There are a lot of boards mentioned on this forum - big name boards from big name companies to big name boards from smaller name companies. What I'm looking for is the most underrated board, big company or small. The board whose name doesn't get passed around the forums as much - the most unheralded board that provides a ride quality closely matched to its higher price point brethren? It could even be a higher priced board that that just doesn't get mentioned in the conversation as often from one reason or another.

I'll offer up my suggestion of the Rome Solution. Granted it's from Rome which gets a lot of play on all the forums already, the Solution is never mentioned as often as the Agent or the Anthem. But at its price point, I believe it offers a great ride for the money. I haven't realized its full potential in the park just yet (working on it!), but cruising/charging down the mountain, this thing is great.

Any others?

Nobody ever talks about Flow boards.

omatic was huge when they first came out and were selling for $115 and under at chain sports stores...now they're rarely mentioned.  Fact is they're still going strong, better boards than ever and evo is blowing them out for $87 and under right now with their x25 sale.  The boron is only $67 and free shipping...that's a give away!

im gonna second omatic, im loving my boron.. great deal for the money

so far, none of the boards discussed are "underrated boards"

If you have big feet and can find one GNU 11up. I have a full quiver of boards and I keep going back to this board. Tons of pop, great edge hold, really durable.
[Edited by sharpedges on 3/20/2009 at 4:34 PM]

i think neversummer, prior, stepchild, arbor, and palmer are all good brands that you dont hear about too often. i wish i got the palmer platinum le instead of my rome design on alot of days.
 
[Edited by murray_p on 3/20/2009 at 6:35 PM]

Posted by murray_p
i think neversummer, prior, stepchild, arbor, and palmer are all good brands that you dont hear about too often.

Neversummer is talked about a lot on this forum, but not as much elsewhere. Prior is favored among alpine riders (as is Donek). I have have both a Neversummer and a Prior and used to ride a Donek. Most people have at least heard about Arbor and Palmer boards.

I haven't really heard people talk about Flow, so that's valid. Maybe Rad Air (they do make boards other than Tankers).  There's Madd snowboards, but they are barely functioning. Also Hayes Bros and Smokin and Glissade and Steepwater (wait I think the last one really is gone)... most of these are tiny outfits spend ZERO money on marketing.

I vote for Radical Surf 222! Floats in powder... lands huge airs... decapitates entire ski schools with a single spin, jibs two rail lines at the same time.

i almost bought a glissade a few years back, very hard to find and no one had any info or reviews about them which is weird since they have been making boards since mid 80's. lots of probably have heard of palmer but no one seems to be riding them and they make very high quality boards. but they are expensive. that radical surf board looks huge!

[Edited by murray_p on 3/20/2009 at 7:31 PM]

Nidecker!

Posted by burtonunincrider
Nidecker!

Great stuff guys...keep 'em comin'. I definitely haven't heard of some of these brands.

nidecker? really? i guess i haven't ridden one in over a decade. where are people using these? i haven't even seen more than 5 nidecker boards in my life. endevour is a good company. what was the company that tara dakides and kevin jones had a few years back? did anyone use their boards?
[Edited by murray_p on 3/20/2009 at 8:37 PM]

That's what makes nidecker so underrated. Nice boards, virtually not heard of in the US.

What do we define as underrated anyways?
[Edited by legallyillegal on 3/21/2009 at 9:10 AM]

[Edited by murray_p on 3/21/2009 at 9:28 AM]

only person I've seen riding elan is agent-g.  After they got good wood reviews a few years ago, I really wanted an elan/artec 3.1...or any of their mid to entry level boards.  Looked everywhere but couldn't find one - even tried getting one shipped from europe, but no deal

someone a while back mentioned bataleon is made at the elan factory in austria anyhow - don't know if that's true, but I may have kinda gotten what I wanted after all

i havent seen any elan for a few years, there are alot of forgotten companies where i ride. everything goes in phases though. shorty's and atlantis were big a long time ago sims and burton before that, i used to see capita, nitro, lamar,option alot probably 8 years ago now i hardly see any of them. same with silence,atomic, option, ltd, m3, and sapient. i have never seen anyone riding winterstick and they have been making boards for almost 40 years. silver, olive and zion are all smaller canadian companies that i have never been able to find either. rossignol and santa cruz are lost brands again where i am, they used to be popular but then the pro's left and now the name is gone. if people use northwave boots and drake bindings they also make boards under the name venue but are hard to find. no one carries anything of these lost or forgotten companies because if they dont have a huge market no one has heard of them, so we are stuck going into all the shops here and looking at lib tech, burton, forum, k2,salomon, and option.  or whatever sportcheck carries.

[Edited by murray_p on 3/21/2009 at 1:36 PM]

i wouldn't call rossignol a lost company; they just have the rental image stuck on them

[Edited by Agent-G on 3/21/2009 at 10:32 PM]

Posted by Agent-G

Posted by snurfer
only person I've seen riding elan is agent-g.  After they got good wood reviews a few years ago, I really wanted an elan/artec 3.1...or any of their mid to entry level boards.  Looked everywhere but couldn't find one - even tried getting one shipped from europe, but no deal

someone a while back mentioned bataleon is made at the elan factory in austria anyhow - don't know if that's true, but I may have kinda gotten what I wanted after all

 

Well, I have owned the Artec 1.1 and the 4.1, and thought they were both great boards. I have turned my 4.1 into a strict pipe board and keep the edges clean on them with a 1 and 3.

Like I have said, Im very impressed with them. I have ridden alot of boards over 13 years, and the Elan's are my favorite. I recently busted out the Answer. I have been riding the Inverse all season, and became so stuck on that board, that I hadnt used the Answer all year. I had forgotten how much fun that board is. It's really the perfect mix of park/pipe and all mountain board. I can really take that board anywhere.

[Edited by Agent-G on 3/21/2009 at 10:32 PM]

Elan boards are definitely underrated.  Elan Inverse in particular. 


Hi Agent-G,

I saw you have the Elan Inverse.  Which year do you have?  I used to own a 07 Elan Inverse 159 for mostly freeriding.  So regret selling that board away.  I'm thinking of getting a short board for just playing around and ride off natural kickers.  I saw this year's Elan Inverse comes with Carbon 360 (seems to make the board stiffer than previous years).  Will a 151cm version be good for what I'm doing?

Thanks

Posted by refried

The O-Sin (Original Sin) 3800 is my favorite underrated board, It was one of the first tapered boards made but I think it was ahead of it's time and never became popular. About 3mm of taper and a 9m radius made this the perfect do everything board, the wider nose let the tail sink in powder, the stiff nose let you carve well on groomers, and the small radius made a quick turning board in the trees.They were last made in 2003 under the Dynastar label at the Elan factory. I don't remember what the retail price was when they were new (around $400) but I paid less than $200 for 2 (163 and 169), making them some of the cheapest boards I bought. If you don't know what one looks like look at the '09 Fish, it's very similar.

The Elan factory isn't making many boards anymore, Arbor, Rome, Forum, Flow, F2, Stepchild, and few others mave moved thier manufacturing to a factory in Austria (GST), If you look at the construction of the boards you can tell they all came from the same place (StrucTurn? bases arer a dead give away). 

 

 

not necessarily under estimated, but these boards are little known. www.whitegoldsnowboards.com, i think there a company from around whistler, supposed to be amazing boards