SkullandBonesSkateboards.com Forum Index
SkullandBonesSkateboards.com Forum Index  »  SNOWBOARDS  »  Shopping for a new board
 Post new topic   Reply to topic
Page 1 of 4    Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

Shopping for a new board

Author Message
BillyBonebrake
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:20 am Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 7513 Location: The Institute
I'm thinking about the Lib Tech Travis Rice with magne traction (the 165). But I'm also intrigued by the Donek freeride boards. And the Rome Anthem. The Burton Malalo. So many choices.

Any suggestions out there for an all-mountain rider?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
theGONZfather
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:44 am Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 5024 Location: GONZO CUNTRY
BillyBonebrake wrote:
I'm thinking about the Lib Tech Travis Rice with magne traction (the 165). But I'm also intrigued by the Donek freeride boards. And the Rome Anthem. The Burton Malalo. So many choices.

Any suggestions out there for an all-mountain rider?


I heard the banana board from Lib is one of the best boards ever.

Travis Rice' model comes with magne traction and banana.

Rome = practically Burton = must be good.

Donek?

Ride Volkl!

_________________
"no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that."
View user's profile Send private message
auragreg
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:09 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 2382 Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
I am a Bataleon convert. It's COMPLETELY different board. I wasnt sold at first. It takes a while to get used to it.

Then I took one out last year. I rode a regular board for an hour, then a Bataleon. I fell in love with it. It's like a CONSTANT carve.

I just got a STEAL on a 2008 Jam 161 from ebay. I'm not thrilled on the graphics, but it's a great board.

Give one a demo - but give it a few hours. Then jump on a regular board. And see what you like better. Ride em back to back - that way you'll really feel the difference.

Other than Bataleon - check out Arbor . They have GREAT boards. And they look completely different than anything else. Their use of bamboo is really good. AND they have AWESOME bases.

Palmer is pretty cool too. Most hi-tech boards out there. Fast bases.

I jumped ship from Burton years ago. In my opinion, they lost their roots. You can get a better board from a smaller company.

Just for reference - I started snowboarding on a 165 Burton Cruiser (split tail) in 1988 ... I'm 33, 6' tall, 190 lbs. Mostly a freeride guy. Got into racing boarder-x 3 years ago. Was on the ski patrol (on a board) for 10 years. I ride Flow bindings. +21 degrees front -19 degrees back.

_________________
I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you. But you were born to rub me first.

Support skateboard art/artists: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BurbSkateboards
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
BillyBonebrake
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:08 am Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 7513 Location: The Institute
I like Donek because its a small shop that builds custom, to a degree. They can do a clear top sheet which I think is rad looking, but they're also into carve/race boards and come from that side of things. I spend most of my time carving, trees, hitting jumps, and surfing the shoulders. I'm going with a Donek freeride board.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
auragreg
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:43 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 2382 Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
I just checked out Donek ... pretty cool - especially being a small company. Not many are still making carving boards anymore. Looks like they are pretty hi-tech too. I like their clear top sheets. And they've been around for 20 years!

It's tough to choose a small company. You never really know what you're getting into unless you've ridden one.

Let us know how it rides.

_________________
I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you. But you were born to rub me first.

Support skateboard art/artists: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BurbSkateboards
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
BillyBonebrake
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:42 am Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 7513 Location: The Institute
Its tough choosing a snowboard, period. I'm not out enough to take the time to demo anything.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
eric_4380
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:36 am Reply with quote
Joined: 06 Sep 2002 Posts: 116 Location: Oceanside, CA
First off........Flow bindings suck. Period. End of story. Step-ins do too.

Secondly..........Burton still makes amazing boards. Some people arn't into them and that's fine with me. The difference between a biggger skate company and a bigger snow company is HUGE. Smaller skate co's usually have superior product and rely on that versus a bunch of bullshit marketing. Smaller snowboard companies usually hype up their stuff and make junk. I always support the "little guys" for skate product. The difference being that you need more resources (ie. money) to constantly be devolping new technology. Burton, for example, spends a LOT of $$$ on R&D, testing, product devolpment, etc..... And as far as "losing their roots", Jake basically took an entire year off last year to do nothing but RIDE. I think that's rad.

Third......... Rome boards are good. They don't really make exactly what your looking for, but if you ever get the chance.........hop on the Mod.

Fourth.........Lib has always made good boards. They make skis now, and that sucks, but they do good stuff over there. I've never ridden a magnatraction board in powder, but I've ridden them in the park and I'm into it. Also, after the buy out, I think they're doing Rossignol boards with magnatraction. That's lame too..........but again, I think it works well.

Fiftth..........Palmer boards are waaaaaay overpriced. A perfect example of needing more resources if your trying to push the envelope.

Sixth........... Arbor boards arn't my cup of tee at all. Some people are really into them. I'm not. They seem to be built well though.

Seventh.......I've never been on a Bataleon board, but I've heard good things from the few people I know that have been on them.

Eighth........At the end of the day, there is a bunch of good product out there. It's really worth it to demo some stuff and go from there. If you don't have the chance, a good shop can narrow down your options based on riding style, ability, shoe size, weight, etc.....


-Eric

And.........auragreg..........why might a "mostly freeride guy" like yourself ride such a ridiculously ducked stance???
View user's profile Send private message
auragreg
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:21 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 2382 Location: Highland, Michigan, USA, Earth
eric_4380 wrote:
First off........Flow bindings suck. Period. End of story. Step-ins do too.

Secondly..........Burton still makes amazing boards. Some people arn't into them and that's fine with me. The difference between a biggger skate company and a bigger snow company is HUGE. Smaller skate co's usually have superior product and rely on that versus a bunch of bullshit marketing. Smaller snowboard companies usually hype up their stuff and make junk. I always support the "little guys" for skate product. The difference being that you need more resources (ie. money) to constantly be devolping new technology. Burton, for example, spends a LOT of $$$ on R&D, testing, product devolpment, etc..... And as far as "losing their roots", Jake basically took an entire year off last year to do nothing but RIDE. I think that's rad.



-Eric

And.........auragreg..........why might a "mostly freeride guy" like yourself ride such a ridiculously ducked stance???


About the Flow bindings .. to each their own. I find for my 33 year old self that sitting on the snow to put bindings on is a pain in the ass. I think they are super comfortable and responsive. Plus the runs here are so short the by the time my strap-in buddies finally strap in, I am half way down ... I get more runs in. Plus, once I get the bindings dialed in, I never have to adjust them. I can't count how many times I see strap-in guys playing with their bindings on the way down the hill. I get the same binding feel EVERY run. It's very consistant.

In regards to Burton losing their roots ... I opened a skate/snowboard shop. Burton WOULD NOT SELL TO ME until I was in business for 3 years. The rep wouldnt even give me the time of day. BUT, anyone can buy their product at Dicks Sporting goods, or a Golf shop, or a ski shop, or online. Burton was first carried in Skate shops. I bought my first Burton in 1988 from a skate shop. Not a ski shop, not a sporting goods shop. A SKATE shop. The small shops backed up Burton for years. But now, Burton is such a bohemoth that they won't let a little guy like me carry their product. Here I was, a guy that believed in their product, knew their product for years, and wanted to sell it, and they wouldnt let me. I was the only one for a 15 mile radius. I had tons of people that would walk in a say "do you have Burton?" I would say "no", and before I could say anything else, they would leave.

As far as R&D ... they do a lot of R&D, but they also do a lot of things to make themselves exclusive. Did you know that for a binding manufacturer to make a 3 hole pattern disc for their binding, that the manufacturer has to BUY the pattern from Burton?!!?? SO a binding can't even be compatible without the binding shelling out some $$ to Burton. No other Board company does that.

And why would one of their top bindings get recalled and consistantly break for almost everyone I talked to? The T6 board was notorious for breaking. People assume that becasue it says Burton on it that it's good. My point is that there are many other brands out there that are just as good or better.

And Jake can take a year off because he's rollin in the $$$ ... of course he would take a year off to ride. We all would in that position... has nothing to do with roots.

So why would Transworld always rate Burton so high?? I talked with a rep about how Transworld tests their boards. It's a joke. The riders get like one run, and test as many boards as they can thru the day. The boards are branded so you can instantly have an idea before you even ride it. A lot of people trust the Transworld test. In my opinion, it's not a good test.

I had many Burtons throughout my riding history. I liked their product. But after riding other stuff and having to try to deal with them, I'm not going to support them anymore.

And don't get me started about ski companies making snowboards ... K2 wanted me to write a paper about why my shop was "good enough" to carry their boards. Yeah right.

About my stance. When I started - you had hardly no choice of stance angles. So I started at +15, 0. Once bindings and setups got better I found that I liked my back foot angled back a little - was easier on my knees. So I gradually progressed up to where I am. Duck stance just feels good. And I can ride switch if I want to. I call myself a freeride guy because I like to ride everything. I like to carve, hit jumps, do powder, race boarder cross, play in the park .... duck stance is the most rounded stance. I know a lot of guys that race do the forward angle thing, but that just dosent feel right to me. I've been riding the low stance angles for too long. I've tried it, and I like the duck stance.

whew...

_________________
I was born to love you. I was born to lick your face. I was born to rub you. But you were born to rub me first.

Support skateboard art/artists: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BurbSkateboards
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
theGONZfather
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 6:33 pm Reply with quote
ORDER OF THE SKULL ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 5024 Location: GONZO CUNTRY
Uh, all these words are making me woozy

_________________
"no one gives a shit about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that."
View user's profile Send private message
eric_4380
Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:57 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 06 Sep 2002 Posts: 116 Location: Oceanside, CA
Don't get me started about Dicks, MC, etc...... Our shop has been doing Burton for 23-24 years. It's a kick in the balls. But just like every other shoe, clothing etc.... company is in the mall. Damn near every bigger snowboard company is at a chain sporting goods store. Look at Sims for christ sake. They are a chain exclusive now.

As far as shit breaking. I've been managing a shop for 7+ years as well as working at another shop part-time before that. I can count on one hand how many of the 500+ Burton boards we sell a year come back. There HAVE been years were they had a problem with something and we saw a few more come back and they ALWAYS backed it up 100%.

I don't know what the deal is with the 3 year rule, but a LOT of companies have similiar stuff. The rep has been a good friend of mine for years (I'm in Michigan too) and actually used to have my job 15+ years ago. I'm sure he wasn't singling you out. Most skate/snow companies want you to bring in enough product to represent the brand well. For skate co's it's no big deal. You can drop $1000-$1500 and have a good representation of products. For snow stuff it's obviously a lot more expensive and companies don't want to take the risk on a new shop. It sucks, but everybody knows the first few years are tough (with any business).

Uhhhh......I DO know about the 3 hole pattern liscensing. It's good business. And the truth is, good or bad, there is not a ton of other bindings that people WANT to put on a Burton board. I still believe Flow bindings are shit. What is somebody gonna put on a T6??? Bent Metal bindings? Give me a break.

And finally..........this is god damn retarded. Why did I even post in the snow forum??? I snow-slide about a 10th as much as I skate. I'm gonna go have a beer now. Nothing personal against you on any of that shit. But...........Flow bindings still suck. HAHA.

-Eric

PS - If I had as much money as Jake, I'd take a year off and live in a house built of cocaine with a bunch of strippers. .......and ride them.
View user's profile Send private message
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Page 1 of 4    Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
All times are GMT - 5 Hours
The time now is Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:26 am
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum