# Help to pick out first snowboard for my GF



## BoardChitless (Mar 11, 2013)

BATALEON PUSH UP on Vimeo


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

Updated my list. Narrowed down a lot.

My main considerations atm are:
1. Burton Stiletto Bindings new 60$
2. Burton Feather new 190$
3. Burton Feather and Burton Moto shoes, used - 190$
4. Burton Feather and Burton Moto shoes, new - 450$
5. K2 Moment, K2 bindings and shoes, little used - 260$
6. GNU B-Nice, Morrow Bindings and DC boots, almost new- 260$
7. K2 Satellite, K2 bindings, snakeboots, used- 190$
8. Roxy Sugar Banana, burton bindings and Nike boots, used 2-3 times, 380$
9. K2 (basic, unknown model), k2 bindings, burton shoes, little used - 130$


What is best buy here?
My fav. is probably 1+2, 1+3, 5.
6 seems nice, but I´m unsure about bindings/boots.

And probably I can get prices somewhat down. Or get only board, without shoes/bindings.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

Narrowd it down to:
Burton Feather
GNU B-Nice
and I´m wondering about K2 Brigade. Men´s, but have amazing review as first board and it´s available at a stealer price. Anyhow. It´s more as a back-up.
Send e-mails about Feather and B-nice, will decide depending on how good deal I might get.

PS: Picked my self Skate Banana 12/13. Not much of a park-rider, but might be fun to try it sometimes.


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## racer357 (Feb 3, 2011)

Take her once and rent first. She might hate it completely and have no need to own gear.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Be careful with men's boards. They are wider than womens boards the same length, wider = less leverage with smaller feet. They can be ridden by girls, of course, lot of us do ride or even started with men's boards, but your GF will not ride a lot... itll make it _easier_ if she doesn't have to make up for the lack of leverage by force.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

racer357 said:


> Take her once and rent first. She might hate it completely and have no need to own gear.


Rental here is around 50$/day. I can get new feather + burton bindings and shoes for 200$. In worst case, I could always resell it at same price. I even know to whom 


neni
Thank you for your reply. I will keep that in mind. At the moment I´m looking at 2 futhers, b-nice and roxy alley. Waiting for a deal from those guys


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Pretty sure the bnice is the womens version of the carbon credit which I have and love. I think it's a great beginner board that has tons of room to grow on. More than likely if you find yourself wanting a new board within 3 or 4 years its because you want a new board, not because you've out grown it. The same parent company makes Roxy, so I'd imagine the bnice and ally are pretty much the same board.

My daughter has pretty much the same specs as your gf. I ended up getting her a Burton Social which is basically the Feather but a smidge softer. She likes it, it's a good board for a beginner and the price was right. If I were to do it again however I'd probably have gotten her a bnice or ally simply because I have nothing but good things to say about my carbon credit.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Your first move...rent and lessons...to see if she might be into it...if so...

2nd...Take her to shop and get fitted for boots....be prepared to spend hours of shopping and spending some coin.

3rd...more lessons

4th...then maybe a board and bindings....let her pick...just hand over the cash.

btw...get used to *let her pick...just hand over the cash* :facepalm1:  :hairy:


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Your first move...rent and lessons...to see if she might be into it...if so...
> 
> 2nd...Take her to shop and get fitted for boots....be prepared to spend hours of shopping and spending some coin.
> 
> ...


I checked with our resort, they have only Burton Cruzer for rental and it cost 50$/day (including shoes).
Would it still be prefered option with Cruzer as rental?
Lessons are pretty expensive here as well. Around 100$/hour. + lift tickets + rentals.
It´s out of my budget to spend 1200$ for 2 days of riding. It will be actually a lot cheaper to buy new package and explain her basics myself.


And we don´t have too many shops around here. I live in a smaller town in Norway. Norway is tiny country in itself. So, small town here it´s like a village somewhere else 
I was looking to buy new boots for my self today. 
We have 3 stores selling those boots. 
1. Burton Moto and 2 K2 models - no sizes (I need 10.5/11)
2. Some very cheap shoes... and no sizes
3. Session. Had few models and almost my sizes. Ended up ordering Nike Force, so I can try them on.
Closes city that do have something is like 10hrs drive from here.

So yeah... It would be hard to do, what you suggested. But, they do have some boards on sale. Last years, 50% off. Pretty good price.
There were Burton Genie, Nitro Lectra and Ride Rapture. They offered me good deal on bindings and shoes as well, if I was to buy a package. 


f00bar
That´s kind of my thoughts. They are listed as "beginner" boards and reviews are great. 
I still have some time to decide, what to do. But I´m leaned towards getting one of those deal or to get B-Nice/Ally from last year, at about same price.

Genie seems nice intro-board, but it´s more of a park board, which we don´t have.
Rapture is all-mountain freestyle, very similar to Ally. And Ally is similar to B-Nice.
There is one offer on Envi as well... but it seems like too much atm. 

So I´m stuck, should I go for "safer" beginner option (Futher) or for a better value and still a superB beginner board Alley?


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

Skip over the Genie. It's their bottom beginner board. Assuming you aren't locked into it because of price you can do much better from a value stand point.

Boards change very little from year to year unless they make a big change, which the bnice/ally hasn't. Save the money and get a previous year if possible.

All of those boards are great choices (minus the genie). One or the other won't determine her success. She'll have to put some decent trips/hours on the feather before she out grows it. Even an every weekend warrior would get 2-3 years out of it probably before she was thinking it was holding her back.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

Genie is the same price as Ride Rapture and Nitro Lectra. I´m sure I can get Feather at the same price as well.
Ally/B-Nice is just a little more expensive, but I can handle it, it´s like 30$ difference.

As you say, all those boards are great.
I think, I will be looking for "most versatile" and "most forgiving" combo.


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## gwee (Feb 3, 2015)

On Sale Roxy Radiance Snowboard - Womens up to 40% off
I just bought my wife this board


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

cefey said:


> Genie is the same price as Ride Rapture and Nitro Lectra. I´m sure I can get Feather at the same price as well.
> Ally/B-Nice is just a little more expensive, but I can handle it, it´s like 30$ difference.
> 
> As you say, all those boards are great.
> I think, I will be looking for "most versatile" and "most forgiving" combo.


All work. At some point you have to pull the trigger


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## ashwinearl (Jan 19, 2010)

cefey said:


> It will be actually a lot cheaper to buy new package and explain her basics myself.


Please don't do this to your relationship. Pay the money on lessons.

Sure, if you have a buyer in line for anything you purchase than, yes it makes sense to buy a set up. If anything buy her boots and spend extra on heat molding and custom inserts (or superfeet like inserts). Does the person you have in mind to sell to also have exact same size feet.

Lessons from someone other than a significant other, and proper clothing (base, mid, shell, goggles, helmet, butt pad, knee pads, wrist guards) are the most important things to the success of a new snowboarder.


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## pixxie stixx (Jan 20, 2011)

*for the love of god, have her take a lesson.*

I can say the biggest fights I have ever had with my hubby, were during snowboarding. Just because someone is a great snowboarder, It does not make them a great teacher and vise versa. Best thing I ever did was go off on my own for a day and take a lesson. This was a few years ago, and now we are both at the same level, and can enjoy the whole mountain together. I have seen many fights with couples over teaching a snow sport. Everyone learns differently, and it is an instructor's JOB to teach and figure out the methods to use best suited for each individual.


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

I get that getting gear for snowboarding is quite a pricey endeavor, but if you cut too many corners, you're going to be hurting the one trying to learn. Spend decent money on new boots that fit and that will last. Spend some money on a lesson with a qualified instructor. She will progress faster, have fun, and be able to ride for fun with you more - and be able to keep up which will help keep you from becoming bored and from her feeling like you're ditching her on the mountain. I started on Burton Stilettos and found that they did me well for the price. Durable, comfy, and it took me a couple of seasons before I felt I needed something stiffer/more responsive - and I put in 30-50 days a season. There are lots of great deals towards the end of the season and over the summer on outerwear and other gear - you'll want to make sure she is warm, dry, and comfy.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

cefey said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> I´m looking to buy a snowboard for my GF and introduce her to this wonderful sport!
> 
> ...


*Treat her to a lesson/rental first. * 

If you go your route, and she ends up hating it immediately (due to all of the falling)... you'll likely to keep pressuring her and then she'll get pissed, and you probably won't have a girlfriend anymore.

If she shows interest, then get her boots. Boots are they key piece of equipment, but overshadowed by the board.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

She will pick out boots herself, new, at the store. 

Later I will check who is instructors at our resort. It´s really not that "popular" with lessons in Norway vs USA/Canada. I´m pretty sure it´s just locals kids, before they move away to go to college. 
Is it worth 100$/hour? I´m not that good rider, but I´m good instructor my self.
I´m qualified Flight Instructor and worked as Skydiving instructor for a while, before I started on my pilot-education and did not have time for that anymore.


I decided to buy her equipment anyway. Friend of mine is looking for a snowboard as well. She has about same stats as my GF (she is 3 pounds heavier, same height and same boots size). If my GF hate it after 2 days, I can always resell it. I will end up paying around 425$-450$. I will always be able to resell for 350-400$. I would lose same money, as I would use on rental. Difference? She will have good equipment, instead of older Burton Cruzer Mens snowboard with rental shoes on her first ride.

Thank you for everyone helping! I´m considering all your advices. Now, for sure, I will get her new boots. No mens snowboard. And I will check out who is instructors at our Resort at take if from there.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

So it´s down to those 4, last years boards.
Burton Feather - 145$
Ride Rapture - 185$
Nitro Lectra - 185$
Roxy Ally - 255$ (2014) board. 2013 was for 215$, but is sold out.


Burton got very attractive price. My fav. is Roxy Ally, but is it worth 110$ more?

Any thoughts?


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

pixxie stixx said:


> I can say the biggest fights I have ever had with my hubby, were during snowboarding. Just because someone is a great snowboarder, It does not make them a great teacher and vise versa. Best thing I ever did was go off on my own for a day and take a lesson. This was a few years ago, and now we are both at the same level, and can enjoy the whole mountain together. I have seen many fights with couples over teaching a snow sport. Everyone learns differently, and it is an instructor's JOB to teach and figure out the methods to use best suited for each individual.


Oh yeah, they're beauties.

I've had a couple end @ the mtn haha

& I left after an hour one morning, because it was just fucked, I hated it & it was like 2 feet deep.
Why do girls say "sure you can go by yourself for the first hour, cause that's where all the powder is"
When really it means "Fuck no, your are gonna watch me flop around & cry"

Why is it that, when I say get up, yes can do it.

It makes them go fuckin' bonkers, they flop around like a turtle on their back, cryin' & screaming?

But when ski patrol comes & says the same fuckin' thing, she somehow, all of the sudden has the ability to get up & ride away?


That's a question that won't ever get answered.
Cause only women know the answer to that one.
& if you don't already know the answer.

Well, they're sure the hell not gonna tell ya.

But they'll sure let you know, that you don't know.

Every time it pops into her head.

It could be anywhere @ any time.

Sometimes often. Awesome:facepalm1:

Find a chic, can't be prettier than her though. No no, must be uglier
Have her teach her.

Post an add on a bulletin board somewhere, use facebook, whatever you have to do, it ain't that hard.

If you don't believe me?

Haha, even better Cause it's even worse than I describe it, haha

I can't wait to hear the story in a week, month, year from now.

So when it happens, remember me sayin' it was gonna :hairy:

Then @ least you can laugh about it *while *it's happening.

That'll piss her off even more though, when she asks why you're laughing, as she's cryin' with snot & too much makeup runin' down her face.

& You say "Cause timmytard said this was gonna happen"

She's gonna throw somethin' at you right then 

Be ready.


Hahahahahahahahahah

Fuck that makes me laugh.

Ladies, am I close?


TT


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## racer357 (Feb 3, 2011)

The ladies will never admit this TTT.


I tell everyone I know, male or female, that says " OH I am going to try snowboarding" that they need a professional lesson from someone they don't know. 

Your friend that boards hasn't been trained to teach you the fundamentals and you will only get pissed off trying to learn from a buddy.

They never listen, but hey, I tried


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## ItchEtrigR (Jan 1, 2012)

I read a lot of regurgitated bullshit on this forum, this has to be the worst.

No you ain't gonna end a marriage teaching the wife to slide down hill. 

The story goes more like "fuck no I don't want to spend my day at the bunny hill holding your hand"


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

I´m sure someone managed to destroy a marriage on the slope 

I have decided down to Burton Feather (145$) and Nitro Lectra (185$), both from last year.
Rapture was slightly too "stable" and not as catch-free as other too.
My pers. fav, Roxy Ally was more freestyle minded. Since we don´t have any park here, along with higher price-tag, it had to go.


So, Feather or Lectra?


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## radiomuse210 (Sep 5, 2014)

timmytard said:


> Oh yeah, they're beauties.
> 
> I've had a couple end @ the mtn haha
> 
> ...



That depends on what kind of girl you're messing with. You didn't see me flopping around and crying in the snow when I fell down. I set out to make that mountain my bitch.

Still working on it a few years later.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

The Too Hard Jibgirlz take a hell of a lot harder hit than I ever would.

Need to make a Like a Girl snowboard advert.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

timmytard said:


> Ladies, am I close?
> 
> 
> TT


Nope. I don't feel addressed.

(But yeah... I know _some_ girls of the type you described... urgh, they have the talent to ruin one's day, not only for you guys )


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

Feather seems to be the winner, after all. 
Close call, but Lectra is slightly faster and more aggressive. So, Feather it is.


What bindings would you recommend?
I was thinking about Burton Scribe/Custom/Citizen?
Found a good deal on Drake Queen. Last years (and year before models) for 90$/65$
Gnu B-Real/B-True?
Other suggestions?


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

If you want to get men's bindings for her, check with her boots if the rim of the boot leg is lower than the highback. Men's bindings often have a higher highback as men's boots have higher boot leg, which can lead to pinch in girls calves (the calv muscle of girls is set lower than of guys). 
I do have some men's bindings which work well whereas some I had tried were painful... If your GF is not particularly tall, I'd say look for women's bindings.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

neni said:


> If you want to get men's bindings for her, check with her boots if the rim of the boot leg is lower than the highback. Men's bindings often have a higher highback as men's boots have higher boot leg, which can lead to pinch in girls calves (the calv muscle of girls is set lower than of guys).
> I do have some men's bindings which work well whereas some I had tried were painful... If your GF is not particularly tall, I'd say look for women's bindings.


I did search for women´s binding, that the one I got.
She is 175cm (5`8) and have 39EU-40EU, I think it´s 9 in womens US size.

So I was looking at beginner womens bindings, that is made in "L".

And one more question. Burton Feather is very forgiving, not so responsive board. If I get same kind of bindings and shoes (she will pick her self, but lets say, she likes something like Burton Coco), would it be "too much" of forgiveness?


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

neni said:


> If you want to get men's bindings for her, check with her boots if the rim of the boot leg is lower than the highback. Men's bindings often have a higher highback as men's boots have higher boot leg, which can lead to pinch in girls calves (the calv muscle of girls is set lower than of guys).
> I do have some men's bindings which work well whereas some I had tried were painful... If your GF is not particularly tall, I'd say look for women's bindings.


Is it "OK" to mix bindings and shoes? Like different brands/years? Or is it best to get everything from the same manufacturer?
Should she pick out her shoes first, then match then match bindings to them?

Or it doesn´t really matter, as long as it women´s bindings and shoes?


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Besides the highback issue with some men's bindings, I never came accross a boots / binding / brand / year mix which didn't work... as long as the size fits. I don't think that there's any brand mix that wouldn't work; I right now use pretty bulky men's BC boots and rather slim womens boots with 3 different women's and one men's bindings, all different brands - no problem. 

If her boot size is inbetween binding sizes, let her pick the boots first and check then, if the smaller or bigger binding fits better; if both sizes would fit, go with the smaller (bindings on the bigger side can decrease leverage). 
If the binding to boot size is clear, I'm positive that every 
women's boot model will fit to any women's binding model. You can adjust the length of ancle and toe straps to slightly bulky or flat boots. 
Men's bindings the same boot size can be bit wider tho; if the boot is particularly narrow, there could be some room for side slipping.

Long story short: if you go with women's bindings, you can just order the right sizs and most certainly will be good. If yoz go with men's bindings, it could be that they'll be too wide/too high highback, so you have to really check with the specific boot.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

cefey said:


> Is it "OK" to mix bindings and shoes? Like different brands/years? Or is it best to get everything from the same manufacturer?
> Should she pick out her shoes first, then match then match bindings to them?
> 
> Or it doesn´t really matter, as long as it women´s bindings and shoes?


you're fine mixing and matching. The only thing to be aware of are Burton bindings. If you're buying used, make sure you get the 4-bolt plate with it.

older, non-channel Burtons uses 3-bolts./

Get boots. Get bindings, making sure the binding size is appropriate for the boot... some manufacturers are not consistent with others, ie Burton again.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

I´ll go for new bindings, as they are priced close to the used ones.
Any recommendations?

And any recommendations for shoes (she should try)?
I thought to pick up some medium-soft to medium flex shoes, so they give some response, but are still forgiving.
And same with shoes.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

I´m a bit confused.

Should I look for medium-soft flex or something harder?

Medium/soft would be more forgiving for a beginner? On the other hand, there is no part, so we gonna ride mostly grooming and eventually of-track.


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## tanscrazydaisy (Mar 11, 2013)

Flex is a preference. The important thing is fit


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

tanscrazydaisy said:


> Flex is a preference. The important thing is fit


Fit will be up to her to decide.

Looking at reviews and tests, most recommended "beginner boots" are medium-soft flex.
So I picked out some Burton, K2, Vans, 32s and Salamons for her to try out.
All of them greats boots, but it will be up to her to pick whatever fits her best.


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## Rogue (Nov 29, 2014)

timmytard said:


> Ladies, am I close?
> 
> 
> TT



Those are the girls my friend and I make fun of while we are on the lift. Coordinated outifts, all Burton boards, hair flowing down, 3 layers of make up, cute ass beanie, goggles on their head not face, heel sliding down the mountain. Out there like it's a beauty contest. 

Poor guys.


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

She went to a store today and tried on some boots.
There was limited with sizes, so she was not able to try too many of them.

She tried on Nikes, Burtons, 32s, DCs. Some of those was men´s models.

Anyhow. She really liked Burton Ritual, BECAUSE they was stiff, compared to the other ones she tried.
And she liked 32s Exit (men´s model), they was nice and comfy. 

Should we consider Burton Ritual? evo.com rates them as "Advanced-expert". Could they be too responsive as the first boot? Or as long as she likes stiffness, it doesn't really matter, that she never tried snowboarding before?
Although, they are rated only 4/10 in stiffness. But judging by review, they are responsive boots.


Anyway, there is still a lot more boots for her to try out in a different store, including Burton Mint, couple of womens 32s, Vans, K2 and Salomon.


What is your thoughts? Should we go for the stiff boot, or find something comfortable, but not stiff?


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

What makes you think it's a stiff boot? (Cos it isn't... it's mid-flex 4/10, as you already stated).


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

neni said:


> What makes you think it's a stiff boot? (Cos it isn't... it's mid-flex 4/10, as you already stated).


Based on reviews and what she told me.
She said, it felt a lot stiffer and that´s what she liked about it. 
32 Exit was as comfortable, if not more, but it was more loose.
But she liked the stiffness.


What I would do, is to go for something softer, not so responsive and forgiving. And after a season or two, she might pick out her preference on stiffness/adjustability etc.
For now, imo, it´s more important with comfortable (like she said, 32s was just as comfortable) and more forgiving boot.

What do you think?


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Don't be bothered by the advanced-expert rating on that boot... it's a fairly soft boot so she won't ride anything in the level of "super stiff responsive unforgiving"... my take is that this rating comes cos it's not an entry (mid quality, low or mid priced) boot but of Burtons top high quality line. So if you don't mind to spend the coins and she likes the boot, I see no problem. My second boots as beginner were Burton Emeralds, abt the same flex, and I liked them a lot back then.

If the boot _would_ be really stiff (women's boots ain't really stiff anyway... ), it still wouldn't be too much of a problem. I see no real disadvantage of a rather stiff boot... tighten them less hard and they ride rather softish. I use a Ride Cadence (rated as stiff) for the ballerina board when I do my attempts to learn to ride switch n flat tricks where I'm riding beginner level .


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

neni said:


> Don't be bothered by the advanced-expert rating on that boot... it's a fairly soft boot so she won't ride anything in the level of "super stiff responsive unforgiving"... my take is that this rating comes cos it's not an entry (mid quality, low or mid priced) boot but of Burtons top high quality line. So if you don't mind to spend the coins and she likes the boot, I see no problem. My second boots as beginner were Burton Emeralds, abt the same flex, and I liked them a lot back then.
> 
> If the boot _would_ be really stiff (women's boots ain't really stiff anyway... ), it still wouldn't be too much of a problem. I see no real disadvantage of a rather stiff boot... tighten them less hard and they ride rather softish. I use a Ride Cadence (rated as stiff) for the ballerina board when I do my attempts to learn to ride switch n flat tricks where I'm riding beginner level .


Cool, thank you! I will let her know.
I still want her to try out K2, Vans and womens 32s. So she at least have something to compare to!

What do you think about bindings? I have narrowed my list down to 5:
Burton Citizen 100$
Burton Scribe 145$
Union Flite 110$
K2 Yeah Yeah 135$
Salomon Mirage 100$ (13-14 model)

All of them are great. But Salomon seems like a real bargain, compared to other.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Really can't help with these bindings. No experience with them. 

Good luck - I hope you'll get rewarded fir your effort and she'll love snowboarding :jumping1:


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

she'd better! lol

Anyhow, I cut down Citizen and Flite. Since price difference is so small, there is bigger value in the other bindings and they will grow on her and help her progress.

I cut down K2 Yeah Yeah, because it will grow into beautiful park-binding. But, since there is no parks here to ride, other ones would be a better choice.

So between Salomon Mirage and Burton Scribe, I decided to go for Mirage, because I can get it 50$ cheaper (100$ vs 150$).
Need to call to the store, to check for availability tomorrow. If not, Scribe it is.


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## Willie133 (Jan 5, 2015)

Haha I'm in the same boat you are trying to pick out gear for a girl... it's much more difficult than I thought it would be. I went through renting a board with her and then taking her to the slopes once because I've had lots of other girls try snowboarding and hating it so I didn't want to waste money by buying a board first. Surprisingly she picked it up pretty quick and already knew how to heel side brake down her first run. But now she's set on getting gear of her own. Been reading this thread to get some insight, so you've decided on the Feather?


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

Willie133 said:


> Haha I'm in the same boat you are trying to pick out gear for a girl... it's much more difficult than I thought it would be. I went through renting a board with her and then taking her to the slopes once because I've had lots of other girls try snowboarding and hating it so I didn't want to waste money by buying a board first. Surprisingly she picked it up pretty quick and already knew how to heel side brake down her first run. But now she's set on getting gear of her own. Been reading this thread to get some insight, so you've decided on the Feather?


Yeah. My picks was based on "what´s best" and "price I can get it for".
Snowboard was between Burton Genie/Feather and Roxy Ally and Ride Rapture/Nitro Lectra.

Genie was more park-oriented first board, while Feather was rated slightly more towards freeride. Since there are no parks here, Feather it is. And I could get Feather 80$ cheaper as well 

My fav. was Roxy Ally. But it was out of stock. Ride and Nitro was slightly more expensive and more aggressive boards.


As for bindings, I cut out citizen and flite, as it was less value for money, then Scribe, Mirage and YeahYeah.
YeahYeah is more freestyle, so again, it had to go.

Scribe vs Mirage was a hard call. Mirage is more tech and advance binding. So it came down to price. I was able to get Mirage 50$ cheaper, so I went with it.



Basicly, I cut down to 3-4 choices that was equally good and went by the price.


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## firstx1017 (Jan 10, 2011)

radiomuse210 said:


> That depends on what kind of girl you're messing with. You didn't see me flopping around and crying in the snow when I fell down. I set out to make that mountain my bitch.
> 
> Still working on it a few years later.


This was me too!!!


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

OP and others...if ur fortunate to be with a gal like Neni, Radio and First...just hand them the $ and get out of the way. 

Ain't that right ladies :hairy:


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

wrathfuldeity said:


> OP and others...if ur fortunate to be with a gal like Neni, Radio and First...just hand them the $ and get out of the way.
> 
> Ain't that right ladies :hairy:


Almost  buy my own stuff, but got my own coins  
Actually, I evaluate the stuff for the hub  he's been pretty content with the selection so far


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## Willie133 (Jan 5, 2015)

Hahah well I'm lucky enough where I'm not allowed to PAY for the stuff but I have to go through picking everything to make sure they're good and would suit her -_-.... this thread has been pretty helpful though since cefey pretty much did a lot of my research for me. I'm not that knowledgeable when it comes to women's gear so at least I had something to start with here. 

But I understand everyones POV here, it's rare you see a first timer (especially girls, no offense of course) actually be a trooper about falling and just getting back up right away.


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## Elektropow (Mar 6, 2014)

Going to pick up the Birds of a Feather for the ladyfriend tomorrow.

During 4 weeks in the alps we already upgraded boots and bindings. Her old ones were SP rear entries, cheapest of the kind boots which also were too big and a Banana Smoothie. Basically she had close to zero control over the board and her riding. I sort of came up with a phrase "playing dead" on a snowboard, because she could do that. 

Already the upgrade in bindings and boots took her to another level and forced her to adjust technique for the better (Ride Hera and Burton Escapade). First of all: zero pressure on her feet from the ankle strap. Probably due to stiffer boot and a very awesome strap in itself. She could rail turns and hit some jumps with confidence, even with the smoothie, but limitations of the board soon followed and that's where the BOF comes in. Hope to be able to go try it out with her still this season. 

Will carry some thoughts here that I hope would help some.

Though the ridiculous upgrade in stiffness, she also gained a lot more comfort (hasn't happened to me!). The Hera conformed nicely, has a small footprint and you get a supposedly strange feeling of control without actually feeling the mid-gear; feedback goes straight to the board from your body. 

She was never much of a gear junkie, but I was happy to be hearing this and it sort of validated my own lust to always be upgrading stuff, because I totally get that feeling. :happy: Even though I was a bit jealous of her finding a good boot fit that easily..

Anyway, happy riding peeps.


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## Willie133 (Jan 5, 2015)

Nice to hear that the upgrades paid off. Interesting to hear that the Banana Smoothie wasn't sufficient though, I thought it was a pretty decent board to an intermediate level. Let us know how she likes the BOF though, seems like it's stiffer and takes a little more effort for turn initiations but if she's at that level where she could capitalize on the BOF features then all the more to her.


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## Elektropow (Mar 6, 2014)

Willie133 said:


> Nice to hear that the upgrades paid off. Interesting to hear that the Banana Smoothie wasn't sufficient though, I thought it was a pretty decent board to an intermediate level. Let us know how she likes the BOF though, seems like it's stiffer and takes a little more effort for turn initiations but if she's at that level where she could capitalize on the BOF features then all the more to her.


I don't think turn initiation will be a problem, but I'm sure a cambered (mostly) profile will help with chunder and rip good turns on groomers. Not to mention the advantage in pop!

She's boarded for 15 years, so she can go fast and I feel can benefit from a bit more serious board to build confidence. I also feel the smoothie had had her learn bad habits, because it's so effortless to cruise.
The Banana smoothie is a good board, but it just requires good snow conditions. The Paradiski resort in France is just ridiculously versatile and the smoothie saw more than a few times its limitations. Conditions wise we saw it all during our trip and on non groomed fresh marked runs with 1,5ft of fresh or even deeper into the back-/side country it was surely awesome, because you didn't have to worry about edge hold and floatability. When it hadn't snowed for 5 days and some of the tracks weren't in ideal condition, she couldn't simply keep up with me as you lose all confidence going fast down steeps or even railing tight turns on blue/reds. Presses seem to be easy though and she likes to play around on those. Will see how much more effort the BOF takes!


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## Willie133 (Jan 5, 2015)

For some odd reason I made the mistake of assuming that she wasn't experienced and all the upgrading and boarding happened in the 4 weeks that you were in the alps! Makes perfect sense for someone that has been boarding that long now and can take advantage of the capabilities of the board.


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## Elektropow (Mar 6, 2014)

Willie133 said:


> For some odd reason I made the mistake of assuming that she wasn't experienced and all the upgrading and boarding happened in the 4 weeks that you were in the alps! Makes perfect sense for someone that has been boarding that long now and can take advantage of the capabilities of the board.


Hehe, no problem. I don't think I was clear enough either and I haven't been here long enough to assume people to know my background... in anything. 

Anyway! Board shopping is done. 

So, first of all: Spot Lite vs. Birds of Feather. We were set on the BOF, basically because of the price difference (good deal on the BOF!) but then I started looking at the weight recommendations. Max weight is 125lbs for BOF 144 and 160lbs for the SL 144. Typically these are just to give some direction and shouldn't be something to get shcizophrenic about. Anyway, I wanted to go and see what this was about. I had my suspicions...

144 was the length we were set to go get, but since the SL was only available in 147, I did the comparison against a 146 BOF. The BOF is shaped similarly, but much more of a noodle than I had anticipated. It's quite loose lenght wise, quite linear through to the tips. Also it isn't torsionally that stiff. The K2 was something quite different. Seemed slightly better built, much stiffer and with more torsional stiffness, that helps to keep that edge biting even better. The difference wasn't very subtle at all. Also, the camber, or "lifted baseline", was much more pronounced on the Spot Lite and really quite subtle on the BOF. SL is also set back 0.5", so it seems much more of an all mountain charger vs. the BOF being more towards freestyle and possibly more beginner friendly due to these differences. Only one set of each, so I can't comment on unit to unit QC variation and consistency. 

BOF was too loose for what we were seeking a new board, but the SL available (147) was just too long with an actual effective edge being very long relative to my girlfriend's height. Could be quite clumsy learning some new tricks, at least at first. But damn that thing would be stable at high speeds..

Solution = 145 Eco Lite! Good price. That's what we got in the end. No longer in production it seems, but a very solid deck. All terrain flat rocker that I really like on my Ultra Dream and can really hold an edge when you engage it due to being very stiff torsionally. Same qualities on the EL. It's stiffer overall than the SL (or BOF obviously), but a bit more directional with a very nice gradually rocked up nose and a bit less on the tail. This thing will float in pow. I guess the only negative would be very icy conditions, but I'm sure being as damp as that thing seems, it would overall be a more fun ride than either of the camber boards: not as catchy at slow speeds but at a steep angle will actually bite and hold an edge. I don't think any kind of camber really saves you on bad ice, it's more about technique. No heel side dragging through that stuff; go fast either straight through or on an edge digging into it. 

All of these differences were observed with quite extensive hand flexing, releasing and negotiating with a really cool dude at the shop, who really seemed to know his stuff. 

We shall see how the Eco Lite will do! We had some fun flexing the Banana Smoothie against it when we got home... Can't really take that thing too seriously anymore, at least when going on a real mountain


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## cefey (Jan 30, 2015)

So a quick update.

Final package was Burton Feather, Salomon Mirage and Burton Ritual.

Burton Feather - superB board. Only cons - 3d pattern. So, looking at the package as whole, Burton Scribe might have been a better choice. I have hard time to center 4-holes on 3d pattern. 
Main contender to Feather was Gnu B-Nice. But Feather was more forgiving, beginner friendly and I got a great deal on it.
This board is really forgiving. It almost impossible to catch an edge, no matter what you do. Beautiful V-shape on in when she rides. It gives enough response to control the board, but still very-very forgiving.

Salomon Mirage - great bindings. She liked comfort in them (no pressure point at all, great rachet system). And we could adjust them exactly to her liking. She prefered more response, so it was a good call over more soft models.
Beautiful bindings, no cons at all, except for 4-holes vs 3d-pattern. But that on is on Burton.

Burton Ritual - She picked them over all other shoes (based on comfort and availability of sizes). She loved how they fit, heel hold and flex (more stiff than entry-models). And she liked quick-lace system over boa or traditional.


It took some time for her to master basics, since she is afraid of speed and steep slopes. But once she got over it, she was able to link turns and ride some switch. She really loved snowboarding and looking forward for the next time to ride!


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

cefey said:


> She really loved snowboarding and looking forward for the next time to ride!


Awsome! Glad to hear that your effort was a good investment. Have fun you two


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## Elektropow (Mar 6, 2014)

Grats!

Having had the Salomon Quantums (men's stiffer version of Mirage), I have to say they were very good. No pressure points from the ankle strap, good release mechanism on the ratchet, very locked in feel with a nice flex, but the ladders weren't even close to the feel of the diagonal ones on Burtons. Otherwise, close call between the Quantum and the Diode.
I'm sure the Mirage will treat her good for a long time as she develops her skills. 

Eco Lite was a success as well on our end. She likes to bomb that setup and feels tons more secure on a damper and stiffer deck. I guess it wouldn't be ideal for a beginner (not due to the shape, but stiffness), so maybe the wrong thread to say this, but whatevs.


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