Board Advice needed

Hi, little background: I am 5'11-6'0 age 20 and 165-175 lbs. Weight is subject to change as I'm conditioning extensively right now and have started to incorporate leg workouts as well. I started boarding maybe 4 years ago but have made the most progress this past 2007-2008 season and consider myself intermediate/advanced. The first board I got 2-3 years ago was a cheap House package for Christmas. I'm not really into parks but I enjoy speed and carving and may get into some jumping this season. I have size 11-12 feet (will have to check at the store) and they are pretty wide as well. I don't really know much about board specs and what stiffness or flexibility helps for.

The board I'm looking at right now is: 6 reviews - Never Summer Legacy (Wide) Snowboard 2008 reviews in Snowboards - Sorted by Newest first- Buzzillions.com

It's wide which I was considering because I had badd drag with my current board. I've also heard good things about Rome Anthem but I want to make sure I get the appropriate waist width for my feet. I'm not really sure if I should go for 159 or 163 cm based on my style. I'd like to spend max $500.00 for the board.

Bindings I've pretty much decided I'm going to get Burton Cartel bindings, but I assume I'll need large bindings?

For boots I am going to go to a Ski Chalet and try on boots, but I'm wondering if there's any recommendations for a specific brand?

I'll probably buy the board and bindings online but boots I may just buy them at the local shop...so it will all be separate.

[Nivek]

for the legacy, either the 156 or 159 at your weight. if you're doing mostly resort and not as much deep hiking terrain and such, then the 156 will be just fine. and i recommend the neversummer over the rome for that riding. to be honest, rome is primarily a jib company, and neversummer is a freeride company. plus, the neversummers all have a 3 year warranty, something the romes NEED (buddy of mine had a graft delam in one season).

good choice on binding, eventually someone here will recomend that you look into Romes, probably the targa's. you can if you want, but there is no covertible strap that is as comfortable as a real capstrap. so for your type of riding, i wouldnt get anything without a cap. i had the cartels, awesome bindings.

for boots, i'm a park kid so my knowledge on freeride boots is limited, the only thing i can recommend are northwave, i had the kevin jones pro model from 4-5 years ago, i got rid of them cause they were too stiff for jibbing. that was the only thing i didnt like so for freeriding they'd probably be good.

Originally Posted by Nivek

to be honest, rome is primarily a jib company, and neversummer is a freeride company. plus, the neversummers all have a 3 year warranty, something the romes NEED (buddy of mine had a graft delam in one season).

Whoa...I think ROME has awesome freeriding boards (i.e. Anthem). It's light, it's stable, and can take anything you dish at it. I have both the ROME Anthem and NS Premier (similar to the legacy) and think both boards are great. You'll be happy with either board. NS's 3 year warranty is sweet...however I've never had any issues with any of my Rome boards.

And yes...definitely check out the Targa bindings. They will work well with either board. I use Targas for freeriding and different bindings when I do freestyle.

[BurtonAvenger]

The premier isn't even close to the Legacy at all. They're built with 2 different flex patterns, the premiers shape is more powder and free ride centric, while the legacy is all mountain freestyle.

If you're an 11 its pushing it on the Anthem, you'd want to look at the Flag instead. If you're a 12 its a no go on the anthem entirely.

Wow, thanks for all the advice so far...I'm looking into the premier right now and it seems to fit my riding style more (freeriding) than the legacy as BurtonAvenger mentioned it's more for all-mountain freestyle. The only concern I have is if the board will be wide enough for my 11-12 feet (premier) since I don't think it comes in wide.

Originally Posted by BurtonAvenger

The premier isn't even close to the Legacy at all. They're built with 2 different flex patterns, the premiers shape is more powder and free ride centric, while the legacy is all mountain freestyle.

If you're an 11 its pushing it on the Anthem, you'd want to look at the Flag instead. If you're a 12 its a no go on the anthem entirely.

Haha...oops I confused the Legacy with the T5. The Legacy is similar to the SL. Eh brain fart