# Arbor....... Say it aint so



## Ryan_T (Oct 18, 2011)

Ouch. I've heard of Arbor not being the most durable...but that's really bad. What did you do?


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

dude i have no idea. literally boggles my mind because i didnt feel like anything occured during my riding that could have resulted in this. not like i ate it on any rails or boxes, and even if i did, would that be enough to blast this edge off?!


----------



## dskache (Dec 13, 2011)

looks like it got slammed in something to be honest or like shutting the back of the explorer or something. Watched someone do that gashed the hell out of his board. Sorry to hear that. I have an Arbor nightrain hope that doesnt happen to me.

Try looking into their warranties too arbor is usually pretty good if you got the receipt from where you got it from. or the stickers still.


----------



## Jenzo (Oct 14, 2008)

In my unprofessional opinion that looks like you landed a rail off a 50 foot cliff. Geez. I agree that should not happen through "normal" use, I don't know what you weigh but I was huge at one point and went over a massive rock on my edge on my Never Summer and all it got was a little scratch.


----------



## BigmountainVMD (Oct 9, 2011)

Rough... It looks like something took a bite out of your ride there... Kinda looks like some rock damage though... Almost like you were sliding and something got under the base side of the edge and tore it straight up, through the sidewall (thus the bend) and the edge snapped right off? I dunno, I hope they help you out with the warranty.


----------



## hikeswithdogs (Sep 23, 2011)

Sorry man that f'ing sucks balls, some ahole ran into me and broke my first board first day out when I was 13 so I know the feeling.


----------



## Ryan_T (Oct 18, 2011)

Maybe somebody tried to vandalize your board.


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

thanks for all the support/input guys.

to answer some questions,

weight? 165, and im 6'0'' so im no boulder.

door damage? Nah..... it was put in the trunk of a very spacious expedition.

vandalism? cmon man, really? haha 

BTW: if any of you guys like evo's and need one, help me out and buy mine! see the classifieds post i just put


----------



## dskache (Dec 13, 2011)

I dont know man, It must have been a heavy hit on a boulder that almost killed you or that thing is manmade. lol.


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Wait... an Arbor showing piss poor durability????

I tried to tell you guys... I always wanted an Arbor until I got one. Nearly a core shot per day. Beautiful boards that might as well be made out of styrofoam.


----------



## jtchompy (Feb 6, 2009)

yah i have a westmark too, went for a lip slide and clipped the rail right on the contact point, smashing the whole thing in. Never have had problems like it with other boards, i just thought i fell pretty bad. Looks really similar to the damage on your board, just not nearly as bad, could be a trend from the manufacturing.


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

jtchompy said:


> yah i have a westmark too, went for a lip slide and clipped the rail right on the contact point, smashing the whole thing in. Never have had problems like it with other boards, i just thought i fell pretty bad. Looks really similar to the damage on your board, just not nearly as bad, could be a trend from the manufacturing.


so....whatd you do about it? just bailed it? 

I'm not about to just accept the fact that i blew 450 bucks after taxes on a board that lasted 3 weeks.


----------



## explorerD (Nov 8, 2011)

oh my god... im about to buy an arbor blacklist but now im scared shitless


----------



## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

buy it from backcountry.com or REI with a membership and you should be able to take it back whenever.


----------



## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

ShredLife said:


> buy it from backcountry.com or REI with a membership and you should be able to take it back whenever.


You don't need membership. REI's exceellent return policy is available to anyone.

But membership is good anyway


----------



## dreampow (Sep 26, 2011)

sorry about your board dude. Hope you get a new one. Still if there are genuine issues with durability it could happen again and thats a hassle no one wants to deal with when there is snow to ride.

Would be good to hear from others who have or have not had durability issues with Arbor.


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

dreampow said:


> sorry about your board dude. Hope you get a new one. Still if there are genuine issues with durability it could happen again and thats a hassle no one wants to deal with when there is snow to ride.
> 
> Would be good to hear from others who have or have not had durability issues with Arbor.


Yeah, truly appreciate the reply man. I know for sure once I get a replacement that I'm selling the board and buying something bombproof


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

That's blatant impact damage. You don't just ride all day and not notice something like that, you know you hit something, you cried about it, you came on here and cried about it, now you want to blame it on some "manufacturing" defect. News flash you did this to it and they will laugh at you it's a snowboard they are meant to be ridden and destroyed. I've had something like 28 Arbors come through my office in the last few years. I got a 100 plus days out of my Blacklist before it fucking exploded and you know what I take responsibility for that.

All snowboards will break if you give some idiot the right circumstances and conditions. Get over yourself if you want your snowboard to not break don't fucking ride it.


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

BA is right that it's definitely impact damage. 

But, Arbors are still made of glass. If you really want one, buy it and then hang it on the wall.


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

BurtonAvenger said:


> That's blatant impact damage. You don't just ride all day and not notice something like that, you know you hit something, you cried about it, you came on here and cried about it, now you want to blame it on some "manufacturing" defect. News flash you did this to it and they will laugh at you it's a snowboard they are meant to be ridden and destroyed. I've had something like 28 Arbors come through my office in the last few years. I got a 100 plus days out of my Blacklist before it fucking exploded and you know what I take responsibility for that.
> 
> All snowboards will break if you give some idiot the right circumstances and conditions. Get over yourself if you want your snowboard to not break don't fucking ride it.


Lol get over myself. There's no pride in this. This is a shitty situation and comments like that, although I respect your site and rights to free speech, are uncalled for. and where did I mention defect? Perhaps a craftsmanship flaw but either way I don't care, sending it in, it has no use on snow anymore


----------



## NinjaSteez (Jul 22, 2010)

Maybe it was a combo of hittin little things and it just couldnt take another little bump and it exploded off on a soft hit.....hmmm


----------



## Ttam (Jan 20, 2010)

I shred the shit out of my arbor draft and have never had this prob. along with the thousand other people that ride arbors at Bear. That kind of damage doesnt just magically happen.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Concur with BA, look at the base scratches and the way the edge was taken out...u were riding rocks and a sharp one dug in and ripped a chunk. Perhaps there are design, material, manufacturing issues...there should be edge teeth inprints in the layup or them hanging out/visible and the edges are a fairly clean break ...so that's kind of suspicious but...No way that you would not have felt or at least heard that shit happen.


----------



## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Before2Day said:


> dude i have no idea. literally boggles my mind because i didnt feel like anything occured during my riding that could have resulted in this. not like i ate it on any rails or boxes, and even if i did, would that be enough to blast this edge off?!


How can you sustain such a damage and not notice it? I mean you destroyed that board! Looks like a pair of cutters took a bite off it and you didn't feel a thing?


----------



## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

I've ridden mine over some exposed stuff this season and while it tore some holes in the base, I didn't get any real damage that some epoxy infused p-tex and a little elbow grease couldn't fix.

I have to agree that you must have hit something pretty gnarly. I've gotten core shots before and not noticed them but never completely blown out the edge of my board. That must have hit something pretty gnarly.


----------



## DrnknZag (Feb 7, 2010)

A manufacturing flaw won't fail like that, you definitely hit something. I've heard from a ton of people that Arbors have pretty weak bases, but still something like you had to have noticed it.


----------



## dskache (Dec 13, 2011)

Yea people need to stop hating on arbor here, imo they are some of the best and smoothest boards to ride. That Gash is more then just a scratch or something. Arbor is definatly a high maintance snowboard as well so if you dont take care of it expect scratches.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Before2Day said:


> Lol get over myself. There's no pride in this. This is a shitty situation and comments like that, although I respect your site and rights to free speech, are uncalled for. and where did I mention defect? Perhaps a craftsmanship flaw but either way I don't care, sending it in, it has no use on snow anymore





Before2Day said:


> Wonder if it's a manufacturing *flaw* in the grip-tech? cuz honestly, i wasnt bombing trees or rocks or rusty nails hah. I would have noticed this, like how much force is needed to produce such a blasted edge?


Flaw and Defect can be interchanged. You blasted a rock plain and simple. Take responsibility for your actions.


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

Look man i don't come on here to tell you what to do. But define blasting a rock. I'm seriously intrigued


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

I guess since it was a pow day at mt high I didnt notice it or must have happened on my last couple runs


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

I know you don't tell me what to do because I'm smart enough to take responsibility for my actions and destruction of my boards. Out of the countless boards I've destroyed I can say less than 10 have been manufacturing defects. 

How hard is it to comprehend what blasting a rock is. You were all fucking woo powder day I love snowboarding and then it was all slasher here slasher there. Then out of no where you were all like I love snow slash and then you heard that plunk noise as a rock drove itself right into your edge, sidewall, and base. You might have even tumbled if you were a little forward with your weight. Now I'm going to speculate and say you just leaned back through it and rode it out but then on a firm patch of snow you started noticing something dragging and effecting how it rode, although people have been known to be so stoked they are oblivious to such imperfections in their board. That right there is blasting a rock it happens. Did the same thing to my Arbor Coda on a 21 inch day last year at Breck. Was all fucking stoked to be riding pow and blasted a rock 9 core shots, one mangled edge, and the core went up through the topsheet. Manufacturers fault? Fuck no all mine.


----------



## lonerider (Apr 10, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> I know you don't tell me what to do because I'm smart enough to take responsibility for my actions and destruction of my boards. Out of the countless boards I've destroyed I can say less than 10 have been manufacturing defects.
> 
> How hard is it to comprehend what blasting a rock is. You were all fucking woo powder day I love snowboarding and then it was all slasher here slasher there. Then out of no where you were all like I love snow slash and then you heard that plunk noise as a rock drove itself right into your edge, sidewall, and base. You might have even tumbled if you were a little forward with your weight. Now I'm going to speculate and say you just leaned back through it and rode it out but then on a firm patch of snow you started noticing something dragging and effecting how it rode, although people have been known to be so stoked they are oblivious to such imperfections in their board. That right there is blasting a rock it happens. Did the same thing to my Arbor Coda on a 21 inch day last year at Breck. Was all fucking stoked to be riding pow and blasted a rock 9 core shots, one mangled edge, and the core went up through the topsheet. Manufacturers fault? Fuck no all mine.


I make no claim as to knowing what happened to Before2Day's board... but I have had some board damages experiences of my own (storytime folks! cue the flashback wavy video effect and music).

I once blew up the sidewall of a borrowed OSin 4807 while riding some awesome powder (hit a rock under three feet of fresh), I totally felt it and noticed it immediately. I had to man up and bought it off the person I borrowed it from, I ended up selling it to someone who repaired it and cut an even bigger swallow into it so it was all good.

Another time, I was demo-ing a Burton Custom at Mt.Hood and destoyed the edge on double parallel box setup (looked kind of like the setup below ... except the ramp was father back so there was a sizeable gap... and I didn't clear the gap on my boardslide )










Right after banging the board on the box, I immediately unstrapped and hiked up to try again and succeed in my boardslide, but my board was "sticking" to the snow and box like suddenly all the wax was gone... then someone pointed out the damage. 










It was basically impossible to ride the board in that shape, and so I had to borrow a coach's board to ride down the mountain (he was coaching all day standing by the jumps/jibs in the park, so someone else took their board back up after I got down). I went back to the Burton demo shop in Govy and told the truth, and they were super cool about it and didn't charge me anything :thumbsup:. They just said they wouldn't give me another board to demo, which seemed very reasonable :laugh:

Back to the original topic, I agree that it would pretty darn hard to not to notice that much damage almost immediately after it happened. Although that same summer, I had an OMatic Awesome delam on me (Omatic honored the warranty gave me a new board).


----------



## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

Sliding boxes at all? It's possible what happened was a combo of a heat crack then connecting a rock. I've hit gnarly rocks in pow and not even felt it. If you hit them at just the right spot in you turn it just feels like changing snow conditions.

Sucks, but it was all you.


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Yep, no way you're getting that board warrantied. It was definitely impact damage. Shit happens. Shit is just far more likely to happen on an Arbor.

If you want to ride an Arbor, you better be a groomer cruiser. Shit is made of glass. Beautiful boards that ride great, they just can't handle a beating. If you want to thrash on your shit, buy something else. Arbors are just too damn expensive to be as fragile as they are.


----------



## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

linvillegorge said:


> Yep, no way you're getting that board warrantied. It was definitely impact damage. Shit happens. Shit is just far more likely to happen on an Arbor.
> 
> If you want to ride an Arbor, you better be a groomer cruiser. Shit is made of glass. Beautiful boards that ride great, they just can't handle a beating. If you want to thrash on your shit, buy something else. Arbors are just too damn expensive to be as fragile as they are.


Is this an opinion based solely on your experience? I know enough people on Arbors to make me think it is...


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Yep, based solely on my experience.

I've had boards of various manufacturers and the Arbor I had was by far the most fragile. I always wanted one until I had one. Never again.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Eh every company has QC faults even your precious Never Summers. Shit breaks you get on with it. Ridden enough boards to know nothing is fullproof except maybe that I Shred board I rode from Signal but that thing weighed 35lbs.

And technically all snowboards are made with glass just so you know. 

Also Lonerider what happened to your Omatic Awesome happened to me 3 times with 3 different Awesomes. That was a laminate issue from the factory.


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

Sure, all board are made with fiberglass, but that Arbor I had seemed to self inflict core shots from the mere sight of a rock. I got a core shot on that thing from a fucking stick. A STICK. I dug the chunks of wood out of the base myself.

People knock the durability of Capita, but I've rode those too, and they're built like a tank compared to that Arbor.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

They come from the same factory with the same materials.


----------



## extra0 (Jan 16, 2010)

BurtonAvenger said:


> ...
> Also Lonerider what happened to your Omatic Awesome happened to me 3 times with 3 different Awesomes. That was a laminate issue from the factory.


yup, I got two of them (based on your recommendation/review) and the first one was just a complete visible fuck-up right out of the box...returned it and the next one started delaming after only about a weeks worth of riding (zero park). Shitty manufacturing, but the board was friggin ollie launching machine


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

BurtonAvenger said:


> They come from the same factory with the same materials.


No way those Arbor bases are the same material as other manufacturers. It may be p-tex, but it's a different formulation. That shit is SOFT.


----------



## lonerider (Apr 10, 2009)

extra0 said:


> yup, I got two of them (based on your recommendation/review) and the first one was just a complete visible fuck-up right out of the box...returned it and the next one started delaming after only about a weeks worth of riding (zero park). Shitty manufacturing, but the board was friggin ollie launching machine


Yea, it was a shame that a board which such great pop would come apart so easily.


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

linvillegorge said:


> No way those Arbor bases are the same material as other manufacturers. It may be p-tex, but it's a different formulation. That shit is SOFT.


You do know there's really only 2 ptex manufacturers and the factory kind of picks the materials. Then it comes down to sintered and extruded. 

I know certain colors of ptex are weaker like the yellows, blues, etc. has something to do with the coloring of it making them more prone to ripping or denting. You had 1 Arbor I've had 20 plus most of which survived me doing tap 180s off things and slamming into rails for a couple days. Plus yours was older and I think from when they actually had their own factory not the Elan made.


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

No clue, but the base may as well have been made out of room temperature butter.


----------



## GeoFX (Oct 25, 2007)

The easiest way to tell where and when your Element was made was if it had the Structurn base. They switched to the Elan factory sometime before the 2009-2010 season and stopped using it after that. Seems like there are a lot more complaints about the newer Arbors for whatever reason...I haven't read of anybody riding older Arbors having base issues. Could be because there's a larger sampling size now as they've gotten more popular the past couple of years...

Here's a link about the factory change.

http://business.transworld.net/12514/news/arbor-moves-production-to-elan/


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

Structurn is GST not Elan.


----------



## SnowSource (Aug 21, 2011)

Before2Day said:


> I guess since it was a *pow day at mt high* I didnt notice it or must have happened on my last couple runs


Definitely a ROCK. A POW day at Mt. High? I've ridden Mt. High 10 days since they opened and the day following any "storm". Their coverage still sucks balls. It's SoCal in December. They had a 3" day (they reported 6") which fell on an 18" base.

BTW - 12 hours of snowmaking isn't considered a POW day. Although I have lived in SoCal for two years and frequent the local hills - I have a thorough understanding of "pow". You definitely hit something. And you definitely were not riding pow.


----------



## GeoFX (Oct 25, 2007)

BurtonAvenger said:


> Structurn is GST not Elan.


Yeah that's what I was saying. The older Pre-Elan Arbors had the Structurn base which is the easiest way to tell if your board was made in the old vs. new factories.  In addition, they also "modernized" the graphics themes with the whole "Flesh and Blood" concept subsequent to the move. Arbors used to have really subdued graphics themes across their range.


----------



## Dim Mak 1470 (Dec 7, 2011)

SnowSource said:


> Definitely a ROCK. A POW day at Mt. High? I've ridden Mt. High 10 days since they opened and the day following any "storm". Their coverage still sucks balls. It's SoCal in December. They had a 3" day (they reported 6") which fell on an 18" base.
> 
> BTW - 12 hours of snowmaking isn't considered a POW day. Although I have lived in SoCal for two years and frequent the local hills - I have a thorough understanding of "pow". You definitely hit something. And you definitely were not riding pow.


Hehe, do you mostly go to Bear Mountain?


----------



## Before2Day (Feb 14, 2011)

SnowSource said:


> Definitely a ROCK. A POW day at Mt. High? I've ridden Mt. High 10 days since they opened and the day following any "storm". Their coverage still sucks balls. It's SoCal in December. They had a 3" day (they reported 6") which fell on an 18" base.
> 
> BTW - 12 hours of snowmaking isn't considered a POW day. Although I have lived in SoCal for two years and frequent the local hills - I have a thorough understanding of "pow". You definitely hit something. And you definitely were not riding pow.


Jesus Christ your anger is fucking annoying. Monday the 12th high actually got like 6 inches. They weren't blowing that day so stfu donny you have no frame of reference here. Also, I only rode that day at high cuz my friend had a free ticket from snow jam


----------



## BurtonAvenger (Aug 14, 2007)

6 inches isn't a powder day that's a dusting. Don't cry that you got called out because the board is "defective" you hit a rock.


----------



## WasatchMan (Aug 30, 2011)

powder day in SoCal?

:laugh:

edit:

*6* inches!?


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

6" pow day

LOL


----------



## Rice (Sep 7, 2008)

6"
Hahahaha


----------



## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

i'd kill someone's grandma for 6" of snow right about now....


----------



## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

ShredLife said:


> i'd kill someone's grandma for 6" of snow right about now....


Unfortunately, it's true.


----------



## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

Bear Mountain averages 62" of snow a year. A year! That's a week in some places.

But for some reason, right now it's already over half that this year :laugh:

Still shitty by most comparisons, but right now about the most coverage compared to other parts. Tahoe is ridiculous right now


----------



## Dim Mak 1470 (Dec 7, 2011)

Sounds like I'm missing out on out of state snow  
I'm happy with what I have, hopefully going out there in another week or two.


----------



## Jenzo (Oct 14, 2008)

imo even 1" of pow is the difference between shit and sex on the mountain. 

FTR today I thought about this thread when I thought I completely trashed my Roxy Ollie Pop. I reamed it on several hidden rocks on a deceptivly powy hillside, landed right on one when jumping a cliff. Guess what? No damage! It takes a lot to damage a decently made board. A couple rocks should not cause that kind of destruction.

6" is a pow day, that's a shit ton of snow for one night. You guys laughing at that are just being idiots.


----------



## extra0 (Jan 16, 2010)

6" is just enough to maybe fool you into thinking it's pow...then you do something rad and make it down to the rocks and/or ice chunks underneath and, "*CROCK*!!!", end of fantasy


----------



## lonerider (Apr 10, 2009)

Jenzo said:


> imo even 1" of pow is the difference between shit and sex on the mountain.
> 
> 6" is a pow day, that's a shit ton of snow for one night. You guys laughing at that are just being idiots.


^^^ low standards. I like it :thumbsup:

I agree having some new snow to freshen up the trails is always nice. I think the difference is what the 6" is on top of, if it's on top of groomed or soft-ish snow that that's fine, but if it is it over ice, super-firm hardpack, or rocks then riding in it is worse than no snow as you will hit "rock-bottom" on nearly every turn. That's true even for us here in the Sierra Nevada area, which gets very wet and heavy "sierra cement" snow.

Most people don't call it a powder day until you can actually ride the powder and not worry about the hidden minefield of rocks and frozen chunks hiding underneath. Otherwise, every day is a powder day and the phrase loses meaning.


----------



## davidj (May 30, 2011)

Before2Day said:


> Yeah, truly appreciate the reply man. I know for sure once I get a replacement that I'm selling the board and buying something bombproof


See if you can wrangle a Blacklist out of them, then PM me... make it a 157 or 158 . I'm up for buying a Blacklist at a "reasonable"  price.


----------



## SnowSource (Aug 21, 2011)

Before2Day said:


> Jesus Christ your anger is fucking annoying. Monday the 12th high actually got like 6 inches. They weren't blowing that day so stfu donny you have no frame of reference here. Also, I only rode that day at high cuz my friend had a free ticket from snow jam


Although I angered you - I will make you a deal on a 09/10 Lib Tech TRS. You wanted "bomb proof" so I'm sure the TNT base will do the job.


----------

