New snowboard - what to do?!

NervousNude

Hi! I bought a new snowboard about 4 months ago (Burton Feelgood) for cheap on Ebay and am now resurrecting it from it's resting place at the back of my wardrobe where it's been ever since. It's only now I'm looking at it all shiny and raring to go that I have no idea what needs to be done to it before I can actually go boarding on it! I have Lexa bindings (also an Ebay job) which I'm sure with a lot of effing and blinding I can manage to affix to the board but what about waxing etc.? It appears to have been waxed already - is it ready to go or do I need to do anything else to it?

Also for the future, how often will it need to be waxed and serviced etc.? Will it be cheaper to get that sort of thing done in the resort? Thanks

Static M.e.

If its a new board it comes with a factory wax which is fine.

Fixing the bindings to it is easy enough too once you know your stance, since you probably dont, I would just bring it with you when you go on holidays and have one of the guys in the rental shop set it up for you.

Your stance is quite important and comes down to a personal thing after a while, a wrong stance can really effect your performance/experiance when learning to board. Its very important to get it right. If you do lessons when you go on your trip ask your instructor to check your stance too.

Do you have your own boots?

I get my board Waxed at the start of every holiday or I wax it myself. It depends on how much you use it and where you use it, at the end of a week if you have really good conditions you mightn't need to get it waxed at all on the other hand after a rough week you could have really big gouges taken out so you might need to get a full service. Its cost roughly €40 each time in a shop.

NervousNude

Great, thanks for all the advice. I'm beginning to think that buying my own board wasn't the best of ideas, especially with Ryanair's ridiculous €60 baggage charge. I'm just going to have to move to the Alps....

I was planning on winging it with my stance, I've been boarding about 5/6 times over the past 10 years (though I've always hired boards before) and am hoping that I'll recognise what feels right. Is this a bit optimistic?! According to all the bumph that came with my bindings, changing the angles etc. can all be done with a wiggle of my big toe

Boots are on my Christmas list, I was thinking of heading out to Snow + Rock for something mid range. Possibly the Burton Mint though it's pretty hard to tell before the Cinderella moment!

paulharte

As regards stance, I'd just stand on my board in a nice "cowboy" style stance, with knees bent to work out the stance width (distance between bindings) and then start off with front bindings at +15 or +20 and the back at -5 or -10 and adjust it till it feels comfortable.

I'd advise a little bit of forward lean aswell, you get into those carves a lot quicker

Static M.e.

Good advice from paulharte.

Bring one of those little Screw driver sets with you so can change your stance slightly anywhere on the mountain too.

Snow & Rock are a good place to start, talk to the guys out there about exactly what you want if they dont have it instore they can always order it in for you.

paulharte

Static M.e. wrote: »

Bring one of those little Screw driver sets with you so can change your stance slightly anywhere on the mountain too.

Yeh, good call. Make sure it is a "little" set too, doesn't need to be too hardcore... nobody likes having a black and decker in their pocket on the slopes!

edmund_f

paulharte wrote: »

nobody likes having a black and decker in their pocket on the slopes!

i know i am worse than a 2 yr old - but i am still sniggering...

Rhymenocerous

You'll want to detune the tip & tail from the contact points right around to help with not catching your edges. You might wanna get someone experienced to help you with this first time, or show you, but it's really easy to do; however you don't wanna end up snookering your edges.

As for waxing your board, a factory wax job will last a day or two before you'll need to re-wax. Especially if it's an ebay job that's been lying around for ages. Hot waxing is easy, but again, you'll probably need to get someone to help you first time. I wax my stick every three days, but once every five days of riding will do. Remember: A well maintained base will ride faster, and last longer. When you're finished riding it for the season, hot wax it, but don't scrape it. This will ensure the base doesn't dry out over the summer.

There are good instructional videos on youtube on both of these and more. I'd defo recommend learning board maintenance yourself; easy to do, cost effective and great for zoning out...or maybe that's just me eating the wax?

Rhymenocerous

NervousNude wrote: »

I was planning on winging it with my stance, I've been boarding about 5/6 times over the past 10 years (though I've always hired boards before) and am hoping that I'll recognise what feels right. Is this a bit optimistic?! According to all the bumph that came with my bindings, changing the angles etc. can all be done with a wiggle of my big toe

Boots are on my Christmas list, I was thinking of heading out to Snow + Rock for something mid range. Possibly the Burton Mint though it's pretty hard to tell before the Cinderella moment!

"What type of riding are you going to be doing?" is the best question to ask yourself before trying to figure out stance width and angles.

On your board there will be markings for a 'reference stance width'. Start there, and see how that goes.

For more freestyle riding, a wider stance width is more desired, and ducked angles (for example +15 front foot, -15 back foot is a good place to start, and adjust from there). The reasons behind these are the wider the stance, the more stable when jibbing (i.e. riding on rails/boxes/etc) and the more ducked the angles the easier it is for spins. Though of course everyone is different, and everyone has personal preferences.

For more freeride/groomers riding, a narrower stance (ref stance is usually good) and a bigger angle on the front foot is more desired. For example, +21 on the front foot, -6 on the back.


As for boots: TRY ON EVERYTHING IN THE SHOP! Seriously. Your feel are like a unique snowflake; they need the correct fitting boots. They'll be the best thing you buy ever, if you buy them correctly. Don't make the mistake of buying the best looking ones, or going for your normal shoe size. A snowboard boot is different than a shoe. The correct fit is when you're standing up straight, your toes should touch the end, BUT NOT CURL. When you assume the riding position (no, not lie on your back), by bending your knees, your toes should move back a little from the toe box and your heel should fit snugly into the heal of the boot. Try both boots on, one of your feet is bigger than the other. When you rock onto your toes, your heals should not rise in the boots. If they do a little, this is not the end of the world, but if they do a lot, then these are the right boots for you. Buy the wrong boots, and you'll have crippled feet and hate snowboarding, or have not enough response and feel sketchy. Buy the right boot, and you'll want to marry them. That is all.

Do it right, and you'll never regret buying your own gear. Rental stuff is rubbish.