Snow Boards

[MattsCraft]

OK ? for all you snowboarders- My son is also into Snowboarding, he is 18, 6' tall and weighs about 150lbs soaking wet. I want to get him a new snowboard for xmas. I would guess he is intermediate in skill level, can do amazing things on skates (ice, roller and aggressive), skis, skateboards an intermediate wakeboarding.

My ? is this, there are a million + boards and set ups etc, what is a decent board, size etc for him. He has boots, bindings and a board. Are, the bindings and boots universal? Will his existing bindeing and boot set up work with any board?

Any suggestions from you die hards would greatly be appreciated, size, types, manuf. places for deals. (Don't want to burn a whole in dad's credit card)

Many Thanks,

[T-Bird]

Pretty much every board and every bindings will fit together.

Don't buy a complete no name brand because they will fall apart fast.

Any boot will fit any binding as long as its the right size, the only exception is for step in boots and bindings. You don't want these anyway. If you get the same company's boots and bindings they will generally fit together best.

As for the board you will want around a 156-158 to ride in our area. If you go out west you might want a 158-160ish.

If you go to G-rides in West Chester they will have everything you need to set him up right.

If you want to save some money, but risk the quality of products you can shop online. Look for a package deal and it will be priced well.

[Rodney]

a shorter board may be a little bit better to ride around here given we dont exactly have long powder runs you can carve, perfect north does offer some pretty good park riding, i would agree with t-bird, 158ish would be a good size. you cant go wrong with some of the more well know brands like burton, flow, ride, k2. A freestyle board may be a good choice which should perform well in most conditions.

boarders has had some snowboard stuff lately, you may want to keep an eye on it.

> http://boardersbestbuy.com/

[bzmillerboy]

If your going to shop online here are a couple good sites that offer good last year model sales and all the gear you can imagine.

http://www.dogfunk.com/dogfunk/on_sale.html

http://www.the-house.com/dealoftheday.html

http://www.easternboarder.com/shop/shop.product.php?pid=1247

http://www.backcountryoutlet.com/

http://www.whiskeymilitia.com/

Transworld has a pretty good buyers guide.

http://snowboarding.transworld.net/category/catalog/2009/09Boards/

But I wouldn't stress out about getting the "perfect" board. If he has never rode before, get a package deal from house.com or ebay...he will adapt to it and almost every board sold now is a good reliable board.

[MattsCraft]

Thanks guys - I have a little more info, He has new Burton Bindings and Boots, he is riding a 140 from Dicks, don't now the brand, will it be a big deal for him switching to a 158 from a 140? My price range is not more than $300 and he will probably only ride @ Perfect North!

Many Thanks!

[Firedog]

My suggestion for you is to spend your money on a decent but less expensive board that you should be able to find in the $200+ range will will give him the best all around (mountain/ terrain) bang for your buck. This is a good example

http://www.the-house.com/9859ffco7zz-5150-covert.html

It is a Burton 159cm and $189.00.

By getting a less expensive board he can hit the rails hard in the terrain park and if he breaks it...your not out $400. That is until he finds this perfect board for $400.....