First snowboard for a beginner - Burton Hero / Custom / Fish?

Posted: 19 November 2009 01:51 PM

Hi everyone,

I am a beginner in snowboarding.  My height is 6’2 and I weight 180lb.  So far I snowboarded three times with rental equipment and really enjoyed it.  I am now ready to get my own board so I can consistently practice with it.

I don’t know much about the boards besides the different types (all mountain, freestyle and others).  After some searching I find myself liking the following boards:

Burton Hero Snowboard - ‘09/‘10 $449.95
http://www.rei.com/product/790424

There are great reviews on Burton Custom:

Burton Custom $559.95
http://www.rei.com/product/790395

This one seems to be designed for heavy powder riding - I will be on green / blue courses - not sure how useful this board will be:

Burton Fish $599.95
http://www.rei.com/product/790426

In your opinion, are these boards right for me?  If not, which board would be good for a beginner? 

Thanks!

Posted: 19 November 2009 03:41 PM

Hello Victor, welcome to snowboard-review.com !

Would you mind filling out our buying-advice template so we can get some more informations?
With the information provided, there are so many great boards fitting to your demands, I don’t know even where to start =)

  Please help us filling out the following template for best possible buying advice!

  I am looking for:

  [  ] Board
  [  ] Binding
    [  ] regular straps
    [  ] fast-entry system (Flow/Cinch/..)
  [  ] Boots
  [  ] Other

  Measurements:

  Body height:    cm
  Weight:      lbs
  Shoe size:      US

  Riding level:

  [  ] Beginner
  [  ] Intermediate
  [  ] Advanced
  [  ] Expert

  Riding style: (multiple selections allowed)

  [  ] Piste   [  ] %
  [  ] Powder   [  ] %
  [  ] Park     [  ] %
  [  ] Rails   [  ] %

  Special requests: (free text or keywords)

   

  Price Limit:      [  ] € / [  ] $

  Also make sure to check out our Snowboard Guide Section and Board Selecta!

You better forget about the fish again; read Rich’s Article here on the site to find out more about fish-decks.
Are you kind of fixed on Burton boards or is it just a coincidence that you only listed some of Burton’s ?

The Burton Custom sure is a great board but as Burton just raised their prices quite a bit, there might be some cheaper alternatives.

Posted: 20 November 2009 02:27 AM

sir. check out other board brands. for your first board burton is waaay overpriced. don’t give in to the promotion. they’re good at that.

Posted: 20 November 2009 04:47 AM

Thanks Zoryfl and Rally,

I am definitely open to other brands - I only picked Burton because I see more of them around and many places rent them out.

  I am looking for:

  [X] Board
  [X] Binding
  [X] regular straps
  [  ] fast-entry system (Flow/Cinch/..)
  [X] Boots
  [X] Other - Helmet - I am looking at this Giro helm:
http://www.giro.com/en-us/products/snow-helmets/revolver/#/matte-black/

Also shopping for a new jacket and pants

  Measurements:

  Body height:  185   cm
  Weight:      180 lbs
  Shoe size:    9.5 US

  Riding level:

  [X] Beginner
  [  ] Intermediate
  [  ] Advanced
  [  ] Expert

  Riding style: (multiple selections allowed)

  [X] Piste   [100] %
  [  ] Powder   [  ] %
  [  ] Park     [  ] %
  [  ] Rails   [  ] %

  Special requests: (free text or keywords)

  Price Limit:      [  ] € / [600] $

Posted: 20 November 2009 11:23 AM

Hey Victor,

600$ for board, binding and boots? Will get quite hard to find some decent equip for that price. But maybe I’m just not enough informed at that price range..

Apart from that, as you are also interested in no-Burtons, check out the following boards:
Head Matrix
and Artec Novus
Both great boards, obviously and around 300€ (don’t know how much $, probably cheaper)

Can’t really go wrong with Giro helmets I think. I got a G8 or G9 or whatever, I don’t really remember, but it fits great and I never had any issues with it. Just make sure to wear it in a shop before buying. Using a helmet that doesn’t fit causes mad headaches.

Posted: 20 November 2009 12:07 PM

Thanks zoryfl!

I meant $600 tops for the board alone.  I want to get good binding and boots too (I heard that is as important as having a good board).

Checking out your link now.

Posted: 20 November 2009 02:26 PM

Hey Victor,

Best thing to do is see if you can get some of last seasons gear on the internet. Both the boards that Zoryfl mentioned are sick .....but make sure that you have a look at the Option Logic. The Logic is an amazing board for just under $300; I took it for a shre in Kaunertal and couldn’t believe how stable, reactive and well-built it was. I’ve done a fair few seasons riding now and I wouldn’t mind taking this board away for a season. It’s a real gem, have a look at the link below:

http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/logic/

Tom

Posted: 20 November 2009 06:37 PM

Victor - 20 November 2009 04:07 PM

I meant $600 tops for the board alone.  I want to get good binding and boots too (I heard that is as important as having a good board).

Hehe, okay so let’s have a look at bindings next:
The Union Force and the Raiden Blackhawk are both decent allmountain bindings for ~200€. (last year’s models -if you can find any- might be around 160-180€)
I know Ride makes some great bindings as well but I am not really informed about their recent model lineup..

Oh but before I forget: Never buy bindings before boots. You might experience the worst case scenario: your boot’s do not fit the binding. And as well-fitting boots are more important than bindings (I think one can say that..), better buy your boots and try if they fit to the binding you like- if not: go with an other binding!

Regarding boots you might want to have a look at the general buying guide I’ve written: click me

Cheers