What will you spend on a board?

[photodad2001]

From the results so far from the poll the majority of people are able and willing to pay between 600-1000 dollars. That covers the majority, but after that there are more that will spend less than more. Now the companies are going to continue to make the obscenely high end stuff for their riders for competition, but I can see a need for companies to produce a lower end board before producing +$1000 boards for the market. Perhaps boards with the same shapes and lengths made with lower end materials for riders not concerned with fractions of a second or exotic dampining materials. From what I've read and know about everyone here, they all are going to spend the max they can afford regaurdless of what's available so it's not going to hurt the companies higher end sales, but it sure could increase total number of sales and overall sales.

[bobdea]

I guess Alpine Carving must be a rich person thing...

the most expensive boards I have seen have been powder boards

these are fairly pricey, swell panik makes a bunch of erection materail

there was one that was like $3500, virus I think

[snowboardfast]

700.00 is about my limit although I like to buy used boards as much as possible to save money. I am starting to prefer to ride an all mountain board more anyway and most of them are glass still. I have demoed several metal boards and I am not ready to spend the extra money. I am not convinced that a metal board will make me ride that much better anyway. The people I know that are riding metal boards are much better riders than I am and can make a glass board ride well too. I demoed a couple of Virus boards mostly to say I got the chance to ride them. They were nice but I don't want to spend 2500.00 or more for a snowboard. I doubt that the prices will come down much for the premium boards because of the time invovled to make them and sales volume won't be enough. The next board I buy will probably be used or NOS.

[Jack M]

I can see a need for companies to produce a lower end board before producing +$1000 boards for the market. Perhaps boards with the same shapes and lengths made with lower end materials for riders not concerned with fractions of a second or exotic dampining materials.

Donek Pilot. Those are based on traditional race shapes, which may not matter to a newbie, but would matter to a budget-minded racer.

Some of the more accessible alpine brands have just gotten into the new-school race shapes relatively recently, so it will be a little while before those shapes trickle down into any bargain product lines.

But to get into sub $399 prices, you'd be looking at a board made by communist slaves.

[Zone]

After watching Bruce slave away at shaping the core. The core itself should sell for more than $1000 at an Art gallery...

[tufty]

But to get into sub $399 prices, you'd be looking at a board made by communist slaves.

No problem with one part of that, at least; I'm a communist.

Not that I buy new anyway. I leave that to you capitalist running dog types.

[kinpa]

ok, so my last two boards were:

Oxygen Proton from eBay in '04 or so for $69 + shipping, I think

Hot Blast FREE

too bad there wasn't an under $100 catagory

Heck, I teach so I don't even have to buy a pass! Gas money for getting to the mountain and PSIA/AASI dues might just about break me this year!

No kidding, life is rough these days, but the next time I get some extra money my way, I think it will have to come in the form of a vacation.... like SES or something???????

[bobdea]

There is a Winter stick for sale at The Boarder Patrol in Bartlett, NH. I think it's going for $450.00. Never been used, the edges are a wee bit rusty but nothing a light pass of a polishing stone can't take care of.

yeah, that's not the same thing

the swell paniks go pretty big and are more like the APOs and other swallow tail shapes that are more refined for speed where as the wintersticks are a different thing even though they look similar at first glance.

[pcABQ]

i drive a fifteen year old truck with

2 metal coilers inside . . . i guess it's

just a matter of where you want to spend

your money . . . i think the boards, as

expensive as they are, are worth it.

[BlueB]

I'll vote 600-800, just to cast my vote somewhere... I bought some good boards for really cheap and I bought very expensive ones for not so cheap, so it's all relative. I have and would spend about 800, maybe, just maybe, 1000, if I really liked something...

I buy most of my boards used. Lot of them were trades.

Come to thik of it, I had more new freeride sticks then alpine!?

[photodad2001]

Donek Pilot. Those are based on traditional race shapes, which may not matter to a newbie, but would matter to a budget-minded racer.

Some of the more accessible alpine brands have just gotten into the new-school race shapes relatively recently, so it will be a little while before those shapes trickle down into any bargain product lines.

But to get into sub $399 prices, you'd be looking at a board made by communist slaves.

Sure, the Wal-Mart sized companies find it easier to put out economical boards, but all the soft-booted oriented companies seem to be able to put out at least 1 or 2 boards around the $329 range if not lower. What is it about an alpine board that makes it impossible to manufacture at a price competitive with the soft-boot boards? From Burton to Sims, Rome to Lamar, and all the others that fall short of "Wal-mart status", seem to be able to take in the less fortunate and offer new equipment without causing those that live week to week to have to take out a loan. I've looked and because the softies manufacture more they have over stock at all the local and on-line shops and you can get boards for $199 that are a year or 2 old that are still in the shrink wrap. Is it because alpine companies are afraid to over produce? Maybe they think if they make an economical board it will kill their rep? Or maybe they believe that making lower priced boards will not increase their total sales, but divert customers to spending less? I have to say, from being here I doubt the later would ever happen. There seems to be a competition of who can spend the most and have the latest materials around here. What if the companies took the same approach soft-boot companies took? Burton has a stock board on the market that runs $1500. Or you can spend the same amount and purchase 4-5 different models if you prefer.

Maybe the companies aren't secure enough in themselves to risk it. Personally as I get older I keep seeing more and more of guys my age making the change. Most of us spent too much time on the snow to afford the upgrade after we got too old to play in the park. Of couse back then the resorts didn't have parks.

[photodad2001]

I had more new freeride sticks then alpine!?

Because they are less expensive.

[Corey]

What is it about an alpine board that makes it impossible to manufacture at a price competitive with the soft-boot boards?

It's all scale:

A budget softboot board will likely sell 1000* in a season with a large established network of retailers. A budget hardboot board will likely sell 25-50* in the same time at a handful of dedicated stores.

Get Prior, Donek, or Coiler to build a custom softboot board and it'll cost as much as an alpine board from them. Unless you don't get metal construction...

* Numbers pulled straight from my a$$. :D

[ursle]

Bought my first four alpine boards at 50% off summer sales, admit I waited to get them at a steal..

In the process of ordering my third custom Virus (one of the 202x15.3 suckers) don't think it'll be more than a Goddess, push what envelope?

[michael.a]

Sure, the Wal-Mart sized companies find it easier to put out economical boards, but all the soft-booted oriented companies seem to be able to put out at least 1 or 2 boards around the $329 range if not lower.

Economy of scale, made in china, and the market. For me the reality is that hardbooting is dominated by cottage industries and extensive subcontracting where craftsmanship and expensive materials are required no matter what, as thats what demanded and necessary in this sport.

And how many hardbooters are there out in the world? 10,000? For Burton, thats a limited run series of some park star's board. For me that means buying used boards for a long long long time.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

For your next ride, what amount of money would be acceptable for you to spend on one board? Whether you can afford many boards or just one, that doesn't matter.

Last Wednesday I rode a board which originally cost approx 2000$,(My current favorite) When the dirt spots and rocks started to show up (and my riding buddy tagged one) I switched to a board that was originally approx 800$ that I recently purchased for 250$ and enjoyed it a great deal. Still prefer the Tinkler , however if push came to shove, I would ride an old 50$ board and still have a ball. Granted I am a pretty good example of one extreme. I still like to ride a wide range of gear. Learning from all of it and certainly enjoying each and every turn. Enjoy your ride. Bryan

Cost / value / options / economics / priorities are always in transition, use what ever you have available to have fun with.

Some have families to care for, some are single with no one to say "NO" , others choose to dedicate larger portions of their budgets on college for the kids, newer bigger home, car, charity, some snowboards. Good on all of you. Make your choices and enjoy the fact that you can.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Does remind me of a story.

Watching a young buck ripping it up at SES a few years back. He was having a great time and really had great style and fluidity. When we stopped to talk, I noticed he was riding relatively vintage gear. I complimented him on his riding abilites and we talked about some of the demo boards he might try. I sensed that a few may have been condisending about his personal gear. I thought it ironic due to the fact he rode at least as well or better than they did on their high end gear. His gear might have fetched a couple hundred total on open market, yet he was having a blast.

My guess is he did go on to ride even better with the new gear he tried. It did not take away one bit from his earlier turns.

[WinterGold]

I love new equipment and I´m always on the hunt for the "perfect" board. And even if there is only the slightest advantage in the new gear, I´m willing to pay for it. (As you can see in my profile ;))

BUT

When riding we always joked about the equipment making up only 5% of the overall performance and somehow I believe in this figure.

I think that saying you can only have fun and perform well on the latest equipment is not correct.

I remember seeing Martin Freinademetz live "freecarving" some years ago on a Factory Prime. I have never seen anybody with such an aggressive yet playful style, e.g. he did very tight turns, jumped to switch, kept the same rhythm, jumped back again and did lots of other crazy stuff - amazing board control.

I can hardly imagine how you can top this. Maybe today some racers are a bit faster down a race course, but I haven´t seen any superior freecarving yet. And I have watched quite a lot of online videos ;).

And a side note - in this forum there are loads of discussions about the advantages of metal boards and I totally agree with this notion, but I find it interesting that on other (big european) carving forums metal is hardly mentioned ... I find this pretty interesting (and strange as well ... ) ...

[bigdyno]

Ferrari and race track? I guess I'm not living in that world. Which is evident from my board quiver. I don't think you're having any more fun than I am. I have fun at the checkout line at the grocery stove.

I want the kind of fun you are having, regardless of cost, if you are buying you groceries at a stove. Whee!

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

For your next ride, what amount of money would be acceptable for you to spend on one board? Whether you can afford many boards or just one, that doesn't matter.

Just the board, forget bindings, boots, etc.

Remember the point of the thread??

[jonbass]

I will spend as much on a board as my wife will let me! :D:smashfrea;)

[bumpyride]

I want the kind of fun you are having, regardless of cost, if you are buying you groceries at a stove. Whee!

Actually grocery store lines are really fun. You can ask people the most off the wall questions, elicit a smile and have a great conversation. There is really something wrong when we're standing in line pretending not to notice someone.

I look forward to every Tuesday at 7:55 am. That's when the Garbage comes. I get out there with him and throw cans and then shoot the breeze with him. Hand him a granola bar and both of us leave with a smile on our faces.

[tufty]

tex is more or less right. most newer gear is better. condoms are now better than they ever have been.

...

the majority high end product are better for a reason.

I don't think anyone's arguing that materials tech, shapes and the like have changed, are continuing to change, and are, generally (*coff* libtech *coff*) moving towards the "better" end of the spectrum.

That said, it's a question of "how much better is better, and is it worth the difference in price". At some point, the majority of non-olympic riders (i.e. 99% of us here) will simply not be able to use that difference.

To take another approach, consider the market for Hi-Fi. You can go buy a cheapo combined CD player / radio / cassette deck, and it will play back your music. It's gonna sound a bit like crap if you crank the volume up, but hey, it plays your music, and it's cheap, and that's great, right? Or you can shell out a bit more and get a half-way decent separates setup. It's gonna cost some more, but the quality is gonna be better. Still, it plays your music, and that's great, right? Then maybe you'll get all obsessed, and start buying tube amps and $900 speaker cable. Even if there is a difference in quality*, your 40+ year old ears aren't gonna be able to discern it. But you won't admit that, it's better because it's better, it's better because it's more expensive, it's better because "those cables are ****ing CRYOGENICALLY TREATED, man"

Most of us are at the stage where we can appreciate the difference between the low-end crapola and the mid-high range stuff. Personally, I would rather spend significantly less $$$ (and I'm talking 1/10 the price here) getting a second-hand deck than have the latest and greatest high-tech marvel, which I'm, quite frankly, not good enough to appreciate anyway.

There's also the cost aspect. My gear is made to be ridden, bought to be ridden, and gets ridden. Sure, I get arsey about clueless tits riding over my tail in the lift line, but if I hit a rock and tear up my base on the slopes, well, that's too bad. If I was spending 10 times the price, I'd be paranoid about the slightest bit of damage that might possibly happen, to the point where I wouldn't be having fun any more.

Of course, none of this means that you can't, or shouldn't, go out and buy any damn board you like, for any price you like. But don't fool yourself that the price you paid for that board makes any difference at all to the amount of fun you're having on slope relative to the amount of fun I'm having, or that having a custom-built olympic-quality board somehow makes you any better a rider than you would be on my gear.

Anyway, can we stop bitching now? It's snowing outside my house.

* note, I'm not suggesting in any way that the manufacturers of current carving gear are selling the same kind of snake oil that the audiophool sellers are.

[bjvircks]

Actually grocery store lines are really fun.

+1 What I like to do is very obviously look over the stuff of the person behind me and when I see something I can joke about... I'll ask if I can have it as I lift it from their goods and place it on my side of the separator bar. It is fun to see what kind of retorts people come up with! Of course, you have to be able to read the person a bit before you invade their stuff, but when everyone plays along it can be a real hoot!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled complaining.

[tufty]

I'm sorry your hearing is bad

My hearing's no worse than the average 40 year old's. Which is to say, it has somewhere between 5 and 10 kHz less range than my kids' do. Assuming you're around the same age I am, we can probably hear pretty much the same stuff. That includes being able to tell the difference between mp3 and uncompressed audio, and being able to hear the distortion that really cheap gear puts into sound. I can't stand listening to iPods (or mp3 players of any type) in a quiet environment, for example. Bloody awful reproduction, even if you put decent cans on them, and that goes even if you're using lossless audio.

Actually I can hear the difference between speaker cables, even how they are routed thru the room, and it's not that they are louder or better, it's that they are quieter, silence where it should be, startling sounds with three dimensional properties separated by perfect timing.

Sheer. Comic. Genius.