Swoard 2D 175m - impressions from a former 3D 175soft rider

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cmachine
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Swoard 2D 175m - impressions from a former 3D 175soft rider

Post by cmachine » Friday 17 February 2006, 13:58

Hi all

I’ve been riding my brand-new Swoard 2D 175m for three days.
The first day, the snow conditions were hard. After the first turns, I remembered the incredible edge grip of the swoard. (You must know, the grip of my old 3D 175S has been gone after 2 years of riding. So I almost forgot about this feeling). But now, with the new 2D the good feeling was back again. :)
On wide steep slopes, I could perform nice EC-carves. I got a backside feeling that I had only with my 3D when it was new. What I mean is that I felt very save in the BS-turn.


:( On narrower slopes, or on more crowded slopes or when just trying to easy-carve (no EC), I felt the limitations that I had with the new 2D. It took me a high effort to bend it into the turn; i.e. it’s just too stiff for me! Before buying the board I had an email-discussion with Nils and I knew that there was this risk. However, because there is no 2D-soft model available, I decided took the risk and bought the board anyway.

I’m about 72kg and my opinion is that you should be @least 80kg for the 2D 175m. On the Swoard-homepage there is written, that the board fits from 74kg. I think this is too optimistic - but it’s just my personal opinion and of course depends on each owns preferences.

The second and third day, there was a lot of fresh snow and the snow conditions were very soft. Because of the relative stiffness of the board, it cut the snow like an arrow and it was hard to push the board into a turn. The tendency was to go straight ahead (like an arrow) instead riding a turn.

In the moments, where I felt the limitation caused by the stiffness, I also wished that the board had a smaller radius. This would have given me the chance to carve it easier. But I think this is a sideeffect of the stiffness. I think stiffness and side-cut goes hand in hand.


Other impressions beside the stiffness:
:) Even if it was manufactured by virus, it does not show this typical virus-rebound that catapults you out of every turn. I think Jacques and Frank have done a good job here. I never liked this virus-rebound behavior, because I want to control the board and I do not want that the board controls me at the end of every turn. Like always it’s just my personal opinion and it may be totally different from yours. I know that many excellent virus rides like this rebound.
:) If you are forced to drift the board (e.g. on narrow passages), it is easy possible.
:) The top sheet has a little structure (=it is rough), so you don’t need an extra rubber pad. I liked this very much.
:) The manufacturing quality looks excellent (virus-style).



Summary:
All in all, it’s an excellent EC-board for people of at least 80kg (my opinion). With EC-board I not only want to say that you can do nice laid-turns, but also that you should have wide slopes.

For me, it’s too hard and therefore I think I’m going to sell it. Maybe there will be a soft model available next season.
Maybe I'm also going to wait until the EC-crew produces a soft one and then I'm going to change it with someone else.


Best Regards
Olaf

PS: I’m interested in other riders opinions about the stiffness.

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Arnaud
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flex.

Post by Arnaud » Friday 17 February 2006, 15:18

cmachine wrote:I’m interested in other riders opinions about the stiffness.
I own a Swoard 168H 3D. I weight 76 kg and I'm at the lower value of weight range for Hard flex.
During ECS I tried the 168M 2D. Like you I confirm the incredible grip on hard snow (ice ...). The M flex help me for EC because the softer flex help to round nice turn, and it limits the speed during 2 turns.
But on relative flat slopes or softer snow, the M flex is a too soft for me so I loose a lot of speed during each turn.

Conclusion : For my weight I need 2 boards :roll: . : A hard flex for "standard" use on every slopes, because I like speed, and a medium flex for EC on hard snow.
Swoard EC Pro2 168H - Swoard EC12 Boots - Gen5 168H - Stoke 162 M

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Post by foinfoin » Monday 20 February 2006, 22:59

je ne comprends pas, une planche plus souple pour une neige plus dure ?
I don't understand, a softer board for harder snow ? why :?:
Swallow APO RR 186

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Mattias112
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168M

Post by Mattias112 » Tuesday 21 February 2006, 13:38

Hi
It seems like stiffness is highly personal!
As a allround carving board nothing beats the 168 M for me (65 kg) but when doing EC turns it feels like it has a to narrow radius (or is to soft). So I would like to try 175 M or 168 H. Both should be a little stiff for me according to the recommendations. I can compare this with two other board with similar radius, Proton GS164 and Afterburner 183, both have 13 m radius.
Proton 64 turns extremely tight and is very soft- not suitable for EC. The Afterburner turns wider than my Swoard and is very nice and smooth EC turns. And my 168M turns to tight to be really comfortable in EC turns.

So I would like to perhaps buy a 168 H if you think it turns wider than my 168 M or I will prefer 175M? :?
RAD Black, Diamond MW, Blackburn...

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cmachine
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Post by cmachine » Tuesday 21 February 2006, 18:58

foinfoin wrote:je ne comprends pas, une planche plus souple pour une neige plus dure ?
I don't understand, a softer board for harder snow ? why :?:
Hi foinfoin

J&P wrote this on their HP: "too soft boards ride usualy well on hard snow, but can't stand the strenght of soft snow push. They are furthermore weak. With a too stiff board, it's difficult to push on the edge and get good grip on hard snow. But it works very well in soft snow."

--> check here: https://www.extremecarving.com/tech/mat.html


Any experiences with the 2D?

Olaf

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Post by pokkis » Tuesday 21 February 2006, 19:20

Mattias112,
if you are coming to Oppdal Carving Camp or to HBU, you can test my 175M if interested, we have also 161M with us 8)

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HBU

Post by Mattias112 » Thursday 23 February 2006, 10:13

I will be at HBU so I would like to try them!
:P
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Lipha
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Post by Lipha » Friday 24 February 2006, 22:31

cmachine wrote:I’m interested in other riders opinions about the stiffness.
I agree that the choice of flex is really a personal thing; My weight is 82 kilos and I love my 2D 175 H that I took as I like stiff boards as the factory prime I rode for 4 years; I do EC as easily as I never did before. When comparing the flex of my 4 years old FP 173 with the 2D there is not much difference, maybe the FP is a bit harder, but the 2D is much more easy to handle and especially much more easy to carve. The best thing is that you need much less force to carve it, so even in the afternoon I continue EC what was impossible with the FP.

So dont worry about the stiffness of the Swoard ! For riders used to stiff raceboards for years even a 175 H is very easy to handle :D
2D 175H 008, Burton Factory Prime 173, Radair Tanker 172, TD2, Burton Race Plate, Raichle 124

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