Stranda Snowboards

[Snowdaddy]

I'm not saying Stranda boards are soft. Just not very stiff. Stiff enough to not fold under pressure, but soft enough to bend easily into a turning radius. Ofc they're not all the same, but the ones with a longer sidecut is bendy enough to make shorter radius turns.

They do need to be put on edge to turn properly but they're also easy to ride. At least relatively easy. I saw a guy demoing the Bowlrider and he made the comment that it only made large turns, but it doesn't. I saw him ride on the mountain and Mats properly replied that if you get the board angle up it's going to turn much smaller.

I once had a short conversation with Mats the first time I tried the boards. Some of it was ofc sales talk but he said he made boards that flexed for normal riders. At the time I was looking to complement my Pencil plus. You don't have to be a physical beast to ride the Strandas all day, but at the same time they're stiff enough to hold up to what they're supposed to do.

I'm just guessing but some of the reason they bend so well might be partly how the sidecut and nose transition is made. The boards seems to bend easily going into the turn, compared to some other boards. I'm a heavy guy and haven't tried the Cheater 170W or the 177, but the ordinary Cheater bends a lot, put on edge for me.

[Spenser]

Yeah, gotcha. They do have a flex pattern that’s tuned properly for carving, and you can feel it. Cheater is definitely stiff overall, but you can notice a significant difference in the nose. Like you said, it’s not “soft,“ and it’s not a “folding” feeling, just bends the right way for entering a turn and holding through it. That heelside picture of Lars is a great visual. Really not complicated concepts, he just got the math right for their intended purpose. The cheater is one of my favorite boards of all time, at this point.

[tracer]

Reading these last two posts clarifies what I was feeling with the Shorty split (as we've chatted about Spencer). I was surprised by the flex in the nose, but it wasn't "folding" by any means. I only had a few days on it—maybe 3-4 pow, the rest spring stuff—before the season wrapped, and I definitely enjoyed them. Now I am eagerly awaiting get out there again—well generally because SNOOOW!—and to see adjust myself more to this board. Thanks guys.

[Spenser]

It may have been a post on the previous EL, but I even started to find some benefits for the soft nose.

[Spenser]

Slow day at work, figured I’d post some profile shots from last winter.

Cheater has very healthy camber & arc is more focused in the middle where the rider stands. Very smooth transitions, constant grip along the entire edge, just a minor bit of early rise transition at the front contact, but not much. Great nose in soft snow too - love feeling happy in all conditions on my carving board.

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Shorty has a decent lower camber, which transitions to a long gradual rocker a bit past the front foot. Tail has a little bit of early rise at the contact, but is pretty low still. Unlike some s-rockers I’ve seen, it’s not really a “point” where it changes to rocker, it’s a gradual curve. This might make it a little more smooth & natural. I’m not into rocker, but I’m down with this one due to the specific bend.

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[kimchi]

Like I told you on IG, I got one of the few where the factory missed the stringers in the nose (weird ). For others reading, Mats was recently at the warehouse doing shipments and confirmed the above. He said the couple he found were “way off.” He stands behind his product and is sending a replacement soon, but even that being the case, I still really liked the board. It may have been a post on the previous EL, but I even started to find some benefits for the soft nose. Still, of course I’m super stoked to get a “correct” model where it will be much firmer. The rest of the one I got (front foot through the tail) felt normal.

This might put me back on the Stranda train. I remember you telling me via chat you were surprised how soft the nose felt and mentally striking them from the list. Too soft nose was the main reason I ditched a couple boards. If that was an aberration, that makes sense.

[Spenser]

Not to forget that was specific to the Shorty, certainly not the cheater. I wasn’t sure if that’s how the board actually was, or if it felt that way due to being rocker, when everything I’ve been riding for years has been mostly full camber and stiffer-feeling in the nose. But yeah, still makes sense to have been apprehensive either way. I was a bit as well after unboxing it.

[casjcade]

They had feedback on the soft nose of the Shorty before, so I guess that’s why it was beefed up some for the latest model. Could be just some leftover cores from previous years.

[unsatisfiedus]

I don't know if it was posted in previous EL incarnations, but this Stranda talk between Mats and Lars is really interesting.
A lot of nerd stuff about sidecuts, core thickness, effective edge, etc.

highly suggested:

at roughly 9:30 in the talk he describes whats in picture 2 in this sequence



i definitely have some work to do on this one

[Spenser]

Starting the turn (particularly heel edge) while still going across the slope is one of the biggest things that’s helped me. It keeps your speed along the edge and sets you up for a nice slingshot into the next turn, without “overloading” the downhill force that sometimes makes it hard to hold the edge - such as if you were gaining speed downhill and then start the turn. It starts with finishing the previous turn instead of switching edges early, otherwise you can’t be in that position