SBX Boards - THE new all mountain boards?

[WinterGold]

I have been riding a Kessler KST SL 162 a lot this season and I was surprised how good an allrounder this board actually is. I read BlueB´s report of his narrow BX 168 and thought that this must be an excellent allrounder.

And I remember that some people here kept complaining about the small radii of most boards built for softboots (e.g. Jack, if I remember correctly).

But the new SBX boards seem to have everything - Oxess is building a 163 with either 12m or 14.5m radius. And for 2011 SG will have a completely new SBX board which is 165 and also has 14.5m radius. The boards are wide enough for middle sized boots (around 26cm waist) and they have all the features from the modern race shapes - low decambered nose and tail, taper, etc. All these elements make them perfect for a great variety of conditions. And they also seem to work quite well with hardboots.

So they must be THE new "having-fun-in-almost-all-conditions" boards. Or do I miss something here?

One interesting thing - is it correct that all (or most) of the black Oxess boards don´t have metal in them? The 2011 SG will not have a metal construction (like this year) and it seems that some (many?) riders prefer this construction for SBX. Only the white Oxess are titanal and there weren´t that many in the Olympics, right?

By the way, the running length of the new SG 165 is 15cm (!!!) longer than the SG 167 from this year - that´s amazing!

I wouldn´t trade in my dedicated race boards, but as an addition I´m really tempted at the moment to get a BX board :D ...

[BlueB]

I have been riding a Kessler KST SL 162 a lot this season and I was surprised how good an allrounder this board actually is. I read BlueB´s report of his narrow BX 168 and thought that this must be an excellent allrounder.
You've got the picture!
It was exactelly the ride of the KST 162 that convinced me to by my BX 168. Same reaction as yours: "wow, amazing allround capabillities for an SL board!". From the narrow BX, you can expect all you've got with your SL, with added float and stabillity of wider waist, plus the non-catchiness and switchabillity of round tail.
I guess, for my riding style and needs, I would really enjoy the 25 wide one with the softboots (not that I'm planning to go back there, unless forced again).

[nekdut]

Boris, where did you find your narrow BX? Was it a custom order?

[BlueB]

Nope, got lucky on eBay! It was exactelly what I was looking for. If I had it built from scratch, I would have added even more nose, to 170-172 length. I was thinking maybe 3-5mm wider and a small fishtail (V) for pow, but given the experience with this board, it might not even be needed - so much float is already there with the taper and rockered nose...
Love it so much that I might build another big version of it and be done with the boards. Of course, keeping the 178 swally for the really deep days.