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Custom burton and its competitors: truth or myth?

6K views 32 replies 14 participants last post by  alasdairm 
#1 ·
It's just a few days I started reading websites and newsgroups, looking for an all mountain board, my first board, reliable and solid, to keep for the next few years, a board which i cant outgrow. A board allowing me to carve precisely and tightly, get fast and being stable at the same time, and also a board able to give me fantastic time off-piste in the powd. I am not interested in park, but from time to time I'd like my board to allow me there.

After reading a bit, I understood the voice is that Burton is overpriced and you dont need to spend so much money for the same quality.

I read a lot of reviews, but the only and only one board without any negative review is ....the Custom indeed. Always 5 star full judgment in any rating.
I was about to pull the trigger on Nitro Team/K2 Podium/K2 Turbodream, but at the end something made me think again...and the Custom name came up again...

So, It's really such a great board? I mean, so greater than others? Better materials? Better something? which are its most likely competitors? Is there any "objective" review you might suggest?
 
#2 ·
Board choices

Burton is a large company and didn't get that way making absolute garbage. Still, many of us (me included) prefer other boards. My recommendation is currently Never Summer and Lib Tech. Never Summer is rock solid and great in deep pow. Lib Tech's magnetraction gives it an edge on ice. I have both and don't want to choose between them. Hopefully on my upcoming Colorado trip, I can try out Venture boards also. Still, I think you'll be happy with NS or Lib Tech's Travis Rice models.
 
#3 ·
Any Burton hater that hates the company for valid reasons only hates them for their business practices.

Of course, 90% of them just hate because that is the cool thing to do.

But... none of the haters deny that the Custom is a very very solid board. Can you get something just as good for cheaper? Yup. Will the price be a huge difference if you get one on sale? Nope.

The moral of the story is... if you are looking to get a current year board, you can certainly find equivalent boards for cheaper. If you are looking at post-season boards, then the price issue becomes much less of a problem.
 
#4 ·
+1 For The Custom

Custom is a solid choice. An all-mountain slay everything from park to pipe, groomers to under the rope pow, and rail gardens to the jumpline. Yes, it's a Burton so you'll be paying a little more for the name (as well as years of tech and a great warrenty). But if you're looking for a do everything board that you can ride for years to come, save your coins and pull the trigger on this deck. And pair it some Cartel bindings.
 
#7 ·
thanks you all. Very clear.
I ride in ....Italy, and I have to get what I can find.

About price difference: now that also other boards are on sale, the price difference between for example the nitro team and the custom is more than 130 euro.

do u think the other boards I listed above are comparable? If they cost all the same, is the Custom the obvious choice?
i found some saying that the Team is the Custom's rival. While some told me that Custom is a bit more than intermediate board.
As you can see, I am now very confused again....:dunno:
 
#8 ·
i bought a custom last season and i love it! i know this is partly because the last board i had was very old and the step up was extremely noticeable, but all in all i love that board. it does everything i ask it to and a few times i've avoided disaster seemingly just cuz the board didn't feel like getting dinged up.
 
#17 ·
LoL.

I don't personally hate on Burton. I'm a business major though so I know how it goes. Would I personally run a business like them? No. My major concern with faulty business practices lies in the mistreatment of employees i.e. Wal-Mart.

My statement comes from the fact that some of the Burton haters actually provide solid arguments against Burton's less-than-ideal business tactics. Facts like Jake Burton Carpenter purchasing the skiboard patent in 1990 in order to try and gain royalties from all snowboard sales regardless of manufacturer.

I put a personal ban on Wal-Mart. Not because of their strong-arm tactics against competitors and suppliers, but because of their blatant mistreatment of their employees. Not one single full-time employee there (below management that is). Why? Full-Time = Benefits, which Wal-Mart does not want to give.

Want to know which company is absolutely outstanding? Costco. The founder capped his own salary to $300,000 a year no matter what. He signed a contract stating so. Why? He feels anything above that is excess. Costco employees have it good too.

If Burton starts to mistreat their employees, then I will stop buying their products. Until then, as long as Shaun White keeps putting out sick outerwear under Burton, I will buy it :D
 
G
#20 ·
so burton sucks because walmart treats its employees poorly? "If Burton starts to mistreat their employees, then I will stop buying their products.". of course. but they don't! you're using something they don't even do to support your argument which devalues it almost entirely...

crazyface at least tried to answer the question. leo, can you give me, say, three specific examples of poor business practices of which burton is guilty? note that, to me, trying to increase brand awareness through marketing or pricing ones products at a premium are not poor business practices.

alasdair
 
#21 ·
What are you talking about alasdair? I'm so confused right now lol. Read through my post, I addressed your question.

Once again, I am not the one that hates Burton. I brought up Wal-Mart because in my mind, they are a prime example of an "evil" company. I talked about how Wal-Mart mistreats their employees because Burton does not. To me, Burton is just doing business. Whether their tactics is less-than-ideal is purely subjective. Like I asked myself, "would I personally run a business like Burton?" No, I wouldn't. I just understand that many companies do what they do.

I already gave you one of the examples that Burton Haters, not me, bring up which is valid. In 1990 Jake Burton purchased the skiboard patent from whoever owned it at the time. He then had his lawyers issue a notice to snowboarding companies to pay Burton royalties under this patent.

Again, just so we are clear. I don't hate Burton. I'm fine with their business practices, although I personally would not run a business like them.

I was trying to explain that the only people who have a valid reason to hate Burton are the ones who absolutely object to their business practices.

Again, it is all subjective. What one person considers fair marketing practices, another might consider shady. There is no way to objectively settle this issue.
 
#25 ·
I just pulled a nose hair out. It really hurt. Now my eyes are tearing up. I'm going to have to wash my hands before I go back to work.

Did you know your body secretes high-activity non-specific exonucleases through every pore, in your saliva, tears, earwax, and mucus as a line of defense against viral attacks? Your saliva and tears also contain high levels of an enzyme called lysozyme which breaks down bacterial cell walls, helping to keep your body safe from infection. :dunno:

So, does anyone have a good topic to talk about?
 
#26 ·
The Custom is a really solid board. Burton makes some good stuff, no doubt. In any binding thread, the Cartels will come up in the first couple of posts.

The thing I don't like about Burton is that they rely too much on their brand name to sell their products. A lot of their entry level stuff is simply not competitively priced when compared to other products that can be had in those price ranges. That Burton logo is adding about a 50% mark up on those products. However, that's just Burton taking advantage of the marketplace. I put more blame on the uneducated masses than I do on Burton for that.

I also don't care for the way Burton tries to "Apple" their products with their ICS system. OK, great you've got a nice board, now guess what - you gotta get Burton bindings too! However, again, that's their right. I just choose not to support them. I like to support local companies when possible and that's a big reason why I'm a huge Never Summer fan. Not to mention that the boards are bullet proof. I've seen too many Lib Techs, Arbors, etc. take significant damage in situations that wouldn't have hardly put a scratch on my NS.
 
#28 ·
i think its stupid to have their current bindings as high as they are, then to see them on brociety a few months later at 95% off. you know their markup is to high and all of the burton bindings i have personally seen (though not every model) have been cheap and junky looking. why try to set a $300 price tag on something so poor that people wait a season for so they can buy it at 75% off? that seems dumb. some companies make it a point to be affordable, burton is not one of them.
 
G
#29 · (Edited)
^ if you think they're products are too expensive, don't buy them. it's that simple.

to leo and others, don't get me wrong - i don't think you are wrong. i respect that you have a difference of opinion and i am trying to understand it.

i think some people here are taking this too personally. just because i disagree that burton is some corporate monster doesn't mean that i think they're the world's most conscientious company or that the libtech or never summer board you ride blows. :)

if burton was making their boards in indonesian sweatshops paying kids $0.20 cents a day or they were destroying the rainforest to make their products, i too would have a problem. but they're not. they're an american company who make their snowboards in america and are doing what any company tries to do through marketing and sales - increase demand for their product and make a profit.

if burton wants to stop sponsoring a specific rider, that's entirely their business and i have no right to know the reasons behind that decision.

do i think it sucks that they tried to create something of a monopoly of burton bindings on burton boards by creating the 3-hole system. sure i do but the market created a solution and i go out and ride every day on my t6 with rome bindings and i love it.

c_mack9, i agree with you that burton bindings look and feel cheap. you know what? i don't buy them...

alasdair
 
#32 ·
but they're not. they're an american company who make their snowboards in america
alasdair
Buuuuuuuuuullshit. :p

Burton outsourced a lot of the lower end to China+others. That's not surprising at all and a bunch of other companies do it as well, but to try to claim they make their snowboards in America is ignoring quite a bit of the picture.

Now, back on topic.
Who has more "talent"? ;)
Ski Bunnies or Snowboard Chicks?
 
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