Snowboard Blog

17th May 2013
Burton Snowboards 2014 Tech Guide

Burton Snowboards are arguably the best known snowboard brand on the market today.  Since 1977 they have been creating and innovating some of the best snowboard equipment available. For 2014 they are categorising all their boards according to Bend, Terrain, Personality and Width.  These categories will help you to determine what terrain the snowboard has been designed to ride, how aggressive the snowboard is, the style of snowboard (i.e. rocker/camber etc) and importantly how wide the snowboard is (to accommodate boot size).

All adult Burton snowboards for 2014 feature The Channel (other than the Ripcord and the Genie).  The Channel is the inteface between your snowboard and bindings.  All other manufacturers use an insert hole pattern as their interface where the bindings screw directly into the board. With Burton's Channel system you get a few added benefits:

• Super Quick and Easy Setup and Adjustability
• Truer Snowboard Flex Pattern
• Massive amount of Stance Option

The only downside of The Channel system is more to do with the compatible EST bindings as these bindings only work with The Channel.  So if you want to change your snowboard in the future to a board with a standard Insert pattern and you have bought EST bindings for your Channel board then you will need new bindings too!

We get asked quite frequently if the bindings come loose often as they are only connected via two screws into each bindings.  Having tested Burton boards (lots) over the last few years we can confidently say that you are as firmly attached as you would be on a standard insert pattern snowboard.

 

 Burton release new tech every year.  One of the raddest new bits of tech is the Filet-O-Flex which can be found on the Restricted Burton Hate snowboard.  On these boards parts of the core material have been removed and replaced with a soft padded type material which results in great flex without sacrificing the snowboards performance.  It also works well as a dampening material to reduce chatter. 

Also new for 2014 is an improvement to Burton's warranty programme where you now get 3 years manufacturing defect warranty on all their Channel Snowboards.  Burton have one of the best warranties on the market today. 

 

A lot has changed in the snowboarding world over the last few years.  It wasn't that long ago that all snowboards were cambered.  Then a few manufacturers started producing reverse camber (also known as Rocker or Banana) snowboards.  More recently, we have seen the combination of both Camber and Reverse Camber in the same board.

Typically, reverse cambered snowboards feel a little looser under foot, more playful and a little more forgiving.  Cambered boards on the other hand give more pop and far better edge control.  By combining both Rocker and Camber you can get the best of both worlds.  Burton's Flying V snowboards are in their 'Springloaded' catergory and are the combination of Rocker and Camber to give you a playful feel but with the edge hold you need. 

Also in the 'Springloaded' category are Burton's V-Rocker Snowboards.  V-Rocker snowboards are essentially purely Reverse Camber (rocker) and so are super playful.  You typically won't get great edge hold with these but on some of the V-Rocker snowboards Burton extend the metal edge out under your binding my 0.5mm to give you better edge hold (called Frostbite or Pressure Distribution Edges (PDE). 

Flat Top snowboards are also pretty much Rocker in shape in that they have Rockered Nose and tail to give you float in the pow and an overall playful feel. The flat section under the main section of the base helps edge hold and gives a more stable ride. 

S-Rocker snowboards are designed to be used in the Powder and give maximum nose lift. 

Old School Camber still exists in the Burton range of snowboards.  You get great pop/snap with a true camber snowboard and great edge hold too.

Burton's Nug Raduction technology allows you to downsize on your snowboard up to 10cm.  Full Nug Raduction can be found on the Burton Nug Snowboard.  We have tested these snowboards numerous times over the last couple of years and they are totally great for jibbing around the hill while still feeling relatively stable at speed. 

Factory Tuning - All Burton snowboards are factory tuned ready to be taken straight to the hill.  They all come pre-waxed, tuned and then detuned ready to shred.

Infinite Ride - Lots of the Burton snowboards come with Infinite Ride which is a neat little process that over builds the snowboard and then puts it into a machine that breaks the board in for you.  By doing this, the snowboard will always have the same riding characteristics and always feel the same underfoot.

 

Squeezebox - Uses a combination of thicker and thinner sections of core to improve performace and pop.

Twin Snowboards - A twin snowboard is perfectly symmetrical and so is great for switch riding as it feels the same when you ride it backwards as it does forwards.  Twin Snowboards are commonly found in the Freestyle category as they are great for park/jib use.

Directional Snowboards - A directional snowboard will have a longer nose than tail and are great from all-mountain or Freeride use.  Pop is concentrated in the tail, and the longer nose provides float in the powder.

Wide Snowboards - We get calls all the time by customers who are concerned about the width of the snowboard.  The term 'Wide' in snowboarding is pretty ambiguos as what some manufactures call Wide the next manufacture may call Mid-Wide or even standard width.  As a general rule of thumb, a snowboard with a waist width of over 255mm maybe classed as mid-wide whereas Wide snowboards are 265mm+.  You need to buy a wider snowboard if you have a bigger boot.  Typically any boot that is UK10.5+ may need a wider snowboard otherwise you will experience toe/heel drag when you shred (annoying!!)

Taper - Taper in a snowboard does what you would expect, the shape tapers down towards the rear of the board to you have a wider nose than tail.  You get a super smooth turn entry/exit with a tapered snowboard, great board stability and even more float in the Pow.

Snowboard Flex - You can adjust the amount of flex a snowboard has by controlling the amount of wood & fiberglass you construct it with.  Also, you can place the materials in different places to give the board a different feel.  A snowboard with a twin flex has been built symmetrically for a balanced ride, whereas a board with a directional flex has more pop in the tail.  Burton also has another bit of tech called True Flex which is only found on women's snowboards.  A snowboard with True Flex has torsionally softer sections beneath the bindings and stiffer sections between and outside of the bindings to give stability and effortless edge control.

Jumper Cables - Lightweight Carbon Stringers extend from your feet to the nose and tail of the snowboard to provide pop and snap when powering into turns.  Hi-Voltage Jumper Cables are an upgraded bit of tech that uses carbonated rods rather than stringers for even more explosive power.

Carbon I-Beam - A super light Carbon strip runs longitudinally down the length of the snowboard to give loads of pop.  If you load up your ollie it bends the carbon which really wants to go back to it's original shape - so as you release the ollie the carbon explodes back into its original shape to give you even more pop.

Smooth Ride - A foam type material is placed in strategic parts of the snowboard to provide dampening and reduce chatter.  It makes for a more comfortable ride and can help to reduce leg fatigue.

Flat Kicks - Found on the Burton Hate it uses a bigger nose and tail shape to help with pressing and buttering.

Scoop - Scooped nose and tail on the snowboard lifts up the edges to give a more playful forgiving ride.  Certainly helpful when boardsliding on rails etc as it makes the snowboard more catch-free.

Snowboard Cores - All Burton Snowboards have a wood core.  They offer these wood core boards in a range of different styles.  Their top end core is the Ultrafly Core which uses precision milling to reduce unnecessary weight while retaining the required strength.  Next we have the Dragonfly Core which has over 500 independent laminations which both reduces weight and energizes response.  Super Fly II uses stronger and lighter woods in strategic places to reduce the weight but retain strength.  Super Fly uses hard and soft wood optimized for differing riding conditions.  Fly Core is Burton's basic wood core that runs from tip to tail.

Engineered Grain Direction (EGD) - This tech comes in two different versions.  The first is Multizone EGD where the wood in four sections at the edges at the binding placement runs perpendicular to the rest of the core.  This provides better edge control. Dualzone EGD is similar but uses 2 strips that run the whole length of the snowboard.

Snowboard Sidewalls - Burton have created a super strong sidewall called 10:45 which is utilizes two angles at 10 and 45 to make a beefy impact absorbing sidewall.  They also have a standard Slantwall at a continuous 28 degrees whch gives a predictable consistent ride.

Snowboard Edges - All of Burton's Snowboards have metal edges which are sharpened in certain areas to give great edge hold by cutting into the snow and ice.  On some of their snowboards they use Stainless Steel edges to help prevent corrosion.  If you buy a snowboard without Stainless Steel edges then make sure you dry your edges before you pack your board away to save yourself an hour having to remove the rust!  Frostbite Edges feature an extended section of edge under the binding area to give even greater edge hold.  Overbite Frostbite Edges are an exagerated form of regular Frostbite using twice the amount of edge extension.  Side Effects ultilize lengthened surface area at the nose and tail contact points to improve edge hold and float easier in the fresh pow.  Grip & Rip tuning is Burton's standard edge where the edges are tuned and then detuned at the nose and tail down to the contact points to help prevent 'catching and edge' while retaining edge hold.  If you are planning on riding a lot of rails then look for boards with Rail Ready Edge Tune as they have the edges bevelled to prevent hooking up.

Snowboard Bases - All Snowboard Bases are made out of Plastic.  The Speed and durability of the base depends upon the grade of plastic used, how the plastic is formed and what ingredients have been added.  The Cheapest production method is an Extruded Base which requires little maintenance but is typically slower than a Sintered Base.  A Sintered Base is very absorbant to wax and a sintered snowboard that has been waxed properly with a decent wax will glide past an extruded base with ease.  Burton also produced a Sintered WFO Base (Wide F@*king Open) base that uses a specially formulated wax and a super high density to give unparalleled speed.

Take a look at all of our Burton Snowboards

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14th May 2013
K2 Snowboards 2014 Tech Guide

K2 have a long heritage in the snowboarding world and are well known for creating great product.  Every year they tweek their snowboards and add new and improved tech.  Take a look at some of the new tech for the 2014 K2 Snowboard range.

 

New for 2014, K2 had launched 'Lifted Baseline Technology' to give you even more pop.  Based on K2's regular Baseline technology (flat board, not Cambered or Rockered), 'Lifted Baseline' means that the flat area between the binding inserts has been raised.  This gives you the pop that you would get from a regular cambered snowboard while retaining the effortless precision of a flat board.

Tried and tested during the 2013 season 'Tweekend' gives you larger surface area to press, butter, float and land on.

With a larger rideable surface sketchier landing are easier to get away with.

K2 uses Bamboo in it's Bambooyah cores.  Not are they virtually indestructible, they come with a 5-year limited breakage warranty.  And......bamboo grows insanely fast so you are doing your part for the environment too!

 

 

All K2 Snowboards now have 'Baseline Technology' and there are 5 different types that can be seen in the image below.  

• Precision Baseline as seen on the K2 Slayblade which gives you the pop that you would get from a regular cambered snowboard while retaining the effortless precision of a flat board.  
• Catch Free Baseline does what you would expect, it make the board virtually catch free by lifting the contact points out of the snow
• Freestyle Baseline is designed for twin tip boards and has a small amount of rise in the nose and tail to give a loose, playful and buttery feel without sacrificing immediate response and pop.
• All Terrain Baseline as the name suggests is perfect for use across the whole mountain.  It's found on Directional boards and is great for use on both icy hardpacks right though to softer snow/pow.
• BC (Back Country) Baseline is K2's powder baseline.  With a longer raised nose you'll have plenty of float in the pow.

Like all good snowboard manufacturers, K2 uses a combination of wood, plastic and fibre-glass to create it's snowboards.  Along with these standard snowboard materials, they also use other ingredients to help the performance of the board.

 

Honeykomb Technology reduces the weight of the core without sacrificing the strength.

Ollie-Bar is constructed from a combination of carbon, kevlar and fibre-glass and runs in the centre section of the board to give unparalleled pop.

Harshmellow provides great dampening by placing foam type pads under the binding area to absorb chatter.

Carbon Web brings pop and snap closer to your bindings to heighten power and turn initiation.

ICG Glass uses a mix of carbon and fiberglass in longitudianally placed stringers to provide the board with even more pop and liveliness whilst  allowing for a smoother release of power.

Hybrilight Construction is a thinner consistant sidewall to give you a lighter snowboard.  Less material also makes this tech greener!

Hybritech Construction is standard sidewall along the length of the snowboard that flows into the nose and tail to give you reduces swing weight when spinning.

Biaxial Glass - Two layers of fiberglass to give smooth performance.  Not too aggressive or responsive this is perfect for beginners.

Triaxial Glass - Three layers of fibreglass to give a torsionally stiffer ride.  Increases edge hold, stability and response.

0 Sintered Base -  High quality static eliminating Sintered base which is ultra thin and lightweight. Ridiculously Crazy Fast.

4000 Sintered Base - Great was absorption, Exceptionally durable.  Crazy Fast.

2000 Extruded Base - Durable, easy to repair and repair.  Fast.

Hyper Progressive Sidecut - mellow radii in the tip of the board blends to a more agressive radii in the center to give a predicatble ride that doesn't hook or punish.  Super responsive at speed but still smooth enough to butter and play.

Dual Progressive Sidecut - Mistake friendly, fun and forgiving.

 

Take Look at all of our K2 Snowboard Equipment

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10th May 2013
Snowboard Tech Talk - Snowboard Length

Snowboard Length

It's pretty easy to choose the correct length snowboard if you follow a few simple rules.

First off, wherever possible go into your local/prefered snowboard shop and speak to one of the staff as most of them will have years experience in the snowboarding industry and will be able to point you in the right direction.

When buying your new snowboard, choosing the actual length is one of the last things you should think about and rather you should work out which snowboard is right for you and then choose the correct size for that particular snowboard.

It used to be the case that people would determine the size of their snowboard based on their height but this is not as important as rider weight. Most snowboards have a designated weight range for their snowboards and this is your starting point.

As a general rule of thumb, people tend to downsize slightly if they want a jib/freestyle snowboard and upsize if they want a big mountain/freeride snowboard.

If you want any help with snowboard sizing then let us know.

 

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8th May 2013
Snowboard Tech Talk - Snowboard Bases

Snowboard Bases

All snowboards have a plastic base (polyethylene) that is specifically designed to glide on the snow and also to be durable enough to withstand a certain amount of abuse.  

There are two basic production methods of the snowboard base material - Extruded and Sintered.

Extruded Snowboard Bases are typically found on cheaper snowboards.  Essentially a large piece of the plastic is cut into shape and added to the snowboard base.  It is a solid consistant piece of material that is not massively porous to wax and so typically require less base maintanence than a Sintered Snowboard Base.

Sintered Snowboard Bases are more expensive to produce and hence found on more expensive snowboard models.  Rather than using a solid piece of plastic, an amount of plastic pellets will be put into a machine which both heats and presses the pellets together to create the base,  By doing this, there are lots of tiny holes in the base that are highly porous and are able to retain snowboard wax.

Because a Sintered base is porous to wax, a freshly waxed snowboard with a Sintered base will be much faster than a snowboard with an Extruded base.  

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2nd April 2013
Come for a Shred?

Call The Shop for more details - 01252 612223

Kaunertal is a glacier resort that is open year round, but really comes into it’s own every Spring.

In the middle of April, while other ski resorts are about to shut down for the season, the Kaunertal glacier is starting the spring shred. Kaunertal, sitting at over 3000m, guarantees great snow, even into May and Spring Break will feature the best spring park in Europe when a large part of the Kaunertal glacier is turned into a huge terrain park, with full freestyle facilities for all levels of rider.

From those just venturing into the park for the first time to the pros hitting the 15m pro line kickers, Spring Break will have riding options for everyone. And if park isn’t your idea of fun, there’s plenty of natural terrain to ride, from wide open groomers for high speed maching to windy, technical trails. When conditions allow, there’s even the chance to ride power – and it wouldn’t be the first time!

You can shred two kicker lines, medium jumps, diverse rails and boxes as well as further jibs.

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1st February 2013
What Snowboard Gloves Should I Buy?

What Snowboard Gloves Should I Buy?

There are lot of snowboard and ski gloves on the market right now, some good and some bad.  There are a few basic things you should consider when buying snowboard gloves –

1. Waterproofing
2. Breathability
3. Warmth.

Most snowboard gloves that we stock have a waterproof ‘insert’ or ‘membrane’ inside the glove between the inner part of the glove and the exterior of the glove.  In simple terms, this insert almost looks like the type of glove that you find in the petrol station to keep your hands clean when pumping diesel.  The purpose of the glove insert is to keep you dry by not allowing the snow to penetrate though the insert to your hands, whilst at the same time allowing your hands to breathe so that you don’t get wet from the inside (sweat).  Depending on the brand of glove you buy you will get a specific insert such as Gore-Tex, Hipora or Insane Membrane (Burton) Etc.

(Importantly, most gloves that are designated as ‘pipe gloves’ do not have an insert and so are not really recommended if you intend to have you hands in contact with the snow).

From a warmth point of view, lots of gloves will have some kind of fill to provide insulation and warmth.  Depending on the brand of glove you choose and also the model of glove you will get a particular material used for insulation such as Primaloft or ThermoLoft.

As well as having a waterproof/Breathable Membrane inside the glove, lots of gloves will use a waterproof/Breathable fabric on the outside of the glove too such as Burtons DryRide or have a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating.  If you buy a snowboard glove with a Leather outer then it will probably need to be treated with some kind of waterproofing material otherwise the leather will get soaking wet and although it shouldn’t penetrate through the membrane to your hand you will get a degraded performance from the glove and normally a cold hand as the retained water in the leather cannot dry whilst you remain on the mountain.

Typically Gore-Tex is one of the more expensive Inserts and PrimaLoft is one of the more expensive Insulations.

Take a look at all of our Snowboard Gloves

 

 

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9th January 2013
Snowboard Sale

We are adding more products to the Snowboard Sale on a daily basis, including 2013 snowboard, Snowboard Jackets, snowboard Bindings and more! 

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14th November 2012
Unleash the Lens - Snowboard Film Screening

If you are in or near Fleet next Wednesday 21st November then you best get yourself down to the Propaganda Music Canteen for an evening of Snowboarding Pleasure.  We will be showing 2 epic snowboard movies in one of the best bars around.  There will be free giveaways from Dragon, free sweets from Bonfire/Salomon and 1/2 price Cocktails all Evening........come.....you'll love it!!

 

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19th October 2012
Free Snowboard Stuff!!

Everyone loves free snowboard stuff right?  Well, checkout our promotions page - Snowboard Special Deals as we have a few deals on right now.  We also have a comp on all weekend to win a free Airhole facemask for free just visit our Facebook Page

 

 

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12th October 2012
Full Loaded with 2013 Goods

We have been receiving deliveries almost daily over the the last month and are now about 80% full with new shiny 2013 snowboard equipment and products.  Come down to the shop and take a look at what we have for you!

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