SNOWBOARD BUYING TIPS

There are ten major criteria to consider when selecting your board.   By following this guide, it will help define the issues and take the guess work out of deciding what is best for you.  First, let's figure out what shape will match your style of riding.  There are three basic riding shapes. Be honest with yourself when considering what style of riding you typically will be doing.

SHAPES

1) Directional: A purely directional board serves best for freeriding. It will have a softer nose for easier initiation into turns, a stiffer tail to snap you out of turns, allowing no loss of speed when entering the transition between turns, and the nose will be slightly wider than the tail. Also, the hole pattern will be offset back on the board to, along with the wider nose, increase the ease of turn initiation and offer better flotation in powder. This is a stable shape, but not one for a rider who rides backwards or fakie a lot.

2) True Twin Tip : A true twin tip is symmetrical in shape from the center of the board out towards the tip and tail. It is used by boarders who mainly freestyle in the park. A twin tip has a centered stance and a forgiving, softer flex all the way through. Both of these features make for a good board to ride fakie and spin in the air, but not to freeride on.

3) Directional Twin: This can be considered to be the hybrid of the other two shapes. A directional twin is more inclined for a boarder who likes to use the whole mountain while throwing in a bit of freestyle riding. It will usually have a soft nose and stiff tail, with a true twin tip shape. While not the best at straight freeriding, this shape works well as an all-purpose board.

WIDTH

Your board's width can play a huge role in riding performance and is dependent on your boot size. At the rider's given binding angles, 1/4"-1/2" is the desired overhang of the boot's toe and heel along the side edges. If the boot does not reach the edges, the rider is unable to turn well because of a lack of edge leverage. If the boot's toe and heel overhang off the board too much, the rider will experience his or her boots noticeably dragging through the snow, which will also make turning difficult. Some riders can get away with a little more than 1/2" overhang depending on how far they get on edge and the type of snow they are riding on. Keep in mind that if a rider needs to go to a wider board, the length may be slightly lowered. The lower length will offset the added width and thus help to even out the actual board mass in contact with the snow.

LENGTH

When deciding upon what length of snowboard to get, there are quite a few things to consider: weight, style, type of snow being ridden, and height. Rider Weight: A board has a measureable camber or bow throughout the center. This camber is responsible for giving the board "pop" and liveliness. When a snowboard's camber is greatly diminished or gone, it is time to get a new board. Measured in millimeters, camber generally gets higher as a board gets longer in length. This is because of the simple fact that a longer object is easier to bend than a shorter object, and to accomodate for the extra weight of a heavier rider on the longer board. Sometimes the manufacturers will also adjust the camber in relation to the stiffness of the board's longitudinal flex. Rider Style: While there are several different types and combinations of riding, the two most popular and easily differentiated are freeride and freestyle. A freerider is characterized as a boarder that likes, but is not limited to, ripping down the mountain in search of that perfect carve. This type of rider usually opts for a longer board to provide extra speed and edge hold. A freestyler is characterized as a boarder who prefers, but is not limited to, getting air in the park/pipe in hopes of nailing that perfect jump. This type of rider generally likes a shorter board to provide less swing weight while rotating in the air. Type of Snow : The type of snow a rider normally is on will also affect the length of board he or she may choose. Many boarders prefer to go an extra 3cm-9cm in length when riding powder as opposed to icy or packed snow. The additional length will provide extra speed and better flotation through the softer powder. Rider Height : As a "quick and dirty" rule of thumb you can use your height to decide your board's length. For freestyle boards, the top of the board should be between your collar bone and mouth. For freeride boards, the top should be between your chin and nose.

SIDECUT

The curve or arc on a snowboard's front and back edges is called the sidecut.   Imagine tracing a continuous line from the arc and completing a cirlce.   From that circle you can measure it's radius (distance from center to edge).  The more the arc, the deeper the sidecut, the smaller the radius   Make sense?  In today's snowboards, there are two sidecut types to be aware of. Regular Sidecut Regular: A regular sidecut is basically uniform throughtout. The deeper the sidecut of a board is, the shorter the distance it will take turn when on edge. A deeper sidecut will turn more quickly and is better for freestyling, but can be less stable at higher speeds. While more stable at higher speeds for freeridng, a shallow sidecut will not turn in as short of a distance when compared to a deeper sidecut. Progressive Sidecut Progressive: A progressive sidecut utilizes two separate radii, a large one in the front of the board and a smaller in the rear. This design helps to pull you through turns better, but is not the best for riding fakie (backwards). .

BASES

There are three common bases today: Extruded: This is the cheapest, slowest, and softest of the three base types. An extruded base absorbs wax decently, but not as good as the others. Although not hard to repair, it is the most easily damaged due to it's softness. To make this high density base, polyethylene pellets are fed into a heated extruder, where they melt and are pumped out of a die to form the base. Sintered: The lighter, higher end sintered base is faster and harder, meaning it takes more to damage it. However, because it is harder, it is not as easy to repair as an extruded base. A sintered base can also absorb up to five times more wax than an extruded base due to the amorphous areas in the material. The base is formed by heat pressing powdered polyethylene particles together. The particles harden where they join together, leaving microscopic void spaces between. This is why a sintered base can hold more wax than the extruded type. Electra : This is the most expensive of the bases, implementing graphite into the base. A faster ride is achieved because the graphite is conductive, thus dissipating static charges between the base and the snow.  It is produced by pre-compounding polyethylene with a small amount of graphite, which is then heat sintered. While not necessary, a graphite wax works best for maintaining an electra base.

FLEX

When dealing with flex, there are two kinds. Longitudinal: This refers to the flex from the tip of the snowboard to the tail and can be gauged by holding the tip with one hand and applying pressure to the top of the board with the other. A stiffer longitudinal flex is good for freeriding due to it's ability to power through crud and provide stability at higher speeds. However, the stiffer the flex, especially the nose, the harder it is to maneuver and freestyle on. Most freestylers prefer a softer flexing board because they do not need the extra speed and like a more forgiving board that can turn quickly. The main disadvantage of having a soft flex is that the board will be less stable at higher speeds, especially when on ice. Torsional: This refers to the flex from edge to edge of the snowboard and, while difficult to measure, can be gauged by placing the bottom portion of the board sideways between your feet and knees, and using your hands on both edges to twist the board against it's natural flatness. A stiffer torsional flex will hold a better edge, but is less forgiving in terms of feeling vibrations when going over bumps. A softer flex offers a smoother ride, but is not as stable on ice.

CORES

There are three main types of cores. Foam Composite: The use of foam in a core offers lighter weight and the ability to fine tune the characteristics of the core. Often the core is injection molded with the aid of computers, allowing the cell size to be changed and each core to have the same flex patterns. However, most feel that foam core boards tend to lose their camber faster. This of course will vary between companies depending on the level of quality put into the production of their cores. Wood: This is the preferred type of core by most quality companies. It tends to offer good vibration dampening and retains it's camber well. It should be noted that some higher end companies use a combination of both wood and a quality foam in their core production in order to take advantage of each materials strengths. Aluminum Honeycomb: A honeycomb core incorporates aluminum into it's structure. The major advantage of a honeycomb core is that it is extremely light in weight. Disadvantages include a higher price tag and slightly lower dampening abilities.

SIDEWALLS

There are three kinds of sidewalls to consider. True Cap: While difficult to distinguish between when riding, there are advantages to each of the different types of constructions. A true cap is easily distinguished by the topsheet graphics continuing down to the edges on the sides of the board. This construction serves well for freestyling because it is light, offers a more responsive ride and has increased snappiness for ollieing. Sandwich: A sidewall board's graphics stop where the topsheet meets the sides of the board, giving way to noticeable separate walls that continue to the edges. This technique serves well for freeriding in that it tends to provide greater pressure to the edges and will not wash out as easily in deeper turns. Also, sidewall repair on this type of construction tend to come out looking sightly better than with the cap style. Half Cap: The half cap is a combination of the other two types of construction. It's goal is to offer the best of both worlds and is usually only found on high end snowboards.

EDGES

There are two kinds of edge constructions to consider. Full Wrap: Virtually all manufacturers use Rockwell steel edges on their snowboards. A full wrap edge goes all the way around a board, stopping where it meets itself. This offers the greatest protection for the board, but can be hard to repair if heavily damaged. Although practically undetectable, the full wrap edge does make the board ever so slightly heavier. Tucked: This form of construction stops the steel edges before going around the tip and tail. This concept focuses on the fact that metal causes the tip and tail to be heavier, thus making it harder to spin in the air. Of course the weight of the snowboard will be decreased because of this, but the difference is so small that it is unnoticeable. While much more easily damaged, the tip and tail are easier to fix. If one wishes, the shape of the tip and tail can also be customized with the use of a grinder.

CAMBER

A snowboard has a measureable amount of camber or bow throught the center. This camber is responsible for giving the board "pop" or liveliness and aids in the transitioning between turns. When a snowboard's camber is greatly diminished or gone, it is time to get a new one. Measured in millimeters, camber generally gets higher as a board gets longer. This is because of the simple fact that a longer object is easier to bend than a shorter object, and to accomodate for the extra weight of a heavier rider on the longer board. The life of the camber will depend on the construction of the board, the rider's weight, and the rider's level of aggressiveness.

TIPS COMPLEMENTS OF OUTDOORREVIEW.COM