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#1
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new board for the newbie
Hi,
Just wanted to ask yet another variation on the "What board should i get?" theme. I'm a beginner, have ridden about 4 times so far. In terms of ability, i can string a few turns together on the greens and easy blues but i'm still falling a lot. I live in the bay area and will probably be doing most of my boarding in tahoe. I'm not sure whether i ought to wait a bit longer before buying my own stuff, but the clearance sales lately have been tempting me, so i thought i'd post here to get some opinions. I am 5'3", adult, female, but am rather light for my height at about 83 pounds. The last board i rented was a 146, and a 143 before that; i think i may have been given a 139 before that, but don't really remember. In any case, i haven't really noticed much of a difference between the different lengths, being more preoccupied with not falling on my ass. The different people i have talked to have suggested a range of lengths for me, and i'm somewhat confused by the conflicting advice. At REI, the guy suggested something around a 144 or 145, but they didn't really have anything suitable for me at the time. Today i went to another shop, and the first person i spoke to was mostly pointing me in the direction of the 147-150cm boards, but he never asked me how much i weighed. After trying on some boots (salomon ivys, to get an idea of whether the lower-priced vigils would be worth getting in from another store that had them in stock), i asked a second person, who said that given my weight, i would probably be ok with a kids' board like the burton punch or the salomon fierce, (which he recommended over the burton) which was only 139cm. He also said that a somewhat flexible freestyle board like the burton troop 140 might also be ok for me. The salomon fierce kids' board is $140 on sale and the troop is $245, but i'm worried that they will be too short for me in the powder at tahoe. On the other hand, since i'm on the light side, i don't want something that's hard for me to control (other boards on sale included a burton clash 147 for about the same price as the troop, a salomon substance in a variety of lengths, and a rossignol sublime that both salespeople thought i would quickly outgrow because it was very flexible). The troop also came in a 146; this is billed as a "park" board, so i wasn't sure whether it would be good for a beginner who's not really planning to do park/pipe, etc. anytime soon. So, in summary, is there going to be a big difference between a 139 and a 146? If so, which would be better for someone of my height and weight? And would i be better off getting the cheaper ($140) fierce, or the ($245) troop, which he said would probably last me longer. I'm not really a speed freak or anything, so i'm not looking for something too stiff and fast. Anyway, sorry for the long-winded post, but any advice for a confused beginner would be much appreciated. Thanks, ads p.s. other boards i have been looking at online include the burton feather and cruzer, k2 luna, ride catalyst, and the rossignol zena p.p.s. Sorry, last question. As a beginner, is it worth looking into flow bindings? i think i would have to order them online, so i probably wouldn't be able to try them on beforehand... |
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#2
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new board for the newbie
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#3
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new board for the newbie
I hadn't really thought about this before, but REI's return policy
would be *excelent* when buying a board. As a beginner, I think it's really hard to know what you want out of a snowboard, so the first one you get really is just a wild guess. That's why I say don't break the bank on the first one... but with REI, after your first season if you don't like it, you should be able to take it back. I personally think you'd be happier on something around 143 than something much shorter or softer than that, unless you're really focused on riding park. |
#4
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new board for the newbie
83 pounds
They key to finding "your board" is to find something flexy enough. Most adult boards are designed for someone heavier than 83 pounds. If you've been renting, you've probably been riding boards that have been "overused" and are thus a lot softer than when they are new. (Unless you've been riding demo boards which probably have a little less abuse on them. Normal rental boars are special rental-only models; demo boards are boards that are available retail, they usually cost a bit more to rent) He also said that a somewhat flexible freestyle board like the burton troop 140 might also be ok for me. That makes sense to me. The troop also came in a 146; this is billed as a "park" board, so i wasn't sure whether it would be good for a beginner who's not really planning to do park/pipe, etc. anytime soon. The labl "park board" could mean any number of things, but if it's soft enough so that you can bend it int a turn at reasonable speeds, then it might be fine. Where are you riding at Tahoe? In my earlier days (97 - 98) I used to demo a lot of boards at Boreal. Get there early and ask them for a list of the demo boards in your size, take one of them out in the morning, and see if they'll save you another one or two and you can trade on and off during the day. That should help you get a better idea of what you want. If you can make it up there on a weekday, you can probably demo 3 or even 4 boards in the same day since there won't be lot of other people trying to demo; if you go on a weekend you might get stuck on the same one all day. |
#6
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new board for the newbie
As for helping ramp up your board skills, there's a new training board
out: Trampoline Bounce Board -http://www.funspot.com/trampoline_bounce_board.html |
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