# custom 156 or 151cm ??



## Guest (Mar 24, 2009)

depens alot on what you want to do with the board, what kind of board it is and what you prefer. but i do think if your planning on doing park then you should het a 152, im 165lbs and ride a 156 allmoutain and id prefer a 154 to be onist. but its up to personel prefrences aswel. 

yes a shorter board will make olie-ing easier, and nose-tail presse4s aswel and steering aswel.. basicly a longer board is just more stable..


and yes you will most deff notice 5 cm, some people say they even notice 1cm.... im not one of them tho.

you will notice 5 cm


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## w3iiipu (Feb 26, 2009)

im 5"6' 160-170 ish....
i ride a custom 154 and i think its perfect size for an all mountian stick...

tho i tried a 156 and doesnt really notice much difference...
________
Depakote Settlement News


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2009)

saswu18 said:


> I just got back from Breckenridge with my 08 burton custom 156
> 
> weight:150lb
> height:5'8
> ...


I'm 5' 9/10" 145lbs. I ride a Custom 156 w/ Cartel EST's. I picked up the 156cm as an all-mountain board. I can press and ollie and nollie ridiculous on this jammy. I've been doing a lot of park stuff lately and I can say that it handles well for the kind of riding I do. I can still get twisty too fs and bs 180s and 3's no prob - a lot of fun in the half-pipe and quarter pipe. I also think you can style stuff out with a little bit longer of a board. If you go to short I think it looks weird (unless you plan on pulling bs 9's then I'd stray away from the 151cm). I would think that the 154/156cm would be a good size for you. 

If I was going to do more free-riding, freecarve and powder type riding I'd have invested in a 160cm or bigger.

You might wanna change your stance on the board (get wide enough to be comfortable - My front binding is at 1.5 and my back binding is at .5 - that's if you're using the EST set-up - that also prob depends on how long your legs are and what feels comfortable).

How did the board feel initiating turns? Did you do any wall rides or try to pop off any kickers? Did you try any 180's? How did it feel? Too heavy? Too long to spin effectively? or good?

Remember resistance is your best friend when you're training/practicing. You'll be able to twist like a fiend etc from the extra effort applied on the longer board. That's just my opinion.

I get a lot of pop of the nose and tail of my 156. I like the little extra space from my binding to nose/tail. I can press really hard and pull-up front leg when i'm coming off the press for some serious height. This thing was tossing me off kickers, and launching me off jumps.

I think that this will be a good size for you to get good on and progress and then see if you want more of a freestyle board/free ride board in the future.

As far as ollie's go you might just need to work on the tech (if you skate it's like doing an ollie on a skateboard except your strapped in - crouch down, put pressure on the tail and as you release off the tail pull your front foot/knee up towards your chest and then do the same with the back foot knee, level out in the air and stomp a super fresh landing. Try doing stationary presses (nose and tail) and doing ollie's and nollies on flat surface/stationary then go ahead and do in on gradual slopes until you get comfortable with it.


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## w3iiipu (Feb 26, 2009)

reading above...

i can do ollies...but still trying to perfect it...

i do feel that my 154 is a bit too stiff torsionally...i was trying to learn carving but i seem to have hard time initiating turns with lead foot. Would it have been better if i went for a longer board? 
would making my stance distance smaller/wider help?
________
The Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya


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## jardo56 (Mar 6, 2009)

It's all on what you prefer. I'm 6'0 175lbs and I have a 158cm. I ride mostly park with a bit of freeride. I can ollie and press with my 158 just fine. I could have gone with a 156 or even a 154 but I didn't want to sacrifice being able to ride at high speeds with more control for better presses and easier spins.

I think shorter boards are more for jibbing. If you like taking kickers and going big, you'll want the extra couple cm's for better control just before launching yourself off big kickers at high speeds.


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## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

jardo56 said:


> It's all on what you prefer. I'm 6'0 175lbs and I have a 158cm.


exactly..

im 5'7 170 and i would use a 156 for closer to a free ride. all personal preference except i can guarentee you its a less then ideal park board in that size. i bought a 152 stairmaster extreme with intentions of using it as a park board but now i use it for everything. i find smaller more maneuverable boards more fun..

5 cm would be an extremely noticeable difference btw.


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## Guest (Mar 25, 2009)

w3iiipu said:


> reading above...
> 
> i can do ollies...but still trying to perfect it...
> 
> ...


I would try playing around with your stance to get what feels right and also the angle of your bindings. When I first bought the board I used the reference points and had some trouble controlling the board. I've widened my stance a little since then and since I don't ride much powder moved the front foot up towards the nose a little [to me the standard stance on the board seems a little set-back]. (i ride duck and still can get some decent carve action going on although alpine stance is the best for carving and will help you make some beautiful lines on the mountain...)

Teaching someone how to carve via text/email is difficult. Send me an email and I'll send you a snowboard exam I took (and the answers) that explains some basic concepts [flexion/tension, camber, etc]. I'll try to think about how best to arrange the information to explain carving in an email as well when I have more time to write.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

d-prostylee said:


> I'm 5' 9/10" 145lbs. I ride a Custom 156 w/ Cartel EST's. I picked up the 156cm as an all-mountain board. I can press and ollie and nollie ridiculous on this jammy. I've been doing a lot of park stuff lately and I can say that it handles well for the kind of riding I do. I can still get twisty too fs and bs 180s and 3's no prob - a lot of fun in the half-pipe and quarter pipe. I also think you can style stuff out with a little bit longer of a board. If you go to short I think it looks weird (unless you plan on pulling bs 9's then I'd stray away from the 151cm). I would think that the 154/156cm would be a good size for you.
> 
> If I was going to do more free-riding, freecarve and powder type riding I'd have invested in a 160cm or bigger.
> 
> ...


first of all... thx for the detailed reply! I really appreciated.

after the 5 days (3/13-1/18) spring condition on breckenridge, keystone, vail...
I thought the 156 custom really was great. I felt pretty comfortable except had hard time to do ollies... but I'm just started to learn how to do it and that may be why lol
on the full stop, I felt doing nallie is way easier than olie.. (with pretty center stance)
I'm riding regular with binding set up 15/-6 

I was just very curious about if the 5cm shorter board will make everything easier on mountain. I dont particular do much "very fast" riding.. and I did feel 156cm was comfortable for me (without shorter board to compare yet)
just started to learn some park stuff.. fall really ugly on a rail the last day! (it hurts!!)

after reading all the replies, 5cm seems a LOT difference.. 

Conculsion (for my 150lb wt):
156cm more stable high speed, more pop coz the extra space/spring??! stable for bigger jump/kickers

151cm way more esay to control and manuver, lighter??! (how much lighter??)

anything I missed??


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## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

156 will have less pop for you, most people dont understand but the 156 is going to be stiffer then the 151 because it is meant for a heavier rider. the 156 will be faster and more stable, while the 151 will have more control, more pop, less swing weight.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

jmacphee9 said:


> 156 will have less pop for you, most people dont understand but the 156 is going to be stiffer then the 151 because it is meant for a heavier rider. the 156 will be faster and more stable, while the 151 will have more control, more pop, less swing weight.


I agree with everything except the comment about stiffness.

less stiffness = easier to press
less stiffness /= more pop (does not equal more pop)
less stiffness /= bigger ollies

the greater the stiffness = the greater the pop

The stiffness basically means the materials tendency to want to return to its normal resting state (aka flat). That coupled with the pressure you put to bend it creates the "pop" when you begin to release that pressure.

If less stiff meant more pop and easier to ollie - I'd say strap your feet onto a foam noodle (the ones that people use in swimming pools). That has no stiffness whatsoever...you should be able to ollie like a fiend with that foam noodle.

Granted if something was so stiff it couldn't be bent like oh say a refrigerator...they're be no hope at all to ollie with it since it had no give/play whatsoever.

Some other examples of this tension/release concept are a diving board, trampoline, rubber band, sling-shot.

The stiffness of the diving plus your ability to put pressure and bend the diving will spring you as you release that pressure on the diving board.

Think about what creates the "snap" (aka pop) of a rubber band, trampoline, sling-shot

Techinically if you had the strength to press a Burton Custom X - that would give you insane pop. I don't like the Custom X b/c I think they are too stiff but they are meant to be more of a freeride board to begin with. That stiffness helps prevent "chatter" at high speeds - which you will def notice with the regular Custom.

I actually know a few people (including some of the guys who run the local shop near me) who use a Custom X (which is I believe 7 [out of 10] on Burton's stiffness factor) for a freestyle board after spending some serious time breaking it in. The Custom is a 5 on stiffness in Burton's scale.

Lastly, if you've ridden the same board for several seasons you'll notice it starts to "go flat". Basically it loses it's stiffness over time from constant pressing/ollie-ing/riding and eventually loses its pop and you have to buy a new board. Every board does this - that's why some people like to buy their boards stiff to begin with so they "last longer" or so they say.

I talk waay too much...sorry


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## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

not reading that lol because i am pretty sure i already know what you are talking about but i do know that you are right. but if they board is out of your weight class then you cannot effectively use the pop, so for him the 156 would have less pop because you need more weight to make it pop, where as the 151 is designed for his weight and he can get it to pop easier.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

d-prostylee said:


> I agree with everything except the comment about stiffness.
> 
> less stiffness = easier to press
> less stiffness /= more pop (does not equal more pop)
> ...



I actually do like this kind of in depth answers.. lol makes it easier to understand the whole concept.
I think I understood what you trying to say about the relationship between the length & pop

so according to your explanation, the difficulty I was facing of doing ollie may be just the lack of my leg strength plus the lack of experience. right?!

so in general, how fast the speed would justify the extra 5cm?? I'm asking becoz I doubt 95% of my riding would even go that fast to notice the "high-speed" chatter.. 
or maybe becoz I was riding a 156cm... so 99% time I would not even notice the chatter since it's so stable..


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

jmacphee9 said:


> not reading that lol because i am pretty sure i already know what you are talking about but i do know that you are right. but if they board is out of your weight class then you cannot effectively use the pop, so for him the 156 would have less pop because you need more weight to make it pop, where as the 151 is designed for his weight and he can get it to pop easier.



I also think your point is solid since 156cm board is on the long side of my wt, and 151 might be a lot more fun than 156 except going fast downhill. (but just how fast do I need to go will I notice the chatter difference between 156 vs 151??)

I'm really into the theory behind the equipments, and that's why I'm even thinking to get a 5cm shorter custom (or NS SL-R 151cm)to compare with since most people agree 5cm is A LOT difference, and shorter board usually is MORE FUN..


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## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

i agree on the more fun part, and 5cm is a huge diff in my opinion. if you like neversummer why dont you check out the evo r and it will give you a park and allmt(custom) option on any given day..


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

jmacphee9 said:


> i agree on the more fun part, and 5cm is a huge diff in my opinion. if you like neversummer why dont you check out the evo r and it will give you a park and allmt(custom) option on any given day..


after I tried park the last day of my trip.... I dont think I should spend too much time there for the heck of my safety.. 
for the future..I'd really think 85% all mountain & 15-20% park 
evo supposed is a great board as well, but it just too much good things I've heard about sl-r.. but it's so hard to come across a good deal on them since they pretty much sold out everywhere


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

saswu18 said:


> I actually do like this kind of in depth answers.. lol makes it easier to understand the whole concept.
> I think I understood what you trying to say about the relationship between the length & pop
> 
> so according to your explanation, the difficulty I was facing of doing ollie may be just the lack of my leg strength plus the lack of experience. right?!
> ...


Ok - so the sizing thing one last time.

Burton had a general sizing chart for boards and I'm sure that the 135-155 weight class was good for an AMFS board 156cm. Everything else becomes preference.

Here's a couple links to sizing charts/recommendations etc.

Burton Custom Snowboard - Free Shipping! from Dogfunk.com
(click the "Sizing Chart" link on the product page)
Snowboard Sizing Guide, Size Calculator
Snowboard Length Calculator

some info for your knowledge hungry cranium
Things to Consider When Buying a Snowobard


The Custom is an All Mountain Freestyle Board (AMFS) - which is what you said you wanted. Anything smaller than a 154cm for your weight would be freestyle oriented IMO.

You said your 150lbs. I'm 5' 9/10" and 145lbs.
Here are the lengths of boards I'd use in the following situations
Freestlye - nothing shorter than 153cm (153/154cm)
AMFS - 156-158cm
Freeride/Back Country - 162cm - 165cm.

I won't even go near a 154cm for AMFS riding.
I've tried that size before and when I carve or go heavy into a turn or just try to traverse on a steep slope...the board washes out (b/c it can't support my weight plus the pressure/weight of the inertia going into the turn etc).

A few things go into my personal preferences - weight and experience. I'm riding at an advanced level as I've been doing this for almost a decade - so I'm used to applying pressure on the board, my edgework is solid so turning the board is no problem for me.

I have no problem shifting my weight to press the board (and ollie). It's not a struggle to bend the board in the least. I've ridden 157cm and 158cm boards and haven't had an issue with that. In fact the 156cm is starting to feel more of a freestyle board for me (but I think i'd still use a 154cm for a straight up freestyle board).

If you can nollie (nollie-ing came easier for me too when I first started) that means you can handle the stiffness of the board - you can bend it and pop off it. The Custom is a twin with directional flex (meaning the nose is actual stiffer than the tail on the Custom - but the shape of the board is a twin).

Personally i think the 151cm is gonna be hella small even for a freestyle board. A lot of jibsters and park guys wanna do the 151cm and swear by that size some even weigh more than I do. I would never do that...that's me though. (although I think I read somewhere that Shaun White rides a 152cm and he's the same weight/size as I am)

I think the 154cm/156cm are great for the All-Mountain riding which you said you bought the board for to begin with (considering your weight). You'll definitely appreciate the length of the board once you start learning how to carve (the edgework will help you in half-pipe when you're ready).

Here's a little tip to get you comfy with the ollie - Tail press - do this stationary: Try to squat down on your rear foot (almost like you're gonna sit down on the tail of the board). Grab the tail with the hand closest to the tail (tail grab) to exaggerate the motion and then begin to lift your front foot so the nose raises off the ground. See how high you can pick up the nose while maintaining your balance. When you think you've gotten the nose as high as you can release your hand from the grab and try to spring off your back foot as you begin to shift your weight back to be balanced and square over the board (you should be in the air while this is happening). Do that til you get comfortable with it. [I've got a silly tail press photo my friend took as we got off the lift from a couple weeks ago. I'll try to post it]

jmachpee9 makes some good points and it's cool that you're getting two different ppls perspectives...I def think the AMFS is the way to go as far as learning and progressing on a snowboard. Then when you're ready you can buy your freestyle stick...

I'm writing this on my lunch break so I'm sorry if this isn't really well thought out or organized and looooonng

P.S - I noticed the chatter when I was bombing down a dbl black (here in the NJ/PA mountains - which would be a Blue Square in any of the Tahoe Mtns haha). I don't think you're really gonna push the board like that for most of your riding though...I won't do that too often myself.


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2009)

id stick with it cuz by ur hieght and all looks like your still growin a bit so ur gonna reach that height but a 151 u'll pass pretty quick

also even if its harder to ollie now it'll pay off a lot in the long run
also by the time ur going park or whateva u will spin better (u'll be a bit taller) also turing wise not exactly easir sometimes the longer can actually push u into a nice carve but shorter u could unwillingly just whip the leg around 

so with the longer board it'll last longer... and the hard work will pay off in the long run

:cheeky4:


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