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Need advice on first board

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Riley212 
#1 · (Edited)
I have decided to get my own board and need some advice on what to buy.

I am 6'2 and 240 and wear size 13 so I clearly need a wide, probably around 167 with a waist between 260 to 270. I want to buy something that will help my turns. I have used rentals and turns are a chore. In fact everything is a chore in a rental!

I will primairly be using it at parks. I would love to eventually go in deep powder but that is not anytime soon.

So from my research I am thinking rocker, soft flex, twin, wide, around 167, 260 to 270 waist, and then anything else to help with turns. I like the idea of Magnetraction but I have read that*libtec is not very durable. Maybe because the edge isnt metal wrapped? Anyway, any advice is greatly appreciated. Also I dont want to break the bank so I am open to all ideas.
 
#4 ·
Hi Kiger,

STOKED that you are getting a new deck!

First off, you do not want a soft deck at 240 lbs as you are looking for better control in turns on groomers. You want a board that is on the firm side that will stand up to your weight and maintain its shape. A soft board (actually most boards) will distort heavily under 240 lbs of load and will not have the correct resulting shape or proper edge contact to allow you to turn effectively.

2nd, Don't bail on wavy edges (magnetraction) if you want to check them out - and they are very useful for big guys in your situation. Mervin (Gnu, Libtech, Roxy) make boards that are right up there with the other top builders in terms of warranty rate (very low). The boards all do have full metal edges and they are tucked into the core after the contact points which (if anything) makes them stronger. The only portion of the boards which are not wrapped are the last few inches of tip and tail and that is done to ease repair if tip damage from hard impact does occur.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Thanks for the advice guys and Riley, I really like the list!

So out of the four which is the best park board? I think they all look good but narrowed it down to sabotage and carbon credit (stats from thegoodride):

Gnu Carbon credit
(+) Cost: 279 for 2013 in 165
(+) edge hold 5/5
(+) turn initiation 4/5
(+) uneven terrain 4/5
(-) carving 2/5
(-) speed 2/5
(-) on snow feel 2/5

salomon sabotage
(?) Max length 161
(+) on snow feel 4/5
(+) edge hold 4/5
(+) carving 4/5
(+) speed 4/5
(~) uneven terrain 3/5
(~) turn initiation 3/5

I am not going to be jumping, jibbing, piping, etc until I drop some weight. I'm not fat by any means and have good muscle but could still stand to lose 20 pounds. Also, I don't expect any deep powder, mostly groomed runs. So any of these variables don't matter to me at the moment.

Stability.
When I'm going down the groomed park sometimes a rough patch gets somewhat unstable, so this is an uneven terrain factor right?. Also I think when going faster the board wobbles a bit and it takes a lot of energy (tires me out) trying to maintain it, so this is a on snow feel factor?

Turns
A bigger board means everything takes more effort and energy. A board with good turn initiation means my body can make the board move into a turn with less energy, right?

Edge Hold
It looks like the carbon credit takes the cake because of magnetraction but the salomon isn't far behind. I have been on some craptastic groomed slopes that seemed like hard packed ice.

Summary
I think it comes down to Salomon Sabotage or GNU CCredit. Is the Sabotage at 161 too small for me though? Of the two, given the above, what do you think I should pick? I simply can't decide...
 
#7 ·
Big careful trusting thegoodride. They rate based on product descriptions it seems.

So your 240, but plan to lose 20 lbs. I wouldn't say that makes or breaks any size choice, but it would make me tend to pick on the shorter side if I was thinking between sizes. And if your truly wanting park, that says small side also.

Given all that, I'm thinking your a 165w.

Also with your weight (I've learned this as well), whatever it says on stiffness, assume it will ride one level softer. IE, medium = soft, stiff = medium! and soft = broken. Same for boots.

Oh, and ANYTHING you get will make EVERYTHING better than standard rentals.
 
#8 ·
Awesome advice!

Well, I picked up the carbon credit 165 (blem but I don't care) for $265 and got a pair of burton ruler size 14 for $150 from evo bfriday sale (hope they fit)!

As for bindings, I think I've settled on Burton Custom Re: Flex.
 
#11 ·
When you get your new deck, let me know what you think. I'm looking at the carbon credit as well but if performance is drastically decreased from the skate banana, I'll just buy the skate banana for ~$90 more... I know its good at jibbing, but how do you think it carves and how stable at high speeds is it
 
#12 ·
I have used my board four days now and it's great. I haven't used a non-rental straight edge board so I can't really compare. But on hard pack it's fantastic. At high speeds it feels completely locked in and is very stable. This past weekend I was in some powder and I didn't feel as locked in as on hard pack. It might be due to my inexperience in powder but it also might be the board. I really don't know. But I don't see why a wavy edge would be "less" locked in on powder than a straight edge. So I'll chalk up to up my inexperience on powder.

Also, in regards to the comments from others regarding boots, yeah, I got the wrong size. :laugh: I went to my local shop and realized my true size for boots is a 12 which is super snug but after packing out they feel great. Very little heal lift. I was able to return the size 14's no problem.
 
#13 ·
In powder there is nothing for your edge to bite into to give you that locked in feel. Yiuare riding the board rather than the edge of the board. So that surfy loose feeling is normal and has nothing to do with straight or wavy edges.

Glad you got boots that fit. Proper fitting boots really make everything about snowboarding way more fun
 
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