Reviews by User: cantsee (10)

I've been looking at this board for a while, so when my last board gave up the ghost and backcountry.com hooked me up with a deal on this deck, I jumped on it. I'm about 150lbs., ride mostly in the North East, and my last two boards were a GNU Rider's Choice MTX 151.5 and a Ride DH 155. I rode this board in 20" of powder in the Pacific NW, the resulting heavy crud, and spring slush/ice conditions on the East. My current setup is: Arbor Wasteland 155, Ride NRc, Salomon F22. Now that the background information is out of the way, about the board: The first thing you notice when you start checking out this board are the wood topsheet and the killer inlaid graphics w/ 5 types of wood. Holy shit, this board scores hard in the visuals department. Then you notice that it's called the 'Wasteland,' after TS Eliot's poem, "The Waste Land." Keeping this in mind, you'll notice that the art correlates with the concepts in the poem... Arbor totally outdid themselves on this end; I've never had a snowboard as mentally stimulating as this one. At this point, I already loved the board and I didn't even get to ride it yet. Once I started to ride the board, all I could think was: "Damn, this board is smooth." The Wasteland doesn't really 'rip,' more accurately, it devours everything in it's path. It absorbs all the vibrations that come from the crap that you're riding over and returns a high-quality, finely-tuned ride. It's very smooth. Going from edge to edge takes a little bit more input than other boards, perhaps because the Wasteland is a mid-wide, but by the 3rd run on the board, I stopped noticing. Despite the width, it performed well in the trees on the West, but I've yet to test it in the tight glades of the East. The width also helps the board float in powder: with my stance set back, I didn't get the crazy leg burn that I was used to with the Rider's Choice and the DH. The Wasteland seems to have low swing weight or low weight in general; I was able to eke out some extra 180s on spins. When you land a drop off-center, the board manages to straighten you out without much drama: it just soaks everything up. Taking the board to the jump line is also uneventful. The tail doesn't catch in weird ways off the lip of the jump the way some boards do, there's solid & smooth pop off the transition so you can get pretty good air, and like I mentioned, spinning and spin initiation come easily. I didn't get a chance to take this into the pipe, but keep in mind that it's not really a stiff pipe board. As far as jibs and rails and boxes are concerned, the board does it all with just one issue that I will get to later. It's definitely soft enough for butters and presses on snow and boxes. The board has a very fast base, maybe because of Structurn, but who knows. The base doesn't seem as hard as others out there, though I've yet to put any gouges in it. It's also average in terms of wax retention, at least in ice and slush. Compared to the GNU Rider's Choice MTX, this board is softer, wider, smoother, has a more stable sidecut. You can get the Rider's Choice to pop HARD on a transition while the Wasteland doesn't pop quite so hard, but the pop is smoother and more controlled. Compared to a well-broken-in Ride DH, this board is somewhat similar in stiffness, smoother, and has a more stable sidecut at high speeds. Can't really beat a radial sidecut (DH) for predictability, though. The DH you can jump on and pull your entire bag of tricks, the Wasteland you need to 'feel out' a bit, at first. Now, about that topsheet. A bunch of reviewers have said that the topsheet peels easily, chips easily, etc. I agree, the topsheet is somewhat fragile and on a board that looks this good, you notice and feel every cosmetic imperfection. But that said, it's all cosmetic and doesn't seem to affect the performance of the board. If you get some major peeling, consider breaking out the epoxy to precent further peeling, but it's been rather minor for me. The topsheet doesn't seem any less durable than Mervin (Lib, Gnu, Roxy) topsheets, which also chip and peel frequently. Because of this topsheet issue, I would think twice about jibbing things and sliding rails on this board. I tailtap'd a plastic 'no jumping' sign a little too hard and now I have a chip there. Tailtaps on bamboo and fabric 'slow' signs don't seem to do any damage. Arbor: This is an incredible riding board, with an incredible graphic concept and graphic execution, but you've really got to do something about these topsheets. It's not a non-issue for a $650 snowboard. Backcountry: Your customer service is absolutely tops, thanks again. In conclusion: those who freeride or freestyle exclusively will benefit from more specific boards. But for people who like to ride everything in between, the Wasteland makes no excuses.

One highback broke at the 'living hinge' forward lean adjuster. He had not been using them for a year. Burton warrantied and replaced highback, but I am still skeptical of the quality and/or durability of Burton bindings.

These bindings are light, soft and good for the park (especially for jibs, ok on jumps, big jumps on hardpack are questionable.) They make are a decent choice for beginners, too. The Missions are comfortable but don't provide enough support or response to be an all-mountain binding for high-intermediate riders or above. Fits Salomon Fusion boots well.

I expected a stiffer binding because Ride categorizes it with the SPi and the CAD, which are both very stiff and chew up boots faster than a teething puppy. Not so with the NRc. The combination of the highback and the ankle strap results in a stable, mid-flex platform that lets you tweak when a bit loose. The base is just like that in the SPi and the CAD, so when you tighten down the ankle strap, it locks your boot in place. That gel-grip-web toe strap is supremely comfortable and holds tightly. The ratchets release when they are supposed to and the footbed is also highly comfortable. The bad? The binding is somewhat heavy. The Ride MVMNT bindings are quite a bit lighter. There are these elastomer bumper things on the canted footbed that are glued on -- these have a tendency to fall off, resulting in squeaking noises when you switch between toe and heel. This binding is a bitch to adjust: unscrew the footbed, lift the footbed, slide off the footbed, make whatever adjustment, slide on the footbed, align screw with moving/sliding position tab, etc.

The Burton Doom is basically a pair of Burton Mission bindings with the Cartel toe strap. That said, they are rather soft and pair well with soft, flexible park/street boards. They also fit Salomon's Fusion boots like a charm. It would be nice if the baseplate were padded, but I guess there are too many holes in the plate for it to make much of a difference. The foam on the highback is soft and prone to abrasion damage, but it's not really a big deal.

These bindings are neither very soft nor very stiff... It is a light binding (aided by ICS/EST, I'm sure) with a very comfortable ankle strap and a decent toe strap/cap. The highback has a lot of built-in forward lean, which is good for heel/toe response, but you can't dial it down past a certain point.

I'm not a fan of Burton bindings, in fact, I mostly hate them. The C60, however, rides very well. It's got stiffness like a Ride ATV (SPi, CAD, NRc) binding but is much, much lighter. What's very annoying on a pair of $400 bindings is that the 4-hole disc isn't padded. I know Burton is trying to get you to use the 3-hole disc (which is padded) and buy Burton-branded snowboards, but this isn't the type of game that Burton should be playing at the $400 price point. Burton: stop playing stupid games and give riders what they want.

I took this board on a demo, coming off a Burton Custom. It's pretty stiff torsionally, which results in pretty strong edge hold: you can really lay out some hard carves. It's also snappy in between the bindings and you can get some good ollies out of it. The nose and the tail feel soft and buttery, but you probably don't want to butter this board unless you have precise edge control. The board likes to be aggressive and you need energy to ride it -- if you don't pay attention, it will throw you. I think the board needs a little more dampening for choppy, cruddy stuff, but that's really my only complaint. It feels fairly light, too.

The Custom has been around for as long as I can remember and somehow, I've never been on one. I finally demo'd a 156cm Burton Custom this past week. I'm willing to concede that the board may shine in parks and on smooth groomers, but in choppy crud, steeps, high-speed groomers, etc. it's not too great. The biggest problems are instability and chatter. It is a little stiffer than the Ride DH (which is more of a park board) but also manages to be less stable and more prone to chatter at speed. This board is in dire need of a tech upgrade that will smooth out the ride, rather than ICS/EST, which does nothing for the ride quality.

What is pictured is actually the RED Hi-Fi II, which has slightly different construction and a slightly different shape. If you are ordering this expecting it to fit like your old Hi-Fi, you are probably going to have to return it. The old one fit me perfectly, this one gives me some pressure points. A helmet that fits like the old RED Hi-Fi is the Giro Shiv. Check it out. You can tell the difference by the shape, number and style of the vents at the top of the helmet. Otherwise, it's a light helmet that does the job well.

What is pictured is actually the RED Hi-Fi II, which has slightly different construction and a slightly different shape. If you are ordering this expecting it to fit like your old Hi-Fi, you are probably going to have to return it. The old one fit me perfectly, this one gives me some pressure points. A helmet that fits like the old RED Hi-Fi is the Giro Shiv. Check it out. You can tell the difference by the shape, number and style of the vents at the top of the helmet. Otherwise, it's a light helmet that does the job well.

These bindings are very, very solid and highly adjustable. The aluminum baseplate lets you run these binders on all snowboards and gives you the freedom of shifting the binding around once the bolts are in place. The straps are wide and comfortable, though the ankle strap is quite stiff. In fact, the whole binding is very stiff once you've got everything locked down. That said, it's VERY responsive. These bindings chew through soft boots. If you're looking for a purpose-built freestyle/park binding, these are not it. They're perfect for trees, high speeds, pow, steeps, big jumps, cliffs, etc. I don't recommend them for beginners.