"msegal" wrote in message ...
I've got a 2000 Burton Custom 160. I'm 6 foot, 175 pounds, so my board is on
the small side for me, I suppose. I'm looking to get a new one that's a bit
bigger when the spring sales kick in. I freeride (not really sure how
freeriding differs from all-mountain, but I certainly cover the whole
mountain--everywhere but the park). I'm thinking of getting another Custom
or a Custom X, but maybe I'm not being that creative here. If there's a
better board out there--say, the Burton T6 or Salomon Definition--I'd go for
it. More to the point, I'm wondering if the high-performance boards from the
top mfgs--Ride, Salomon, Nitro, Burton, Palmer, etc.--differ that
significantly. I mean, the main complaints I hear about Burton are more
political than qualitative. Do certain brands have unique qualities?

I demo'd the top of the line boards from Ride, Burton, & Salomon this year
and liked them all. Don't know about Nitro and Palmer.

The ones you mentioned are good. If you have larger feet, look at the
midwide boards out there. As far as top of the line, the T6 was very nice
as was the Salomon ERA.

-todd