How to pick a snowboard? out of the loop too long

[trliniar]

I want to buy a new board, boots, bindings but haven't looked around for the last 7 yrs. Not sure what brands are good or what to look for in a snowboard except for length.

I will be using it mostly for general riding, not so much in the snowboard park or for grabbing big air, maybe occasionally but i have no experience in the park.

I have been riding for the last 7yrs so i can snowboard pretty good, looking for something intermediate and up in quality that will last me a couple of years.


At School the snowboard club is sponsored by some brands, so I can choose from these at a discount: Mission, Burton, Nomis, Foursquare, Option, Special Blend, Ride, Forum, K2, Elm Company, Celsius, Venue, Technine, Vans, Split, Protec and some other ones.

Any input will help out alot,

[Pollywog]

Some might disagree, but I'd say for general riding and quality, Burton makes a good mix of the two. Almost all of their products are well priced for the quality, as well the engineering takes a modern approach to the sport. I used to have a coupe of Ride Boards and a Solomon board, and those stood up very well with the usual pre-season/post-season, urban boarding abuse.

[ercchry]

i cant stand burton, their quality has dropped huge in the past few years

out of your list i would go with option, they are canadian and i like their sideway construction.

for what to look for, look at what the base is made of, core should be wood, if edges wrap all the way around, etc

[Boosted Gtir]

k2 is a pretty good brand IMO
never had problems with there stuff

[a social dsease]

From what I've seen, most snowboards are pretty close to the same. Small differences of course, but its not like a car where there are 356868 parts, its a pretty simple design.
I agree with ercchry, check base, core, edges etc. Check the mounting pattern, some are 3hole (burton), 4hole (others), or other system, (slider etc), depends what bindings your running. Also some boards are directional, others are twintip, depends if you want to ride all mountain or park, but all companies make both styles.
Another thing to think of is warranty, I had a good experience with Burton, basically one of the graphics on the base started to peel, I sent the board away and they were awesome in sending me a brand new board, even though my old one was pretty abused (though not where it was peeling). When they called me I told them I was going on a trip to Revy in 3 days, and they even had the new board express shipped to me (costs over $100) just so I had it for the trip. I would recomend Burton for that alone.

[in*10*se]

anyone know where i can get my board waxed... i'm too busy to do it, and was hoping there was aplce to do it for a nominal price

[mr2mike]

http://www.highsnobiety.com/uploads/RTEmagicC_burton-love-payboy.jpg.jpg

Just buy one of those snowboards

http://www.highsnobiety.com/news/2008/02/11/burton-love-series-snowboards/

[Gondi Stylez]

K2 Turbo Dream!!! GAME, SET, MATCH :bigpimp:

I'm rockin' that this season :thumbsup:

[dimi]

Pick the one with the coolest graphic....

Seriously though, don't get a burton. Libtechs w/ magnetraction are good boards. I'm giving Rome a try since they are made in Austria w/ 2 year warranty including rails, so I'll be out trying to destroy it. Out of the ones you have listed though I would lean towards Option and K2, in a mid stiffness. I also prefer a twin board but that is up to the user and what kind of snowboarding you prefer to do. Depending on how tall you are, don't get a very long board. In my experience shorter boards are more fun all around (except deep powder of course). Good Luck

[cam_wmh]

WHere to begin... well I'll just remark each of the manufacturers mentioned thus far.

Option has had to cut corners, and downsize - NO! to them. They closed shop on NFA, have had their 'buying' drastically cut where some of the top shops have replaced them with "other" Canadian companies, such as StepChild & Capita.

Salomon/Rossignol/K2.. etc; are ski companies. I thought you're buying a snowboard? support them then!

Forum = years previous Burton.

Burton makes great product, I'm personally completely against them due to some pretty lame personnel decisions over the past decade.

I rode the last half of last season on a DC Devun Walsh. It was mediocre.

I am on a Lib Tech Skate Banana. Mervin, the parent company of Lib Tech & GNU, has introduced some rather revolutionary ideas to snowboarding --- there's the serated edges, "MagneTraction" that's been around a few years, that even big name ski companies are trying to bite this.

Then they introduced Reverse camber to the board, helping with it's pop.

This was the favorite snowboard in the Snowboard magazines yearly product reviews that are on the shelves at the moment. This shit is the real deal.

LOL, good luck finding one tho. For the second season in a row, they're sold out (to shops - no outstanding stock).

As far as your remaining gear.. Bindings & Boots.
Bindings, now-a-days are like blowjobs, even when they're bad, they're still pretty good. I'm rollin on Unions. meh, they do the job

Boots on the other hand are your most important part of your kit. Start here. Ensure you have 1:1 sizing (some manufactures don't make legitimate 1/2 sizes). Buy from a reputable boot manufacturer.
32, DC, Burton, Vans <-- that's it, just those 4! Those are surefire.
wildcards are Celsius, Deeluxe, Ride, Rome,... Nike
Personally I took a gamble on some NIKES.. Although I may revert back to 32.


Hope this helps.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by trliniar



At School the snowboard club is sponsored by some brands, so I can choose from these at a discount: Mission, Burton, Nomis, Foursquare, Option, Special Blend, Ride, Forum, K2, Elm Company, Celsius, Venue, Technine, Vans, Split, Protec and some other ones.

Any input will help out alot,

The Snowboard Club is having the gear sale tomorrow in Mac Hall at 10:00AM Last year's clearance stuff for cheap, it's worth checking out but the good deals clear out pretty fast.

[trliniar]

Waw, thanks for all the responses guys. I really appreciate it. It gives me an idea of what brands i should be looking for. I will check out the snowboard sale after class, i finish at 11:15, so hopefully there are still some good deals left at around 11:30

by the way right now ive got K2 bindings with 1 broken strap, on a white elephant board, with killer loop boots. lol... im in major need of an upgrade...

thanks for all the awesome info everyone. cam_wmh thanks for the detail

[mazdavirgin]

Cheap boards... Get them while the deal is still in effect :)
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=646369

Just bought some googles and glover off there myself.

[elesdee]

Ride and Rome make boards with the fattest edges. I prefer these cause they won't crack on trees, rocks, or rails. And when they do crack, they stay together, rather than peeling apart like shitty Burton edges.

Also, very important to me, is that the edge is a one piece strip of steel wrapping around. Not two pieces.

I would stay away from die-cut bases because in my experience the shit delaminates.

For all-around riding make sure your board is not too stiff, nor too soft. Too stiff will make your legs tired on bumpy/icy terrain. Too soft, you won't be able to ride powder, and lose control at high speed.

[RoGZ]

what's your budget? if u need an entire setup that might be a limiting factor. I'd spend the cash on good boots first.

[trliniar]

Just checked out the snowboard sale at Uofc

Option boards are from 120-150
they have some arbor boards, there was:
westmark i think it was called going for 320,
and the Arbor Draft the guy said going for 280...

I liked the design of the draft but the guy said its more park, and bindings are centered, said thats not what i want for freeriding, that i should get the westmark which is directional double tip, but i didnt like the design with machine guns on it and it was scuffed up

The burton boards there were pretty beat up so didnt look at those

[rockwolf2001]

^ ^
furthermore at the UofC sale, you must be a snowboard club member to look at the sale
and on your membership, you receive one free wax when you present your member card

just thought i would let everyone know!

[LongCity]

Originally posted by cam_wmh
WHere to begin... well I'll just remark each of the manufacturers mentioned thus far.

Option has had to cut corners, and downsize - NO! to them. They closed shop on NFA, have had their 'buying' drastically cut where some of the top shops have replaced them with &quot;other&quot; Canadian companies, such as StepChild &amp; Capita.

Salomon/Rossignol/K2.. etc; are ski companies. I thought you're buying a snowboard? support them then!

Forum = years previous Burton.

Burton makes great product, I'm personally completely against them due to some pretty lame personnel decisions over the past decade.

I rode the last half of last season on a DC Devun Walsh. It was mediocre.

I am on a Lib Tech Skate Banana. Mervin, the parent company of Lib Tech &amp; GNU, has introduced some rather revolutionary ideas to snowboarding --- there's the serated edges, &quot;MagneTraction&quot; that's been around a few years, that even big name ski companies are trying to bite this.

Then they introduced Reverse camber to the board, helping with it's pop.

This was the favorite snowboard in the Snowboard magazines yearly product reviews that are on the shelves at the moment. This shit is the real deal.

LOL, good luck finding one tho. For the second season in a row, they're sold out (to shops - no outstanding stock).

As far as your remaining gear.. Bindings &amp; Boots.
Bindings, now-a-days are like blowjobs, even when they're bad, they're still pretty good. I'm rollin on Unions. meh, they do the job

Boots on the other hand are your most important part of your kit. Start here. Ensure you have 1:1 sizing (some manufactures don't make legitimate 1/2 sizes). Buy from a reputable boot manufacturer.
32, DC, Burton, Vans &lt;-- that's it, just those 4! Those are surefire.
wildcards are Celsius, Deeluxe, Ride, Rome,... Nike
Personally I took a gamble on some NIKES.. Although I may revert back to 32.


Hope this helps.

Nike?! Already? I thought they were just coming out?

[ZorroAMG]

I am a Lib Techy....love them.

[Spoons]

I picked up a whole new setup this year, got it for cheap too.

Picked up last years Technine MFM-Pro binding for 140 dollars and a pair of Vans Flyaway boots for 130 at the sample sale at U of C.

I then ran down to The Source and picked up a Capita Stairmaster Extreme... Fuck the board is so light and poppy, can't wait to ride it.

[cam_wmh]

Originally posted by LongCity


Nike?! Already? I thought they were just coming out?

Yep, two new big players.. NIKE boots, & even DC Boards. Both seem to be dialed.

Althouuuuuuuuuuuugh.. I just 180'd on the NIKES. I ordered some 32 Fruit Boots.

Yep. They're called Fruit Boots. Fruit Boots.

They look like ski boots. It's for the luls.

[trliniar]

bump an old thread...

whats everyones setup this yr? any good deals out there yet?

[James Winz]

Libtechs are pretty good for boards. Just remember make sure you spend your money on boots because that is what is going to make your ride the most comfortable.

[trliniar]

sportckek has the K2 Zepplin on sale this week. 449 to 279, and $20 off if you order online. Just wondering what this board is like?

the guy told me its a really good one to choose, that it has 3 V shapes of some sort in the base???

K2 Zepplin $449 Now $279 (http://www.sportchek.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=3724151)