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Burton Free Thinker 2019-2020 Snowboard Review

UPDATE: Check out our review of the Burton Free Thinker Snowboard for 2020/2021 by clicking here.

  • Sizes: 150, 154, 157, 157W, 160, 160W
  • Flex: 6
  • Profile: Camber
  • Shape: True Twin
  • Price: £500 / €580
  • BUY DIRECT FROM BURTON

Why we chose the Burton Free Thinker Snowboard: It’s the lovechild of Burton and Danny Davis.

Free your mind with this free-spirited fun ferry. It’s the Free Thinker, the lovechild of Burton and Danny Davis – a board as free-spirited as Mr. Davis himself. This stick has earned its place in the Whitelines 100, fair and square.

“The Free Thinker is a stick for the creative minds, the minds who wants to shred everything and anything, and do it in style”

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The Free Thinker is the more freestyle friendly one out of Danny’s two boards (with the Deep Thinker being the other one). This board is designed to tackle anything from park to powder. With a true twin shape, and a traditional camber profile, you’re in for a poppy responsive ride. The Free Thinker is a stick for the creative minds, the minds who wants to shred everything and anything, and do it in style – just like Danny Davis himself.

This manoeuvrable maniac of a board is strong yet light. It also provides consistent edge hold thanks to the design of the core. The wood grains in the core are positioned along the heel and toe edges, which makes the edge hold more consistent and gives the board more power. Add the tip to tail carbon layer to the mix, which tunes the torsional flex, and you’ll get yourself an even more aggressive board. You’ll be charging down the groomers and snapping your way through all the sides kicks with this funstick.

When riding an aggressive board, you want to be sure that it can hold an edge in any conditions. The Frostbite edges (edges that extend slightly underneath the bindings) provide further edge hold to allow you to charge down any icy slopes.

As was the case with its brother, the Free Thinker’s top sheet is designed by legendary street artist Keith Haring. It goes without saying that these two boards will definitely go down in history. If you want to get your hands on something that will quite likely become a collector’s piece – here’s your chance.

“The Free Thinker is a fairly stiff fun all-round camber board with pop, power and speed”

The Free Thinker is a fairly stiff fun all-round camber board with pop, power and speed. The guys who grew up snowboarding in the 90s will definitely find the snap of this familiar, so if that was your thing back then, take a trip down memory lane and grab yourself one of these.

Tester’s Verdict

Rob McCreathWhitelines

“This is exactly my kind of board: twin shape, medium to stiff flex, full camber, classic outline, no funny business.

For the competent, all-mountain freestyle riders out there, it’s an absolute blinder. Probably the stiffest true twin I rode all season and paired with a full camber profile, it’s not the kind of board you’ll want to get caught napping on.

“If you’re committed to riding hard, fast and aggressively it’s the kind of deck that will just supercharge your performance over the mountain”

Then again, if you’re committed to riding hard, fast and aggressively it’s the kind of deck that will just supercharge your performance over the mountain.

First thing in the morning on the groomers, it sliced into the piste with ease, and that twin shape made it a little more nimble and agile compared to a big freeride stick.

Through the slush and crud it was really stable, just hammered through it. Every bump on the piste turns into a launchpad on the free thinker. After riding a camrock snowboard most days this season, you forget just how much extra pop is in the ol’ classic profiles!

Obviously it’s super solid on the takeoff and landings in the park, too. I’m not much of a rail rider, and it’s won’t inspire confidence if you’re just getting into freestyle, but if you’re stepping into the bigger lines it’s the perfect tool for the job.

Burton describes it as a pow-friendly all-mountain board. I never rode it in any deep snow, but I’m a little sceptical that a full camber, twin board like this is going to blow you away in the backcountry. The Deep Thinker would be your go-to choice if you’re spending more time outside the ropes than in.”

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