My main ride since 2008 has been a Donek FC2 179 19.5 wide 11 scr. At the same time, it rewards you greatly when you treat it with respect. Not in a terrible way, but it's eager to turn hard under you and toss you over the highside if you're sloppy.
You're kind of flirting with danger with this board. Maybe that's what adds this behavior as well as the excitement on hardpack? I did not get to ride it on any ice/firm so I can't comment on that.Īll in all, I continue to be impressed with the Proteus line! In contrast to the modern race boards that can feel a little numb, the Proteus has a little something special that makes you smile. The core at the tip/tail is easily 50% thicker than the 160 Coiler Angry and even my stiff 182 NSR board. It almost stopped turning in the really soft spots. Get Donek to soften the flex a bit if you're less gravitationally-blessed than me. I suspect someone much lighter would struggle to bend it into an arc. My 170 is quite stiff - about perfect for me at 210 lbs and aggressive. I'd like to try a wider one, but worry that some of that rapid edge-to-edge change magic would be numbed by extra width. As stated above, the Proteus feels heavy even in a 19cm waist width. The Proteus makes slightly bigger turns but gives more of a kick at the end of the turn. Both boards reward you with lots of energy back at the end of the turn. It was very fun changing between this board and a 160 Coiler Angry at a tiny ski hill. The 170 Proteus delivers exactly as expected - lots of pop and excitement, and it is surprisingly eager to do a variety of turn shapes despite the single-radius sidecut. Me: 210 lbs, like stiffer boards in general, like putting a lot of energy into the board to decamber it into tighter arcs. Snow: Decent hardpack manmade groom, but with numerous height changes. But the 170 fits in a nice gap in my quiver between a 167 Coiler XT AM board and the 175+ boards. It's a great board but has too much overlap with other boards I own so it might be up for sale soon. I fell in love with it's big brother (180) a few years ago. I just had my first day on a 170 Donek Proteus that I bought from the classifieds here this past spring/summer.
Sean has done a great job engineering the Proteus series.ĭigging this one out of the archives. If I lived somewhere where it's colder and I didn't have such a thing for racing I'd leave it as is (OK, I'd make it a wee bit wider (20.5cm or so)).Ĭonditions at my local bump are more snow cone (think warm) than hero snow and so I'm not able to ride it all the time. I'd own the Proteus and a race board and that would be it. If it was that wide it would be my quiver killer. But then it would be a REV wannabe or some such. If I had magic powers I'd make the board wider (21-22cm) so I could run lower stance angles and up the SCR with a wee bit of VSR so it runs with the fall line through the gates. Cross-unders are completely fun, even with the weight of the plate. It's hard to believe it's a 11m SCR and not a VSR. It just flows with power from turn to turn. I'm confident in challenging whatever is thrown my way. The board seems capable of both tight turns and larger GS turns. My times are the lowest they've ever been.
If I'm not in the race course I'm facing very challenging conditions at my local bump (Soft snow, no groom, bumpy, choppy, icy, crap, Crap I said.)
#PROTEUS SNOWBOARDS FULL#
I wear 29.5's (Indy's) and ride with 57 front and 54 rear (in soft snow my rear toe grazes the topmost snow while in full carve). I ride with a Bomber 4mm plate and CATEK OS1's. This is my first modern decambered nose metal board. It's been my primary board this season when conditions permit and it's been my primary board I've used through the gates when racing NASTAR. I bought the demo 170 Proteus from the Donek sale at the end of last season. I actually found the 170 to have more bounce at transition. At my weight (220) it's actually really smooth all the way through the turn, and the huge pop some riders have experienced is much less pronounced for me.
I loved the one at ECES and will be ordering one like it once I have the funds set aside. Good move, but if by chance you decide to drop down to something looser in stiffness do let me know and if it's the 180 I'll likely take it off your hands. Will try to get more from this board next season, may have to resort to plate to tame this beast. Definitely an interesting board, another keeper from Donek. Quite different from docile animal that was MFC. Hard to bend, but will store the energy and then throw (or try to) everything back. For an intermediate rider like me this board, if I don't pop it at the edge change (which doesn't happen as often as I like on steep slopes), will build some massive g force to the point of feeling pressure in my head. Sean is absolutely right when he said that this board is for expert riders. This board gives me pop as well as some serious g force.