# Large Sidecuts



## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

The quest for DownChill style carving has led me to look for boards with larger sidecuts. It's my understanding that a larger sidecut will provide larger turn radius, and give you more time within the turn. Laying a 7 meter sidecut over gives pretty tight turn. Ryan Knapton talks about stepping up sidecut radius every year in his carving quest. 

The Chamonix Chemin appears to be an exceptional carver with this in mind. I'm leery of buying a budget house brand for the House.com, but this looks like a legit Japanese style board. It appears identical to the Japanese Sims Solo spec wise. Stiff, S-cambered, tapered and setback, with a 17 meter sidecut! The next largest sidecut I've found is the Slush Slasher's 14.4 meter. The House markets it as a straight lining powder board, and I wonder if they were able to get it to turn. I think they just looked for an open mold swallowtail and found the Sims. I'm down to buy one to try out a Japanese style board, but I sure wish it said Sims on it instead. Doubt resale will be good if I don't like it. I'll definitely post a carving oriented review if I get one.

Do any of you have experience carving a large sidecut? Will a 17 meter sidecut teach me things and be good for my progression? Do any other large sidecut boards come to mind?


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## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

I bought the Chemin last Jan 2019,this board can carve and great in powder. This was a suprising budget board that could shred everywhere and handle it.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

That's good news. Seems like people like it from reviews I can find.


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

From the pics and specs I'd guess they used the diameter, not the radius of the sidecut, so divide by 2, but still a nice looking board.


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

And larger sidecuts lets you stay lower for longer. With a normal angulation it just takes longer to get around. Large sidecuts are nice and stable, also when sideslipping, but if they didn't match the flex and sidecut and all that, it can still be rubbish. Moss and Gentemstick have the surfstyle dialed, and if you look at their specs and stuff, you'll see some of it. There are others who make similar boards, Nitro and Weston fx.


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## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

Rip154 said:


> From the pics and specs I'd guess they used the diameter, not the radius of the sidecut, so divide by 2, but still a nice looking board.


thats definitely what i was thinking, these numbers are way off, theres not too many stock boards with sidecuts bigger than 9m
I had a Donek for a few years with a 9.5 meter sidecut and 29.5cm waist, lots of fun but the bigger the sidecut, the more limited the board gets, like pretty much useless in the trees since I would just pinball off of the trees. My 3 daily drivers now have a 8.8, 7.7 and 5.8 sidecut, all are fun and carve like demons in their own way but the board that gets the most riding time has the 7.7 sidecut and it feels pretty damn good.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Yeah, those numbers do seem off. Perhaps they meant sidecut depth. Amplid's Aloha Vibes has a 9.25m sidecut that's 16mm deep for instance. Still, it would be pretty wild if there was so much taper on this deck that there really is that large of a sidecut. I read somewhere that the Sims Solo was based on the 1985 FE 1500 or 1600. Sidecuts were huge to nonexistent back then, so maybe just maybe the Chemin's specs are correct?


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## Rip154 (Sep 23, 2017)

If you look at the tip, waist and tail widths, they match up with other boards with around 8m radius. I don't doubt that the board can carve as it is, but with twice the numbers most reviews would call it a sled.

Have used boards up to 20m sidecuts, and they have their place, but that chamonix board seems off, like numbers wise, I was actually looking into buying one, but something seemed odd.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Yeah, I had one in the cart but couldn't pull the tigger. Reviewers would have hated that 17m sidecut if it was real. 

Maybe I'll just get a Slush Slasher. Anyone have a 151 they're looking to sell?


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

WigMar said:


> The quest for DownChill style carving has led me to look for boards with larger sidecuts. It's my understanding that a larger sidecut will provide larger turn radius, and give you more time within the turn. Laying a 7 meter sidecut over gives pretty tight turn. Ryan Knapton talks about stepping up sidecut radius every year in his carving quest.
> 
> The Chamonix Chemin appears to be an exceptional carver with this in mind. I'm leery of buying a budget house brand for the House.com, but this looks like a legit Japanese style board. It appears identical to the Japanese Sims Solo spec wise. Stiff, S-cambered, tapered and setback, with a 17 meter sidecut! The next largest sidecut I've found is the Slush Slasher's 14.4 meter. The House markets it as a straight lining powder board, and I wonder if they were able to get it to turn. I think they just looked for an open mold swallowtail and found the Sims. I'm down to buy one to try out a Japanese style board, but I sure wish it said Sims on it instead. Doubt resale will be good if I don't like it. I'll definitely post a carving oriented review if I get one.
> 
> Do any of you have experience carving a large sidecut? Will a 17 meter sidecut teach me things and be good for my progression? Do any other large sidecut boards come to mind?


What do you mean with DownChill carving?

There are quite a few boards with around 10 m sidecut and I'm sure lots of boards with variable sidecuts that have parts around or longer than 10 m.


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## 16gkid (Dec 5, 2012)

Snowdaddy said:


> What do you mean with DownChill carving?
> 
> There are quite a few boards with around 10 m sidecut and I'm sure lots of boards with variable sidecuts that have parts around or longer than 10 m.


Downchill is from a YouTube channel, and can you post up a few of these boards with 10m sidecut?


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Here's some DownChill


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Just looked at the Moss catalogue, and maybe I'm chasing the wrong goose here. Didn't really see large sidecuts as much as large tapers and setbacks. Still, more time in the turn wouldn't be a terrible thing.


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

These boards have average sidecut radius of near 10 m or above.

Korua Bullet Train, Trenchdigger
Stranda Pipeliner (and some more of their models)
Jones Hovercraft
Gentemstick Flatcamber and Big mountains
Prior BX boards.

I've never tried any of these boards besides a Stranda board with 8.5 m. My First Call has an average sidecut of 9 m but my Korua Pencil ends turns bigger even if it goes into them sharper and and has a smaller average sidecut.

I had a conversation with the founder of Stranda and his philosophy was that longer boards with longer edge, softer flex and larger sidecut radius can turn both big and small. I think that if you look at the specs for som of the Gentems they look a little like that too.

If I wasn't worried about the stiffer flex of the Bullet Train, I'd buy that in a heartbeat.


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## MrDavey2Shoes (Mar 5, 2018)

I think larger side cuts lend themselves to long high speed carves like the Korua boys do in YFT as opposed to the Japanese guys with their slower more fluid surf style turns. When I was going down the japanese turn style path I noticed side cuts from 7-10 meters. I think the bigger thing with those “downchill” boards is the flex, set back and backseat camber. As much as I wanted one those boards would be terrible where I ride (north east) so I didn’t pull the trigger. Instead I chose a Tom Sims Pro and it is really a fantastic turner.


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## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

That Tom Sims Pro does look really solid. I tried to talk my friend into getting one and I was itching to borrow it! I think you're on the right track on Japanese specs as well. K2 overboard looks really close spec wise. 

That Korua bullet Train looks pretty cool. The Pipeliner reminds me of the Fullbag Hammerhead which I've wanted to get on for a long time. I wish I knew more about how specs ride, or that I could demo some radically different things to get this knowledge. What is king for carving- sidecut, effective edge, taper, flex, some balance of all these things?


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## Olivetta (Dec 27, 2019)

Do you know if there is some boards with large radius but twin?


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

I just picked up a nitro pantera 163. Sweet stable high speed carving machine. Directional tapered full camber with variable sidecut 9.5/7.5. 

I’m getting ready to start a full week on this deck tomorrow. Pumped.


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## MrDavey2Shoes (Mar 5, 2018)

Scalpelman said:


> I just picked up a nitro pantera 163. Sweet stable high speed carving machine. Directional tapered full camber with variable sidecut 9.5/7.5.
> 
> I’m getting ready to start a full week on this deck tomorrow. Pumped.


Sounds like a real ripper


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## Olivetta (Dec 27, 2019)

Cool


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## Yeahti87 (Jan 17, 2019)

Scalpelman said:


> I just picked up a nitro pantera 163. Sweet stable high speed carving machine. Directional tapered full camber with variable sidecut 9.5/7.5.
> 
> I’m getting ready to start a full week on this deck tomorrow. Pumped.


How do you like your Pantera? What are your thoughts about it?


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Yeahti87 said:


> How do you like your Pantera? What are your thoughts about it?


The more I ride it the more I like it. The variable sidecut helps maneuvering. If you stay a bit in the backseat you can make quick transitions. Stomp on the front for long drawn out carves. The full camber has incredible edge hold at speed. I finally laid out some euro carves at 35mph. 

However it has its place. I hit Stowe Thursday after some fresh snowfall. I found my freeride RCR board to be much better in the fluff, afternoon powder chunks and through the trees. Just a more fun surfy feeling. I can’t believe I just wrote surfy.....


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## Snowdaddy (Feb 2, 2018)

Scalpelman said:


> The more I ride it the more I like it. The variable sidecut helps maneuvering. If you stay a bit in the backseat you can make quick transitions. Stomp on the front for long drawn out carves. The full camber has incredible edge hold at speed. I finally laid out some euro carves at 35mph.
> 
> However it has its place. I hit Stowe Thursday after some fresh snowfall. I found my freeride RCR board to be much better in the fluff, afternoon powder chunks and through the trees. Just a more fun surfy feeling. I can’t believe I just wrote surfy.....


I thought I would be more stoked than I was on the progressive sidecut of the Nitro Banker. Maybe I didn't get to ride at enough speed.


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## Scalpelman (Dec 5, 2017)

Today was another day. Rain decimated the terrain at okemo and the temps stayed 40-50. There was HEAVY slush and patches of ice. Conditions limited the ability to let loose. I found it best to tuck and go. But there was more of a super G course dodging exposed rocks. The edges didn’t fail me. But I did get bucked around a bit, more from me trying to bleed speed over heavy chunks. Oh and I heard a rock slash an edge. The base is fine. [emoji106]


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## MrDavey2Shoes (Mar 5, 2018)

Scalpelman said:


> Today was another day. Rain decimated the terrain at okemo and the temps stayed 40-50. There was HEAVY slush and patches of ice. Conditions limited the ability to let loose. I found it best to tuck and go. But there was more of a super G course dodging exposed rocks. The edges didn’t fail me. But I did get bucked around a bit, more from me trying to bleed speed over heavy chunks. Oh and I heard a rock slash an edge. The base is fine. [emoji106]


Dude tell me about it. Okemo was rough today. Ridge was pretty decent and Solitude area was ok too. I had fun sending it over rollers and clearing dirt patches. Party Platter lives up to its name. I had the same issues bleeding speed, it got hairy a couple times.

It was laughable how they shut down the peak lifts due to the wind.


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## ridethecliche (Feb 27, 2019)

Glad you're digging the party platter. I've heard so much about it lately that I gotta get out to try one at some point!


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