New Burton Models

[Jyves 0]

Thursday I got to visit the Burton dealer showroom in Tokyo. My contact at the company showed me around and gave me permission to take some pictures of next season's model. You can get a sneak preview through 13 shots I took on:

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/insider/photo_section.php?userid=Jyves

 

Some of the stuff looks sick!

[Kumapix 0]

yeah, they've got cool designs this year. I'm looking forward to some decent AK outerwear finally after 4 years of crap.

 

just do a search on 09 burton for the entire catalogue, or on the burton site forums there's a huge thread covering it all.

 

still no pirhana next year but I guess that's good for my budget

 

in japan the regular fish is being replaced by the aura. they'll still have the fish ltd (9man though).

 

everyone check out the Nofish

[Jyves 0]

Speaking of the Nofish, they did have a sample, but for some obscure reason (which I am unaware of), I failed to even take a pic of it! Sorry about that, Kumapix.

[@tokyo 14]

Is that the place near the NHK building in Shibuya?

[Jyves 0]

I do not know the NHK bldg in Tokyo. Actually, I don't know Tokyo all that much. I'm an Osakan transplant true and through.

 

But in any case, it was not their flagship store in Shibuya, if that's the one you meant. The showroom is not opened to the public, it is for dealers only, and is located on the Aoyama-dori.

[base40 0]

good to see them cheers

[lumiukko 0]

are the Tokyo dealers not stocking the bikini clad board designs?

[Kumapix 0]

they will

[grungy-gonads 54]

Whats this about bikinis?

[Kumapix 0]

the Love series has topsheets of playboy models from the 80's.

There's also a Love jacket that has the same playboy pics on the inside liner of the jacket

 

since we can't post links, just do a search for burton 09 love, should come up on a japanese site

[Kumapix 0]

oh, I don't think they're wearing bikinis....

[grungy-gonads 54]

boo hoo what will we do

 

as for the not wearing bikinis, I've lost my interest.

[Kumapix 0]

well, this one's wearing a hat!

 

[Kumapix 0]

ok, found the lineup

 

 

[big-will 7]

nice hat

[soubriquet 0]

Big arse and floppy tits. No thanks.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

Burton's quality is not what it used to be. It seems to be focusing on 'image', now that 'quality' is not a big concern.

[big-will 7]

Sad but true

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Originally Posted By: soubriquet

Big arse and floppy tits. No thanks.

I'd take her off yer hands then Soubs.....come to Papa!!

[tripitaka 0]

Originally Posted By: Oyuki kigan

Burton's quality is not what it used to be. It seems to be focusing on 'image', now that 'quality' is not a big concern.

OK, that's probably an industry-wide problem. In your opinion, which company is still producing good boards? Is Nitro still any good? Way back, their stock 165 board was the bomb.

[Oyuki kigan 0]

Prior (small whistler company), Rome, Capita, and some of the slightly smaller ones. I have heard good things about Nitro, as well as some of the ski brands, like K2.

 

But for me, the absolute best (and one you will NOT see in Japan) is Never Summer. Ladies and Gentlemen, 3-YEAR WARRANTY.

 

But have heard lots of quality issues with Burton, and lately Lib Tech as well

[Rag-Doll 0]

How many of those brands actually make their own boards do you reckon Oyuki?

 

From the odd bit of research I've into board manufacturing, it seems that there is a lot of industry standard components and a lot of the smaller companies will contract out the actual construction of their boards. It wouldn't surprise me to find that many different boards actually come out of the same factory in china with the materials and construction techniques being virtually identical.

[tsondaboy 0]

I have 2 Prior boards, one completely custom made.

 

Never Sumer rocks! They now make splitboards too.

I would add in Oyuki's list Arbor, they also make good boards.

 

[Tubby Beaver 209]

just as a matter of interest, what makes a good board to you? Me being a bit of a newbie I haven't really noticed much, especially since I've ridden very few boards.

[Rag-Doll 0]

Arbor make very nice boards, but I don't think THEY make them anymore. They used to be made in Canada, but not anymore I think. Arbor is a good example. The company started out quite small, but soon was selling a couple of thousand boards. For a small company pretty soon economies of scale and capital costs are going to push you to sub-contract the grunt work to a large factory. that same factory will be making stuff for other people as well and using many of the same bits. And the bits themselves will come from the same suppliers.

 

The base of most burton models is going to be the same material as the base on many other models, as will the metal edge and the wood core and, well you get the picture. Of course this doesn't apply to all boards and there are going to be high end boards and boutique boards that are quite unique but for many mid range boards, take away the topsheet and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. IMHO.

 

That said though, I recently rode a mate's 168 Canyon X ( I think it was) from about 2002/2003. The bloody thing was like trying to ride a semi-trailer, nearly impossible to turn and I needed cut lunch to get from one edge to the other. Compared to my Indigo, it was almost unridable. So there is definitely a difference in boards and the right one or wrong one will make a big differenc.