United Shapes

[Muskrat]

The Horizon is not too soft.

This was my first day on snow this season and I need a bit more time on it. At first it felt too soft. Probably because of first day rustiness. It just turned way too tight.

After a couple of hours I switched to riding my Pluv instead and it felt much more suited to me. I rode that for a while and then switched back to the Horizon again.

Presto! It suddenly felt much more capable. I was probably just throwing too much weight into it at first. Im not sure this board was something I really needed and if I have to choose between this and the Pluv, I would pick the Pluv. But I can see myself riding this when I have my daughter with me. I'm going to keep it for this season at least.

Weird how completely wrong carpet boarding can be. I posted in Burton thread, I put a Free Thinker to snow after screwing around in my basement and it was WAY stiffer than I expected. At home I could casually press that thing up to my thigh and I was struggling on the hill.

You’re making me wonder if I should give it one more chance as I only put 2 runs on it with a new-to-me twin duck stance +12/-12 stance.

This makes me even more curious to pick one up on sale. Rides stiffer than it feels is a vote in the right direction. I'd be closer to lower or mid of the weight range depending on size. I recall a review of the Season Nexus that had a very similar explanation, it rode was more solid than one would expect from a hand flex.

[Snowdaddy]

I would not call the Horizon stiff. It’s just not too soft.

[michaelangelo]

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On paper it was a perfect daily. I don’t know if these Nordstrom ones were second quality or something, but mine has never felt right. The tail has more rocker than the nose and it’s noticeable. I still want the Woodstock 51. I was pretty bummed since it was my first US board, but I did end up spending a ton of time on the 53 Voyager and that was a blast even with how soft it was.

This is the same specs as the one I had from 2021, said made in china on it but I don't know where. I also noticed more rocker and a smoother contact blend in the tail than the nose. My first though was someone has got things back to front at some point during design or production and its too late to do anything about it. Also a pretty stiff flex compared to how they described it.

Glad I’m not the only one. I emailed US after the first day I rode it but never got a response. Oh well, big snoopy guy here so I’ll keep it forever regardless.

[Spenser]

TM is for sure a more aggressive orbit. Sheesh. I need a good day on this thing.

Definitely liked my setback correction

Edit: Back on orbit today. I may be super used to this board, but instantly felt awesome. I've always been good at adapting to new boards, but the transmission is fairly demanding in less than ideal conditions. Otherwise I think it's just a powerful tank for advanced riders. This is generally what I like, and I understand it's what a lot of people would say about the orbit, but the difference is noticeable. Both my big boards are easier/less demanding, even though they have a bunch more edge, are stiff, etc.... it's in the design nuances. Personally I think a lot of it is in the TM nose.

If the orbit tests you, don't get a transmission

Things I would tweak… back off on waist width, and have more of a blend zone at the front contact, to alleviate the aggressive bite that doesn't need to be all the way to the very end. Essentially split the difference between orbit early rise & TM full camber.

I also wonder if in this rare case I'd actually like the 54 more... it would probably feel more similar to the orbit 57 overall

I was surprised that you did not find Transmission to be simply the best board ever, as I did, until we got a few inches of fresh snow for the first time this season, 1,5 months after the season started. Now I am sure that this is because we have quite different conditions to ride. A few inches of fresh snow is average day in mountains, but rare here, while perfect groomers for carving is average day here, but rare in mountains. We do have frequent precipitations, but usually no more than 1" of snow at a time.

When there is no good hardpack to push the board against, Transmission’s personality changed to aggressive, stiff and difficult to control, while on good groomers for carving it is "easily accessible" and very enjoyable to ride. In soft snow, fully cambered nose did not float well, despite huge surface area...

Now I want the Cadet even more, to be overall freeride board, if we got couple days more with softer conditions.

I did not get good picture of soft day here, but it looked a lot like in Spenser’s pictures/videos.

But the average day here look like this:
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Funny that we started with opposite experiences on the same board, but now we understand each other due to snow conditions

After our massive recent snowfall, the groomers are perfect, so I think I'm going to take the transmission & orbit tomorrow to make some direct comparisons. The transmission should feel really good. It's cold, and no pow left (the high winds last night ruined a lot of it) - mountain has been especially empty, so groomers will be nearly pristine all day long.

I'm either trying to convince myself I should keep it, or that I can sell it

[Snowdaddy]

Had another day on the Horizon in very cold conditions. I'm having thoughts about the base but maybe it's just down to waxing. I put base prep on it before I took it out the first time and did the same on my Pluv. It was about -3C then and the Pluv had noticeably better glide, but the Pluv has been waxed many times before.

Put some more prep on the Horizon yesterday before riding and the glide was awful. It was very cold (around -27C) and the prep is soft, so mostly I think that was the issue. Put some liquid wax for cold temps on it by lunch and for one lap the glide was fine. Then slow again. Guess I have to go back to waxing properly for different temps.

The Horizon is something I'm going to keep. It's fun and playful but handles well in turns. It's narrow enough to be easygoing for someone with smaller feet like me. I'm too heavy for the 159 at my 105kg. For a "lighter" rider I think this could be awesome as a playful but capable do it all board. I didn't need this board, but it has however made me stop looking for a daily driver and I no longer feel the need to try on the Sickstick.

[coleslawed]

yeah, those frigid temps need proper wax to match. (especially here in the midwest where we’re still riding all artificial snow).

put cold temp on my Horizon (although i think my gen has a “sintruded” base, not sure if the new one still has that or. got upgraded to full sintered, sure hope it does at that price point), and was sailing past everyone else in my crew who just did all temp.

[Kevington]

The Horizon is something I'm going to keep. It's fun and playful but handles well in turns. It's narrow enough to be easygoing for someone with smaller feet like me. I'm too heavy for the 159 at my 105kg. For a "lighter" rider I think this could be awesome as a playful but capable do it all board. I didn't need this board, but it has however made me stop looking for a daily driver and I no longer feel the need to try on the Sickstick.

This is good info. Hadn't weighed myself in a while but I'm closer to 80kg than the 75 I thought. Must be Christmas food and that back injury thats had me less mobile for some months lol. The 159 could work for me I think. There was a lot I liked about the older 155 and what I didn't seems to have been changed. With the extra inserts it could handle all the powder I'm likely to ever see and still be chill enough for goofing around in the park and cruising with the family.

Seriously thinking to sell my Korua Dart (pure joy on that one day a year when everything lines up) and my Banked Country (cool in 155, a bit tanky in the 159 I bought), and just have one board. Or get a softer China made Otto and keep the Dart for the 2 board Kuiver?

[alex]

Found the Cadet 162 in a local shop at a good price, so I bought it, without much planning, why.

It is stiff and feels even stiffer than it is while carving, Transmission again feels softer than it is while carving. The biggest difference between Transmission and Cadet is the opposite sidecut shape, Transmission has oval sidecut, tighter toward contact points while Cadet has more open toward contact points sidecut with front contact point completely “cut off”. Somehow, I forgot that I do not like such “easy” sidecut shapes and only remembered it again after a couple turns. My bad, because this is clearly visible with naked eyes, even if United Shapes did not mention this.

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Because Cadet has such easy/lazy sidecut, Transmission is much more turny and much more enjoyable for carving. Also, because it is missing good contact point to bend it against while carving, it feels stiffer than it is. Yesterday conditions were quite bumpy and unfortunately Cadet has very limited dampening. I guess, in better conditions for carving, I will like the Cadet even less, but in softer conditions probably much more.

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I hoped that Cadet would be softer Transmission with early rise, but unfortunately it is completely different board. It is not a bad board overall, but it did not have any wow-effect, as Transmission did.

[benjinyc]

Cadet is surprisingly stiff, interesting to read you find it stiffer than the transmission on edge (more torsional stiffness?). I’m really enjoying my 154 cadet for resort groomers. I think it’s my DD now.

Contemplating a transmission, I have a korua cr that fills that spot at the moment

[Spenser]

Cadet is surprisingly stiff, interesting to read you find it stiffer than the transmission on edge (more torsional stiffness?). I’m really enjoying my 154 cadet for resort groomers. I think it’s my DD now.

Contemplating a transmission, I have a korua cr that fills that spot at the moment

I think he was relating each board to itself. The transmission is absolutely stiffer than the cadet in every way, but he's saying that on edge, the transmission doesn't feel as stiff as it does otherwise, while the Cadet on edge feels stiffer than it does otherwise. At least I think that's what he means.