# freesport braxon for 140$ - good deal?



## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

Looks like crap to me.


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## LouG (Sep 1, 2008)

You should probably rent the first few times...

Snowboarding is absolutely nothing like skiing and you may decide you hate it and switch back. Freesport is most likely a crap company just in it because snowboarding is 'cool' right now and makes them money.

I can tell you that 167 is gigantic, your range is probably like 158-161 for a perfect all-around board and I wouldn't be so quick to grab an advanced snowboard (which usually comes with a higher price tag anyway)

Also, rest assured that you can find an excellent, high quality board for not a whole lot more money. If that 'Freesport' is the best your local shop has to offer than check out this site's topic about Online Retailers, those are all trusted retailers that carry legit product; search around and you should find something decent.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

If you are looking for cheap boards I would check out:

Snowboards - Snowboards Sales - Men's Snowboards

They have a bunch of decent 2008 boards at $150 or less. They have really good customer service as well. They had a 2-day sale of the Palmer Flash LTD for $99 that is currently up on their site for 179.50. Someone that bought the board a few days before the sale was even credited with $80. You won't find a cheaper price than them... if you do they'll price match it and give it to you 10% cheaper. You have to allow about 2 weeks though for them to ship it because they are definitely not the fastest if they are backed up. It took them a whole week just to process my Palmer Flash order, maybe another 2 for it to arrive at my door, who knows. But you are in the US, and the season won't begin in 2 weeks anywhere in the US (I don't think) so you're good. And by the way, shipping is free, and there is no tax.

Also, I would look into ebay. I heard that microsoft and ebay have partnered up and are offering 30% cash back through "buy it now" items up to $200 cash back. I'm still looking into this; i'm positive that it's legitimate and it works but I know that it's a huge hassle.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

First of all I want thank you all for taking the time to help. 

Last year I spent a few hours on a board of one of my friends and *really loved it*. Therefore I'm not too worried that I won't like it - actually I think I am going to like it at least as much as skiing (probably even more). 

I just want to highlight one point again: The thing is that I am staying here for one year. Therefore renting might be more expensive than buying one from the last season. Since I am short of money anyway (no salary), I am trying to spent at less as possible. 
So I am basically not looking for _the _ultimate board but for a *good & plain board.* 

I had a look at the offerings of the retailers you suggested. Here are some new ideas. 

Lamar Mission
LTD Fury
Rossignol Circuit Plus (whereas I don't really see the difference between the cicuit and the district)
Rossignol Imperial
Option Logic
and the Palmer P Line (but probably this possibility doesn't exist since there is now "wide" version of it and I probably *need wide* with size 11.5)

Sierrasnowboard seems really to offer great prices but unfortunately the larger sizes are mostly "sold out". But this might change again. 

So thanks again.


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## LouG (Sep 1, 2008)

You should keep searching sir.

It's unfortunate that Mr. Pythagoras kind of funneled you into some poor advice. 

The first thing is stay away from eBay. That's a good way to end up buying a picture of a snowboard, or a beaten snowboard, or a defective snowboard with a voided warranty, etc.

Companies like Palmer, LTD, Lamar etc. are avoided by most people for board performance/quality; hence their incredibly low prices. I understand you aren't looking for a super stellar board... but you can find a super stellar board within your price range if you spend enough time looking. Are you in a hurry? Wouldn't it be better to spend whatever you are going spend only once, rather than replace your gear next season?

Check out that thread on online retailers. A few that I can personally recommend are backcountryoutlet.com, dogfunk.com, Tactics, and a really great way to practically steal some sweet product is through WhiskeyMilitia.com. You might have to check often over the next few days for a board to get posted, and there's always a chance it won't suit your riding needs (there are usually plenty of size choices), but they are always going for dirt cheap.

Some companies I think you'll like: Burton, O-matic, Never Summer, Arbor, K2, Ride, and Salomon. Rossignol isn't half bad either but build up a good list.

Keep lookin' man. If you are going to do it, do it right the first time!


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

LouG said:


> You should keep searching sir.
> It's unfortunate that Mr. Pythagoras kind of funneled you into some poor advice.


_Mr.G_ - I don't see how suggesting those two sites is "funneling". Ebay carries a pretty decent selection I think... I might be wrong... and so does Sierrasnowboard. I didn't recommend Lamar, Palmer, etc; those are the boards that are in his price range and so he picked them himself. All of the brands you suggested (Burton, O-matic, Never Summer, Arbor, K2, Ride, and Salomon) are on sierrasnowboard except for maybe 1 or 2 (o-matic and never summer) but they might have them in 09 models i'm not sure. 

If you check the sites that loug suggested, you'll realize that the only boards under $200 are kids' boards or women's boards or even worse boards. I agree with you on whiskeymilitia, but not everyone has time for that and a board in the $150-199 range is still hard to find even there.



LouG said:


> The first thing is stay away from eBay. That's a good way to end up buying a picture of a snowboard, or a beaten snowboard, or a defective snowboard with a voided warranty, etc.


With the nature of Ebay, of course you have to be wary and you have to be careful. Just don't be stupid if you want to buy something there and only pick reputable sellers, and make sure you read about what you're buying. I, personally, don't shop Ebay often, but I know people who do and love it, and that is where you're also going to get the best deals. And also, the 30% cashback offer with live.com, I'm pretty sure are only sellers approved by the live cashback program/search engine. LIKE I SAID, i think that it's a hassle, but if you're looking for cheap you may want to go that route. 
My friend got a k2 darkstar 07 last year for $150, and my other friend got a k2 www for 100 something I'm not exactly sure but I think it was under $150. I forget what year but it's the one with whacky heads on it. He also got a k2 zeppelin there i'm not sure on price, and they also get their bindings and boots there cheap. They also got a lib tech mc kink 08 last year for me off ebay.

Another site that sells 08 boards is valuesports.com. It's also no s&h and no tax and they deliver pretty fast and i'm on the east coast (they are in cali i think). My friend just got a k2 darkstar '08 from them. A little funneling disclaimer is that they mainly sell 08 boards so their selection is not all that huge and they are slightly less reduced prices than sierra. My friend just got a K2 podium from sierra by the way.


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## LouG (Sep 1, 2008)

Chill out, dude. Why are forum people so whiny when you point out a mistake? What, you've never been wrong before? It's not the end of the world, let me tell ya...

I never said you recommended those companies, but you did mention them and since Neelsa has no foundation to start from he started with the companies you mentioned were on sale. So you did indirectly recommend them. Funneling was definitely the wrong word, I don't even know where I got that.

As for eBay, Neelsa doesn't know what to look for and I know for a fact there are a ton of companies on eBay selling some really shoddy board/binding/boot combos and making them into this whole big deal. It's really easy to fall for things like that, especially if the seller has a high rating. 

Seems like a poor place to point the guy to me...also, if your friends buy their boots on eBay that makes them incredibly stupid.

Oh no! The places I mentioned don't have boards under $200!? Well actually they do, I found a few...but if I may quote:



Neelsa said:


> Or is it crap and I should rather spend more money for a different board (suggestions?) or rent one?
> Neelsa


As for Whiskey Militia, I've seen two maybe three snowboards between 150-199 come in over the last few weeks. I said you might have to be glued to it for a while and wait, but the deals are there... especially with so many vendors trying to make room for 09 inventory. That goes for every online vendor.

I don't really remember saying anything bad about Sierra Snowboard, so all I have to say to that is if you go to the online retailer post I linked to (which I hope Neelsa goes through thouroughly) you just might find a link to Sierra Snowboards right there... which kind of negates the whole point of your post in the first place.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

I completely agree with LouG's advice. The brands you, Neelsa, mentioned are cheap for a reason. Dogfunk.com has an incredible selection and outstanding customer service. I'm not spamming, I'm just saying I've had awesome experiences with them. 

I would rent the first few times though. You said that you rode a friends board and loved it. You may find that after renting a few different sizes that what you had in mind is completely wrong for you. I understand the appeal of having your own gear, but diving in head first without riding different boards may come back and bite you in the butt. I speak from experience because that's what I did. Now my first board I bought and rode for half a season is a beautiful wall fixture.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

I went today a bit further to a store. They offered me to *rent *the whole *equipment for the season for 140$*, which sounds pretty good to me (especially because you guys strongly recommended renting for the first time). Changing equipment isn't a problem either so I can start with a snowboard for beginners and get something else as soon as I want to. And I can't imagine that they don't have some proper boards for me since the shop is quite big. 

Concerning your discussions about the retailers: I checked actually all of them which are recommended in this thread LouG linked. I'll bookmark this for one of the next seasons, because at some point the question which board I want to buy will arise again . 
But I don't really get the way whiskeymilitia.com is working. Do they have one offer per day or am I just too stupid to find the link to the snowboard-section? 

And by the way I really appreciated your discussion about the "good companies" because I know now a bit more than if you would just have told me to look after certain companies. Concerning the shops I can say that I am usually very carefull (checked ebay mostly for comparing prices for example).´

However. I now want to t*hank you all for your help and effort* you put into this. I'll keep your recommendations (concerning the companies & shops) in mind when I finally rent the board.

Looks to me as if its *time for winter* to come...


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

That's pretty good they'll let you rent all season and try diffeent boards.

The way whiskeymilitia.com works is that only one product is for sale at a time at an insanely discounted price. You have to hop on it quick because one minute it will be there and the next it could be gone. You can download a desktop alert that pops up and makes a sound everytime a new product comes up.


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## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

Tramdock, WhiskeyMilitia, SteepAndCheap are all part of Backcountry Corp

Backcountrycorp.com | Stores


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2008)

legallyillegal said:


> Tramdock, WhiskeyMilitia, SteepAndCheap are all part of Backcountry Corp
> 
> Backcountrycorp.com | Stores




WORD. The first thing I do everytime I hop online is check those three. :thumbsup:


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## LouG (Sep 1, 2008)

Whiskey has a new item for sale up whenever, it really depends on the quantity of what's up and how hot it's selling. That's why you have to stay pretty glued to it to find what you want...but that desktop alert sounds like a not so bad idea.

If you mean they'll rent you board/boot/bindings all season for $140 I don't think you can beat that. When you say changing equipment you mean you can easily rent other things if something isn't aggreeing with you? That's a hell of a deal... an awesome opportunity to spend the whole season shredding and be able to play around and decide on your own equipment for next year.

It's pretty cool you are trying to stick to it with your local shop too... mad props.

Have an awesome season, where are you are going to be riding over here in the States?


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## Guest (Oct 25, 2008)

Thanks for explaining whiskeymilitia again. I'll have a closer look at them as soon as I really know what to look for. I already had spotted this plugin-thing and was therefore assuming something like this but it just seemed strange to me.


Concerning the placer where I am riding: Unfortunately its not a snowboardparadise. I am in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, so the mountains aren't that high. But at least its the largest skiing area in the whole Berkshires (Catamount) and its just a couple of minutes from my working & living place (actually that's the same). So I am hopefully able to go there after work in the evening most of the days. 
Maybe I'll outgrow these "mountains" (hills meets it better), but since there are some other volunteers I am sure we'll be able to have fun nevertheless. 

And perhaps I can spend my winter vacation in the mountains around Vancouver, where a former classmate is working right now...

PS: What exactly are these "credits" for?


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