Burton Freestyle

Author's product rating:   

Comfort	Very comfortable
Durability	Very durable
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Comfort, comfort, comfort
Disadvantages:	Take an age to wear in

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As a relative newbie to the world of snowboarding I have only recently bought my first board, boots and bindings. I will write ops on all of them soon, but the boots are the first.

First, They are *so* comfortable! Having only worn hire boots before I was amazed at how snugly these ones fit and what a difference in support and so your riding it makes to have your own boots. The drawstring inner make them fit closer to your legs (good if you are skinny like me) and the laces can be pulled very tight although the whole setup does take a long time (read: wearing the boots around the house for a week and a couple of visits to the nearest dry slope) to wear in.

Another benefit to these boots is that they're relatively light compared to a lot of the ones I tried on. To me this means a lot as you don't get tired walking in them so quickly, although once you're strapped into a board it makes little difference.

As for looks, well they change the colour/style every year, my ones are '02 season so are a very understated grey colour with black and white highlights. The drawstring inners are a thouroughly tasteless light grey with bright yellow padding. Thankfully no-one sees those bits! Perfect if you are the sort of person who doesn't want to show up/off in bright colours.

Considering how much of a battering I've given them over a very short stretch of time I think they have got it in them to very durable as they don't even has a mark on them yet and the metal lacing tie around things (you know, the things that let them be done up further up from your ankle - if anyone knows what they're called then post it in my guestbook please!) are a lot more sturdy than their plastic counterparts.

At an RRP of £125 these boots are very mid-range but as I got them for £85 in the end-of-season sales they are well worth looking at if you don't mind wearing last seasons kit.

All in all these boots are better than anything else I've ridden and make an excellent first pair.

I will repost an edit of this in the future to say how well they've lasted once they really get heavy use and let you all know if they aren't so good when they get older.

***EDIT***
OK, I have been wearing these boots for a long time now and it's time for an update.

Firstly, they have worn in exceedingly well. Burton use inners which mould to the shape of your feet when they warm up and set when they cool. This has resulted in a perfect fit which means no blisters on the slopes.

The lace up outer and drawstring inner haven't yet broken, the inners drawstring especially gets a lot of abuse and has not snapped yet. Amazing since it's only a couple of mm in diameter!

Lastly, the only downside I've found. If you have to walk in the boots for long distances, the shape of the outer shell forces the inner to rub on your calves resulting in major chafing. This is odd, because the same design 'flaw' also gives more comfort when actually boarding. The only solution is to loosen your boots before walking more than a few hundred metres.