Narrowed it down (tenatively) & need help deciding [First board & some experience]

Posted: 26 October 2010 04:18 AM

Although I’ve been snowboarding quite a few times, I’ve always just rented my gear. I would consider myself an intermediate rider with a firm grasp on the basics. I’m 20 years old, 5’11, weigh about 185lbs, and wear a size 10-10.5 boot (11 tennis-shoes are slightly loose). I think that its finally time for me to invest in a setup of my own, and I’ve been doing some research. I know I want an all-mountain board, so I can continue to try out everything the mountain has to offer; I really like the specs of:

2011 Rossignol Taipan
2011 Arbor Formula

However, I’ve also been looking at some seemingly similar 2010 boards:

2010 Rossignol Angus
2010 Arbor Coda

    These seem to be less entry level, and I can actually get them cheaper than the entry level 2011 boards! I am a little worried that these boards may be too stiff or fast for my skill level though.

    Any advice on which of these would be a good choice for me (or any alternative recommendations) would be greatly appreciated. Also, I’m pretty lost in the boot/binding realm, so any advice in that area is certainly welcome as well.

  Thanks
    Ben

Posted: 28 October 2010 04:59 PM

Alright, so after alot more research, I’m really leaning toward the angus. Now I’m wondering if the 161 would be a good size for me, because it seems like it should be, but I’ve read a couple of things about guys my size using shorter. I’m also still open to any other board recommendations.

  Thanks
    Ben

Posted: 28 October 2010 06:01 PM

Hi Ben,

I’m thinking that the 161 is just a little bit too long… you’re akmost a little too big for the 157 and not quite big enough for the 161.

My suggestion would be to look at the Rossignol One 159…. a perfect compromise. This year’s One is almost an identical snowboard to the Angus except it has the added bonus of Magnetraction edges. Tom our head of testing reckons it’s an intermediate to advanced rider’s dream machine.

Rich

Posted: 28 October 2010 09:09 PM

Aww, that Rossi One sounds awesome and thanks so much for the reply, but its probably out of my price range. I can really only spend like 250-350 on the board (maybe push to 400?) and still be able to afford any sort of decent boots and bindings. Thats why I was asking about the 161 angus, i can get the 2010 model for 260 bucks, which seems like a hell of a deal, but if its too long, its too long…

Posted: 29 October 2010 07:17 AM

Do NOT go for the 2010 Rossi One…  it is super stiff and an advanced board in my honest opinion.  I almost crawled off the mountain I was so beat up from trying to tame that beast. :)

I hear you on price but if you can stretch and go for the 2011 Rossi One Magtek you would be in heaven.  In my mind it is the all in one board of the season.  You have so many technologies packed in it and honestly for the price you’ll be hard pressed to get a better deal.  It will handle ice, hard pack, slush, powder, crud, groomers, chop…  if I could only rock one board it would be that one.  Rossignol builds serious equipment so it will last.

My suggest is to find a local Rossignol dealer and try to ask for a deal on a One Magtek, boots and bindings…  they should be able to do something for you since you are getting all the core stuff.