Nitro alternator

[Msteff]

Anyone ridden one? If so what are your thoughts impression?

[Kevington]

I rode the 160 at a demo in December. My experience was somewhat skewed by going directly from the GNU Banked Country to the Alternator so it felt a bit loose and vague in comparison. It was poppy and felt light and manoeuvreable, rode smaller than its length, probably due to the nose being long but also having a full tail. Or to put it another way, it has a short EE for its overall length. The nose was a bit flappy on groomers but again I just came off an ultra damp Mervin so it’s all relative. My overall feeling of the board was that it felt like it was designed for backcountry freestyle. The side cut in particular was not super exciting to carve on groomers but felt more forgiving for switch take offs and landings. I think overall it would be a great board for getting air in powder with some freeriding in between. They claim ‘true camber’ but it looked and felt to me like ‘cam-out’ where it goes flat outside the bindings. Makes sense as camber is currently trendy but a bit of mellowing out towards the tips is obviously better for freestyle in pow.

[Msteff]

I noticed the short ee too, which I don’t really love. I also would prefer real deal true camber but again see the purpose of both design elements here. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really sound like the quiver killer I wanted to believe it was going to be. Particularly here in the east coast.

[Kevington]

If grip in icy snow is a top priority then it might not be the best. Both the sidecut and the camber profile flatten out towards the tips, I found it pretty loose feeling on hard snow.

[Msteff]

Thanks, I tend to like an “open” side cut but this doesn’t sound like it fits the bill for me.

[coleslawed]

that all clicks with my experience demoing one last year. really wanted to like the board, and it's probably got its place in a quiver, but not mine

[stephprime]

I tested it and had really high expectations, but I was disapointed. Like the other guys say: I did not like the feel of it, the edge hold was not there on groomers, it had a kind of "dead" feeling to it. Really nothing special, there are hundereds of boards out there (even in the Nitro range) which are way more better !!!

[MarkusM]

soo. after a winter on the alternator 157 i have some thoughts.
we have had the worst winter since late 60s over here so i realy got to try it out in hard icy bumpy conditions and with more groomers and park than usual.
its pretty damp and realy relaxed/stable feeling for the length imo.
the mellow entry and exit of the sidecut makes it realy forgiving for freestyle moves but especially the mellow exit of the sidecut makes it not the most fun and dynamic feeling carver.
i had no problem with edgehold and would say it even got good bordering on great edgehold. =P

for what it is it floats well and have a nice planing feel i powder.

now for something that i havent thought about before this board.
the vibration sounds are louder then other boards i have been on last few years.
i dont feel it but i hear it. xD
riding alot of icy groomers its realy noticeable when i jump on my taka or pencil then back to the alternator.

they rate it as a 8/10 flex but id say its more like a 6/10 once broken in.

its rare for me to just keep riding one board for almost a whole season but with this one i just went riding and didnt realy think about geting something else.
i guess thats a good thing.
i might get a 160 if i can find a good deal.

[Canuck]

Good to hear your thoughts and liked it after a season.

I rode the 160 twice at demos once last spring and once early this winter and I had high hopes for it but I found it the edge hold was not as good as my Nitro MtnxGrif maybe because the alternator was demo and had not been tuned recently. Also found the ease of entry into to the turn was slower as well.Maybe I needed to spend some more time on it.

Ended up picking up a Banker and prefer that over the MTN and Alternator for my daily.

[MarkusM]

yeah it feels like it wants more edge angle otherwise it just want to do bigger turns.
once i got used to it i forgot about it and just kept riding xD

more rounded nose and tail shape looks good to me so that was a big deciding factor =P
that and camber.