163……I never thought I’d say that in a million years. Seriously I’m a full on technical riding tree guy who’s always ridden 150’s length tracks. Full tight tree sidehills, treed climbs, boondockin, no open climbs, rarely even meadows, just trees, trees, and more trees on steep slopes, the tighter the better.
You should know that up until buying a Pro 163 2 weeks ago since 2006 I’ve been riding 153 M Sleds (2006, 2009, 2010). So other than riding friends 155 Pro’s here and there my main comparison is to a 153 M chassis. Went with the 163 because they didn’t have a 155 at the time and one friend was willing to trade plus cash his 2013 155 low mile sled if I wanted to stick to a 150’s track and didn’t like the 163 after riding it.
I have 8 full pull days on the sled already (5 deep pow, 1 decent snow, 2 spring like)
I’ve always believed, and die-hard believed that a longer track would make track speed slower on spin up while in the middle of a sidehill when you have to shoot uphill for the next line around trees. I thought sidehilling would be more difficult for me to drop the tail in a super slow techy sidehill, thought it would make a tight $hithook a little bit more difficult. So far not the case at all. Everything I could do on a 153 or friends 155’s I can equally do on a 163.
I ride with 3 other guys on Pro’s all 155’s, all equal technical riders. We are all stone stock. On the deep pow days I’ve experienced so far the 163 is getting around, just a bit better, shoots up just a bit higher when needed, and keeps chugging along when you think you are about to get stuck just a bit longer than the 155’s. It truly has amazed me and I can’t see feeling a need to ride a 150’s length track again. And again, that surprises me and all my ride buds that know me well, I’ve been Mr 153 since I feel in love with technical tree riding. How can one single row of paddles extra make a difference? Seriously, makes no sense to me.
On the trails it still cuts a tight turn around something with no more effort, I’m not backing up and doing a 2 or 3 pointer around anything. I’m not in it for the trails though so I wouldn’t worry if I had to do that once or twice a season anyway, but it’s just fine.
There literally is only a single row more of paddle in the snow between the 163 and 155. I can feel zero downfall to the extra row of paddles poking the snow to the technical maneuvers I do so far in the conditions I’ve had the sled in. And arguably the 4”x15" tracks "extra" float on the snow for the additional 7 lbs of weight a 163 adds (based on claimed dry weight difference between a 155 and a 163 of 417 vs 424) is a detriment. That’s right,,,, a 163 Pro with a claimed 7 lbs more dry weight than a 155 has more lbs/sq in sitting on the snow than a 155. It’s literally splitting hairs for the difference though when you work it out (.08 lbs/sq in more on a 163 so the extra track doesn’t overcome the added 7 lbs… on paper anyway and I included ski’s in this). And .08 lbs/sq in is not something a person can feel. It's just now spread over a more surface so appears to float better.
Whoa, sorry about that, that just got way to much detail but is another reason why I would only ride 150's length tracks.
For jumping, I'm not the worlds biggest jumper. May balls and common sense max me out at the 20-25' drop size jumps, and even then it should be saved for the younger and the shorter tracked sleds. 155 or 163 are not ideal for jumping/dropping and likely adding more track and more rearward weight can make for more chance to have an a$$ first landing more often and more chance for bent tunnels. In the size of drops I do there apparently isn't enough air time though to make a difference. I jump and land the same on my old 153's as I do on the 163, and friends on the 155's do the same thing.
Moral of my story, for the riding I do a 163 will be what I choose from now on...... that being said I wouldn't hesitate for a 155 either because they truly are close enough imo.
And because everything comes down to money in the end final thoughts for me with a 155 and a 163 sitting on the showroom floor if the price difference is:
the same: I'd go 163
~$200-300ish give or take more for a 163: I'd go 163
> $400 more for a 163: I'd go 155
