This is why the Burton Déjà Vu 152 with Lexa Bindings got chosen.
In my last post I told you me and my girlfriend Kimberly bought her first own snowboard. Now that she has been out riding at Snowworld Landgraaf (indoor snow, since we live in the Netherlands… no snow or mountains here ☹), I feel confident enough to share our train of thought when we selected this board and bindings.
I was spot on on what Kim needs to snowboard with ease. I’ll explain why I selected the Déjà Vu snowboard and the Lexa bindings.
All mountain board, all the way.
She needs an all mountain snowboard. She doesn’t go into the funpark yet and Kimberly doesn’t know if she like to go through pow. So we needed to have a board which does all of it. So All mountain boards are the only way to go.
Flat, rocker or camber? No! Both!
We were discussing which shape we needed. Flat wasn’t the way to go for is. Camber snowboards are better for edge riding. But a rocker snowboard is much more agile and thus much more easily turned. Kim had issues completing turns on her rental snowboard. But my girlfriend is a little bit of a speed demon as well. So we needed a snowboard shape which was easily turned but was good on its edges. This means rocker and camber properties together are preferred.
This is why we chose for the “Flying V”-shape. Burton’s Flying V is rocker between the bindings and camber below them. The effect of this is that you have the agile properties of a rocker snowboard when riding flat. But when you put pressure on your bindings you experience a camber board. Thus the best of both worlds.
The tall divide, deciding the length.
Snowboards come in various lengths and at a rental place the just make sure the board is between you chin and shoulders when you hold it in front of you. But snowboard length is more dependant on your weight than how tall you are.
Kimberly’s snowboard length range would be between 146 and 156. But in my experience it’s better to be on the low end of the range than the higher end the more experience you get at snowboarding. Just to be on the safe side we selected a 152 board over a 146. Reason for this is Kimmy’s need for speed. A longer board equals more stability at speed, but they make turning a little bit harder. So we took the 152 length.
This whole combination of requirements and wishes brought us to the Burton Déjà Vu 152.
You cannot ride a snowboard without…
That’s right, bindings. Bindings are like tires on your car. These are the thing that gives you control of your snowboard. I knew Kimberly did not like to have too much room in her bindings. She really hated the delayed response she had on her rental bindings. But Kimberly’s boots were a just on the verge of women and men’s bindings. But we went with women’s bindings because of the snug fit. This way her input and pressure will directly translate to her snowboard.
A little more high & stiffer highback please.
Lastly we looked at a women’s binding with a little higher highback. This makes sure my girlfriend has a earlier response when she leans to her heel-side. The highback is a little stiffer than most models as well, adding to the responsiveness.
All these properties are found in the Burton Lexa EST bindings. Which are just awsome for her!
Out riding the first time.
When Kimberly went out riding for the first time on her new baby, she called me to tell me how awsome this new board felt. And that was exactly the plan. Not only did Kim feel awsome, I did as well. This whole thing told me, I am starting to get these snowboards.
If you have any questions for me… just leave them in the comments, or send me a tweet @HerveMaas.
