Full resolution at www.flickr.com/photos/davedphoto
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Burton Hero: First Impressions
I ended up picking up a Hero for myself for the upcoming season as I was incredibly curious to see how Burton's take on rocker/reverse camber would hold up. At first glance the scoop tech is easy to see from the top sheet and not nearly as obvious on the base. The extended PDE is hard to see also, but is noticeable if you closely examine the edge. The hand flex feels medium stiff, with the tip and tail flexing more than the center of the board.
Board: Burton Hero 155 with Cartel EST GMP
Rider Stats: 5'9, 200 lbs Male 22 years old
Riding Conditions: Hardpack and Ice, 8 pm session after a fairly mild and sunny day so the snow had melted a bit and then re-froze.
Terrain Ridden: Mellow to Medium groomers and jib park.
I was absolutely floored by the Hero's ability to hold a solid edge even on the icier areas of the mountain. I'm not able to attest to how the board performs on steeper terrain, however the edge hold on the medium to mild trails was awsome. I was able to lay out a carve around one of the tight turns on one of the green trails of 7 Springs where I was riding. The middle of the board is stiffer than the tip and tail and I believe this is the reason that it is able to free-ride so well and maintain its jib/pressability. As hard as you can charge on trails of this nature, the Hero was more than willing and able to handle it.
The board's middle name oughta be butter for how easy it is to press, jib and spin with. From tripod manuals to nose presses the Hero is dialed into the butter game with no questions asked. I was able to comfortably butter, press and spin on the flatground without any issues. The flex is forgiving in the tip and tail making the board very predictable when playing on the flat ground. The one area I felt it was slightly lacking was the pop department. Not to say it doesn't pop, and really well at that, but when comparing to to banana-tech, I do think that banana has more pop. When I got into the terrain park, the Hero was like my favorite old broken in board. Tricks that took the entirety of last season to dial in I was able to land first try. Pressing was effortless and the scoop tech made front noseslides seem effortless. I felt as though I was able to jib and butter with much more confidence than normal on this board.
The EST portion of this board is what worried me more than anything else. I rode an UnInc EST last year and had my share of issues with the bindings slipping while I was riding. I was hesitant to ride an EST system again this year knowing the issues that I had previously had. I have to say that after my first few runs the bindings started moving on me. I was really bummed since I was enjoying the board so much, but I brought it into the shop, tightened everything down and went back out with absolutely no issue the rest of the night. I genuinely think that the slippage was fault of my own for not quite tightening everything down enough. I find that I generally have this issue with most new boards after a few runs. The cold air shrinks the metal and everything gets slightly loose. I'm riding the Cartel EST Green Mountain Project bindings which come equipped with the Shredbeds. For those unfamiliar with what this is, it is a slimmer EVA footbed for the EST bindings which is supposed to give you insane underfoot board feel. To be honest, I don't notice a huge difference in terms of feeling the snow and whatnot underfoot. I do however believe that I get a ton more feel for what the board is doing and how it flexes when I'm riding the EST system.
All in all this board blew me away in terms of first impressions. I had an absolute blast riding it and I can't wait to get back on snow and spend more time learning new tricks and enjoying snowboarding as much as I did the first night I rode it. I would absolutely recommend this board to someone looking for an all mountain freestyle stick, especially for the east coast. It is exactly what I was looking for in a board... stable enough to charge and soft enough to jib. If this sounds like what you are looking for, the Hero will not disappoint
Pick yours up at www.thejibshop.com
-Dave "Boots" DiNuzzo
Board: Burton Hero 155 with Cartel EST GMP
Rider Stats: 5'9, 200 lbs Male 22 years old
Riding Conditions: Hardpack and Ice, 8 pm session after a fairly mild and sunny day so the snow had melted a bit and then re-froze.
Terrain Ridden: Mellow to Medium groomers and jib park.
I was absolutely floored by the Hero's ability to hold a solid edge even on the icier areas of the mountain. I'm not able to attest to how the board performs on steeper terrain, however the edge hold on the medium to mild trails was awsome. I was able to lay out a carve around one of the tight turns on one of the green trails of 7 Springs where I was riding. The middle of the board is stiffer than the tip and tail and I believe this is the reason that it is able to free-ride so well and maintain its jib/pressability. As hard as you can charge on trails of this nature, the Hero was more than willing and able to handle it.
The board's middle name oughta be butter for how easy it is to press, jib and spin with. From tripod manuals to nose presses the Hero is dialed into the butter game with no questions asked. I was able to comfortably butter, press and spin on the flatground without any issues. The flex is forgiving in the tip and tail making the board very predictable when playing on the flat ground. The one area I felt it was slightly lacking was the pop department. Not to say it doesn't pop, and really well at that, but when comparing to to banana-tech, I do think that banana has more pop. When I got into the terrain park, the Hero was like my favorite old broken in board. Tricks that took the entirety of last season to dial in I was able to land first try. Pressing was effortless and the scoop tech made front noseslides seem effortless. I felt as though I was able to jib and butter with much more confidence than normal on this board.
The EST portion of this board is what worried me more than anything else. I rode an UnInc EST last year and had my share of issues with the bindings slipping while I was riding. I was hesitant to ride an EST system again this year knowing the issues that I had previously had. I have to say that after my first few runs the bindings started moving on me. I was really bummed since I was enjoying the board so much, but I brought it into the shop, tightened everything down and went back out with absolutely no issue the rest of the night. I genuinely think that the slippage was fault of my own for not quite tightening everything down enough. I find that I generally have this issue with most new boards after a few runs. The cold air shrinks the metal and everything gets slightly loose. I'm riding the Cartel EST Green Mountain Project bindings which come equipped with the Shredbeds. For those unfamiliar with what this is, it is a slimmer EVA footbed for the EST bindings which is supposed to give you insane underfoot board feel. To be honest, I don't notice a huge difference in terms of feeling the snow and whatnot underfoot. I do however believe that I get a ton more feel for what the board is doing and how it flexes when I'm riding the EST system.
All in all this board blew me away in terms of first impressions. I had an absolute blast riding it and I can't wait to get back on snow and spend more time learning new tricks and enjoying snowboarding as much as I did the first night I rode it. I would absolutely recommend this board to someone looking for an all mountain freestyle stick, especially for the east coast. It is exactly what I was looking for in a board... stable enough to charge and soft enough to jib. If this sounds like what you are looking for, the Hero will not disappoint
Pick yours up at www.thejibshop.com
-Dave "Boots" DiNuzzo
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
First Post
Well it's official, I'm joining the bandwagon and starting a blog. I figure this is one more way to spread my opinion/know how/life/photography/miscellaneous crap with the rest of the world. If you become a reader, please keep reading and let me know what you would like to read about. If you like my photos, you should buy some prints and tell your friends to do the same. If you hate me then click that sweet red X on the top corner of your browser because I'm not forcing you to read this.
Check out some of the sweet people I'm friends with and that I support
www.thejibshop.com
www.pistsnowboarding.com
www.shayboarder.com
www.angrysnowboarder.blogspot.com
Check out my photos here:
www.flickr.com/photos/davedphoto
Check out some of the sweet people I'm friends with and that I support
www.thejibshop.com
www.pistsnowboarding.com
www.shayboarder.com
www.angrysnowboarder.blogspot.com
Check out my photos here:
www.flickr.com/photos/davedphoto
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
