ChadBrooks wrote:I've been riding my standard
snowboard for a bit and feel like I can't ever just go straight.
It's all about the sidecut. Most snowboards are spec'ed with sidecut radiuses around 7-9 meters. In order to track straighter, you need less sidecut.
Nobile's RC2000 race kite snowboard offers the least amount of sidecut at 80m radius. Their NHP kite snowboard has a more versatile 20m radius.
ABoards' Escape/Reverse give no reference to their sidecut radius. They just call it "dynamic".
DeCosse Customs' Tantrum is 9.8m.
In contrast Cabrinha's Empire kite snowboard (discontinued) had a 8.6/7.7/8.6 radius.
The LF/DeCosse Alliance kite snowboard (discontinued) had a 9m radius.
Not sure what the Best kite snowboard radius was, but it looked more traditional as well.
I've found some production snowboards with 9-10m sidecuts, but they're rare. I'm currently on a K2 freeride snowboard with an 8m radius and I can make it work ok, but would prefer something a with a little more radius. I also prefer a continuous radius sidecut vs. the progressive radius like the Cabrinha had.
I also like a wider board for snowkiting since carving performance is not as necessary. Going wider helps prevent my boots from hanging up, especially in deeper snow, which assists with better tracking.