REVscene Automotive Forum - View Single Post

skiiipi · 01-19-2011, 12:17 AM

Vangruver's post is definately accurate from a technical stand point, but since you are more of a beginner i would offer my 2 cents.

Boots:
Definately most important part of the set up as its the part thats touching your body. Whats more important than the "quality of boot" is the fit. Make sure you are getting a boot thats not too big. And your heel doesnt lift when you are flexing the boot. Good fit should be that when you are standing up stright, your toes should touch the front, and when you bend your knees, your toes will feather the front of the boot. (it is crucial that your toes are still able to gentally touch the front of the boot with your knees bent). Remember that the snowboard boot will be the smallest when its in the store, and will pack out anywhere from 4-9mm, so buying a boot that fits "comfortable" in the store means that it will probably pack out to be just a bit too big.

The next important thing with snowboard boots (and ski boots), is the footbed, manufactures dont spend a lot of $ on the footbed, and the stock footbed offers little or no support (even the harshmellow footbed used in higher end K2 boots). Custom footbed is obviously the best way to go if $ is not an issue, if you want to keep the price down, Superfeet is a great option. A good boot fitter will be able to choose a good footbed for you, but a general rule of thumb is that a flexiable arch requires more support, while a ridgid arch requires less support.

The other factor to look at when determing flex is not just your weight/ability but the flexibility of your ankle (dorsi-flexion). If you have a limited range of motion in your ankle, you will require a stiffer boot and probably a heel wedge/lift of some sort and also a boot with less inital forward cant. If you have a hybermobol (overly-flexiable) range of motion in your ankle, you again want a stiffer boot. Once again a good boot fitter will be able to determine this for you as well. Just dont get a soft boot just because your a beginner, as thats not always the case.

Lacing systems is mostly personal preferance, I personally prefer traditional lacing as you are able to ultize lacing tricks such as the pretzel or double pretzel to get more ankel hold, and you can also create your own custom zoning on traditional laces. Boa lacing is definately getting more and more popular in North America, if you do decide to go with Boa, I reccomend K2 or Ride, as they offer a "life time" warrenty on their boa system. (not sure with other brands, I know Head doesnt offer this warrenty on their boa, i know they all use the BOA brand, but my understanding is K2/Ride has a special agreement with Boa to warrenty the system for the lifetime of the boot). Personally I'm not a fan of Burton's speed lacing system, and if you were to go with burton I'd reccomend a tradtional lace.

Binding:
One of the most important thing to look for with the binding is if it fits the boot. Certain brands just dont mix well, a brand with a "big/wide" outer boot will not fit in a brand of binding with a narrow heel cup. Burton/Fourm design thier boots to work "best" with their own binding as they alter the forward lean of the boot slightly to fit the natrual unadjusted forward lean better for their own brand of binding. But usually you cannot go wrong with matching the binding brand to the boot brand.

Material wise, it depends on which rep you talk to. Burton choose to go with a poly-carbonate (plastic) material as they can alter the stiffness of the material easier and create a binding to better suit the purpose. Basically the point in which burton's plastic breaks is the same point aluminum bends. Nylon/Poly-Carbonate will have better dampening properties, which means it will ride smoother and be easier on the joints when you are just starting out. However, a good aluminum binding will have extra foam padding on the base and highback to dampen the vibration. Again fit is the most important thing in this catagory.

Most bindings are universal, almost all bindings will have plates that will fit the Burton 3D pattern, and some even have plates that will fit the channel mount as well. However if you do decide to go for a Burton Channel board, I reccomend you to go with a EST binding for optimal results.

Board:
Vangruver covered the technical aspect of the board, so I wont go too much into it, but instead I'll touch more on fit/size/baseline profile.

When you are starting out, do not go too tall on a board, the shorter the board the easier it is to turn, and learn tricks. However dont go too short either. Weight is the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to length, the board only knows how much you weigh and has no idea how tall you are. For a beginner, usually if you are average height for your weight, I reccomend a board thats between your chin to lips, if you are lighter for your weight you can go from chest to chin, and if you are heavier from lip to eyebrow. Again your "style" will affect what size you choose as well, but the above is a good gauge for a beginner/intermediate freerider.

The exception to the rule is the K2 "Jib Nose" (Not sure if another brand uses a similar technology with a differance name) where they shave 2.5cm off the tip and tail of the board while maintaining a effetive edge of 5cm longer....the sales person should point this out if the board has this feature. This is great for park riders, as it allows them to reduce the swing weight without losing edge length.

Do not go for a wide board unless your footsize dictates it, unlike skis, there are no real benifits.

Rocker vs Camber? while for starters, most company offers a Rocker that takes away the "catch zone" of a traditionally cambered board (K2 Catch free rocker, Burton EZ-V Rocker etc). This will drastically make the learning process easier. I would reccomend against going with a full Rockered/Reversed camber board like the Fourm Chillidog Rocker, or a Banana rocker for beginners as I find it takes away the edge hold confidence when carving.

Construction, Cap vs Sidewall.
Cap
Pro: Lighter, more flexible
Cons: Harder to repair if Cap was to crack, not as good edge hold.

Sidewall:
Pro: More durable, better edge hold
Cons: Heavier

Most higher price point boards are going to be sidewall construction. K2 does offer the "best of both world" in their "Hybridtech" construction where they use Sidewall under foot and tip and tail Cap construction, this allows the board to have a lighter tip and tail for reduced swing weight, and a softer tip and tail for easier initiation and exiting of turns.

If you have to choose one over the other, i would reccomend Sidewall construction.

As you can see, my post is a lot less technical than Vangruvers, however my reccomendation is to find a shop that spends more than FITTING than selling. there are plenty of good boards on the market that would be good for a beginner/intermediate rider of all kinds, but the best board/boot/binding is ones that fits best.

01-19-2011, 12:17 AM	#18
skiiipi My homepage has been set to RS Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 2,327 Thanked 1,645 Times in 446 Posts Failed 19 Times in 10 Posts	Vangruver's post is definately accurate from a technical stand point, but since you are more of a beginner i would offer my 2 cents. Boots: Definately most important part of the set up as its the part thats touching your body. Whats more important than the "quality of boot" is the fit. Make sure you are getting a boot thats not too big. And your heel doesnt lift when you are flexing the boot. Good fit should be that when you are standing up stright, your toes should touch the front, and when you bend your knees, your toes will feather the front of the boot. (it is crucial that your toes are still able to gentally touch the front of the boot with your knees bent). Remember that the snowboard boot will be the smallest when its in the store, and will pack out anywhere from 4-9mm, so buying a boot that fits "comfortable" in the store means that it will probably pack out to be just a bit too big. The next important thing with snowboard boots (and ski boots), is the footbed, manufactures dont spend a lot of $ on the footbed, and the stock footbed offers little or no support (even the harshmellow footbed used in higher end K2 boots). Custom footbed is obviously the best way to go if $ is not an issue, if you want to keep the price down, Superfeet is a great option. A good boot fitter will be able to choose a good footbed for you, but a general rule of thumb is that a flexiable arch requires more support, while a ridgid arch requires less support. The other factor to look at when determing flex is not just your weight/ability but the flexibility of your ankle (dorsi-flexion). If you have a limited range of motion in your ankle, you will require a stiffer boot and probably a heel wedge/lift of some sort and also a boot with less inital forward cant. If you have a hybermobol (overly-flexiable) range of motion in your ankle, you again want a stiffer boot. Once again a good boot fitter will be able to determine this for you as well. Just dont get a soft boot just because your a beginner, as thats not always the case. Lacing systems is mostly personal preferance, I personally prefer traditional lacing as you are able to ultize lacing tricks such as the pretzel or double pretzel to get more ankel hold, and you can also create your own custom zoning on traditional laces. Boa lacing is definately getting more and more popular in North America, if you do decide to go with Boa, I reccomend K2 or Ride, as they offer a "life time" warrenty on their boa system. (not sure with other brands, I know Head doesnt offer this warrenty on their boa, i know they all use the BOA brand, but my understanding is K2/Ride has a special agreement with Boa to warrenty the system for the lifetime of the boot). Personally I'm not a fan of Burton's speed lacing system, and if you were to go with burton I'd reccomend a tradtional lace. Binding: One of the most important thing to look for with the binding is if it fits the boot. Certain brands just dont mix well, a brand with a "big/wide" outer boot will not fit in a brand of binding with a narrow heel cup. Burton/Fourm design thier boots to work "best" with their own binding as they alter the forward lean of the boot slightly to fit the natrual unadjusted forward lean better for their own brand of binding. But usually you cannot go wrong with matching the binding brand to the boot brand. Material wise, it depends on which rep you talk to. Burton choose to go with a poly-carbonate (plastic) material as they can alter the stiffness of the material easier and create a binding to better suit the purpose. Basically the point in which burton's plastic breaks is the same point aluminum bends. Nylon/Poly-Carbonate will have better dampening properties, which means it will ride smoother and be easier on the joints when you are just starting out. However, a good aluminum binding will have extra foam padding on the base and highback to dampen the vibration. Again fit is the most important thing in this catagory. Most bindings are universal, almost all bindings will have plates that will fit the Burton 3D pattern, and some even have plates that will fit the channel mount as well. However if you do decide to go for a Burton Channel board, I reccomend you to go with a EST binding for optimal results. Board: Vangruver covered the technical aspect of the board, so I wont go too much into it, but instead I'll touch more on fit/size/baseline profile. When you are starting out, do not go too tall on a board, the shorter the board the easier it is to turn, and learn tricks. However dont go too short either. Weight is the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to length, the board only knows how much you weigh and has no idea how tall you are. For a beginner, usually if you are average height for your weight, I reccomend a board thats between your chin to lips, if you are lighter for your weight you can go from chest to chin, and if you are heavier from lip to eyebrow. Again your "style" will affect what size you choose as well, but the above is a good gauge for a beginner/intermediate freerider. The exception to the rule is the K2 "Jib Nose" (Not sure if another brand uses a similar technology with a differance name) where they shave 2.5cm off the tip and tail of the board while maintaining a effetive edge of 5cm longer....the sales person should point this out if the board has this feature. This is great for park riders, as it allows them to reduce the swing weight without losing edge length. Do not go for a wide board unless your footsize dictates it, unlike skis, there are no real benifits. Rocker vs Camber? while for starters, most company offers a Rocker that takes away the "catch zone" of a traditionally cambered board (K2 Catch free rocker, Burton EZ-V Rocker etc). This will drastically make the learning process easier. I would reccomend against going with a full Rockered/Reversed camber board like the Fourm Chillidog Rocker, or a Banana rocker for beginners as I find it takes away the edge hold confidence when carving. Construction, Cap vs Sidewall. Cap Pro: Lighter, more flexible Cons: Harder to repair if Cap was to crack, not as good edge hold. Sidewall: Pro: More durable, better edge hold Cons: Heavier Most higher price point boards are going to be sidewall construction. K2 does offer the "best of both world" in their "Hybridtech" construction where they use Sidewall under foot and tip and tail Cap construction, this allows the board to have a lighter tip and tail for reduced swing weight, and a softer tip and tail for easier initiation and exiting of turns. If you have to choose one over the other, i would reccomend Sidewall construction. As you can see, my post is a lot less technical than Vangruvers, however my reccomendation is to find a shop that spends more than FITTING than selling. there are plenty of good boards on the market that would be good for a beginner/intermediate rider of all kinds, but the best board/boot/binding is ones that fits best.