Holiday booked - buy or hire a snowboard?

Posted: 27 July 2009 09:27 PM

I have just booked a trip for this coming winter and am wondering about whether to bite the bullet and buy a snowboard or just hire?

What are the pro’s and con’s of each? I don’t have a lot to spend (probably £400 for board, binding and hopefully boots too if I can) if I was to buy a snowboard setup outright.

I probably board about 1-2 times per year and normally hire, but last year the hire process was a bit of a nightmare and I ended up changing the board twice.

Is having my own board going to be worth it for 1.5 trips a year?

Thanks - Spike.

Posted: 27 July 2009 11:10 PM

Definitely go for your own board. Not only will you avaoid the pain in the neck which is adjusting your setup so it feels right, you’ll also erradicate the time needed to adjust to your new ride. THis can take 1-2 days… quite a large proportion of a week holiday! Owning a board also teaches you the basics of maintaining a board, an essential part of snowboarding… unless you’re minted. On the down-side you’ll have to pay an extra £60 for return carriage with budget airlines.

I think for boots, boards and bindings and a board bag you’re talking about a figure more like £500 to £600. The option Logic and NFA Thrasher are worth looking at, as their quite a bit cheaper than other boards with similar specs. I’d definitely suggest going for a more intermediate ride, it’ll mean you won’t out grow it too quickly.

Try our board selecta to find some boards. I’d suggest selecting the following criteria: Park / Freeride / Low cost / Directional Shape. That’ll bring up some boards you should look at.

Good luck! Owning a board is definitely the future!

Posted: 28 July 2009 10:52 PM

Hey Rich,

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, it is much appreciated.

You are quite right about the time to adjust - I spent far too much time boarding back to the hire shop last trip.  On the plus side of hiring, it is nice to pickup a board that is waxed and edged at the beginning of the week and hand it back without worrying about it, but you are of course correct that I really should learn!

I’d never considered the extra cost of taking a board on a plane, luckily though we mainly drive or coach.

I thought you might pick me up on the proposed £400 budget, although I do have some time between now and the trip to save a bit more.

Board Selecta - what a great tool. I just lost an hour reading all the boards.

Posted: 01 August 2009 12:49 AM

What about if you are an almost complete beginner? I agree that hiring a board can be a nightmare (last time out they gave me a 10 when I’m 5’8”) but where can I find out how to mantain a board if I buy one?

Posted: 01 August 2009 11:48 AM

Hello Mr Saidu!

We’re going to put together a how to guide for servicing and maintaining snowboards eventually but for now, the rest resource for learning how to maintain your snowboard is definitely the Transworld Snowboarding website. Got to give it to them as it’s a pretty comprehensive e-zine. If you’ve got any specific questions use this forum and I’m sure myself or a user will try their best to help!

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/category/how-to/

Thanks for checking the site out!

Posted: 04 August 2009 02:44 PM

THink I’m going to buy for this coming season. Hire gear at the snowdome is ok, but the boots are so unfomfortable. The only brand I really know is Burton, do any other brands make good boards for beginners. I can link my turns in the dome and i’ve tried some small jumps (and mostly fallen over) should I go for a beginners board or intermediate board?