# Custom 160 on rails/boxes newb Questions



## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

Hey all, 

I've been actively trying to dive into the park and I just have a few questions about my setup. I'm riding a burton Custom 160 (7-10 days on it total)

I can 50/50 pretty easy but that's not much to brag about.

Busted my ass a few times trying anything else (mostly because I wasn't keeping the board flat so it slipped) and I'm paranoid about my edges. 
They are pretty sharp.

Should I keep messing around or dull them out before attempting to progress?

Or should I just get a park board?


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

If you really have sharp edges, it's quite hazardous to do boardslides and stuff. I've tried, got a couple of nasty bruises and a sore tailbone. Some people ride rails with sharp edges but i filed my edges dull. REALLY dull. Filed them round from the width of my stance. Sometimes I find myself on my ass when it's icy, but I still don't regret that I filed them. But I only ride park and rails so I don't care if I can't make sharp curves in icy slopes. If you have spare cash, buy a park board. If no and you want to ride rails, file the edges. For your own safety


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## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah it seems like a shame to file down those "Frostbite" edges and it definitely felt dangerous on boxes.

They do stick like glue though (early season riding proved that to me). 

Gonna look for a used park board I guess...


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## Lamps (Sep 3, 2011)

mixre said:


> Thanks! Yeah it seems like a shame to file down those "Frostbite" edges and it definitely felt dangerous on boxes.
> 
> They do stick like glue though (early season riding proved that to me).
> 
> Gonna look for a used park board I guess...


Good move, it would be tragic to round out the edges on such a new board.


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

One thing you can seek is a new board that is a few years old. Like a 2011 or 2012 models. You get them cheap if you find one.

And dude, I filed my edges round before the board even touched snow for the first time


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## Lamps (Sep 3, 2011)

Rasse said:


> And dude, I filed my edges round before the board even touched snow for the first time


Crazy park rats. :laugh:


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## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

Yeah I'll look into older boards, any recommendations?

The custom carves like a dream! Can't dull that.


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## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

Burton....damn you...










I want it. But I know I would easily get distracted :blink:


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

Lamps said:


> Crazy park rats. :laugh:


Guilty as charged  I rather dull the edges than break my tailbone:laugh:

Recommendations, well I only have experience from Salomon and Nitro boards. My Nitro Haze was under 200€ since it was a last years model. So if you want a park noodle, buy it man. Most fun i've ever had on a board. However, if you want something stiffer, then it might not be your piece of cake. Salomon makes good park boards nowadays and if you find a last years model, you might have a good deal.

By the way, nice graphics. But riding with a constant boner might not be so fun after all


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## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

Rasse said:


> By the way, nice graphics. But riding with a constant boner might not be so fun after all


exactly....lol


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Rasse said:


> If you really have sharp edges, it's quite hazardous to do boardslides and stuff. I've tried, got a couple of nasty bruises and a sore tailbone. Some people ride rails with sharp edges but i filed my edges dull. REALLY dull. Filed them round from the width of my stance. Sometimes I find myself on my ass when it's icy, but I still don't regret that I filed them. But I only ride park and rails so I don't care if I can't make sharp curves in icy slopes. If you have spare cash, buy a park board. If no and you want to ride rails, file the edges. For your own safety


Do not listen to this advice. Definitely do not file down your edges if you intend to ride ANYTHING besides boxes and rails.

You still need edges in the park for jumping, spinning etc. Filing down your edges is a very bad idea in general unless it's a dedicated jib only board.

You want to make your technique better and improve, not rely on sabotaging your gear to fit bad technique. Don't fall into the beginner trap of compensating for bad technique by sabotaging your own gear, instead of just working on your technique (that you'd have to improve and fix in the end anyhow - unless you want to have bad jib technique forever).

I'd highly recommend NOT filing your edges, but focus more on keeping your board flat on rails. Everyone falls and catches edges at first, it's normal.

If you absolutely have to, then put a 2 degree bevel on your board's edges when sharpening them (or take it into a shop and ask them to do it for you if you don't know how) and that will help keep your edges from catching too easily on boxes/rails without dulling down your edges entirely.

You need edges. They're important for park, especially when you want to try learning spins.


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

Well, everyone has their own opinion... I ride jumps just fine with dull edges. And yes, I'm doing spins as well. Does it mean I have a good jumping technique ? I have had no problems jumping with dull edges, if you jump and land properly, edges are not needed to stay up. And Jed, you haven't ridden finnish rails.. It's a common thing in here to file the edges, the rails are cheap and rough so it's nearly impossible to do boardslides and stuff with sharp edges... At least in the few places I usually get to ride. And I have also tried a few good rails so I know the difference. Just saying. I've snowboarded for nine seasons now so not a complete beginner anymore. For me It's a safety thing and as a bonus I learn to start spins well and land solid, not depending on my gear.
But I get what you are saying so no hate


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Rasse said:


> Well, everyone has their own opinion... I ride jumps just fine with dull edges. And yes, I'm doing spins as well. Does it mean I have a good jumping technique ? I have had no problems jumping with dull edges, if you jump and land properly, edges are not needed to stay up. And Jed, you haven't ridden finnish rails.. It's a common thing in here to file them, the rails are cheap and rough so it's nearly impossible to do boardslides and stuff with sharp edges... And I have also tried a few good rails so I know the difference. Just saying. For me It's a safety thing and as a bonus I learn to start spins well and land solid, not depending on my gear.
> But I get what you are saying so no hate


I get that you're trying to help, but I can almost guarantee that he does not need to file his edges down.

It's a common thing for beginners to file their edges down, but it doesn't mean it's the smart thing to do, especially when you have better options such as putting a decent bevel on the edges instead of filing them down and still keeping your edges sharp. His board is a Burton Custom, not some jib only board.

I'm not trying to come down on you, but there's a reason you won't find many high level park riders telling beginners to file down all their edges. You can get by with no edges and still hit jumps... that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

I don't care how many seasons you have, that's not the point (honestly seasons mean nothing. How many days you have in the park and the quality of those days means a lot more... plenty of guys with 10 season who rode less then some boarders do in 1 season), I'd still say the same to someone with more seasons/days than me, but I doubt I ever would because no experienced park rider is going to recommend filing off all your edges for park on a non jib only board.

The most important skill any snowboarder in the park can learn is edge control. You don't learn edge control by eliminating your edges.


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

Hey dude, I'm not here to argue about stuff. Just told why I dull my edges. And I don't dull them all the way, just the critical area. Think I mentioned it in my first post. I get that you're more experienced, just told the seasons so you get the overall picture that I might know something. I don't take this so seriously, not counting days, just having fun. But yeah, something like four to five days a week, mostly every week. I don't know about the quality of my days but I have fun. Isn't that the main reason why people do this ? I ride with dull edges, I have no problems with my riding and I enjoy.


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Rasse said:


> Hey dude, I'm not here to argue about stuff. Just told why I dull my edges. And I don't dull them all the way, just the critical area. Think I mentioned it in my first post. I get that you're more experienced, just told the seasons so you get the overall picture that I might know something. I don't take this so seriously, not counting days, just having fun. But yeah, something like four to five days a week, mostly every week. I don't know about the quality of my days but I have fun. Isn't that the main reason why people do this ? I ride with dull edges, I have no problems with my riding and I enjoy.


I get that you love snowboarding and I get that you see someone asking for help and you want to help them so you tell them how you do things.

But the thing is when you start giving advice, especially advice as drastic as telling people you think they should file their edges off, you have to REALLY know what you're talking about and KNOW that it works for their situation. Not just kinda, not just sorta, but KNOW because filing your edges is very drastic. The key word there is THEIR situation. Not yours, not mine, not what you think a lot of people are doing, but rather what works best for the person asking.

Otherwise you end up like what happens on reddit's r/snowboarding where you get 5000 people saying "this is how I do things" followed by random advice that isn't at all what the person asking for help should do.

You have to be REALLY careful when you tell people things like file off your edges. Unless you absolutely know what you're saying is the best advice for the person, you better be giving a disclaimer that you're not sure if that's for them.

There's a difference between saying

"This is how I do it because of x and this is what I ride, but I'm not as experienced at x, so you may want to look at all the options and see what works for you."

And saying blanket statements like "If you want to ride rails, file your edges for safety".

Advice has to relate to the person asking for the advice, not the person giving the advice. Otherwise it's just confusing opinions that make things worse when they aren't right for the person needing help.


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## Rasse (Dec 12, 2013)

Okay okay... I understood he was asking for opinions and I gave mine. I can't give the absolutely right answer that will 100% work for him since I don't know the guy. But I don't know if anyone else can do that either. I gave him an option, told what he can do. After that it's up to him if he uses my advice or not. I thought it was pretty obvious that I didn't force him to do anything... But maybe it didn't sound what I meant it to be, because I don't speak english as my native language.


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## mixre (Mar 12, 2012)

I appreciate the insight from both of you :eusa_clap:


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## STR8SHOOTR (Jan 3, 2014)

mixre said:


> I appreciate the insight from both of you :eusa_clap:


Did you file down your edge's:question:


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