I haven't decided yet. I have a Burton Custom 158 from a couple years ago and it's still in good shape. Really good shape in fact. well, I stopped riding rails so that really helps with board longevity.The Custom is nice, but if I were more choosy I would go with the attributes I really like for my style of riding, which are:1) Longer sidecut radius (most important).I have only ridden one board with a sidecut radius over 10 meters (Steepwater Steep 165) and I have to say it was a thrill. I have been riding over 16 years now so I know how to finesse a board through turns using my feet, knees, and hips. I don't want to rely on a deep sidecut to do it all for me, plus, at high speeds most boards need to be tweaked. I would much rather tweak at low speeds and stay mellow at higher! The Custom 158 sidecut radius is 8 or so. The Steepwater was
I haven't decided yet. I have a Burton Custom 158 from a couple years ago and it's still in good shape. Really good shape in fact. well, I stopped riding rails so that really helps with board longevity.The Custom is nice, but if I were more choosy I would go with the attributes I really like for my style of riding, which are:1) Longer sidecut radius (most important).I have only ridden one board with a sidecut radius over 10 meters (Steepwater Steep 165) and I have to say it was a thrill. I have been riding over 16 years now so I know how to finesse a board through turns using my feet, knees, and hips. I don't want to rely on a deep sidecut to do it all for me, plus, at high speeds most boards need to be tweaked. I would much rather tweak at low speeds and stay mellow at higher! The Custom 158 sidecut radius is 8 or so. The Steepwater was nearly 11. Problem was the steepwater was too stiff and not nearly enough nose/tail kick. I got tired or overshooting jumps in the park so I got rid of it 🙁2) Narrow waistI have 9.5 boot size, so I cannot stand boards that are wide or even mid-wide. They take too long to roll to edge and then once there they don't hold well. Yeah they are great in pow, so just have one for heli/cat/backcountry, but for a resort board, narrow is the best for me. My Custom is 24.9 at the waist. Not bad, under 25cm for a 158cm board, hard to find these days. 24.7 to 24.8 is teh best for my size 9.5's, and yes, I really do notice the fraction of a cm difference! My Steepwater actually had a 24.8 or so waist and it was so right, but the other shortcomings I mentioned previously discounted the overall ride.3) High nose/tail kickI like riding in powder and I like staying on top of it. Yeah, I know just go fast and that's all you need, but the reality is there are flat spots and gapers that get in the way and you cannot ALWAYS haul @$$ everywhere. Some “powder” boards have a high nose kick but lack in the tail. OK, so when I land my 540 they don't want me to flow away switch through the pow to the next hit? Come on guys! It's what snowboarding is all about. I ride fakie like 40% of the time I am on the mountain. Yes, higher nose and tail kick does increase swing weight and it does increase vibration, but those factors are negligible compared to the bennies.4) Medium flexThis is pretty straight-forward. Personal preference. I like a board that is medium to medium-soft in flexibility (no, not totally soft like a newbie noodle). I can tweak it easier and it handles the deep stuff way better.So now you know my dilemma. My perfect board does not exist. Oh well, I guess there are bigger problems in the world, but a fella can dream, right? If you know of a board that is even close to fitting these criteria, please let me know.
