Burton Custom Twin 2017 Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Past Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 154 and 158
Days:   5
Conditions:   Really good snow with a little bit of messy light powder
Riders: James, Peter, Jimbo,
Boots: Burton SLX, Burton AMB, Burton Imperial,
Bindings:  Burton Cartel, Genesis
Set Up:    Centered 23″ wide 15 front -15 back

Approximate Weight: Felt light

Flex: Nice middle ground bordering on med/stiff mountain flex that felt medium across the board but on snow a little softer when buttering on the tip/tail. Very typical smooth yet poppy flex that you see from Burton.

On Snow Feel: So looking at the 158 the profile is almost all camber and there is only a mellow rise to rocker after a healthy upward bend way past the bindings.  So again this 154 was too small for us but the only one we could ride at the time but now looking at the 158 which is much more suited for our specs and seeing the camber profile you can see this is a pretty aggressive board for those that prefer camber. That being said the 154 was a lot of fun.  It’s got enough stability between the feet to make it a great mountain board but I’d love to see a little more rocker in the design to make it a little more forgiving. The 154 was small and not hard to manage but the more appropriate 158 can have some catch to it.  So it’s a good board to one foot and flat base if you know what you are doing.  Nothing like the Custom Twin Flyng V which as a little loose between the feet and especially so in harder snow.

Edge Hold: A nice improvement over the custom flying v twin and the 154 held ok.  It’s kind of in-between medium and hard snow when it comes to grip and it’s very doable. It’s still not a champ when it comes to harder snow compared to some of its competitors but it’s now a much more livable grip that’s better for most conditions you want to ride.  You can still handle hard snow but it’s a much more tentative ride than some boards. Frostbite has never impressed us and we’d like to see an increase in edge hold. We don’t need full on MTX but just a little more disruption in the sidecut to make the board grip a little better on those days where you see hard snow at times during the day.

Turn Initiation: Nice and snappy edge to edge but so it should be for the size.  Looking forward to seeing how the 158 will turn and that will be more accurate. Sometimes boards with a flat transition can fight the camber style radius of the turn and deaden it a bit. I felt a little of that and turning is definitely more fun with boards that are camber to rocker without flat in there but it’s still pretty good to turn and a fun ride. Let’s face it when it comes to mountain riding turning is a pretty critical part so it’s nice to have a fun rewarding turn.

Skidded Turns: Not as easy as the Flying V and it’s a little easier than true camber. It still will have some catch to it and won’t be a good fit for the rider that skids their turns unintentionally.

Carving: We didn’t really have ideal snow to lay out hard carves but what we could do gave us some pretty good spring from mellow carve to carve.  The 158 should be pretty fun.

Speed: Again the 154 was not the board to find it’s speed potential but you could tell that it had the mountain in mind as well as the park.

Uneven Terrain: Most of what we rode in was sloppy midday snow and it handled it like a champ.  It could snap quickly to go around the messy clumps and it didn’t buck you around when going through crappy snow.

Powder: The 154 did a good job for a twin of its size and the 158 should be better but the touch of early rise isn’t going to own it in powder. If you want more float in powder the Custom Twin Flying V would be better.

Switch: This is not like a lot of other Asymmetrical twins that have sidecut variations according to the toe and heel side but there is a different flex in the stance area as well as moving the frostbite edges in on the heel side. It’s a little better than a true twin but not quite as good as the Asymmetrical Side Cut Twins.

Jibbing: The 154 felt like a good jibber but not a great one.  The 158 has that doesn’t jib unless you really know what you are doing look.

Pipe: It felt good enough but didn’t really get time in a good pipe.  It was messy at the bottom and icy as you got to the coping.

Jumps: what a great jump board.  It’s much more stable approaching the kickers than the Flying V Twin and it’s got lots of pop.  That’s one thing Burton usually does right with any board that has camber in it somewhere.

I was so interested in the Burton Custom Twin with their pure pop camber that I bought a 158 so when the snow falls I will update this review as well as compare it to some of our other mountain freestyle favorites. Our only complaint would be we would like to see a little more rocker or a little more nose to compensate for all that camber in the middle so it’s more forgiving and more floaty.