Which hyboard is most like snowboarding?

[Cuddles]

It looks EXACTLY like snowboarding. The fact that you can slide around to scrub off speed, and slide around into switch etc etc.

The technique for Freebording is totally and utterly different from snowboarding. The end result may look the same, but the technique on a freebord is all about twisting the board to raise and lower the outrigger wheels, rather than leaning and weighting a snowboard.

Everything you said makes sense. However, find me a board that can dig into asphault and slides easily like a snowboard digs and slides into snow...you wont find it. I believe the freebord simulates snowboarding the best overall, including slides, carving, freestyling, bombing etc. As ATG said, freebording is hard and has a steep learning curve. Give it a chance and some big hills and you shouldnt be disappointed. The day when it 'clicks' is like losing your virginity...oh so amazing

[radinplaid]

I wanted a board that would be the same as snowboarding when I got back home, so I looked at all the boards that claimed to be the same as snowboarding, and settled for a freebord. The promo videos claimed it is snowboarding on the pavement. It looks EXACTLY like snowboarding. The fact that you can slide around to scrub off speed, and slide around into switch etc etc. So I ordered one whilst I was still away, and got it a few days after getting home. And............... it was one big dissapointment.

The technique for Freebording is totally and utterly different from snowboarding. The end result may look the same, but the technique on a freebord is all about twisting the board to raise and lower the outrigger wheels, rather than leaning and weighting a snowboard. I was snowboarding on black runs by the second week away, so I know what I'm talking about.

i hope im not beating a dead horse here, but i agree with ATG-ATB. i will say up front that i have a freebord and love it. to be fair though, i also have a loaded and an old s9 nosewalker (before they gave them a kicktail ), and have also ridden t-boards to a fair extent. having said all of that, i find myself riding my freebord more than any of the others and probably more than all the others combined. i do like the rides that each provides (pumping/carving on my loaded and then just cruising around on my s9) but for hitting actual hills i just prefer my freebord not only because of the control they allow but also because of how they reinforce the technique that a proper snowboard lesson will provide.

in my conversations with snowboarders ive found that most are either self-taught or given a few pointers before their friend/brother left them at the bottom of the lift. i have great respect for these people because learning under such conditions can be very trying since you dont know what to do and often find yourself catching edges or otherwise getting yourself into trouble. this isnt to say that self-taught riders cant get around because they usually can and do with style. what i will say is that given a few corrections to stance, technique, or whatever else from someone that has been trained to teach snowboarding frequently goes a LONG way. the form and technique that i taught on snow is near identical to what i teach on a freebord. there are some modifications, but i will guarantee that if you practice freebording in the off-season you will be more capable and confident when it comes time to strap back into your snowboard.

I'd have to disagree with you, the twisting you're refering to is called foot-peddling and this is done on a snowboard too. You can weight/unweight a freebord in the same way, it has less effect though due to not using snowboard boots/bindings. Freebords are very hard to learn, but once you get the hang of them they are the only board that simulates snowboard technique properly. You can slide and carve the same way a snowboard does, you might be able to carve tighter/harder on other boards but you can't do that on a snowboard! (the turning circle of freebord trucks is smaller than any snowboard). If you're serious about praticing your snowboard technique then get one, if you just want carve around and have fun then get something else... I'm a snowboard instructor, so I know what I'm talking about!

i taught my neighbors son how to snowboard. he loved it, but wasnt quite ready for this last season (we only got to go one full day at the end of the previous season). the following summer he got a freebord to ride with me and some buddies. i can say that he was much more capable when we finally got back to the snow because of the same things you are talking about (weighting/unweighting edges, learning the difference between a carved turn and a slid turn, etc.). the transition was near seamless. like i said before, i dont want to beat a dead horse but i really hope you dont toss away your freebord because it was difficult to learn, keef. keep at it, youll be glad you did.

Tried a tierney yet?

i have, and it was great for what it was. it carved extremely well, but that was all. carving on a snowboard isnt that easy. all you have to do is hop onto a t-board and youre carving. to get the same effect on a snowboard you have to have a much better idea of how to manipulate the board. i think the reason i like my freebord so much is not only because the accuracy with which it simulates snowboarding, but also because you have to know a bit about the technique to get it to do what you want. it isnt automatic carving. now, if all you want is to carve then the t-board is your ride, hands down. but, if you want more of a full-spectrum simulation of snowboarding, my money is on freebording.

I had fun just watching that, extreme carving is awesome but a niche of a niche!

i really enjoy watching people that know what they are doing carve down a mountain. a lot of people just cant/dont appreciate the technique being put to use to carve that well. most kids (at least from what ive seen) are more interested in hitting up the park. i guess carving just doesnt sell the "extreme" nature of snowboarding...

Okay, that's fair comment. Maybe I'll try it again.

i think youll be glad you did!

[/]

[monterevolt]

i hope im not beating a dead horse here, but i agree with ATG-ATB. i will say up front that i have a freebord and love it. to be fair though, i also have a loaded and an old s9 nosewalker (before they gave them a kicktail ), and have also ridden t-boards to a fair extent. having said all of that, i find myself riding my freebord more than any of the others and probably more than all the others combined. i do like the rides that each provides (pumping/carving on my loaded and then just cruising around on my s9) but for hitting actual hills i just prefer my freebord not only because of the control they allow but also because of how they reinforce the technique that a proper snowboard lesson will provide.

in my conversations with snowboarders ive found that most are either self-taught or given a few pointers before their friend/brother left them at the bottom of the lift. i have great respect for these people because learning under such conditions can be very trying since you dont know what to do and often find yourself catching edges or otherwise getting yourself into trouble. this isnt to say that self-taught riders cant get around because they usually can and do with style. what i will say is that given a few corrections to stance, technique, or whatever else from someone that has been trained to teach snowboarding frequently goes a LONG way. the form and technique that i taught on snow is near identical to what i teach on a freebord. there are some modifications, but i will guarantee that if you practice freebording in the off-season you will be more capable and confident when it comes time to strap back into your snowboard.



i taught my neighbors son how to snowboard. he loved it, but wasnt quite ready for this last season (we only got to go one full day at the end of the previous season). the following summer he got a freebord to ride with me and some buddies. i can say that he was much more capable when we finally got back to the snow because of the same things you are talking about (weighting/unweighting edges, learning the difference between a carved turn and a slid turn, etc.). the transition was near seamless. like i said before, i dont want to beat a dead horse but i really hope you dont toss away your freebord because it was difficult to learn, keef. keep at it, youll be glad you did.



i have, and it was great for what it was. it carved extremely well, but that was all. carving on a snowboard isnt that easy. all you have to do is hop onto a t-board and youre carving. to get the same effect on a snowboard you have to have a much better idea of how to manipulate the board. i think the reason i like my freebord so much is not only because the accuracy with which it simulates snowboarding, but also because you have to know a bit about the technique to get it to do what you want. it isnt automatic carving. now, if all you want is to carve then the t-board is your ride, hands down. but, if you want more of a full-spectrum simulation of snowboarding, my money is on freebording.



i really enjoy watching people that know what they are doing carve down a mountain. a lot of people just cant/dont appreciate the technique being put to use to carve that well. most kids (at least from what ive seen) are more interested in hitting up the park. i guess carving just doesnt sell the "extreme" nature of snowboarding...



i think youll be glad you did!

[/]

Finally someone making sense I cant believe people with zero experience on any of these boards try to argue which one is more like snowboarding. Oh yea it's the internet, everyone is an expert Freebording is hands down the closest to snowboarding and I have ridden all the boards we've been talking about. Anyone who says different either hasnt ridden on or didnt ride it for long enough. Its much harder to learn then a longboard but once you do its as close as you can get to snowboarding. I am not sure why everyone is such haters. Longboards will always have their place and longboarders shouldnt be threatened by freeborders, we can coexist. I ride with a bunch of my longboarder friends. It's fun to ride with them but I do feel a little bit of jealousy bc we can go anywhere(jump up and down curbs, take skinny paths with loads of people, etc). Unfortunately the longboard is stranded in the second dimension and can't lift off the pavement. They are still fun though. But for a limitless ride, get a freebord and put in the time it takes to learn it.

[Bilal]

Ok so here is the thing. A freebord takes skill and experience to have it behave like a snowboard. No one has ridden it like they do their snowboards on the first day.

Keef give it 1 or 2 weeks at least and then come back with an opinion. I highly doubt your carving technique on the snow is perfected in 2 weeks. Perfect edge weighting on both freebords and snowboards take skill and time. And lets face it some people are never able to do either.

The freebord slide is what allows riders to truly feel like they do on a snowboard because most everyone can learn this on a snowboard. It is much different than a longboard slide as its more freeflowing, it feels like your board wants to slide. The skill is in carving good enough that your board actually doesnt slide. But then are so many variations of a slide you can perform, doing spins, flipping into switch, overslides, etc that really a freebord is anything you make it to be.

There are no limits to what this board can do. Just check out the pro team rider section and watch some vids.

So i say unless your doing extreme carving on snowboards(are they still called snowboards) then a freebord can be the perfect snowboard trainer.

[Tanters!]

For sure,,,

freebording is alot harder to get the hang of than snowboarding,,, yes the initial feeling is different but once you get over it you realise the similarity in the ride and feel.

I took to snowboarding pretty easily, freebording took me almost 4 months of moderate use to get comfortable on the board.

also, there is no other board like freebording, because of the castor wheels its difficult to transfer skills from snowboarding and longboarding and even the T-board, across to the freebord, its unique.

and for the people here saying there is nothing you cant do on a longboard.,,, i think that slides on a longboard scrub off speed, freeborders can hold prolonged slides with the bord perpendicular to the road with controlled speed, keep your speed, scrub your speed of , flick into switch or overslide and back to reg.... its all sweet.

if you have been frustrated with a freebord, jump on the freebord forums and talk with the seasoned riders, they will help you out with tips... there's also loads of decent vids to watch and pick things up on.

[keef]

This is funny, I caused quite a stir in the freebord community, I've even been named as an a hole on their forum, all for just offering my opinion. I don't know why they've got so all worked up. It's all under one banner of board sport, anyway can't sit here typing all day, I'm off surfing, SURFS UP.

Silverfish... - Freebord Forum

[ATG-ATB]

Lol, that was me! Don't be offended, I call everyone names!

Rad explained everything better I could, it's just ashame people give up on it so quickly. Everyone that snowboards and longboards should freebord... Enjoy the surf!

[kayakr]

I've never had the chance to ride a T-board, they do lok like a lot of fun, but no more so than a real carvy longboard, I'd buy one if there weren't so many other boards I wanted more!

Not necessarily more fun but pretty involving because you turn with balance, body torque, pre-rotation and drifting the back. Kind of like riding a bike nohands while standing on it versus driving a car down the street. Taught me a few things I use in other sports like of all things kayak surfing where pre-rotation is huge.

[kjc6]

This is funny, I caused quite a stir in the freebord community, I've even been named as an a hole on their forum, all for just offering my opinion. I don't know why they've got so all worked up. It's all under one banner of board sport, anyway can't sit here typing all day, I'm off surfing, SURFS UP.

If there was only one thing I hated about Freebording, it was the general attitude of their rider community. Full of closed-minded, elitist, cocky evangelists -- both online and in person.

That said, the Freebord definitely simulated snowboarding very well. It was a fun ride, but I eventually sold mine because I felt it was only really enjoyable on decently steep hills.

[Concrete_Surfer_207]

Nice first post. Glad you weren't teaching me.
Here's another of those snowboards that turns like a truck.
YouTube - Carving a Snowboard how to: experts at work ( movie 4)

Okay, how many people can actually say that they had a hard boot setup in mind when they were talking about snowboarding? Yes you can carve like a truck on a snowboard, duh, its called racing, but no one free rides on an alpine board. Snowboarding is snowboarding. There is nothing exactly like it. If you really want the feel of snowboarding, just go snowboarding.

[Concrete_Surfer_207]

Love that video.

I can't figure out why almost none of the US boarders use that type of gear. Now I'm running my hands along the snow like that in 4G turns with parabolic skis pioneered by the boarders while they continue to shoot down the hill with little speed checks, 0.3G turn in floopy boots and short spinny boards. Then I ask them on the lift if they long board also and almost always the answer is no At least a bunch of them get stuck in the terrain park messing with the rails so I don't have to worry about dodging them.

Wow, bro, way to bash one of the greatest sports ever. So much hate.

[Concrete_Surfer_207]

I cant believe people with zero experience on any of these boards try to argue which one is more like snowboarding. Oh yea it's the internet, everyone is an expert

Well put sir.

[keef]

Okay, how many people can actually say that they had a hard boot setup in mind when they were talking about snowboarding? Yes you can carve like a truck on a snowboard, duh, its called racing, but no one free rides on an alpine board. Snowboarding is snowboarding. There is nothing exactly like it. If you really want the feel of snowboarding, just go snowboarding.

Absolutely, New Zealand in July.

[Bilal]

If there was only one thing I hated about Freebording, it was the general attitude of their rider community. Full of closed-minded, elitist, cocky evangelists -- both online and in person.

That said, the Freebord definitely simulated snowboarding very well. It was a fun ride, but I eventually sold mine because I felt it was only really enjoyable on decently steep hills.

Id like to know who you are talking about. Every single person i have boarded with has been a top personality to me. No one is elitist, pros ride with first timers all the time.

UCLA huh. A guy name tyler freebords there i dont know if you know him. His picture is on the bookstore plastic bags.

Oh yeah i might be transferring to la next semester and i know fer sure there are nice steep hills in and around la so i dont know what your talking about.

[Dirty Harry]

YouTube - Dirtsurfer World by NIXED Sports 2009

that is the closest thing, if you like to get the feeling of riding- making tricks its an other story

[jarman]

However, when people refer to a snowboarding type of longboarding, I instantly think of carving. You know, the long hard carves, edge dug into the hardpack, knees taking all the jolts, then controlling the drift before slightly unweighting the board as you go flat for a split second before changing onto the opposite edge, running straight for a few moments, scrubbing of a little speed by drifting the back foot out hearing that scraping sound as the edge sends a plume of icey snow into the air, changing line slightly to avoid the skier who doesn't even know your closing at twice his speed..........................
Man I love snowboarding.

.

That doesn't sound like the snowboarders I've skied around , I'd say a better discription would be "make board perpendicular to slope, unweight and weight edge in order to slide down sideways taking off all the nice top snow, and leaving nice icey patches, for the skiers who are traveling twice the speed my equipment is capable of, to loose friction and scare them briefly before they re-edge the carve on the other side in an arc shape I as a snowboarder could only dream of"

just joking guys, all in good fun

[kjc6]

Id like to know who you are talking about. Every single person i have boarded with has been a top personality to me. No one is elitist, pros ride with first timers all the time.

UCLA huh. A guy name tyler freebords there i dont know if you know him. His picture is on the bookstore plastic bags.

Oh yeah i might be transferring to la next semester and i know fer sure there are nice steep hills in and around la so i dont know what your talking about.

I went to a couple rides in SF and was greeted with mostly indifference. Many riders (save Sica, Jon, and an older fellow) seemed to feel "too cool" to reciprocate friendly conversation or gestures. When I say "elitist," I'm referring less to the relationships within the sport than to their general interaction with others. Almost every Freeborder who shows up on Silverfish immediately starts posting the "born-again", evangelical rants about how superior their board of choice is.

Hmmmm, might have to do with that whole "rider rep" program that Freebord has? Something about getting kickbacks from Freebord when you successfully convert people to the sport?

I love seeing people get passionate about what they do, but it's another matter when they choose to communicate that passion by cramming it down other people's throats.

Yes, I know Tyler. I sold him a couple sets of centers when I sold my 'bord to a friend of his.

There are plenty of beautiful hills in LA. When I had my Freebord, I was a freshman with no transportation of my own, and I did not know any other serious skaters with cars that wanted to venture much further than the campus borders. So I got bored quickly of the hills around UCLA. Now that I know the area better, I'm sure a Freeborder would enjoy many of the spots my skater friends and I frequent. Doesn't matter much to me, though; I'm quite happy on four wheels now.

Now, have I rationalized my opinions in a satisfactory manner for you?

Anyway. Hit me up or join the "Pwned! Skating Crew" group on Facebook if you end up transferring to UCLA. We're always happy to have more people come out and skate (all styles) with us.

[ATG-ATB]

Hmmmm, might have to do with that whole "rider rep" program that Freebord has? Something about getting kickbacks from Freebord when you successfully convert people to the sport?

Never heard of that! If it's true I think I'm owed some shiz! It's not about conversion, I try to get all the longboarders I ride with to try but I don't expect them to choose one or the other! I got into longboarding through freebording, there's plenty of room for both in your life!

[ognuDdeJ]

I've owned a freebord for a loooong time. It's the closest you'll ever get to snowboarding. I think the reason why some people above say it's differen't is because they "tried" it. It's not something you just pick up and enjoy... you gotta work at it to actually get like the people in the videos. Although I do agree with the technique being differen't. It's still the same motion and feeling. It's all about the feeling of the ride. The techniques are different slightly but there's always gonna be some kind of muscle adjustment between any board sports.

Again, what I'm comparing from snowboarding to freebording is the "feeling" of the ride. You can ONLY slide into switch as effortlessly as if you're on a snowboard on a freebord.

Is it a worthy buy....? Idk if you got a lot of money yeh... if you're looking for something more versatile, no... It's purpose is VERY specific and limited. But, it's fun

[kjc6]

It's not about conversion, I try to get all the longboarders I ride with to try but I don't expect them to choose one or the other! I got into longboarding through freebording, there's plenty of room for both in your life!

Glad you have a good attitude about it. I also got into longboarding through freebording; I just fell in love with the former.