Though many of you may snowboard or have gone snowboarding and know what it’s about, it’s something else to explain and to recommend and sell snowboards to complete strangers (customers). I’m sure we’ve all had friends that knew it all and would tell you to get this and that, well test your friend after this! Did he really know his goods or was he just ……!!
Here are some basics to help you for the first few sales.
The Basics (‘cause you can never know enough)
All snowboards have either a sintered base or extruded base.
Sintered base – Small grains of nylon condensed at 30,000psi to form what looks like a plastic sheet. Look really, really, really, close (you need a microscope!) and the sheet has micro pores like our skin. These pores are what the hot wax penetrates to get into the base. Think of a sauna, and what happens when we go in it……our pores open up and we sweat because of the heat.
Well with sintered bases, it kinda works like that!! We use hot wax to open the pores on the base so that the wax doesn’t just sit on the surface and actually penetrates the base. What’s that mean to you or the rider? Better glide and better ride!
Sintered bases have various numbers indicating how porous they are. For example, Sintered 2000 vs. 7200, the 7200 is a better glide and absorbs more wax because it’s more porous.
Some companies have sintered bases that are black and some have clear bases. The black base (not to get too tech!!) Have carbon additives in them….this is where it gets kinda sketchy for me…..it’s either because the carbon has a negative charge and the snow (h20) also has a negative charge OR they both have positive charges……..I don’t know Man!! But basically, both water and the carbon repel each other so you can go wicked fast!! Check out the bottom of race skis!! There’s more stuff companies put in as well like gallium and other stuff we know nothing about, but it’s all to do with physics and positive or negative charges. Before I make an ass of myself, let’s move on!
So the low down is, it’s fastest and smoothest and it needs wax. Out of the factory, it hardly has any wax in it so it’s a good idea to sell a hot wax on a new board. The boards with sintered bases have a dramatic difference when it’s waxed and when it’s not. So always keep it waxed and everything is good!
Extruded Base – It’s not sintered. It’s a plastic sheet. Think magic carpet!!
It does glide but not as well. It’s obviously cheaper to make so you’ll find it on beginner boards and some mid level boards.
It does have some advantages though, you don’t need to wax it as much since it doesn’t penetrate into the base and you won’t notice as much difference if you forget to wax it. Extruded is a little tougher too. So if you’re riding rails all the time it’s probably better.
Most if not all boards have structure put into the base. (skis too!)
Base Structure - Flip over a board, especially a Salomon, and check out the base. You’ll see that there are segmented lines etched into the base. It’s called base structure. What’s it there for?
Here we go with the physics thing again!! When we go riding or skiing, we’re actually skiing over a film of water……….this is what makes it all happen! The board running over the snow causes friction, which equals heat and that’s what changes the snow to water, even when it’s cold.
Having the structure in the base allows the water to “channel” underneath in a “directional” travel. You may wonder why then, don’t the companies just put straight lines on the base. Well we need to turn, and by segmenting the lines the water travels in a straight line but it ripples so it lets us pivot the board easier that if it were a straight line.
There are different types of base structures some are more aggressive with deeper grooves and some are more shallow, some will have more grooves and others less. They all work on different conditions; when it’s warmer out, there’s a lot more water and when it’s freezing, there’s very little water underneath.
The low down is that it all works to give the board a straighter and better glide.
All boards have either cap, sandwich, or hybrid construction
Cap construction – There are variations in this but basically the top sheet is made of some form of plastic i.e. carbon, Kevlar, and it wraps around the top of the board and on to the side walls to where it meets the edge. Most companies just wrap a very thin sheet of simple plastic around the board to make it cheaper to build, but some companies like Salomon like to call theirs a monocoque structure.
Monocoque structures are the load bearing part of the board and it transmits your energy directly to the edges for a better grip. The company used claim that technically you can take the board without anything in the core and ride it……..
(It’s because they use a thicker and more exotic plastic) Also with a monocoque structure, when you flex the sheet since both sides are curved over, there is more “pop” or stored energy.
So more energy and more “pop” are the benefits. There are no negatives to this construction when it’s done right but, the whole idea has been taking a beating because other companies who don’t do it right are messing up the image and others just don’t do this construction so they’ve trash talked the idea.
Some customers will come in and will tell you right away they don’t want it.
I think the companies who don’t do it right, have used it on inexpensive boards (it’s less expensive to cover up the whole thing) to make them look pretty so customers have this image that cap is only on cheap boards.
Sandwich Construction or Torsion box construction – Take a look at some boards from Atomic or Option. There’s a defining top and side to the board. It’s called a sandwich ‘cause it’s pressed with all kinds of exotic plastics and wood in there and finally they slap side walls on the sides of the board also made of plastic.
It’s the way most boards and skis were and are still made. By pressing together sheets of carbon and/or Kevlar and/or wood and/or rubber it all comes together to form a sandwich. Mmmmmmmm.
Because it’s like a sandwich, it flexes smoother because everything shears better inside the board. Less “pop” or energy than in the “Cap” construction, but buttery smooth flex is a good thing too. It makes the ride all plush.
Hybrid construction – a blend of the two constructions, check out K2 snowboards or some Rossi skis. It tries to take the best of both worlds. More “pop” and buttery smooth flex.
The bottom line is, all are good constructions and there are merits to all.
What it depends on is how it’s made (Quality) and what materials are inside.
All boards have either a 3D hole pattern or a 4x4 pattern
Burton has a 3D hole pattern and the rest have the 4x4 hole pattern.
All boards have a base edge and side edge
Base Edge - By beveling the base edge you don’t need to take rocks to your edges to ride rails………only pros with endless supply of free boards use rocks (like in the DVD’s) to detune their edges. Why the hell would you do that? It’ll never be able to turn….unless you’re riding pow all the time!
Side Edge – increase the angle and it get’s sharper. Sharper means more edge tuning though!
All boards have sidecut
This refers to the shape of the board. Different sidecuts give different and unique handling characteristics.
Bindings – Not all bindings fit all boots. There are sizes to bindings and you‘ll have to look at the manufacturers notes on the binding boxes for the general reference as to what size bindings fit what size boots. I know, this sucks, and it makes it hard to sell bindings, but it’s because there’s all kinds of boots out there and some are more bulkier than others and there are no standard like skis.
The things to look for on how bindings fit;
1. Does the heel loop on the binding fit around the boot heels. Check to make sure the boots go all the way to the back.
2. Once the boot is in place, is there enough strap length to allow the straps to close by adjusting the strap length.
3. Once the boot is strapped in, check to see if the boot is relatively centered on the bindings by looking at it from the side. Or check from underneath to see the mounting disc hole and where this lies in relation to the boot. The hole at the bottom of the bindings should be roughly in center of the boots.
4. If the boot is not available, be safe, refer to the manufacturers reference guide and let the customer know the above. In 95% of the time it works out. But if it doesn’t, at least the customer was told and they won’t think that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
There are two main types of bindings; the conventional two strap bindings and Flow Bindings
Conventional Strap bindings – Well take a look at them, two straps; ankle and toe. The important thing is there are unibody bindings like the Burton and Salomon bindings, and there are two part bindings like Drakes and K2’s.
Unibody – bindings have no adjustments for the heel loop for fine tuning the stance (where the boot/foot lies on the board) and there are smaller boot size ranges to each binding size.
Two part bindings – Heel cups can be adjusted forwards and back to fine tune the stance and also to accommodate more boot sizes in each binding size. Until recently most of these binding types only had two sizes. Sm./med. Or Med./Lrg.
There are arguments for the benefit of both sides but one is not better than other.
Flow Bindings – slide your boot in and go! There are sizes to these bindings as well they like to call their small a medium, a medium a large, and finally their large an Xlarge. I don’t know why…….but please keep that in mind.
There’s one big strap at the top and you need to adjust this at the beginning of each day and after that you’re good to go. For these to work really well the boot fit has to be perfect or everything will feel pretty loose. It’s the same for the strap bindings as well but with the Flow bindings it makes a bigger difference.
It’s an easier binding to put on and off and once the rider gets the hang of it, they’ll never have to sit to “strap” the bindings on.
K2 has a binding on the market called the Cinch and it works similar to this system as well. The system is still new and still not 100% proven for durability.
The strap configuration is that of the conventional bindings if you need to adjust the bindings.
Conventional strap bindings are still more popular, but Flow bindings are starting to gain some momentum because of the simplicity and ease of use.
Snowboards - To start off, you need to provide the right information to the sales associate.
Here are some of the basics:
1. Your foot size. Do you need a regular width board or a wide board? (more on that later)
2. What skill level are you?
3. Where are you riding most on the hill? Are you in the park? Are you more freeriding? Are you riding the pipe?
The answers to the questions above should steer you into the right boards to talk about.
Narrow (wmns) vs. Regular vs. Wide boards
The size of your foot determined what width boards to look at. There’s no way a guy with size. 14’s should be riding the same board as a guy with size 9’s.
Women’s boards are narrower to accommodate a smaller foot size. Generally up to size 9 or 10 women’s should be looking at these boards.
(Board width 230 – 245)
Regular width boards are for those that are from size 7 to 11 m. (245 – 265mm)
Wide boards are for those that are from size 12 plus. (Board width 265 – 275mm)
One thing to keep in mind is that unlike skis, for boards of the same model as the length gets longer or shorter the width of the boards also get wider or narrower so there can be some exceptions to the rules.
Freeride vs. Freestyle boards
Freeride boards - are generally stiffer at the nose and have a softer tail. They also have a more aggressive taper to their shapes (directional shape). The flex can range from medium to stiff (rider preference). The faster you go the stiffer the boards are to stay stable at those higher speeds. Turn radiuses are slightly longer and the center of the boards are moved back slightly to allow for more edge and board up front to keep the board stable and to allow it to float in the thick stuff or if you’re lucky enough to float in pow.
Freestyle boards – Soft to medium flex patterns, since speed are slower….think sliding rails. Shorter lengths. For riding a lot of pipe the boards are generally better if they are stiffer to boost you up the wall and for more power, those walls come at you pretty quick!! Some boards in this category have centered stance options available. There are both directional and twin shapes in this category.
