Sneak Peak: 2014 Burton Custom Restricted Twin

Spring time… and the living’s easy. Here on the EC, we’ve been blessed with a bunch of snow storms that have dumped over 40 inches in the last 5 weeks. Of course, it’s also now March, which means spring temperatures and slushy snow. It also means a chance to demo next season’s gear. Even though the US Open moved to Vail, spring time is still one of my favorite time to try some new Burton snowboards.

I was lucky enough to grab Burton’s new Custom Restricted Twin. A late release version of this came out in 2013 in Flying V, and I’ve been hearing really good things about this board even if it is not camber. For those of you who don’t know, the Burton Custom is one of the most iconic snowboards in history. It also happens to be one of the best selling boards year after year. In many ways, it is the yard stick that all other boards are measured up to in all those fancy magazine snowboard tests.

My first memories of the Burton Custom also happen to involve warm sunny days in slushy snow, riding at Mt Hood in the Summer of ’95. At the time, we spent most of our days in the pipe, and this board was above and beyond the rest. After that, I almost exclusively rode Burton Customs until about 1999. After that, it seemed that the Custom had a lost a little bit of that shine or panache, and others (sexier, more “core”) boards took its place.

I always recommend the Custom for someone who wants a Burton, but isn’t the most aggressive or looking to win a race or park-oriented rider. Basically perfect for someone looking for a swiss army knife versus a switchblade. But twinning out this iconic board, intrigued me.

Set-up:

2014 Burton Custom Restricted Twin 158 (Camber)
2014 Malavita EST Bindings
2014 Rover-R Restricted Boots

First Impressions: 

I rode a quick lap on this board on a sunny, groomed Saturday morning. I had to double check that I was riding a camber board. With the combination of Malavitas (with the Living Hinge), this board road precise in the turns, but fast and loose in a skatey fashion at the same time. At the bottom of my run, I flipped the board over and lifted it up to look at the core profile. Yes, it was camber not Flying V or V-Rocker. So took a few more runs, I was still in disbelief. The slightly softer flex plus a whole heap of Burton’s high-end technology makes this board absolutely sing when you ride it. I didn’t get a chance (yet) to take it through the park, but it was a blast off the rollers, berms and boxes. This isn’t the lightest (or heaviest) board that Burton makes, but it is stable in the turns, strong in the ollies and loose & fast like a skateboard with loose trucks.

As a friend said, “making the Custom a twin, seems to not make it a Custom.” I totally agree. And in this case, I’m very very very very happy with the outcome. It’s not as precise as a Custom X or as aggressive as an Easy Living or Harvest or as hyperactive as the Nug, but it’s a happy medium of all of the above. Paired with a Living Hinge binding like the Malavita or Genesis, it’s a combo that is hard to beat.

Tech Details: 158cm WW 250

• The Channel
• BEND: Camber
• SHAPE: Twin
• FLEX: Twin
• CORE: Super Fly II with Dualzone EGD
• FIBERGLASS: NEW 45° Carbon Highlights
• BASE: Sintered WFO
• EXTRAS: Squeezebox, Frostbite Edges, Pro-Tip, Infinite Ride