Doesn't really work too well with Burton and their EST channel.

 

it can be an endeavor!

 

3 looks like the type two, 4 is probably the custom though.. lol

 

It is an indictment of how fucked the industry is right now that that dude doesn't have a board sponsor. Madness.

 

they can be asking for too much.. there are lots of pros without board sponsers. Andreas Wiig, Max Parrot, lago (before he created his own) come to mind. Doesn't help that nike/quiksilver pulled out. Now K2/Ride/Volkl are going on a fire sale... with so many sponsorless riders, it's easier for companies to have their pick without paying as much.

 

Sad times.

The black board concept is cool though.

 

I'm gonna guess that # 10 is one of the Gnu asym boards, maybe space case or riders choice. These are really hard to guess since we don't get a close up of each board, but I think @jae you are right with #3 . #8 could be a ride Berzerker. I look forward to seeing what they all are.

 

Transworld did something like this with the goodwood test for a season or two. They masked the boards' topsheets and claimed it eliminated brand bias. Didn't last long because, if I remember correctly, the bases were not blanked out and made the no-bias idea a joke.

This experiment is off to a better start. Should be interesting reads.

 

The bottom line is that there are very few riders out there who command significant sponsorship money from smart companies. Sponsoring a rider only makes sense if the recognition and association is worth the investment for the business. How many snowboarders are recognizable to the guy who rides maybe ten times a year max? Even if the guy recognizes the name, does the association impact a purchasing decision for him? Sage won a fucking Olympic gold medal and 99% of Americans wouldn't recognize his name. I'd be willing to bet 75% of the people rising the lifts on a given day wouldn't either.

Sad, but true. He's a great rider, but he's not a needle mover for a company.

 

Pros don't sell snowboards. Pro models don't sell. Who gives a fuck if they're smart they either figure out how to market themselves and make money or they disappear. Sage is a great rider but unfortunately what's he done outside the Olympics really?

Also this test made me laugh. Great he rode a bunch of decks, unfortunately the everyman does not ride anywhere near that level.

I pretty much looked at the decks and figured out the models right off the bat.

 

Also this test made me laugh. Great he rode a bunch of decks, unfortunately the everyman does not ride anywhere near that level.

I pretty much looked at the decks and figured out the models right off the bat.

Was curious to see what you & Nivek thought about this. Also, since he is at the elite level of riding, can't it also be said that his feedback can be taken a bit more seriously as he would know more than the avg rider? And on top of that, with less bias as he is without a board sponsor?

 

Everyman is not nearly as experienced with as many boards as you BA.

Its a magazine feature so a little intrigue might work to generate some clicks.

I'll check to see if he says anything negative about any of them before the reveal. Not holding my breath tho.

 

On Pros not having board sponsors. Well, pros don't really sell boards anymore like they used to. Sage is actually one of the few that could, but at his level he either needs a brand that will build him exactly what he wants, or he's better off not having a sponsor and picking whatever he wants and just having it be unbranded. Same thing with Chaz for a while. He had complete control over what he rode cause it didn't have to sell.

Second big thing, there are too many pros and not enough dollars. Everybody is full. Noone has another 75k-150k laying around for guys like Seb or Sage. Max was offered a 6 figure deal with Monster, he wanted more, they said no.


Transworlds old goodwood was completely blank if I remember right. Base and top. I don't know if that mattered as it could have just been a way to appear more legitimate despite just being add dollars like it is now.

 

Transworlds old goodwood was completely blank if I remember right. Base and top. I don't know if that mattered as it could have just been a way to appear more legitimate despite just being add dollars like it is now.

I think one season on some boards at least the bases weren't blank and they got shat on for it, the next year they dropped it. All a bit hazy now. But yes I do remember at one point they were totally blank.

 

Has anyone watched these yet? He seems to give a balanced and honest appraisal with 5&6s out of 10 etc until he gets to the summary and says everything is great. So far - I've watched 3. It looks like he guessed a couple but seemed genuinely surprised by the Proto.

Sent from my ONE E1001 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah I watched all 3 also. Thought same thing. That's why I'm curious to see what BA & Nivek think of Sage's feedback.

 

So far I've actually had a few moments of surprise with some of the details he's mentioned.

For me, I haven't ridden a Media, it's been years since I've been on a Funkink, and I haven't been on a Type Two. So I don't have a ton of direct criticism to his conclusions yet. But honestly it seems like it's boiling down to "does Sage like___" vs being a true review of is this board good, why is it good, or why is it bad. That's what separates a good reviewer and a good rider. There are pros that spend a lot of time dialing in nuances of their decks, but still that limits the feedback to being tailored to a specific rider and ride style. A true reviewer can assess outside of bias. I have definitely ridden boards I hated, but was fully committed to their build and worth. I know when something is good, but just not for me. Does Sage?

I'll be more interested if anything gets a genuinely bad score. And I'm looking forward to him riding something I have more experience with.

 

So far I've actually had a few moments of surprise with some of the details he's mentioned.

For me, I haven't ridden a Media, it's been years since I've been on a Funkink, and I haven't been on a Type Two. So I don't have a ton of direct criticism to his conclusions yet. But honestly it seems like it's boiling down to "does Sage like___" vs being a true review of is this board good, why is it good, or why is it bad. That's what separates a good reviewer and a good rider. There are pros that spend a lot of time dialing in nuances of their decks, but still that limits the feedback to being tailored to a specific rider and ride style. A true reviewer can assess outside of bias. I have definitely ridden boards I hated, but was fully committed to their build and worth. I know when something is good, but just not for me. Does Sage?

I'll be more interested if anything gets a genuinely bad score. And I'm looking forward to him riding something I have more experience with.

But everything Never Summer makes is shit, right?

 

I was just giving you shit. You gotta get on some of their enhanced RC stuff if you haven't already. The more aggressive camber in the tips fixed most of the issues I had with their previous boards.

Unapologetic NS, Capita, and Flux fanboy here. After I sell this Rome Notch swallowtail, I won't have a single board that isn't NS or Capita (other than my original board that no longer see actual action these days) and other than a pair of Malavitas, all my bindings are Flux. Just gave up on other stuff. Seems like I always end up disappointed.

 

I for one dont want him to see his ugly mug in any more videos. Every time I see one of his vids I want to take a scissor and stab both of my eyes.

Yet I keep going back.

 

I'll take a biased but honest review over regurgitated marketing spiel any day. Plus I doubt there's such thing as a totally unbiased review - opinions are like arseholes - everybody's got one.

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Yep, everyone has inherent bias. I think it's a cool concept and props to the companies that stepped up and provided a board for it.

 

I don't really care what pros ride, but I do try to buy pro model stuff whenever I can.

Pros dont realll snowboards, but they develop the sport. And this is the big fail in the industry since big money got involved. Nobody cares about the sport.... they care about selling boards. Yeah there's tons of marketting schemes where you can turn more profit by not having "pros" or sponsored riders or cutting off a certain part of the program. These schemes are ussually guided by some dude in a clip-on tie showing a made-up $$ trend chart to a group of execs. And they buy it because.. moar $. Fair to them. Money is good. But... I'll buy from the other guy whenever I can. Thanks.

Also, reviews suck. Everyone has bias. And almost everyone has an economic interest tied to their opinion, which is.... worse than bias. Maybe that's why I'm generally fine even with the Good ride reviews. I don't care anyways.... I'll still try something and decide for myself instead. Or buy something just for the fuck of it and accept if it was a mistake. Like those damn 10.5 boots hahahahaha never again.

 

Same here. It's why I pretty much refuse to buy anything other than NS and Capita for boards and Flux for bindings at this point. I know what I'm gonna get with those guys. Seems like I always end up disappointed with anything else. I'll hop on anything and everything for a demo and I'm fully open and willing to change my mind, but I always end up gravitating back to those three brands.

 

So now that Capita has its own factory and is making DC, Niche, Bataleon/Lobster, IPP, Dinosaurs Will Die, and sharing a lot of tech/molds would you try those? Serious question.

 

I'm kinda the same way too, but it was more like around the turn of the century I found Lib and and lost any board disappointment so I stuck with them for like the last 15 years. I'm just starting to branch out and buy other boards again.

I also feel like most types of boards: freestyle, freebie and powder these days are pretty close in engineering, build and quality and most of us would be happy with any of those black boards especially if the company had our stats and know our style and stuff.

 

I also feel like most types of boards: freestyle, freebie and powder these days are pretty close in engineering, build and quality and most of us would be happy with any of those black boards especially if the company had our stats and know our style and stuff.

I agree that boards for the same money are usually at the same level.
I see many different boards for powder, and that makes sense for me. When paying my own money, I'd just grab whatever is cheaper: NS/Prior/Venture/Donek.

 

really enjoyed this series of posts. no idea how he scores these things as it seemed arbitrary in each category, but damn the TRS and Westmark were shitted on.

dc media blitz: The Blackboard Experiment 2016 - Board 1: DC Media Blitz Reviewed
batalleon fun.kink: The Blackboard Experiment - Board 2: 2017 Bataleon Fun.Kink Reviewed
never summer proto T2:The Blackboard Experiment 2016 - Board 3: Never Summer Proto Type 2 Reviewed
burton custom twin: The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Burton Custom Twin Reviewed
ride burnout: The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Ride Burnout Twin Reviewed
smokin hooligan: The Blackboard Experiment - 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Smokin Hooligan Reviewed
arbor westmark: The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Arbor Westmark Reviewed
salomon huck knife: The Blackboard Experiment - 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Salomon Huck Knife Reviewed
capita DoA: The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 CAPiTA Defenders of Awesome Reviewed
lib TRS: The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Lib Tech TRS Reviewed

any of these you agree/disagree with? of course riders all ride different and most of us can't do 1620 japans airs... but I'm pretty sure you guys can judge at least how a board carves.

I think if they were to continue this series, board makers should know who the rider is... but I can see that as another can of worms.

I'm guessing he really wants to sign with burton or salomon. >

 

really enjoyed this series of posts.

The Blackboard Experiment 2017 Snowboard Test with Sage Kotsenburg: 2017 Burton Custom Twin Reviewed

I'm guessing he really wants to sign with burton or salomon.

I owned the Custom Twin last season and he's pretty spot on. This board was awesome and a sick board for carving & jumps, the 2 main thing I love doing when I ride. Perfect amount of stiffness for my own personal preferences. Prob my fave board to date still.

And I agree, I enjoyed this series as well and thought Sage seemed pretty genuine with each review and wasn't shy to give low #'s. I respected that. But that's just my 2 cents. And ya its a bit surprising that he hasn't been picked up. But BA did make some eye opening points on why that is the case tho so ya.

 

Lib's horsepower construction never felt like an upgrade to the original except the slight weight saving. With FP as the high-end option, they should have kept the original (and its price) and killed off the horse.

Yeah its crazy that an Olympic gold medalist doesn't have a primary equipment sponsor. I get that the Olympics is a dirty word in snowboarding but still.

 

Yeah its crazy that an Olympic gold medalist doesn't have a primary equipment sponsor. I get that the Olympics is a dirty word in snowboarding but still.

Maybe he should team up with Scotty Lago and create a new brand with a cooler name...

 

I feel slightly vindicated for shitting on the TRS for years. That isn't a good snowboard.

 

It's a good board all right. Just not the all-conquering 'great at everything' board, like it is made out to be.
To be fair that also applies to many other decks.

 

Seeing all the videos says a couple things to me. Sage is good at figuring out what HE likes. And there's just some weird inconsistencies going on. The Westmark Camber is certainly not as stiff as he seems to make it, and is in all my experience softer than the Custom and DOA and similar to the Huchknife. He talked about the TRS being washy and the Proto being super playful but never mentions the camber profile maybe having something to do with it. Arbors System camber is driven different than traditional camber, which he seems to not be able to adjust to. Drive and steer system camber at your feet and it's very precise.

Basically, Sage is a sick rider and one I enjoy watching what he does, but a reviewer he is not.

 

He talked about the TRS being washy and the Proto being super playful but never mentions the camber profile maybe having something to do with it.

Not on video but he talks about it in text -

First of all, I’ve never been that big of a fan of reverse camber, but I was going to come into this unbiased. This snowboard seemed really soft and it had reverse camber so it kind of got away from me sometimes but that’s when the serrated edges counteracted that feeling. Once I was fully in my turn the edges would really lock in but transferring over to the other edge felt loose and slidey. - Sage's first impression of the Lib Tech TRS​

I thought the combo of short length (154) and the HP construction might also be the culprit. :dunno:

 

Like em

I thought Sage and Snowboarder did a really good job on these.