HARDGOODS 25/26

[kimchi]

Thankfully Donna saw fit to not make the mistake of 3D and Channel and not try to unify the industry around it by letting them use it. I mean they do allow Channel now, but hasn't always been the case and 3D they majorly fucked up on and she said as much on her Bomb Hole. Burton is doing it right this time.

Not according to Caleb Flowers lol.

[pow_hnd]

Thankfully Donna saw fit to not make the mistake of 3D and Channel and not try to unify the industry around it by letting them use it. I mean they do allow Channel now, but hasn't always been the case and 3D they majorly fucked up on and she said as much on her Bomb Hole. Burton is doing it right this time.

Not according to Caleb Flowers lol.

I actually 100% see his point of view for sure, but that dude needs better communication skills. He was not explaining himself well at all, or in a way his group chat compatriots could digest and understand.

Don't mistake that as an indication of love for him.

[C.Fuzzy]

Whats his take?

[coleslawed]

he thinks Burton pushing StepOn too hard is limiting both newcomers into the sport and also new brands from entering the market.

or at least that’s what i think he was trying to get across.

[jota]

A variable that occurred to me recently which may be overlooked by ELers due to relative skill, is that step on-ins et al, allow the unskilled to 'strap in' (binding ingress) without sitting down / noob wet ass / unskilled stand up, that whole undignified process.

I'd say for the majority of buyers, the benefits of an automatic transmission outweigh the performance benefits of a manual, and they can skip the humiliating learning curve.

Yes, there is a large mass of casual audience manipulated by the hateful and misleading concept of ease of use…

We will soon be selling ski poles to manipulate the boot release lever…

[pow_hnd]

Yeah my take was he was saying two things. Burton says it wants more inclusivity and a lower barrier of entry to the sport.

It also is pushing Step-Ons as lowering the barrier to entry, but they are actually expensive so it is cancelling itself out or it's being 100% hypocritical, because its cost is anything but lowering a barrier of entry.

Then he also says that if Burton is wanting Step-ons to be the bell cow for ease of entry and use and wants that to be the segment that grows, it is not possible for a small company to keep cost of entry low, because of the cost of step-ons. It hurts a small companies chance of making a product that is the bell cow ( step-ons ) because of its actual inherent cost.

He should have removed himself and his company from his explanation and I think it would have presented better on air in real time.

[jota]

If someone wants a quick learning curve then makes boards where you can stop before learning to turn. I understand the market and its need or desire for expansion or growth, but we don't want dangerous people sliding because by overcoming a small or minimal learning curve they start to slide and get into where they shouldn't and in the middle of things... all the phases are important and especially the initial ones that help you know where you are.

[C.Fuzzy]

The quickest path to making step ons the bell cow is to get them into the rental programs for resorts. When folks learn on them, they'll be pretty reluctant to change.

[jota]

The quickest path to making step ons the bell cow is to get them into the rental programs for resorts. When folks learn on them, they'll be pretty reluctant to change.

in fact, when they appeared, there was already talk that they were a perfect product for rentals... even for maintenance as the straps don’t break... but of course, what you say... you get used to them from the beginning and then most of them don’t change.

[Spenser]

the Now guys have gone to great lengths to get their bindings set up

I dunno if I'd call swapping straps "great lengths"