New to the scene and need advice

[sskirren]

Hi! I have been boarding since i was pretty young and have always been on an offbrand board with boot without holes and bindings that keep me attached. A few years back i realised i don't belong in the jumps and pipes, i wanted to go fast. So i bought a stiff, long board (because snowboards came in 1 type right) and went out, the difference was amazing. Then i had a few off years and came back, after a while i realised that this doesent cut it anymore.

My situation is this, i rides a few times a month during the winter, sometimes with my kids (and when i do that i ski) and somethimes alone. I don't have €1000 for a board and another €1000 for bindings and hardboots. Is there a way i can upgrade without selling my house, like can i use my old board at the start and use harboots with it or should i find a used kit and if so what should i look for? Lenght, style, brand?

I have been searching but the entrylevel seems to require some serious $

PS! Sweden havent really embraced the carving part of snowboard yet. Everywhere i looked the rental places are asking me if i mean a snowbord and shows me a "rad" thing with flames on it, clearly meant for the parks

[fivat]

Hello,

For sure the snowboard gears are not cheap. But less expensive than some other sports like mountain biking or kitersurfing!

You can choose a softboots setup which is less expensive, and can still carve or ride at high speed. With your kids you will have more versatility.

Check regularly the Classified / Annonces / Annunci / Kleinanzeigen to find something for you.

Patrice Fivat

[pokkis]

Where in Sweden you usually ride?

[jax]

You can search fpr used f2 race titanium, about 150€ and also for a pair of boots nearly the same price.

For the board depends of what do you have now and what are you lookig for, extreme carving, carvin, free riding, racing?

[sskirren]

I live about 20min away from Romme Alpin so that's where I spend most of the time.

Something like racing/carving i think

Is there anyway I can use my ski boots and the snowboard I have just to get a feel for how a hardboot setup would feel? This might be an awful idea, just feels scary to buy expensive gear for something i might not like (but to be fair i will probably love it).

[pokkis]

I've seen road sign pointing there many times on my trips to Oppdal

[guillaume31]

Hi,

I think you could keep a tight budget, say under 600 euros for the whole gear, if you are patient and search meticulously.

If you don't have an exotic foot size (very small or very big), it should not be a problem to find snowboard shoes for under 100 euros. The HEAD Stratos for instance (ex-BLAX) can sometimes be found here for 50-80 euros. I have some (which were already prepared for extreme carving and like-new so they were over that budget) and their comfort is second-to-none !

An older generation EC board from SWOARD could be around 300-400 euros, often with the bindings. Going with a sofboots set-up you have the DUAL from SWOARD or you could get a snowboardcross board. This is the choice I made when snowboarding on my local slopes because I do not want to damage my SWOARD board, and my local slopes are not very suitable for EC (too busy, not wide enough and not prepared well enough). Snowboardcross are quite versatile, made for speed, but you probably won't EC as well with it as a board from SWOARD.

Just my 2c...

Guillaume

[fivat]

Is there anyway I can use my ski boots and the snowboard I have just to get a feel for how a hardboot setup would feel?

With ski boots you might be disgusted with alpine snowboarding. They are too stiff and are conceived differently (shape, springs, functioning), even if they roughly look the same. Moreover you have too much boot overhang, especially on the backside.

Patrice Fivat

[sskirren]

@Guillaume:

I have the same feeling about my local slopes so Snowboardcross sounds like an idea to start with. Ty

@Patrice:

Ok then skiboots are off the table, good advice