Board “update” advice

Posted: 26 November 2012 04:42 PM

Hi All,

I’ve got 2 trips for boarding booked for this coming season, and I think its time I updated/upgraded my board.

Whilst I haven’t been on a board in about 4 or 5 years (so a little rusty), but I’d say I’m at intermediate skill-level.

My old board is a classic - the Burton Balance (1998?). I really loved this board as it was a beauty to learn on (beginner—> intermediate), as it rides like a train and had a grippy edge.
But at 152/153 I think its alo likely to be short for me these days (as I’ve put on deskjob weight!) and think I should be looking in the 157 - 160 range… though I think more nimble boards suit my riding style.

I’m generally looking for a comfortable all-round board that will mainly be hitting prepared slopes and ocassional off-piste powder and a few fun kickers here and there. Primarily riding uni-directional (regular stance).

I’ll need to get new bindings and boots with the board, so I doubt I have money for a Burton Vapor or something similar, even if it is *drool* :-D. 
That being said, I’d expect to to own and ride this board for the next 5+ years so it has to be a solid investment.

I think this all means I’m looking at Freestyle/All-Mountain boards that are on the stiffer side (responsiveness)... but the tech has moved on a lot since I last bought a board (reverse cambered?!) so I figured I’d post here to get a few thoughts to make sure I don’t miss anything obvious.

The boards I’ve checked out online so far that I quite like:
- Burton Custom
- Burton Custom Flying V
- Burton Process
- Burton Process Flying V
- K2 Slayblade
- Amplid Paradigma (too beginner?)
- Bataleon Goliath

Also, if anyone can recommend a reliable outlet for looking at/buying previous seasons boards *new* in the UK, I’d greatly appreciate it!!!1

Cheers,
FlyingFinn

Posted: 26 November 2012 05:13 PM

Apologies, I should possibly add that I’m 181cm (5 11), 85kg (187 lbs) and have shoe size 43-44 (10 US, 9.5 UK) and tend to ride 15/0 (leadfoot/backfoot).