What the Perfesser Thinks About Snowboards
All right. I've been snowboarding on the same equipment for a very long time
now (since like 1999?). My old state-of-the-art gear (Morrow 4Ten 169cm
board with Burton System performance 3-strap bindings) looks pretty worn out at this
point. The board itself is amazingly springy, still, though the bindings are
starting to fall apart. My Molly 154, which has never really been ridden
much, is probably almost as good as new, technology notwithstanding.
I just upgraded into the modern world, taking advantage of end-of-season
sales, and what a different world it is! So many previous small brands are
now the faded, non-differentiated brands of made-in-china conglomerates.
Companies that started in, and initially built gear in, the Pacific
Northwest--K2, Ride, Morrow, among them--are now brands sporting the exact
same "Made In China" labels in the same spots.
Q: What is the true difference between these two board lines?
A: Maybe nothing?
My new board (2009) is a 50% off Ride Fleetwood 161, and I got Ride RX
bindings. I think it cost for the setup 1/2 of what I paid in 1999 (also at
end-of-season discount), which is crazy (I actually went to a snowboard shop
and checked out how much an equivalent "latest thing" would set me back, it
was about $460, centered around a K2 board also made en Chine, but with the
new reverse camber design).
See the following sites for who owns what in the snowboarding world:
The board companies that I think are still focused on riders seem to be
Lib-Tech (made in Canada by snowboarders,even though conglomerate-owned),
Burton (big, but focused, I think), Arbor, Never Summer, and probably
other smaller guys I haven't discovered.
