Maybe you’ve seen a couple of Arbor snowboards at your local hill?
Their stylish wood-finish topsheets are certainly hard to miss!
But is Arbor a good snowboard brand?
Arbor is a fantastic snowboard brand with a reputation for designing and building excellent snowboards. The company is also well known for using sustainable manufacturing processes, all while loading their gear up with the latest tech. You can check out their latest snowboards here.
Let’s take a close look at Arbor Snowboards as a brand… and more importantly, whether they’re the right fit for you?
What Makes Arbor A Good Snowboard Brand?
The longer you spend in the mountains, the more you begin to notice the dramatic environmental changes each winter. This is worrying to snowboarders, and we should do whatever we can to reduce our impact on the planet.
Fortunately, Arbor is one of the most dedicated snowboard brands when it comes to the environment.
They shifted to environmentally friendly practices way before most other snowboard brands.
Arbor’s mission is to create quality snowboards with 100% solar energy and 80% sustainable materials. Even though this is impressive, Arbor are committed to reducing the remaining 20% as much as possible. They’ve even planted over half 1 million trees in Hawaii to rebuild and protect their forests.
Their environmental endeavours are practiced throughout their product lines, including snowboarding, skateboarding and clothing.
These environmental commitments are a great reason for you to ride an Arbor snowboard, but they’re also fantastic snowboards with high-performance. Most riders love their playfulness, while being incredibly responsive in all conditions.
Arbor’s snowboard lineup has a board for most riders. This is not one of those brands who specialises in beginner or advanced boards, there is a great selection of high-quality snowboards to choose from.
Arbor Snowboard Tech And Construction
Arbor has developed what they call “The System” which is designed to improve rocker and camber profiles, without mixing the two shapes into a hybrid profile. They believe hybrid profiles negatively affect the principles of each design philosophy. This means their cambered boards are sharp and precise, while the rocker boards provide a surf-like feel.
Arbor’s “Grip Tech” provides extra contact points for enhanced edge hold, and the “Uprise Fenders” raise the contact points by 3 degrees to prevent you from catching an edge.
One of the coolest things about Arbor snowboards, is their gorgeous top sheets. These are made from sustainably sourced wood or bamboo. Even though they look great, they also improve strength and durability.
Arbor also uses a rang of wood cores, reinforced by various arrangements of carbon to give each board specific handling and performance characteristics.
Take a look at this video of the Arbor A-Frame for an idea of their beautiful designs:Â
The Pros and Cons Of Arbor Snowboards
- A reputable and well-established brand
- Low environmental impact in their snowboard production
- Lots of fun to ride
- They look beautiful!
- Awesome team of pro-riders
- None (except maybe the price)
My Favorite Arbor Snowboards
I have never had a bad time on an Arbor snowboard. As long as you choose the right specs for your ability and riding preference, you should be fine!
If I was pushed to choose a favorite, the boards that really stand out to me are The Annex and The Bryan Iguchi Pro. They are impeccably designed and the finish is beautiful. The edge hold is also super reliable and I felt like a carving pro!
Bear in mind though, these are both more slanted towards the freeride end of the spectrum. They might be too much board for the average all-mountain rider. If I had to pick a super solid all-mountain Arbor snowboard, my choice would definitely be the Arbor Coda Rocker.Â
Who Should Buy An Arbor Snowboard?
If you are the type of person who prefers to make informed purchasing decisions, Arbor is a great brand to look into. The brand’s environmental awareness and manufacturing processes make buying one of their boards (almost) guilt-free… plus their tech makes them incredibly fun to ride.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro, or a beginner, Arbor is an excellent snowboard brand. They also make some pretty cool and sustainable streetwear.
Where To Buy Arbor Snowboards
If you decide to try some Arbor gear, these are the best snowboard stores to go with:Â
United States: Evo or REI
Europe: Blue Tomato
Final Thoughts On Arbor Snowboards
Arbor are one of the few brands that I recommend for most riders. They make boards for all abilities, and really focus on their product design.
Of course, the downside is the price.
Beginner’s might be better with a cheaper brand when starting out, as would hardcore park riders – you don’t want to damage that beautiful wood top sheet on a rusty rail or box!
But what do you think? Is arbor a good snowboard brand? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If you need more inspiration, browse our official list of the most popular snowboarding brands.
Happy riding!
4 comments
This site is super helpful. out of interest, are Arbor or Burton snowboards betteR?
Thanks so much! Depends what you’re looking for. Arbor have more stylish and innovative designs (in my opinion), plus better edge tech. Burton do still make great boards, but they’re a little more generic. Which specific boards are you looking at?
Arbor make some incredible gear… but I’d clear steer of their bindings!
Hey. Which in particular? I’m actually a big fan of the Cypress binding.