# Beginner bought a GNU Rider's Choice, bad decision?



## mrpez (Jan 29, 2010)

yes its fine. personally i find all the "beginner/advanced" stuff to be bullshit.


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## Guest (Mar 15, 2010)

Great Board.. Great Choice.. 

That board will be perfect for you. No worries.


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## bassholic (Dec 22, 2009)

mrpez said:


> yes its fine. personally i find all the "beginner/advanced" stuff to be bullshit.


Very true. I bought a intermediate board to start off. After having 1 season under my belt i will be buying an "advanced" less stiff board. I will be happy with 2 boards. However, i think it is nice that i have been able to progress and will actually know the difference between boards and their feel, rather than going by what i read online.


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## luke89 (Mar 12, 2010)

Thats a good first board. Gnu is a great company and that board is fairly versatile. You can still carve and what not but will be able to do tricks on it as well. I think you will like it. That advanced board stuff is horse shit. Dont sweat it you got a good board.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Since snowboarding is somewhat similar to surfing...and you also skateboard (helps sideways motion balance a bit), I think you will be fine.

Some people learn faster and can handle a more advanced board (stiffer / narrow / quick edge engaging) board. Some people wont. It depends on the person. If a board makes you fall a lot, this is not always good for everyone because it will get you drained and even end your day / weekend early...not to mention increase your chance of demoing a ski-patrol sled next.

People who are young or new to boarding might tell you that it doesn't matter, but it does. Because even advanced rides who can blow circles arround them will get a "quiver addition" that is much more forgiving to learn tricks. 

And there's a difference between a 12 year old and a 42 year old as well. Fact of life. You are atheletic so that helps. Most of the people I have boarded with fall in the office lemming category and many have not lasted a whole day morning to end. Some can't make to the next day. The more you get beaten up by the floor, the shorter your time you have. Even if you are the Snowboardinator.

BTW, banana boards are more forgiving so you can go a little stiffer with these models because they catch less.


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## ippy (Mar 11, 2010)

I learned on an artec 2.3 which is pretty much a door (if a beautiful and svelte door). I spent my time blasting down runs and learning to carve while everyone else was buttering and messing around having an awesome time. I fell on every box i tried, and have an over-riding fear of park thats difficult to shake even now. But i tell you what, that board made me deal with speed early on, and because it was so spectacularly unforgiving it made me really tighten up my riding. I think its just a bit of a trade off with a slightly stiffer board, you dont get to butter so much, and you might find park a bit more of an ordeal than someone on a softer deck, but you will learn to handle some proper speed with confidence, which means when it comes time to hit some proper size kickers or head into the pipe, or even venture off the resort and into the wilds, youll have a slightly different skill set which will give you the confidence to wreck those things. Also, when you do buy a nice soft board youll realise they were cheating all along  Oh, and once you learn to pop off a stiff board, youll fly 

Ill be honest though, if i bought the riders choice as my first deck, id be stoked. Its a keeper for sure. youll definitely grow into it. Also the BTX will mean you aint washing because of the banana, and the banana itself will make your ride super forgiving. I really cant think of a single reason why it wouldnt be fun to learn on? Maybe the speed? But youll learn to ride as fast as your comfortable with anyway, so again, cant think of a reason that you wouldnt love this board. The best think is, youll probably be riding it in a couple of years EVEN IF you buy a horrorscope or something to play on. The more you build your skill, the more advanced the terrain youll be riding, and the more the board will become utterly irreplaceable for you. Im honestly jealous


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## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

That's a great board!


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## xxfinnellxx (Aug 30, 2009)

Well, when you get good and move onto another board (if you do) then you might consider it to be a waste. I LOVE GNU RIDERS CHOICES =)

It was my first "advanced" board too, and I couldnt even go off jumps yet at the time (this was like 4 seasons ago too. I still think that mine has the coolest graphic)










Except mine was cooler where the base text "gnu" was black and the rest of the base was an epic green


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## Zee (Feb 21, 2008)

xxfinnellxx said:


> Well, when you get good and move onto another board (if you do) then you might consider it to be a waste. I LOVE GNU RIDERS CHOICES =)
> 
> It was my first "advanced" board too, and I couldnt even go off jumps yet at the time (this was like 4 seasons ago too. I still think that mine has the coolest graphic)
> 
> ...


That's the year I had, still ride it, but it is a rock board now. Mine was black with gray lettering on the base. I have about 120 days on it...


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## bryantp (Dec 1, 2008)

*What's Gnu?*

Just ride it. Good size and a fun board.

In a year or two, you might want something else but I learned on far worse than that.


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## Denzo 2000 (Mar 9, 2010)

This is all very good to hear, since I just bought the same size RC as the OP and I'm about the same size. But I definitely wouldn't call myself a beginner, I've been boarding for 15 years, but all on the same board (155 Burton Brian Iguchi). After riding that thing for so long, I feel like I can ride anything. It'll be a bit of an adjustment, but I'm just excited to actually ride a real board.


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## ready2shred (Feb 1, 2010)

the riders choice was the second board i ever owned. bought it after my second year riding and i loved it. this was in 2005 so i dont know how different it is now but im sure you're fine. its great on trails and a good intro to park board. pretty much kills everything.


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