Mainly Freestyle Gear

Posted: 17 October 2011 09:32 PM

Hi! I’m Tim and it’s great to be here

I’m gonna give this a go, I am going to Colorado this christmas and am getting board/bindings/boots for the first time. I want to make sure I know what to buy before I head off so here I am!

I’ve only been riding for about 4 years but I’ve probably got about 60 days experience boarding, I’d say I’m about Intermediate-Advanced now due to quick learning/great instructor for the first week and brothers pushing each other on. Because of my brothers being there we obviously like to hit the park, so this is the main thing I’m aiming for in a board, I like to hit kickers hard and pull off some 360 grabs, hopefully stomp a few 540s if I’m lucky, but I also like to jib a bit (that can sit in the background though if it affects everything.)

More important than the jibbing though is that the board is not terrible in powder, I love to hit powder and hit a few lips/drops, The board doesn’t need to be good in powder, just average so that it’s possible to ride.

I tend to ride a board hard and one of the main reasons I’m moving from rentals is that even though I would try and get decent rentals, all the park I would do with them would end up with the bindings or the board getting wrecked. So I guess a decent board designed for park would fare better. (At least I hope so)

I weigh about 75-80 Kg and am roughly 5"8—>5"10 in height. Although a slight problem is that I have UK 10/US 11 Feet, so I guess a mid-wide board would be best? I guess you know more than me though! Oh and I’m not just a tiny adult, I’m 16 ! Please don’t disregard me for being an ignorant youth though, I don’t type like this: hai ! Im tim and itz gr8 to b hr. I hate being disregarded for my age because of people like that so I don’t usually say my age.

For boards I was looking at boards like the Rome Reverb Rocker and the Amplid Dopamine but because there are so many good review for so many boards I just don’t know what to pick or do!

Binding wise I would prefer something light but tough so that it doesn’t break like others have, I once had to go down the mountain on my belly on the board because BOTH bindings broke! Something like:Ride Rodeo or Union Contact Pro but then again you know more than me and these are probably terrible choices.

Boots would just have to be sensible, light boots, preferably BOA for doing up, DC judge maybe?

After all this if it matters: colours? I don’t know if it helps but I have blue board pants and an orange jacket, white helmet. I’m just trying to add as much detail as possible!

Can’t wait for people’s advice on this one! I love boarding and I’m finally getting a chance to get gear!

Thank you in advance for anyone who pays attention to this thread! I know you don’t have to help me.

Tim

(By the way the reason it’s taken me this long to start boarding is because my parents forced me to get to a standard in skiing before I started boarding so basically I ski a lot better than I board…)

Posted: 17 October 2011 11:45 PM

Hi Timmy,

Welcome to Snowboard-Review.com!

Oh I remeber when I started snowboarding back in 1996 my folks took the family to La Plagne and for the first week we were only aloud to ski until the last day when they said we could go snowboarding… It was the best day ever and I’ll always be grateful to my folks for it… but why they thought I had to ski first I will never know.

Ok to address your boards question. I’m afraid I gaven’t ridden the Reverb yet so I can’t offer you personal feedback on that. I know from the literature that it’s a very similar board to the Agent Rocker and uses a hybrid camber. THis will be the board that offer you a more all-mountain experience, it’s designed for hitting the park and the rest of the mountain in equal measures.

The Dopamine on the other hand is definitely the more park focused of the two, but it’s really no slouch on the rest of the mountain you can really charge groomers on this snowboard as the WDT construction makes it nicely damp and flex comes from the waist which means the rockered tips don’t flap around like they might on boards like the K2 WWW. THis is the board to buy if you want to get the most from hitting the park but you still want a board that you can use for piste bashing and the odd pow run… but mostly for the park.

So if you want all-mountain versatility go for the Rome

If you want a park focused board that isn’t useless outside the park then you’ll want the Dopamine.

Boots are all about fit so please get yourself into a shop and try on as many pairs as you possibly can. Bindings wise… I’d probably go for the Contacts over the Contact Pros’ they’re a little more durable and less pricey. Rome 390s are a nice binding with a supportive feel but freestyle focus. The Salomon Boss and Arcade bindings are also a good buy at a sensible pricepoint and from experience with my brother, thier warranty department for things like broken straps is really good. Personally, I ride Drakes… the Reload would go nicely with both boards. Lots and lots to choose from… obviously Burton make great products and you have the advantage of being able to walk into any store on the planet and find spares.

Any questions just holler,

Rich

Posted: 18 October 2011 09:15 PM

Hi Rich,

I guess parents want us to ski first in order to encourage us to try both instead of just sticking with one? I’m definitely grateful for knowing how to ski and board!

The Dopamine seems to look a bit more like my type of board then, I will (if I get the chance) spend my entire day in the park. Like I said, it is the most important thing, from what you’ve said about it though it sounds awesome and exactly what I’m looking for!

Boots I should be able to find, so that isn’t a problem.

Bindings.. hmm… I looked at all the ones you said and I’m now trying to choose between the Ride 390s, Drake Reload and Burton Malativa. Difficult! all look awesome! If they’re too close I might just choose by looks! With buying bindings though, do all bindings fit all boards easily?

again, thanks for the reply Rich!

Tim

Posted: 18 October 2011 09:38 PM

Yes as long as you don’t buy Burton Malavita EST these are designed to go specifically with Burton’s boards with the chanel binding system. I’ve hear a lot of people raving about the Malavitas because of the tech like the reflex baseplate and live hinge adjustability. But all of the bindings will do the job… Burtons will probably be the lightest too.

Posted: 19 October 2011 01:12 PM

Ok, I’m gonna go for the Dopamine board-wise, looks exactly what I want and looks awesome too. Only problem is: what size to go for? What size would you recommend?

As for the bindings: I’m leaning towards the Drake Reloads and away from the Burton and Union ones, are there different binding sizes though, so if I were to get some bindings would it fit all boots or would I have to take that into consideration when buying? 

EST bindings though, I used one of those boards in the year they came out, do you know what the advantages are?

Thanks again. I would be lost without your help!

Tim

Posted: 19 October 2011 01:50 PM

Your stats are about the same as mine although my boot size is smaller by two sizes.

I’d suggest the Dopamine in a 153, that’s what I rode and it was perfect for my weight and height. Bindings wise, you qualify for XL in Drakes. The Dopamine with the Reloads in Green/black will look tight.