Location: Keystone, Colorado
Snow Conditions: Overcast with hardpacked groomers.
Setup: I rode the Arbor Coda with Union Forces and my Rome Vamps size 8.
First Impression: My friend Mike designed the graphics so I hope it rides well.
Size: 158cm
Weight: average
Flex: I was surprised at the Coda’s flex, I was expecting more torsional forgiveness and this board’s flex was longitudinally stiffer which made it stable but also less all mountain than I thought it would be, less playful to do fun freestyle stuff with.
Turning: I found it was the best for just freeriding the groomers, long S turns were drawn out and felt the most relaxed on the board. The turns were easy to initiate and the board held really well on edge once I got into a turn.
Stable: I found the Coda really stable, I never encountered any chatter or unstability when riding it. Through the chop on the side of the runs, it cut through that really good and didn’t encounter any mixed feelings about the stability there.
Pop: The stiffer tail made it easy to load back and pop off the tail for rollers but it also made it harder to tail press and butter around. The bamboo definitely plays a key in getting the board to pop and I felt some good snap with the board.
Switch: It took a little getting used to to ride it switch, directional board with directional flex and it wasn’t the same ride. I just made sure when I did ride it switch to take it slower.
Overall Impression: The Coda did best just freeriding, it says it’s more all mountain focuses but I found that a little hard to believe. On the groomers it was a more freeride, charge the mountain board than being more freestyle, fun focus. It had good pop and easy to initiate turns with, stable on longer radius turns but still quick for short radius.
Shay’s Honesty Box: The coda wasn’t bad but probably a board I wouldn’t ride all the time, still a good ride thought but I like having a board that I can still play with.
*This Review was done in February 2009, please be aware that products may change.
Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the 2011 version of the Arbor Coda or shop their full line of Arbor snowboards
On-snow Photos
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Arbor Coda Description
hoon
February 27, 2009 at 12:15 pma 24.4 (or is it .5) inch max stance is a WTF? even if it is a freeride board, it’s not the year 1998. companies need to ensure that boards have at least a 25 inch max stance as everyone’s running larger and larger stances. stepping off my soap box now.
Marc
February 27, 2009 at 1:38 pmYikes good point hoon. The solution to this is to turn the disks on your bindings 90 degrees. This allows you to slide the bindings out another half an inch or so on each foot. That’s how I managed to get a 26+ inch stance on my Venture Zephyr (with Burton CO2 bindings). So this technique will probably get you a 25.4 (or .5) inch stance on the Coda.
hoon
February 27, 2009 at 4:09 pmyes a good idea but not to be a stickler, but then this doesn’t allow for any toe/heel adjustment for those with bigger feet (assuming there is no heelcup adjustment in the binding). yah i’m geeking out right now.
KimChi
March 1, 2009 at 2:12 pmI jumped on a NightTrain (described to me by the rep as a “softer” Crossbow) and was surprised at how stiff it was relative to how the rep described it (a little stiffer than average). So based I’m thinking the Arbor guys’ definition of stiff is a bit skewed… I’m stoked to try out one of their “softer” boards, though.