I'm not super-into snow boarding, but I do love it! It's fun as hell and I'm naturally pretty good at it since I grew up surfing, skateboarding, and skimboarding... Snow boarding was like second nature to me!

Anyway, onto my question... I've never owned my own gear... I seldomly go due to work and time constraints, so I never saw the purpose of me getting my own gear (Snowboard/bindings + boots).

Every time I go out I use my friends extra gear, he's really into it so he has a few boards + everything else that goes with it. I always use his burton 172 board with clipless bindings (the bindings that click in VIA cleat on the boot sole) and that setup has been treating me nicely, well, at least from what I gather... It's basically the only setup I've ever used so I can't compare it to anything else. My friend is much shorter and heavier than me, and he says that his boards are his "size" and that I should get a board that fits me correctly. He says the 172 is far too small for me, and gave me a bunch of other crap because I'm tall (he's mad cuz I always use his stuff... lol)

My question to you is: What is the proper sized snowboard for me?
I'm 6'6", weigh around 235ish. I'm a total snowboarding info n00b, I know nothing about the entire scene, so any help would be appreciated. Does riding that old 172mm burton board drastically affect my style of riding? You think a longer board will make that big of a difference for me?


Help a snowflake'd brotha' out

 

172 is a LONG *** board, even for you. Thats a powder board

Height isnt as important as weight. I'm 185lbs and ride a 161. If you go with a shorter board (maybe a 164) you will notice that its a lot easier to turn

 

weight is important but height/space between both feet is very important as well.

I'm 170 and have been riding a very stiff duo 163 since i weighed like 145. 172 is definitely not to long.

If you enjoy riding and not park longer=better. I'd say you can probably ride the biggest sizes they make, but 172 sounds about right.

 

Yeah, boots are def key, I agree.


What are flow-bindings? I've never heard of them.

 

Does anyone know when they have big snowboard/ski sales and stuff. My friend said he picked up a used set with board/bing/boots for 100 ish.

*sorry for the hijack, looking for a board myself so maybe it'll also help you.

 

I was given a free snowboard and bought ride bindings. I was always told an easy way to see if a snowboard is your size is to stand it up in front of you and if it is anywhere inbetween your nose and chin then it's all good. I am sure there are many factors that go into it...weight..what kind of riding you do (tricks, speed, etc.). Just my $.02

 

Wait until March and all the board shops in Davis price everything 40% off. Or if you really need new gear and want to get last season stuff, you can get some really nicely discounted stuff. Check out Ground Zero and Ken's Bike and Ski.

 

it was probably something like bayareasnowshow.com

don't expect much out of the setup though.

 

Tomorrow steepandcheap dot com is doing only snow gear. I've seen some flow bindings on that site a few times...

FWIW, I'm 5'11, 175 #'s and am perfectly happy on my Santa Cruz 156. I've demo'd some longer boards and can ride them fine, but I prefer the 156-158 range for my weight. My powder board is also a 156 Burton Fish. That thing is awesome on fresh powder through the trees - very easy to make tight turns.

Check out a Burton Demo day if at all possible, Daniel. It's really nice being able to ride different set ups. That's what sold me on the Fish. Here's the 2008 schedule for local spots:
January 25–27 Bear Mountain Resort – Big Bear, Calif. AM Series
February 1–3 Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort – Truckee, Calif. AM Series

 

good tip. s&c has great deals. it's just a matter of what you come across.

p.s. burton > flow!

 

flow bindings FTMFW!!!

my friend lives and breaths for boarding. he works in the industry and dedicates his free time to riding....i asked him for you...hes on here but i cant remember his user name...he hasnt been here for ages!

first....whats yer shoe size?? 165-169 range for size. 172 is too big. waist width should at least 260mm. depending on yer shoe size.

burton bullet
burton royal (higher end)
Ride fleetwood (cheaper yet just as good as burton...since burton is $$$)
Ride Yukon
Gnu carbon highbeam(magna traction cbhmtx suugested board when i asked him about you )

 

im 6' 180 lbs and i ride a 167 wide burton, its really nice and stable, and floats. But ive ridden a 181 and holy isht if you think your legs are too far apart...they are! my legs were so sore after that. still doable if the binding threads allow you to move your feet together.

im not into freestyle so i dont need a super skinny width that turns too fast, i like flat straight rails as opposed to a super concave rail.

 

As a lot of people have noted, it probably comes down to what type of riding you're into. If you're a powder monkey who just wants to carve down the hill, then a 172 will probably work. If you like zipping around groomed sections looking for hits or going down the park/pipe, get something smaller with a bit of sidecut/narrower waist to help make your board more responsive. But that comes with a price, as I would imagine at 6'6'' you have a size 12+ foot, which will cause your boots to drag on a smaller board with a narrower waist.

For comparison, I'm 6'0", 180 pounds with a size 11 boot, riding a wide 155 Forum with a lot of sidecut. I prefer parks and groomed sections with hits, but I've used the board on crazy powder days without a problem. Just lean back and keep the nose up

Maybe the best advice is the same one that pro racers would give a novice. Use the equipment you have until you get better. If you need to buy something, get something close to what you've been using and are comfortable with. However, I've never been a fan of clip-in bindings, so I would say go traditional with that. My 2 cents...

 

Just a tip, but I highly suggest The House (www.the-house.com) board shop for gear purchases. Their Outlet section has some killer deals on some new boards!

An $600 F2 freestyle board, for $200 new? http://www.the-house.com/9862f2sa6zz-f2-spin-air.html

I just bought this board for 53% off:
http://www.the-house.com/9855m3d5zzm3.html

They have pretty good deals on packaged deals, AND offer free shipping and NO tax! Can't argue with that, now eh? And their deal of the day can be pretty rockin' as well...

 

If you spend your time mostly freeriding, something like a 167 would be good, if you freestyle more, id go with a 163. Btw..if you want an easy in/out binding..dont go with flows, K2 cinches are much better.