REVscene Automotive Forum - good snowboard brands?

Quote:

Originally Posted by karyoka (Post 8154948)

whats the best snowboards out there? i heard lib tech is the best!

subjective answer

in the late 90's and early 2000's there were numerous companies of ski and snowboard companies that had their gear made by even bigger corporations.

for example. Mervin manufacturing that produces libtech also produces gnu. While there is no hiding that fact, their boards were made at the very same factory, but under different labels

Also, Forum for years were made by elan to which they also had one or two of their decks made in canada. Elan is, a ski company still around today. Then they were purchased by burton and then made in one of two factories, either in Vermont [where burton is headquartered] or in austria, home to an abundance of other factories as well. Burton, up until this year, produced many brands out of their outfits, forum being one of them, along with some sierra designed snowboards, and a few other brands that aren't very popular.

Fast forward to the present day and you'll see a lot of companies cutting costs of their gear by having production sent out to china.

So to answer your question, there is really no "BEST" out there. There is only the latest technology.

There are one or two companies that have technology that is so out of this world, that one might perceive it as being best, but it's really subjective [as mentioned] because of the fact that it won't apply to many average consumers in today's snowboard world.

Burton is one of those corporations that spends a butt load of money into their R&D technology. Much like F1, or MotoGP does with their race tech. What you see is trickled down pro level gear. Which is essentially their testing grounds for next years latest and best.

When considering the "best" consider your usage, and how often you're going to be using it. Because if you're going to be beating the snot out of gear, then you're going to want something that's more robust and durable, which might not be considered to the next person as being the best. It could be heavier, it could be stiffer, it could very well be a lead weight in the end. But it's a board that can take a sh!t kicking and still feel like the day you bought it.

But then again, if you're the type of person that always wants the latest tech, the best graphics and the best in materials, look towards the companies that have the largest line up of boards and has the best warranty possible.

Couple brands that come to mind are, infact Burton, Libtech, Gnu, Ride, Rossignal, K2, and Rome.

The majority of those brands spend a lot of money in development, and also provide a full line up of gear, ranging from boards, boots, bindings, and complete outerwear including first layers.

However, the bottom line is this....when you're shopping for stuff, just pick up a snowboard buyers guide and also look online. Watch reviews on boards/boots/bindings, and see what type of riding you want to ultimatley do. Because if you just go for the best looking and most expensive...there's a chance you might not even like it at all. I've seen that all too often.