Review: Salomon HPS Takaharu Nakai E.P.

[@love47977]

Your videos are in the perfect sweet spot for me - very advanced but explained in an understandable manner. I am learning something with every sentence. Rare skill. Thank you very much.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@love47977 wow!! That is a very nice and huge compliment!! Thank you very much!!

[@LagmasterB]

Dude this is so timely. So I started riding my new 156 Ride Berzerker. Reference stance is 22”. First day it was pretty fun mellow carving, but it rails. Way less effort to stop bucking and judder than my 158 Ravine Select. I’ve been working on body positioning on heel carves and got rid of judder on the Ravine. So that paid off with Berzerker. The Berzerker is amazing. Small waist width. Very turny. Edge to edge is 🍒. Anyway, 22” reference stance, I like closer to 21”. On Berzerker I moved front binding back one set of inserts. Noticeably messed with the ride in a bad way. I used to always ride centered back in the day. But I’ve been going reference on newer boards. So today, I moved the REAR binding forward one set of inserts and left the front binding AT reference. Unreal today! Switch riding only limited by my own brain lol. Carves smooth. Corduroy was icy in spots but the board was just ready to turn and rail. I have 18” nose, and 17” tail, so I’m 1/2” back of physical center of the board. It’s Ride’s “extra camber”. I’ve barely tapped this board’s capabilities. I love my Ravine Select. Just a blast to ride. But the camber profile goes rocker, to flat camber until front binding, THEN cambered to back binding. I imagine if I physically centered on that board it would be wonky. Thanks for all your info here. Sounds like that 169 is a board for the not-so-agile-peasants like myself.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@LagmasterB thanks for sharing!! Great story! Enjoy your turns and Merry Christmas 🎄🙂

[@victoralekseev5671]

Detailed review , thanks. I'd like to hear your opinion on Makrill Stranda if you have any experience riding that board. I am shopping for a good powder board. Thanks Lars

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

Thanks! Find my comparison video between Tree Surfer and Makrill!!

[@victoralekseev5671]

@@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel Watching it now....Thanks again

[@slayermtb_7848]

I seen you there in line up for first tracks on the 21st. I thought I would run into you in the Top of the World chair but I seen you dropped down the front . Another time we will shred!

[@dayvid589]

Have you ever ridden a Jones freecarver or hovercraft? I was surprised to find out that those boards have side cut radius of 8.0-9.6, depending board size; because I thought you would want a smaller side cut radius for carving to get really tight c-shaped turns. I didn't know, as you said here, that the side cut dictates a larger turn radius; rather than the tightest turn a board can make.

[@ionescuff]

there is a video on the channel where Lars is comparing the Freecarver 9000 to the Cheater.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

It depends on your ability and the terrain you ride. In steep terrain you need high edge angles - regardless of the board's radius - simply to maintain mass on the inside of the turn when the steep pitches create quick acceleration and lots of force. Doing that on a tight radius board (say under 7.5m) will leave you with a 3m radius.... that's way too tight for the speed and acceleration the terrain creates. If you don't put the board high on edge to avoid that tight of a turn, that simply won't work at all and you'll get dragged down the fall line in a skidded turn since your centre of mass won't be stacked against those forces... In mellow/flat terrain the issue of a tight radius paired with a skilled rider is speed loss. 3m turn shapes will slow you down too much in mellow terrain... So really, IMO at a higher riding level those boards are borderline useless. The Jones Freecarver 6000 makes no sense to me at all. The 9000 is good - just the flex is what I didn't like. - Now..... for a less skilled rider this is all quite different!! You simply won't be able to manage a large radius board without getting it high on edge, which is difficult... You might end up being a passenger not the rider... The good thing about the tighter turning boards is that you will get a sensation of riding on edge in a reasonably tight turn AT LOWER EDGE ANGLES!! So without having crazy skills, you'll be getting the fun experience of carving. As you progress, you will realize the speed limit of those boards due to turn tightness. There's no such thing as THE RIGHT BOARD for a certain thing. It all depends on the rider, conditions and terrain ;-)

[@aleksanderradovanovic3441]

Can you do a topic on binding placment in detail when first mounting bindings?

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

I guess I could. Although that will be just a guess and general recommendation rather than the golden tip for the best ride. :-)

[@aleksanderradovanovic3441]

@@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel that would be great :) just bought an amplid souly grail and im doing the last check up before i hit the slopes :) btw love the detailed work that you do for us.

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@aleksanderradovanovic3441 thank you!! Trying what I can 🙂

[@kwchalky02]

Thanks Lars. I found that very interesting. The thing that strikes me more and more when I watch reviews is that the review of equipment (such as a board or bindings) is a review as much about the riding style/preferences of the reviewer as about the product. So when someone says this board is useless or these bindings are rubbish of course that may well be true, but more than likely it is just saying that for the riding styles or preferences of that particular reviewer it isn't very suitable. That's why when there are a lot of good reviews of a product along with a lot of bad, then it's probably a good indication that for certain combinations of conditions/rider ability/rider size and weight/rider style then it's very good, and for other combinations it isn't. I find your videos excellent for learning about what properties/characteristics of board design combined with how it is set up and ridden can effect the performance, and therefore what I should be looking for and what I can expect for my own riding. (I snowboarded at Lake Louise about a decade ago and have great memories of my time there. 🏂☺️)

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@kwchalky02 Thank you! I believe strongly that there's hardly any bad gear out there anymore. It is on me to reflect on who I am as a rider to actually offer a valid review. You're spot on with what you say, and it would be great, if reviewers generally applied more nuance to their verdicts...

[@MrAve20]

Lars, I wonder, have You ever tried RIDE Superpig? It has 270mm waist width at 154 (L) and it is fairly stiff, although it has progressive 5,6-6,9 sidecut radus. Have You every ride it or it isn't Your cup of tea? Thank You for Your video and Merry X-mass!

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@MrAve20 as I said in this video, I like a larger turning radius. The numbers on the Pigs are utterly useless to me. 😅

[@cb1p111]

Seems to me that you have to try a 87 degree edge... And then the 86 degree edge... Maybe then the confidence on the icy spots is coming back...

[@Justaride-Snowboard-Channel]

@@cb1p111 definitely a flex thing in this case.