well I bought forum destroyer 2009 model 2 years ago. Broke it like 2 weeks before the ending of warranty. Sent a letter and they didn't reply. So I am not probably going to buy forum boards anymore.

 

With the exception of durability issues, did you like how the board rode?

 

Well tbh i can only compare it to burton fix and old nitro team (directional) it's a good board, but i definately prefer the Burton Fix, maybe because i prefer flat camber.

 

I bought a Santa Cruz duo last year and didn't care for it. I rode it 3 times and ended up selling it. I just didn't feel comfortable riding it switch at all.

 

I didn't hate it, but was disappointed by last years SL. It wasn't stiff enough to really be an All Mountain board for me. I'm a big guy and should have gone with the Heritage. The SL will pop up for sale here shortly.

 

The probable reason why you don't hear too many "this board sucks" reviews is because it is highly subjective. One man's trash of a board is another man's awesome stick.

There are plenty of boards that didn't tickle my pickle that I have demoed. I mostly avoid saying something is crap though. I'll say "this board just didn't suit me" or "I didn't really like this one" then go on to explain why.

I reserve "this board is crap" type comments for stuff like Rossignol rental boards, Sims, Lamar (although they are changing now), etc...

 

There are so many question on which one of these boards should I get and I am just wondering how many people think they made the wrong decision. It just seems like once you narrow your choice down to 2-3 boards you almost can't go wrong. As long as your are looking for boards that are for your ridining style there doesn't seem to be much differece anymore.

I am seeing a lot of poeple coming back saying that their decision was great and the board ended up being perfect for them, but I would be very curious if their reaction would have been differnt if they choose one of the other boards on their list of options.

 

This is an excellent point. For people who have done their research (people like the riders you speak of on these very forums) and taken opinions from other riders and narrowed their search down, they most likely would end up being happy with any of the choices they had.

So I really do believe that the result would have been the same regardless of which board they went with so long as it was in the same category and suited their stats equally well.

Also, hype plays a huge role too. Not too long ago, the Skate Banana was very hyped. My curiosity was at its peak with this board. I finally got to ride it last season. After demoing it, I was all for it. I thought I loved it and it reflects in the video review I gave it. Then I hopped on boards like the Machete and Custom Flying-V. The Skate Banana wasn't all that I hyped myself into believing. It's not bad by any means, but just not as good as the hype made me believe.

I'm bringing the hype aspect up because that is what sort of happens with these "which board is best for me" threads. In reality, either would make them happy. But the fact that other people gave them a nudge in a certain direction creates this positive preconception of the board so they get that much more stoked when they finally ride it.

The current trend is NeverSummer. I haven't been on one yet, but because of this forum, I am soooooo ready to demo one.

I liken it to this... I've had cookies n creme ice cream before. My wife really hypes up this particular brand of it called Haagen Daaz (spelling?) and makes me really excited to try it. I end up loving it! But in the end, is it really that much better? I mean it is still ice cream with Oreos. That's not to say I haven't had crappy ice cream before though lol.

 

i demoed the Arbor Draft for a day, and didn't like it haha, actually i also demoed the arbor formula and that was prob the worst board i have ever ridden. I loved the Arbor westmark though, so i don't hate all arbor =)

 

Worst board I have ever ridden: 2011 Forum Holy Moly (and Honey pot..."combo platter" is the worst tech). Another Horrible board for me was the Arbor Draft. On paper that board is right up my alley. On snow it sucked. Burton Vapor sucks for me too. I am not a fan of the Park Pickle, but I like the Skate Banana and everything C2BTX. I rode some Signal boards, didn't care for those either.

I am pretty sure if I went year though year I could fine a board or two that I didn't love. The problem is that there is SO much good stuff out there, it is hard to buy a absolute dud.

 

I know it's not the last 3 years but it was the '99 or 2000 Salomon 550, I wanted to just throw the damn thing in a bonfire.

 

I've definitely ridden some boards that left me posing the question of "why the fuck does this even exist" The Forum Holy Moly definitely is the one board last year that made me question if I was going to live or die while riding it.

 

Seriously, everyone that rode it ate shit bad!

 

I really didn't like this years DH2 LE. Stiffest board I have ever ridden. Selling it after one day on it.

 

I agree that this years DH LE is pretty stiff, but I kind of like it. I do wish it was a bit softer though. I also think Ride is onto something with the Hybrid Prorize.

I used to have a Ride Decade and it was way stiffer than the DH.

 

Not hate, but certain boards weren't a good fit for me and what I wanted out of it. The NS SL and Nitro TG were a bit too soft for me to charge on, and would've been better in shorter lengths as a all mountain park-ish board. I can say I really didn't like the the Skate Banana though. My buddy got the original model before it was officially launched and let me take it out one weekend. I rode all over the mountain through corn chowder, on icy moguls, in heavy afternoon sidecountry pow, and lapped the park. Didn't really like it for any of the above, just for being easy to press. However with slightly different specs, even with the same basic BTX tech, I enjoyed all my Gnu Rider's Choice and Lib TRS boards. Also wasn't too fond of my Bataleon Omni, because it just didn't excel in pow as it was supposed to. The faster/stiffer Undisputed was far superior for pow. I also remember having a Gnu AG 162 and Ride Timeless 161 that were too much work b/c they were too wide for me back then, but those same boards in proper lengths were awesome.

 

I had a salomon loft 160: stiffest board ever....quite narrow, too. It was fast, but the sidecut somehow made it want to turn by itself. Sank in any pow depth. They called it the "ultimate freestyle deck"...but even king kong couldn't have loaded that tail.

Other board I hated was the Ride Decade 164: floated great in untracked pow and bounced a decent ollie, but had a strange flex that would buck like crazy when turning on chowder and anything remotely steep. They called it "all mountain" but maybe it was geared more toward freestyle and mellow groomers.