pow and making massive turns. Longer boards get in the way if you're in the bumps, trees, or park a lot.

Hope that helps. Good luck and happy shopping!