MADD BX168 First Test Ride

[Shred Gruumer]

Well first ride for me! this is the first time I have ever riden anything the size of a picnic table! but I refused to set my bindings anything other than the usual 70/65. I have enclosed several pics so you could see that it actualy carves extremly well.. Its right up there with the 170,, I actually may like it even more.. I push the snot out of it.. the conditions where packed groomed fine granular for about 2 or 3 inches then the ice base below that! then to mashpotatoes later in the day! soft nose even softer tail but I could not tell.. I rode it just like I would anything else, I pushed and powered the nose like my carving boards and it took it all,, no fold or nothing! I ride with a 53cm stance and I set the bindings back on it to give me more nose than tail, almost as far back as I could with out losing my stance!

Only thing I would change would be the width could use to loose 2cm or more..its wide!!!!!! but thats me ,, anything over 19.5 is wide.. sorry I'll do the actual measurement if someone needs it..maybe someone already knows?

[Shred Gruumer]

pic # 2

[Shred Gruumer]

pic 3

[Shred Gruumer]

pic 4

[Shred Gruumer]

Maybe more next week,, but I gotta ride other boards too,, they are being neglected.. wanna run the Violator some more to give a report on that..

I am impressed the way this board rode and performed..but it did have the Shaggy tune..! its majic! or Macek!

[Shred Gruumer]

Sorry one more!

[LeeW]

Hmm, I wish I could stay in touch with Shaggy shag and Cheri so I can get me hands on those BX boards and test 'em out!

Right said LeeGrommer

[Allee]

It's a big fatboy. I rode it for a morning at Stratton and it was way too much grunt for my poor little 150lb girl legs. I think the waist measure on it is 23? Steph rode it as well, I think her impression was much the same...

It bites a carve like you wouldn't believe. though ... most of the time I was struggling to pull it out.

[Kent]

Looks like a prettied up Kildy LL Bean to me!

what the heck? is that a real board? (as opposed to k-mart special type?)

cant imagine kildy stooping that low.

hey allee...23cm is WIDE? for alpine yeah, but for freeride?

[Allee]

It's wide when you're used to a 19cm waist on a SL board! Kind of like trying to steer a Mack truck after learning to drive in a Ferrari! And I am just a skinny girl ... I'm sure Shred gave it a much better workout (although Steph was seen to punt it around the hill ...)

[Scorpio]

hey shred, what's the possibility of that board being made for the masses? Do the madd folk plan to take it into production?

[Skully]

Where can I get one?

Where can I demo one?

[Shred Gruumer]

All coments are pretty much right on.. like I said I pushed it hard. most of the time you wouldn't think about doing that to this kind of board most of the time you ride on the tail more but thats why I set it up towards the back so I would have more nose to push and drive. It carved like the dickens.. I had my 158 and then went right back to the BX.. once I got used to flipping it on to the edge.. I kinda really like it.. hmmm is wider better..dunno, it worked in this case..

Demo's should be set up at the SES along with some other goodies! Then after that Im sure Stratton and Shaggy would be the contact.

Im just playing the Chuck Yeager of snowboards!

Right said Shred,, thanks MADD!

[NMU Alpine Boarder]

Just curious, since it's a BX board, has anyone aired it out with this board? Just curious on how it takes landings....

[willywhit]

The Madd BX is a pretty sick ride. I rode Brammer's proto at Stratton last month and had an absolute blast. It's like the Madd 170 without the steep angles. Mike even bit his tongue following me under the gondi! You CAN jump it and land in a high speed carve without missing a beat. "HYBRID" comes to mind.Carve it like you're surfing instead of a slalom waterski style. Just checking in from Brasil, back in 2 weeks, Carve it up boys and girls !

[Steph]

This board is phat and fat!! It definately took a good run to get used to the width of this board, but man it held an edge like the 158 I usually ride. I rode it with my regular stance angles 60/57. I loved it, but it is definately too much board for me (and I'm not a weakling)! I agree with Shred on making a smaller waist width, maybe a 22 or 21mm even. There is definate lag time on edge transfer, but once that sucker is on edge, holy crap it holds It could be that my legs were a wee tired by that point, but maybe this board could be a hair more damp.

This could be the one and the only board that you need!

[Shred Gruumer]

Steph your right on with the width.. just a tad bit too wide, I did get used to the edge to edge on it , like you said once you flip it on its edge you get all this pressure on it,, and BAMM it rails through everything.. now to only ride it in stuff that it was probably made for! lose the waist and it is a 170 with powder and all mountain capabilities.. crap! now what board do I ride..can you ever have too many??? ....Nah! just not enough! I recommend riding it if ya get a chance.. luv to hear your feedback..so far I think everyone that has ridden it got the same results.. Like I said,,no way would I have expected this kind of performance out of a picnic table..! "I like it!"

attached is the nose width comparison to the 170

Right Said Shred

[Shred Gruumer]

Waist pic

[Shred Gruumer]

The tail does have a radius on the ends then goes flat across.

[Neil Gendzwill]

It's not very fair criticism to label the board as too wide, it's a BX board designed for low angles and probably soft boots. I'd frankly be more interested to see it evaluated as it is intended to be ridden.

[Shred Gruumer]

Hmmmm.. I thought all boards are intended to be ridden that way.. what else is there? its intended to carve right? plus i have others that are not that wide.. like i said was just not used to it.. Its something I would change for my liking if i had made it... Softies? I think it likes plates,, well thats what it was telling me anyway! Try it.. someone should do as you suggest..then you'll know if its even better and more versitile!

[Shred Gruumer]

hmmm?

[alpinegirl]

i would love to give it a spin in softies.

i sort of hate my board since it's this super soft chic freestyle board that gives me massive heel and toe drag and is not stable at high speed (it makes me fear speed). although i do fear ripping my bindings apart on it since it (the Madd) is a bit of a beast (although, why am i drooling over this board).

after riding with steph and others at WCS (or whatever that was called) i can't get this board out of my mind. i want one (and a matching 170 of course). i can only imagine the expressions on people's faces as the board gets aired out under a lift somewhere. it makes me smile. ooh, and with our current layout....

roller, roller, roller, AIR, AIR, AIR, (even more speed) AIR (carving in between everything of course), headwall to gap, insanely more AIR, carve some more, HIP jump (miss the point of the hit and clear the darn thing), banked slalomy turns through the icy pipe and 50-50 the rail at the end (gotta protect those precious edges) and back to the lift for some more.

dang. shaggy, can i come play??? when i think of boardercross, this board boasts the stability and edge hold that i dream of (i think, only based on watching people ride it and flexing it by hand). i want to experience it and show all the people at work that although lib tech boasts this serrated edge (everybody who has ridden that board thinks it's like the best thing on earth for edge hold), that a MADD handles better.

i would love to have a board that responds like an alpine beast regardless of the boots. hmmm, can i be a guinea pig??

[RCrobar]

The wider waist width of the Madd BX, and the legendary edge hold of Madds’ in general, is exactly why I would really like to demo this board.

I think the old Catek forum stated the BX proto has a 24 cm waist and a 10-11m side cut? This is perfect for soft boot carvers and lower angle hard boot riders. A guy who rides 45F/40R with a 28 or 29 Mondo point boot size needs this width to eliminate boot out.

I too would love to hear feed back from guys riding lumpy, bumpy, chewed up and track out stuff in the trees as well as on the groomed.

Can anyone comment on how the Madd BX compares to an allmountain board?

Thanks for the picts, the board looks like it has huge potential.

Rob

[Miguel]

One of my boards is the Donek Incline, which I suppose would be considered a BX board. I'm always amazed at how well that board holds an edge. It's the best do anything...go anywhere board I've ridden. If I had to settle for one board only, that would probably be the one.

[Allee]

C, you should have ridden it at WCS. Except as I remember it, we couldn't prise that Madd 170 offa your feet ...

Your RT will sulk if you're not careful.

[Shred Gruumer]

Don't know if I'll change the angles,, problem I have is , its ok in powder but once on groom I start to angulate and ride like my alpine boards then what happens is nothing but extreme pain.. my back foot and the muscle feels like they want to tear apart, because Im really rotating my shoulders and hips into a heel side, and since that foot is stuck at 40 degrees and my bones and spine are taking all kind of abuse.. so I stick to the high angles cause i find myself going in and out of different terrain.. but mainly groom..

OK I try the trees,,but if end up like JG! its all your fault!

Right said Shred!

[NMU Alpine Boarder]

I will gladly volunteer to put this board through the paces of running a BX course Then we can see how it handles the bumps, chunks, and ruts

[bobdea]

I had a 170 it was too soft for me 260 BUT on nasty ice it is a weapon that nothing can match

a deck that is similar in flex and the other Madd qualities but wide enough for me ride softies with would make me really consider riding softboots more than three or four days a year

so yeah that mean I want one