So we finally got the opportunity to hop on the now famous Burton Nug. Burton says we can ride this 8-10cm shorter… No way this is going to be stable right, gonna be like riding down the slopes on a cafeteria tray? Let’s find out.
2013 Burton Nug
Board: 2013 Restricted Burton Nug V-Rocker 150cm
Shape: true twin V-Rocker
Bindings: 2013 Restricted Malavita EST
Stats: Dave 6′ 210 lbs stance, Leo 5’9″ 180lbs stance at 23.5″ regs 18/-12 degrees
Conditions: hardpack, semi-firm groomers not a patch of ice to be found anywhere, well groomed boarder-x course, beginner park features about 30 degrees and partly sunny.
First impressions
Leo: Man, I’m a little scared to ride this thing all-mountain. Everyone tells me it is plenty stable, but taking this down a steeper run doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Dave: Cafeteria tray. You know every spring when you get on the skateboard for the first time and it’s weird because it is so small? That’s how I feel about this.
Flex
Leo: Not as stiff as people have led me to believe. I’ll say it was mid-flex tip to tail but stiffer torsionally.
Dave: Lengthwise mid-stiff or maybe slightly stiffer, like Leo said torsionally it is also pretty firm.
Jibs/Playfulness
Leo: Alright, this is an area where there is some controversy. I’ve seen people bash other reviewers for saying that the Nug is a jib stick. While it’s definitely not a noodle, I have to ask you… why else would you want to ride a board 8-10cm less than your normal size? Is it because you want to scare yourself on bombers? The Nug did just fine on the boxes. Super easy to spin around.
Dave: The Nug is short and hard like a body-building elf but the v-rocker compensates for that and you can still jib this to your heart’s content and butter it around almost too easily.
Ollie/Pop
Leo: Ollie was decent. Truth be told, all of the Burton snowboards I have ridden have at minimum decent pop.
Dave: It’s so small but you can still get really good pop out of this.
Handling
Leo: You know what? The Nug was surprisingly stable even at some speed. The problem I came across was the learning curve. The swing weight is super, super low. It was very easy to over-steer. Once I got used to it, I was back to my regular carving and turning shenanigans.
Dave: What Leo said. I was prepared to crap myself taking this outside of the park but it really performed well as a mess-around board for all-mountain freestyle. I can’t emphasize enough how much it did not feel like a 150 although it will take a few laps to get used to the steering because it does swing so much quicker than you’re accustomed to. Overall it rides pretty smoothly it just doesn’t have the effective edge to really push it. If bombing groomers and laying trenches in the hardpack is your thing, this board is not for you.
