Another Post about Womens Boards

[ChristopherG]

My girlfriend currently rides a Sims Quest 150. She's 5'6" and 135lbs with a size 7 boot. I've been wanting to get her a smaller board since we no longer rides as much in good resorts and mostly go to a smaller hill which is mainly ice. I recently saw a Arbor Heritage 146 on crazy sale that I was interested in getting her. It said that the "recommended rider weight" was 150lbs. She's been riding for about 4years so she isn't a newbie. I'd just like for her "new board" to be lighter so she can whip it around a bit on that ice. What do people think about her being able to push this board around, or does anyone know someone who has one? Think the arbor would be too stiff? Just questioning before I buy it.

Thanks for any help,

CG

[HomerSimpson]

I would buy her a women specific board. My sister rode a men's board for a while and she hated it. I would stick w/ women's boards. I think mens boards are a bit stiff for girls. Just my $.02. Try Solomon's Ivy. I've seen older models on the net for cheap.

-Joe

[MARK]

Personally I don't think a 150cm in the right board model is overly big for a 135lb rider on hardpack, but a lot of it is personal preference. I used to sell Arbor and the Heritage is a board that wouldn't be any problem for her to handle. Good width and flex patterns for her apparent situation. Stiffness would not be an issue with this model and it should be on a decent sale becasue it hasn't been produced in two seasons. On a side note, they are actually a furniture company that dove into the snowboard market in order to combine a quality board with their expertise in the use of woods.

[Snow Nymph]

I'm riding a Burton Witchcraft 151 and a Burton Feelgood 152 and like both. I'm 4'11" and 107 lb.

[beez]

Just my personal opinion, but if you are riding a lot of ice, you want a bigger stiffer board because it will hold it's edge better with less chatter. Not so big you can't flex it, but big enough that she holds the edge at speeds. I think a 146 is too small for 135 lb's on hardpack, unless the board is a stiffie. My wife is about 125, and she's riding a 154 I believe, and loves it in the hard pack. It's harder to throw around in trees, moguls, etc, but she avoids those in the ice anyway!
But.... if the shorter Arbor is stiffer than the longer SIMS, I say go for it, because then she gets the best of both worlds, shorter for ease of turn, but stiffer for better edge control.

[MARK]

More important than length is effective edge. If you can find a shorter board with a long effective edge for it's length then that would be great. As for stiffness, torsional(edge to edge) stiffness could be something to focus on. Look for triaxial(as opposed to biaxial) fiberglass, etc. if she is a half decent rider. By the way, the Quest was defintely on the flexible side.

[ChristopherG]

...she came in and saw that I was looking at snowboards and told me that she really doesn't want a new one. I told her that one can never have too many boards in their quiver, but she still said no. So I guess I'll but off the search for a while. Thanks for the help anyway.

[beez]

I prefer something in the 165ish range, reasonably stiff, with graphics which brings out the green in my eyes.

[canuck]

LOL!!

You should check out Dr Pooh's NS on the passion board.