If I would have stuck with the first board I really liked (02/03 arbor crossbow) I would have had just as much fun riding the last few years but would be a few thousand richer. Live and learn. I wonder how good the customX really is. Medford local towing

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Very stiff and responsive which makes for an extremely fast and stable ride. You can take a 20 foot drop onto a rock and she will beg for more. Beaumont A/C Repair Service

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The base is fast and resists rocks amazingly well. Option makes a really solid long-lasting product. Engine Diagnostics And Repair

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Vice like edge hold, perfect for size 10-12 feet, even flex and side cut for all conditions, super durable over the long haul

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I have two of these boards, an older 169 and a new 163. Absolutely the best board I have ever ridden, and after 16 years, I have ridden a lot of them. Vice like edge hold, even flex, and perfect side cut for all conditions. I have taken my 169 all over the mountain (including the park) and have been super pleased. The board also is built like a rock. Never blown an edge, compressed a side wall, or lost any camber. I'm not easy on my gear, and this board has held up to it all and still rides nimbly. I only have a little time on my '63 but have already been impressed by it. Buy this board. Option does it right!

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Too many to name...Burton, K2 morrow, nitro, oxygen, lib, gnu, sims, etc etc etc......

Versitality. It's definite strength is freeridning ( groomers, trees, and powder) but it at home on jumps and in the park as well. The base is fast and resists rocks amazingly well. Option makes a really solid long-lasting product.

Perhaps a little wide for those with small feet. I have size 10's so I don't apply.

The Freeplus is a great board that is very versatile and fun to ride. It is smooth at speed and can handle the park and powder well.

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NeverSummer Legacy, Nitro Suprateam, B-line Dually, Allian Babs, M3cap, Nidecker Smoke, etc.

Great control. You can cut through any type of crud on this board and barely even feel it. The sandwich construction gives this board A LOT of stability. Ive used a Burton Custom 156.5 which is similar is size and shape to the Free Plus. It was nice but didnt feel quite as stable. I love the nice simple design of this years board. These boards are durable and will pretty much last you forever. My old Option Free plus had taken many a beating over the past 3 years and still rides great. The reps from Option are really cool and will help out with any product problems/questions. All around a great all-mountain board. The waist is a little wider than some other models of the same length but this is great when riding powder and feels pretty good on the rest of the mountain too. It also gives you a nice surface area to land on when attempting jumps hence making your landing feel really solid (of course you have to actually have to land the jump to experience this feature). I have heard nothing but good things about Option snowboards.

None if your into big mountain freeriding.

What can I say about this board other than it is as close to perfect as you can get. I love,love,love this board. Did I mention I love this board! I actually bought this same board about 3 seasons ago in a 154cm sized and was pretty pleased. When I bought this years 157 I was already expecting good thing and was pleasantly surprised to find that Option had managed to make an already good board even better. This board provides awesome control weather your in powder (my favorite) corn snow, riding groomers (this board will satiate anyones need for speed) or even icy conditions (yuck!). I can just sit back and relax on this board and my riding has actually improved quite a bit this season thanks in part to the Free Plus. After having bought two options, I''m pretty sure this is the brand I will be sticking with for years to come.

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Option Free Plus 1999 model Burton Custom 156.5 2000/2001 model

I dig the understated graphics, though the earlier blazing maple-leaf model was a lot cooler if you''re a Canadian. Company seems to have a good reputation for quality and durability. I keep hearing that, most recently from two different shop owners in Japan, one of whom rides an Option Vinson himself even though his store doesn''t stock them. Made-in-Canada carries a lot of weight with me. I nearly barfed when I saw that post-sellout Limiteds are proudly wearing a Made-in-China label. Nothing against the Chinese, but you don''t see them cleaning up in the Winter Olympics, and just hate the image of some 14-year-old in China tacking together my luxury goods for me for two bucks a day. And if you''re Canadian and all else is equal, why not buy domestic?

I guess if you''re a pipe monkey you already know not to buy this board. The tail sticks out kind of far and sometimes bashes into the wall. Bits of the topsheet have chipped off already and there are rail-guages in the base, but that''s probably my fault.

I was surprised to read the "forgiving flex" thing in the manufacturers'' description, it seems pretty lively to me. It has a very precise feeling to it; suddenly my railslides are all lined up perfectly, I can smoke through gaps in the trees with confidence, and I can hang out on an icy day without worrying about my edge. I''d like to say it''s all skill but the board must have something to do with it. It seems to want to carve wide, sweeping turns, rather than digging in hard. I noticed the tail''s 2 mm wider than my old Limited All-Round, perhaps this is the reason. Not a complaint, really, just a characteristic. It''s actually kind of fun laying down all these short turns that don''t seem to slow me down any. It digs into the ice pretty well on crappy days. Good long tail to soak up the landings in the park when I''m lucky enough to land them that way. Runs pretty fast even three or four days after a wax. It was a toss-up between this or the 166, and I think I chose right because despite the shorter length this board just guzzles powder. (I''m about 75 kg.) Part of my enthusiasm for this board might be because my old board is well past its prime, and I''m going from 7-year-old beater to shiny new springy board. Maybe any new board would have done the job. With that caveat, I do really dig this board.

Similar Products Used:

Limited All-Around 164 Limited LTD one-sixty-something