Cheater Snowboard
Carving this board is like cheating
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DIRECTIONAL carving
progressive SIDECUT
bamboo topsheet
CORE: ASH/POPLAR
FLEX: 8/10
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$849
Free shipping on all boards!
The Cheater is an easy turning surf-carver with an abundance of edghold. We’ve tailored the sidecut for a blisteringly fast response to any rider input. It’s got a blunt nose profile, with a tighter entry radius in the early rise, which we combined with a short half moon tail. Three layers of rubber dampening make for a ride that’s smooth as butter on hardpack. The nose rocker makes turning easy and creates float. Additional carbon stringers in the tail section add longitudinal snap. A precise and highly manoeuvrable board for cruising and carving. The 170 comes in a wide version as well. Colors: 170s = green. 177 = red.
SPECIFICATIONS
Lengths: 170, 170 Wide, 177 Core: Ash/poplar Construction: Triax glass with carbon torsion rods Topsheet: Bamboo Profile: Camber with Tip-Tail-Rocker. Semi swallow tail Base: Sintered 4001 Durasurf
Length | Weight range | Eff. Edge | Nose Width | Waist Width | Tail Width | Sidecut | Setback | Cent. Stance | Stance width |
177 | 75-100 | 1480 | 319 | 255 | 303 | 9,5 | 48 | 56 | 47-63 |
170 | 75-110 | 1429 | 335 | 275 | 326 | 8,5 | 40 | 56 | 47-63 |
170 | 70-95 | 1429 | 320 | 260 | 311 | 8,5 | 40 | 56 | 47-63 |
Core
At Stranda Snowboards we use ash wood and a minor part poplar in our cores. Ash is perfect for building high-performance snowboards as it dampens vibrations and holds its camber, extending the life of your board. Adding poplar keeps the weight down. Choosing a premium material also allowed us to reduce the use of petroleum-based composites. We use a thin layer of bamboo as the topsheet, which adds to performance.
Shape
We build our snowboards with classic camber and distinguish between standard camber and low camber: Cheater has standard camber with Tip-Tail-Rocker. The camber is elevated 11mm, with the contact points slightly moved toward the snowboard’s centre for easy turning. The board feels very secure, even when carving on icy slopes.
Profile
The Cheater’s blunt nose is combined with Tip-Tail-Rocker and a Semi-Swallowtail. The result is a precise feeling of control at any speed. It’s a fresh take on how to mix on-piste edge hold with off-piste playfulness. With 40 mm of setback and the short Semi-Swallowtail it naturally sinks its tail to steer in powder.
7 reviews for Cheater Snowboard
Show reviews in all languages (8)
Yuan –
I ride the board for 2 days on the weekend. It is amazing, I use +27/+12 and no boot out issue. It carves really great, I can perform a lot lower carving than my previous burton 158 board! and I break my speed record by 8km/h easily ….
Riding this board at higher speed you just don’t feel it and so smooth. The edge locking is so secure! I never thought a board change can improve this lot.
Thanks!
Shred With Bart –
Best board I’ve ever ride for carving.
Flex 8/10 – i think its softer than usual 8/10 board. But thats one of the things makes its cheating capabilities stronger.
Its not overly stiff and you wan’t feel on it like on piece of wood. Its very friendly (if you know how to carve).
Despite that 170W seems big, you can easily maneuver it on cat track or any black slopes.
You dont have carve all day, and you want be fisically tired after all day of riding.
But if its to crowdy or narrow I’m taking some other boards on a slope.
Width of that board is the biggest pros. Becouse the “market” treat people with bigger boots with arrogance. With Stranda finally I Can lay a proper carve without worry about heel or toe drag.
Only downsize for me is the a bit to soft nose, which like to bounce a bit.
Rich –
Hello my name is Rich and I’m addicted to riding my Cheater 170W.
I think I have finally found true love after riding 50+ boards working at a snowboard shop for the past 9 years.
It has taken my love for snowboarding to a whole new level, I am having the most fun on the mountain I’ve ever had – in 12 winter seasons of 90+ days of riding.
I bought this board thinking it would be great to take my surf style carving to the next level. It would be fun to pull it out 10 times a season to do some extreme carving…… well…Instead I found myself only riding this board. Every day I would ride a different board, even one in my quiver and regret not riding my cheater… that’s how good it feels.
I am a bigger guy, 180lb 6ft2” US11.5 rider and previously riding 160-165cm boards.
My initial impression of the board was ‘oh it’s not that gnarly’ for such a long effective edge and for looking like a wide race board.
Sinking into the first carves the board feels incredibly calm and relaxed the nose conforming to constantly maintain grip over lumps mid carve. It’s so calm that your realise that you’re only using 10% of the boards available grip!
This confidence enabled me to surf carve steeper terrain and lay deep trenches all over the mountain. The joy of powering the nose contact points deep into the firm white corduroy is a powerful feeling like nothing I’d experienced before.
After 15 or so days on the board I was used to it’s effective edge and width. No longer cumbersome, It felt natural to pop some backside 180’s off side hits. The radius is smaller so it’s still fun to ride at slower speeds and play.
This board also rides powder so well being long and wide, because of the higher camber you need a bit more speed to pop up onto the surface in lighter pow and yes you need to lift the tail to make an avoidance turn around a tree. But it is honestly so fun to feel the camber flexing in chopped up powder absorbing everything in your path.
The edge grip this board creates while having such a mellow character is testament to how deeply the designer understands snowboarding and board design.
Really hoping there will be smaller sizes available in this board so I can buy one for my partner.
I would say upsize 0-10cm for it to be daily drive carver. Upsize 10-20cm for it be a dedicated carve only.
Hopefully the Nallow and PipeLiner will be made in wide next season so I can complete my Stranda quiver of daily driver, powder and longboard carver. Really stoked to try and carve a larger radius.
Spenser Johnson –
Rider stats:
170 regular width
5’11 / 180lbs (180cm / 81kg)
Size 9 boot
+33/+12 @ 21.75” (55cm) wide
What’s left to write that hasn’t already been said by everyone who knows Mats’ boards? These have something special that sets them apart from most makers on the market. As with every Stranda, you’ll quickly feel the notably smooth, damp, and calm temperament of the ride, as well as the ample edge grip. Although not for a novice, the Cheater is familiar and comfortable in a way that can speak to many riders/weights, even if they’ve never ventured away from a traditional “all mountain” shape in a shorter length. It would be easy to take a look at a board like this, with its silhouette & specs, and immediately assume it’s fairly aggressive. That’s the beauty of the Cheater – it’s easy to cruise on, and doesn’t feel like it’s trying to ride you, yet when you start giving it your input – BAM! It’s a high-speed, bomber board that tackles aggressive riding without flinching. Deep, powerful carves and dynamic riding has rarely felt so stabile and smooth. Given that the average radius is not massive, it’s happy making just about any kind of turn you like, whether shorter and playful or big and powerful (but it does appreciate some momentum in any case). The firm, stabile camber platform & smooth profiling, paired with easy-entry tip, makes for a predictable ride in all conditions. No chatter. Smooth and damp, and not a nervous bone in its body! The primarily ash core & rubber dampening w/ bamboo topsheet feel fantastic together.
Now to the less-discussed aspect of what this board offers. One of my favorite things about it, besides being an amazing carving board (the reason I chose it), is I don’t have to feel limited to riding on piste – at all! The shape & design continues to be super comfortable riding through soft or deep snow. It has plenty of natural float, and feels quite smooth whether in fresh or old/tracked conditions – whatever you have that day. Remaining plenty stout past the front foot keeps it bomber, and prevents any folding in undulating or bumpy terrain – but as it does on groomers, the easy-entry tip keeps it flowing without flinching, where others might send chunder vibrations directly into your legs. Very low deflection with this board. It doesn’t try to buck you around, but rather promotes a delightful & stabile ride in search of clean, strong lines, and is still maneuverable enough for trees and slashes.
You can put as much as you want into this board. Push it all you want! And sometimes, less is more. I can put only a little into the ride, yet get so much out of it. A true freeride deck with a special feeling of comfort that keeps you wanting more, beyond your expectations of a carving design. THIS is a great snowboard, one you can tell was designed by someone who really has an understanding of how everything works together. They are so good, a Stranda will let you know what your other boards don’t have.
Michael P. –
Such a good carver that anyone who can carve at an intermediate level can jump on and have fun. Nose has softer flex then tail. I would say medium stiff nose to a stiff tail. Nothing crazy. Its no plank. The nose is not hooky due to the early rise which keeps the front contact point of the edge out of the snow till you are on edge making your turn, which also makes for easy release back to flat base. You can basically set it up with any stance you would like and have a great time carving this board. You will have the best time double posi stance with a narrow width – but a stubborn duck stance rider could get on this and carve like they have never carved before. The edgehold is great due to the long effective edge. The flex and radius make this board fun to carve on basically any groomed run. It is a very specialized board for me personally, but every time I have jumped on it I have a blast.
justaride –
Pure carving magic!
I’m 176cm tall and weigh 62 kg (5’9.5″, 135 lbs) with 27 years of snowboarding experience, 80 to 100 days a season. My feet measure 28cm (28 Mondopoint) and I usually ride a performance fit boot between US 10 and 11, depending on the brand. I ride the Chetaer 170 Wide with +30/+9 binding angles. The 275mm waist width is more than I need and becomes challenging in bumpy conditions, but the 260mm of the standard size Cheater 170 is simply not enough for the way I carve.
This board is a rare beauty! Usually a 170 with this amount of effectice edge and such an aggressive carving oriented shape comes with a great amount of stiffness and at least a 10m turning radius. If you’ve ever paid attention to turning radii, you know that between 8.5m (Cheater 170) and 10m is a small world of a difference in handling. Most average 160 boards come with about an 8m turning radius, +/- 20cm…. So that’s what everybody is used to. Now here comes the Cheater 170! Packing the effective edge length of a 182 board into a 170 with a very ‘normal/average’ turning radius and a surprisingly mellow flex. The result is a board that when you just stand on it feels fairly big – until it moves! The sidecut just wants to turn! The flex can easily be manipulated by my 62kgs, meaning I can actually bend the board into its turn shape without too much effort. Once on edge, you’re basically surrounded by edge… You’re not standing ‘on’ the board, but more sitting ‘in’ the board. Like biking on a downhill bike with a very raked out fork… That instant sensation of great security at any speed combined with a radius and a flex pattern you don’t have to fight will fill you with so much confidence, that you immediately step up your carving game! The name isn’t lying! It’s a Cheater! It’s too easy….. The camber profile with that flat spot in front of the nose contact point combined with a mild 9mm taper in the tail add to userfriendliness: The board doesn’t ‘hook up’ and releases easily out of turns.
All this is being topped up with that incredible feeling of a mostly ash wood core. It is a bit of a heavier wood, but the vibration dampening it brings to the table is simply incredible. It also stores so much energy through a turn that it boosts you into the next turn right when you release the pressure. The bamboo topsheet adds to the dampening and yes, makes it look very expensive…. As I said in my Shorty review, Stranda bases are not only fast and very highly wax absorbent, they’re also very hard making them impact resistant and a pleasure to scrape after a wax job.
That was a novel! So in short: If you like carving S-turns in absolute control, buy a Cheater! If you want to be surprised by the magic of an easy turning ‘longboard’, buy a Chetaer! If you like bombing down groomers at warp speed, buy a Cheater! If you want to simply experience the highest level of ride quality and own something refreshingly different, buy any Stranda snowboard! They’re all well worth it!
tartopoar –
Amazing board! Mix the edge hold and dampening of the best free carve board with the flotation and manoeuvrability of a good free ride board. This can be a quiver killer as basically you don’t need any other board except if you are a freestyle addict. This board like speed too and feel super trusty under your feet, you will always be in control and confident even in really bad conditions. I want to add also that the quality is top notch. The edges are all around the board, the bamboo top sheet is very resistant and the sole has a really good glide. With the cheater you can’t be disappointed.