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[Vailsucksass]

All I wanted to know is why is having a wide stance such a bad thing and why is 21-23 the gold standard? At least when I was younger everyone rode wide stance and it’s what I have grown used to
What’s bad about riding evenly distributed wider stance at a perfect duck foot on a twin?
Maybe I am too dense for this board but at least I am trying to figure out how to enhance my riding so I was hoping for some advice on what to correct, I even asked should I just zoom it down to the initial reference points on the board? What benefits would I gain from subtracting so much width?

[C.Fuzzy]

All I wanted to know is why is having a wide stance such a bad thing and why is 21-23 the gold standard? At least when I was younger everyone rode wide stance and it’s what I have grown used to
What’s bad about riding evenly distributed wider stance at a perfect duck foot on a twin?
Maybe I am too dense for this board but at least I am trying to figure out how to enhance my riding so I was hoping for some advice on what to correct, I even asked should I just zoom it down to the initial reference points on the board? What benefits would I gain from subtracting so much width?

There's no correct answer. We're all riding our own preferences. There's nothing inherently wrong with a wide stance... especially if you're taller than the average bird.

We've mostly all come our preferences mostly though iterations of trial and error trying new things, and alternately by paying attention to what others say and then wondering why the fuck they'd say such stupid shit until we try them and validate those others are dumb af, or...shattering our own perceptions of what we know by realizing they were right.

We can only speak to what works for us individually, and so the discussion is on going and more along the lines of "I rode X board/bindings/boots/stance, it felt like Y, so I changed Z and it made such and such a difference.... Or there will be discussions about setbacks in reference to sidecuts, or sidecut radius, or why step ons are the worst best thing ever.

I remember long time ago @Spenser talking about moving forward of reference on the fish and how it made sense to him, then others tried it and agreed. But, probably not everyone agreed. I tried it, it was a good opinion and I learned from it. Then I promptly sold my fish and bought something else.

Some folks here ride only posi/posi stance. They might ride better than you.... but it's probably not because of thier stance, but because they're older and were inherently blessed with low dopamine which causes them to seek out dangerous risky activities as a lifestyle, or, something.

[Vailsucksass]

I also just measured c - c and I’m at 23 and 5/8I

[Spenser]

Trolling or not, you've successfully taken over this thread and seemingly EL as a whole. I'm not convinced if you're messing with us either way.

The thing with trends is they bounce back back-and-forth within a spectrum, and often eventually end up settling at something reasonable. With stance, everyone was going pretty wide in the late 2000s, and then in the early 2010s we started to see a trend toward a skinny stance, especially with people who were also adopting slim-fit street inspired outerwear, and more of a skate-influenced approach to riding. After a few years everything started to settle into more of a middle ground, and we learned that narrow has benefits, but not going too narrow is equally important. I would guess most people do in fact ride between 21 and maybe a little over 22, which of course doesn't mean that's what you're going to like.

Shy of 24 is wide by today's standards, but it's nothing crazy. Shawn was probably more like 26 at his peak, for reference. That was years ago though, so I think you might be "out of date," so to speak. Benefits of a less wide stance are better mobility and just a more natural alignment for your body, more natural board flex, etc. You mentioned you thought it helps with spins and whatnot, but it's actually the opposite once you're wide enough. Same with grabs, rails, whatever. I bet that on average, park & street riders are on the narrower end of the spectrum… because it benefits all that necessary mobility. Watch older videos and look at how much more rigid & "confined" to their wide stance most of those riders look. Look at how much more easily people are able to do presses, tweaks, and technical tricks now. It's because they can actually move. I don't care about big spins, but I feel like it's a guarantee that we wouldn't be at triple corks and beyond if everyone still had a fat stance.

My suggestion for making any change like this is to do it in small increments over time, so you don't shock your system. So many people have tried a recommendation that's pretty different from what they've been doing, and they immediately think they don't like it because their muscle memory & riding posture is confused. If I went back to my old stance from 15 years ago, I would feel like I couldn't even snowboard. And on the other hand, if I had never started making those small changes and trying things, I would have never unlocked all these things that are so beneficial for my style of riding.

I would suggest bringing in each binding by maybe a half inch for now, so you will be at roughly 22.5. Or just start at an easy 23. You'll feel a small difference, but it won't be shocking. Give it some time and allow your body to adjust, and then keep going from there. If it starts to feel good and you want to experiment with narrowing it a little more, make another small adjustment. You can even try going a little narrower than you think, and just spend the day on it. It may not be where you want to stay, but you might find some surprising benefits or other fun factors. Eventually you find your personal balance.

But also, do whatever you want. And please just try some snowboards no more questions on the antler journey, it's time to take it into your own hands and pull the trigger on something.

[Vailsucksass]

Trust me the antler journey is done I learned better from you guys and will demo boards at demo days at my locals

[Msteff]

[media][/media]I too am not certain whether or not we’re being trolled. Nonetheless, I’ll take you at your word on that. I echo everything Spencer said regarding the relative benefits and detriments of given stances. Yes, your stance is a bit wide. Is that your biggest issue or where this all began? No. If you recall I made note of your front binding being slammed all the way forward and concluded you were either nose heavy or had a super wide stance. You responded with your confirmation that you are set up twin. To be clear, you are not set up twin and are in fact set up nose heavy.

I also echo Spencer’s comments about high jacking this thread and message board more generally. We’re all pretty patient and good natured people around here, and are willing to share information and knowledge, but at this point you have been lead to the doors of seven eleven, told there are 50 different types of water in there, and even walked to the isle in which the water is located. it’s time to pick a bottle and drink it.

[coleslawed]

so, you're locked in on EST/channel, and one of the best benefits of EST is it's super easy to adjust your stance on the fly. why not just bring it in to reference, and then go from there?

[Vailsucksass]

I’m going to bring it in half an inch today and try it for the day at Hunter tomorrow, we will see if I make it out alive
I grew up with the Shaun white and Lucas Magoon era so like I said we always went wide
I hear great things about never summer and union from my riding buddies so I would consider trying those in the future
Gnu and capita never called my attention much
I’ve stayed burton loyal since most people I meet and ride with in Vermont are diehard Burton guys and they got me on the boat a long time ago and I’ve enjoyed the ride thus far
I was always under the impression to stick with Austrian made b boards
I do think their variety of fun boards has went down quite a bit unfortunately as their current lineups are just okay at best

As for being locked into EST, adjusting the bindings sucks ass because after a few adjustments you need channel screws as the loctite on them goes to shit and then you’re stuck with bindings that loosen every few runs

I was a little stubborn on trying to stick with an antler and thinking my stance is best but I’m excited to optimize my stance and hopefully ride better due to it

As for my future board I’ll let what happened with the antler happen.. I’ll know when it’s the board for me

[Vailsucksass]

Not to beat a dead horse but how could I tell if the reference points on my board are at true twin stance?

[Spenser]

Not to beat a dead horse but how could I tell if the reference points on my board are at true twin stance?

It's a true twin with a centered stance, so I guess you would have to trust what is printed along the channel. If you want to make sure, simply take a tape measure and the distance from each tip should be the same to each reference point.