The Burton Whammy Bar Snowboard Review by The Good Ride
Size 155 & 157
Riders- 3. 5'10" 200lbs size 9 shoe. 5'7" 160lbs size 10.5 shoe. 5'11" 175lbs, size 8.5 shoe
Bindings- Burton Mission, Burton Malavita EST with Hinge Tech.
Boots- Burton Ruler, Burton SLX, & Celsius Opus
We tried this with and without the 2012 Malavita "hinge tech" EST bindings and both times it was fun but we had more fun with the Malavita's. This is the kind of board that makes it easier to ride rails and jib around. It might of been one of the easiest catch free jib boards we have tried. The Whammy Bar is one of those boards that has the nose/tail spooned and the middle section spooned up as well. The only thing that has normal contact with the snow are the edges between the feet. This is a great idea for
Groomers- This is not an ideal groomer board unless you want to slide and butter all over the mountain. The Whammy bar should live inside the park or just play around on the groomers. The harder the conditions the worse this board performs on groomers
Powder- The Rocker on the Whammy is pretty mellow. It makes for a more stable ride and a fun float in powder but this board runs small for it's size so it won't be ideal even compared to some other rocker boards. Still it's better than anything you can get in a camber board of this shape and flex.
Turn Initiation- The Whammy Bar's ultra loose ultra catch free ride comes with a cost and that is turn initiation. Its very loose and any turn feels more often like a slide. We rode this board in good and hard conditions but both days it was difficult to turn. It's not that its hard to get from edge to edge. That is incredibly easy. It's just that it feels like the rail never grips into the snow to initiate a turn. It's weird that even in some of the burton demo videos you can see the rider slide more than turn when approaching or landing a jump/jib. If you are looking for a wide radius semi carvy turn every now and then after a few jibs you will have to look elseware because this is made to slide.
Speed- We were on moderate hard pack that was scraped away to create a bit of a loose layer between it. The Whammy is very typical of most Burton Rocker boards. The minute you pick up any bit of speed you begin to feel the chatter. It even creates a little noise. We aren't talking about bombing a hill but just picking up speed from the chair to the park.
Weight- Pretty light but well built as almost all Burton Boards are.
Edge Hold- We could feel the board slide out often in almost any condition. There are many jib boards that have good edge hold so this is our only major complaint about the Whammy Bar. This board is ment to slide from jib to rail.
Flex- The Burton Whammy Bar is pretty soft. You could butter all the way down the mountain if you wanted to.
Carving- Worthless on a carve but that is expected for a jib board.
Switch- Just the same riding switch as it is regular.
Rails/Jibbing- The Whammy Bar is all about the jib park and performs admirably with just about anything you want to do here. Many of us would agree that if we only rode in good conditions and in the jib park this would be one of our top picks. It can make you ride better in the jib park. The coolest thing about the Burton Whammy Bar is the slightly spooned out nose and waist tail. It's almost impossible to hook up on a large technical rail, box or any kind of jib. When going through the park our confidence was up and everything just felt easier.
Pipe- Not a pipe board.
Jumps- The whammy bar is decently springy when it comes to creating your own air. It's pretty soft and not stable at high speeds so the Whammy Bar won't be the best for lapping a big roller coaster style park. However it will have a good time on most medium to small hits. When we tried the whammy bar with the 2012 EST Malavita bindings everything was the same except it was much easier to generate your own air. The Malavita EST with "hinge tech" is definitely the best binding choice for the Whammy bar.
Our conclusion is this is a great jib board. Our only real complaint would be the lack of edge hold but other than that this is a very flexy fun ride.
The Good Ride Take on Continuous Rocker
This is where it all started or re-started in the Mid 2000’s. In the beginning Continuous Rocker was mainly for park and powder. Today it's still pretty much made for the same 2 functions. There are a few boards that are made for all mountain to freeride use but most of those have migrated to hybrid shapes. Continuous Rocker helps you maintain a catch free forgiving ride which is excellent for beginner riders or those who ride at slower playful speeds through the park. Almost every one we have tried has to be on edge or it will wander giving you that squirrely feeling like a skateboard with loose trucks. The biggest issue is it isn't very stable flat basing or one footing in firmer snow. Continuous rocker is for the most part really poppy and helps you generate your own air. There are many styles of this shape so this could be a good choice for beginners, park rats and people who only ride powder.
The Good Ride Take on Burton
Burton is huge. They have developed or acquired most of the technology that we use today. Burton is one of the only companies that can provide you with everything you need to snowboard from boards to beanies. Burton even owns arguably the best surfboard company Channel Islands because Jake likes to surf. They are like the Yankees of snowboarding because they can always outspend their competition to win.
The positives- Burton provides more products for each gear/clothing/accessory category than any other company. Burton has possibly the best customer service in the snowboarding industry. Burton continuously spends more money than almost any company to develop new tech or just make what they have better. Burton sponsors more pro’s and get’s more high level user feed back than any other company. They have some of the best boots, bindings and boards in the industry. They also have great clothing.
The Negatives- Because Burton spends so much money on sponsorship and tech they have to pass this cost along to the products they sell. They relentlessly continue to jack up the prices every year. You are almost always going to get a good product from Burton’s higher end line but some mid to low level products don’t stack up to the competition in the same price range. Burton always tries to make proprietary tech like the channel tech and 3 hole binding tech so you can only ride Burton Gear which sucks! We wish they wouldn’t act like the Microsoft of snowboarding.
The bottom line is Burton is the 800lb patriarch of our industry that makes good stuff and backs it up with good customer service. The snowboarding world owes soo much to them but at the same time they can be very frustrating when it comes to price and proprietary technology.
2012 Burton Whammy Bar
Burton
WHAMMY BAR
Triple cork the double kink.
The award-winning Whammy Bar is, unfortunately, not a snowboard trick, but actually a snowboard. If it was a trick, however, it would probably be the equivalent of a triple cork down a double kink. With the extra-pressable and bite-free powers of V-Rocker™, Mid Spoon, Scoop tips, and Rail Ready™ edges—it’s pretty much impossible to catch an edge on. Might as well just send in that sponsor tape now.
Features
+ Hi-Speed Quad Package
+ The Channel
+ BEND: V-Rocker
+ SHAPE: Twin
+ FLEX: Twin
+ CORE: Super Fly® with Dualzone™ EGD™
+ FIBERGLASS: Dual Density Biax™
+ BASE: Sintered
+ SIDEWALLS: 10:45™
+ EXTRAS: Mid Spoon, Scoop, Rail Ready Edge Tune, Ellip Kicks, Pro-Tip™, and Infinite Ride™
Diecut Base Color Combinations May Vary
Sizes:
150cm MID (249 WW)
153cm MID (251 WW)
155cm MID (252 WW)
157cm MID (254 WW)
Feel: 3
2011 Burton Whammy Bar
Burton
WHAMMY BAR
Power ballads through the park.
A tight kit, sunnies, and swagger will only get you so far in the rail world—for that extra press there’s the NEW Whammy Bar. A jib-focused park board, the Whammy Bar combines the buttery looseness and float of V-Rocker™ with the convex base tech of Mid Spoon between your bindings. Rail Ready™ edges and the Scoop tip and tail only enhance the Whammy Bar’s ridiculously catch-free feeling.
Features
+ Hi-Speed Quad Package
+ The Channel
+ ROCKER: V-Rocker
+ SHAPE: Twin
+ FLEX: Twin
+ CORE: Super Fly® Core with Dualzone™ EGD™ and Negative Profile
+ FIBERGLASS: Dual Density Biax™
+ BASE: Sintered
+ EDGES: Rail Ready Tune
+ SIDEWALLS: 10:45™
+ EXTRAS:NEW Mid Spoon, Scoop, Ellip Kicks, Pro-Tip™, and Infinite Ride™
Sizes:
150cm MID (249 WW)
153cm MID (251 WW)
155cm MID (252 WW)
157cm MID (254 WW)
Feel: 3
