Snowboard Review: 10-11 Burton Lip-stick Flying V

Location: Breckenridge, CO

Snow Conditions: Hardpacked snow conditions with overcast weather

Setup: I rode the Burton Lip-stick flying V with Burton lexa bindings and Vans Veil Boots size 8.

Size: 154cm

First Impression: Wow I actually prefer this board with V-rocker than Flying-V.

Weight: Average

Flex: The switch to Flying V stiffened up the lip-stick just a tad, it’s still stiffer between the bindings but it reaches further out than previous years so feels stiffer past the bindings but the nose/tail are a tad softer.  The reverse camber of the Flying V gives it some more stability on the mountain and you still have the quickness edge to edge and a bit more responsiveness from the board overall.  The switch to Flying V sacrificed the playfulness, it’s not as soft and it’s not as playful as last year.  The Flying V gives it reverse camber, V-rocker between the feet, underneath your feet are camber zones and rocker outside your feet to the tip and tail.

Turning: It’s still an easy board to maneuver into turns and small increase in stiffness helps on the longer drawn out S turns but the shorter turns still felt better on this board.  It has quick response from edge to edge, so you can make sharp turns down the mountain.  On the hardpacked conditions it was no problem holding an edge into a carve but on icy spots, I felt it slip more.

Stable: It’s improved from past year on stability and still it’s not meant to be a charging board but the new Flying V does help improve it. I ended up on some icy runs as Tom charged down them and the lip-stick barely wanted to hold an edge down them, not as stable and I needed to ride slower and make more turns.

Pop: There’s some increased pop from the camber underfoot and ollies are a higher than this year’s lipstick but it was a good poppy board to begin with.  I noticed it wasn’t as soft, easy to press and just play around with.  That was one of the things I loved about this board last year, it was a fun board to ride in and out of the park.  It’s more catch free with scoop tech which helped on boxes and it felt really comfortable in the park.

Switch: Directional flex but twin shape makes it a little off when you ride switch but nothing to deter from riding switch and still a easy board to handle switch riding.

Overall Impression: Of all the boards at the Burton demo the lip-stick enjoyed the biggest variety on the mountain from peak 8 & 9 for a good mix of freeriding to park.  In the park, the lip-stick was poppy although I was disappointed that it wasn’t as playful as the V-rocker version.  The reverse camber flying V gave it some more stability but the fun factor was left in the dust.  It was interesting to have both types to compare, from V-Rocker to Flying V.  They definitely each have their postives/negatives and I personally liked the more fun playful V-rocker than the Flying V which felt more natural on the Feelgood.

Shay’s Honesty Box: I trust companies to decide which boards feature which style of rocker/reverse camber/camber option but in the case of the lip-stick I 100% disagree with the decision of going from V-rocker to Flying V.  I rode the 09-10 lipstick with V-rocker and loved it, it suited the board perfectly and gave it that fun freestyle pop for a freestyle board.  The flying V makes it a board it’s not meant to be, it’s less fun and it takes away from the freestyle feeling the board is meant to have.  I can see why the feelgood is flying V, but the lipstick should have remained V-rocker.

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On Snow Photo

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Burton Lip-stick V-Rocker description

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Review Disclosure: I rode this board at a demo day.