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  • Buying skiboards in the UK

    For future reference of UK members of this forum I am cross-posting this from what I have written onTumblr with the exception of having removed the comments on the skiblades in that posting.
    I started this because it is not easy to obtain information about skiboards in the UK nor is it easy to purchase some. In the high-street, the UK only knows about snow blades and HEAD 94cm skiblades. Currently we have virtually no skiboard dealers in the UK and those that deal in skiboards are Ebay only carrying a very small range at the bottom end of the market.


    With a little of savvy though, one can from the UK and mostly across Europe, get hold of decent skiboards. At the time of writing I am aware of the the following being available:

    Which boards to buy:

    Always buy the best you can afford. The US is the innovation leaders in this niche market and the best three ranges (RVL8, Spruce and Summit) are all based in the US. Wood core boards are usually considered to be the best and although the Far-east manufacturers (Bluemoris, the Ski, Strictly) seem to have good results with their Power-cell cores, I have no experience in this area


    Do you reasearch first - Search SBOL Forum and browse Skiboardreview


    About Gaspo: Only buy Gaspo, when you cannot afford anything else. These boards do not have 4x4 mounts and are shipped only with the Gaspo-proprietary GC-201 non-release or GC-701 release bindings. Be careful to only source the models that are explicitly listed as skiboards. Gaspo makes 3 models - 85, 90, 99cm. I personally own a 85cm Hot Max model and is happy with it, but their lack of adaptibility to other bindings is a concern.

    Buying from UK:


    The only option is the UK is to go through eBay.co.uk. You might be lucky to pick up a board from the above manfacturers on odd occasions. If you are lucky you might also get an Exclaim skiboard (a defunct UK manufacturer).


    If is possible to buy brand new Gaspo skiboards from some sellers on eBay.co.uk, but see my earlier notes on Gaspo.


    There is also a seller on eBay that sells his own risers for around £40. He can pre-drill them for Tyrolia/Head SP75 and SP100 releasable bindings. Unfortunately these bindings cost you £120+ compared to about £60 for a Head SL100. You’ll need to drill the risers yourself for SL100 or any other bindings or find a shop that would do it for you.

    Buying from Austria:


    It is possible to source Gaspo skiboards from Austra via eBay.co.uk. Just include European Union as part of your search criteria, but as before see my earlier notes on Gaspo. Obviously buying from Austra menas that what you see is what you pay - no additional VAT or import duties.


    Buying from Latvia: EDIT Sep 2015 - Removed.

    ...

    Buying from Czech Republic:

    You have two options here skiboards.cz and skiboard.cz. There is only letter difference in spelling so make sure you end up on the correct site.
    EDIT 6 Oct 2012: skiboards.cz now have an alternative site - skiboards.eu
    EDIT 21 Sep 2015: skiboard.cz now have an alternative site - skiboard.eu

    The first site offers a number of boards including Merit, RVL8, the Ski, Strictly and Bluemoris. Stock can be sketchy so make sure items are in stock. The site does have an English version and offers pricing in Euro. Service seem to be reasonable. I bought a pair of bindings and it was shipped the very next day. Payment is via Paypal and the Paypal surcharge is added at the time of checkout. Shipment takes about 7 working days to arrive.


    This site offers Merit and as far as I am aware the the Snowjam 90 is pretty much the same as the Merit 90. So if you need something on the bottom end, which is still good quality then a Merit 90 + Merit AX-1 bindings might just be the thing to look into.


    The second site offers mostly skiblades, but have Mantrax skiboards. I am yet to see a review of these boards, but they come in a variety of graphic designs, have 4x4 mounts and are all 99cm. Unfortunately the site is only available in Czech, so make sure you know what you buy and that you actually get the metal NR bindings. Alternatively you might try to order the board only and source bindings elsewhere. The site only show prices in Czech currency, so you’ll have to do the conversions to GBP/EUR yourself.


    As the Czech Republic is another EU member what you see is what you pay - no additional VAT or import duties. Expect shipment of around £23 for boards+bindings.


    Buying from US:

    If you really want the best in quality skiboards you’ll need probably need to import from the US.


    Skiboardsonline is your first choice for RVL8, Spruce and Snowjam boards. RVL8 and Spruce are the best boards on the market and Spruce risers are considered the best risers for releasable bindings. You can hardly go wrong!



    You might be able to get Allz from here


    If you want to get Summit boards instead then the only place is skiboards.com. Just be warned that people have reported sketchy support from here. I have not yet had issues, but I prefer now to deal with the guys at Skiboardsonline as their service is just so much better. If you order Summit boards with releasable bindings, they will arrive directly mounted into the board. If you want to remove them later for other bindings you’ll be left with the mounting holes. Summit apparently doesn’t approve the use of Spruce risers on their boards, although I know of people of who have had no issues doing exactly that. The reasons provided seem to be scientifically unproven and equates to FUD IMHO.


    You might also be able to find a bargain at Curtis Sport Connection, but as I have never dealt with them I have no idea with what their after sales service is like.


    Expect to pay around £50 for shipment of a pair or boards plus bindings from the US to the UK.


    Duties: Reports have been sketchy as to import duties and VAT when buying from the US. Some people seem to have received the boards directly and other were called up to pay their dues. Your mileage may vary, but always budget that extra bit of money when ordering. In most cases you can calculate the duties by what is known as Method 1. Duty rates for skiboards and bindings.


    Feedback from others are most welcome, and I'll be happy to update both this and the blog with feedback.
    Last edited by Greco; 09-22-2015, 04:42 PM. Reason: Removed references to Latvia & Allz
    Current: '20 Spruce Slingshot 119s, '20 Spruce Crossbow 115s, '18 Spruce Osprey 132s (touring), '21 Rvl8 SII 104s, '21 Summit Invertigos 118s
    Also: '11 Allz Elaila 94s, '12 Rvl8 Rockered Condor 110s, '15 Spruce Osprey 132s , '18 Spruce Crossbow 115s
    Previous: Gaspo Hot Wax 84s, Mantrax 98s, Summit Nomad 99s, Spruce Yellow 120s, Eman Uprise 104s

  • #2
    Great, thorough report. Thanks for posting.

    Just one clarification on this part "Summit doesn’t approve the use of Spruce risers on their boards".

    Summit/Skiboards.com had no problem with Spruce risers when they could offer them for sale. They suddenly developed a problem when Spruce, for reasons I won't go into here, decided to no longer allow skiboards.com to be an authorized dealer of their products. I rarely interject on such topics because the community is so knowledgeable and can tell what's going on but I felt I had to say something.

    Thanks again.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Greco View Post
      Great, thorough report. Thanks for posting.

      Just one clarification on this part "Summit doesn’t approve the use of Spruce risers on their boards".

      Summit/Skiboards.com had no problem with Spruce risers when they could offer them for sale. They suddenly developed a problem when Spruce, for reasons I won't go into here, decided to no longer allow skiboards.com to be an authorized dealer of their products. I rarely interject on such topics because the community is so knowledgeable and can tell what's going on but I felt I had to say something.

      Thanks again.
      Yip, reading those lines again, it can be written better. Will update it
      Current: '20 Spruce Slingshot 119s, '20 Spruce Crossbow 115s, '18 Spruce Osprey 132s (touring), '21 Rvl8 SII 104s, '21 Summit Invertigos 118s
      Also: '11 Allz Elaila 94s, '12 Rvl8 Rockered Condor 110s, '15 Spruce Osprey 132s , '18 Spruce Crossbow 115s
      Previous: Gaspo Hot Wax 84s, Mantrax 98s, Summit Nomad 99s, Spruce Yellow 120s, Eman Uprise 104s

      Comment


      • #4
        Great informative thread. Thanks!
        At the time of writing Exclaim have a few skiboards left in their closing down sale, both 125 and 99cm.
        I on the other hand successfully bidded on a pair of Summit Marauder 125s with SP100 bindings in an Ebay auction a couple of weeks ago which I won for £176.27. They arrived today and the box it arrived in looked like it had been through a mangle but luckily the boards and bindings were undamaged. Unfortunately the UPS driver needed another £47.36 to cover the UK import duty. With the postage and tax it added another £107.13 to the price of the boards!
        I think that's something UK buyers should be aware of if they think they're getting a really good bargain.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Crimson Pilot View Post
          I on the other hand successfully bidded on a pair of Summit Marauder 125s with SP100 bindings in an Ebay auction a couple of weeks ago which I won for £176.27. They arrived today and the box it arrived in looked like it had been through a mangle but luckily the boards and bindings were undamaged. Unfortunately the UPS driver needed another £47.36 to cover the UK import duty. With the postage and tax it added another £107.13 to the price of the boards!
          Did you get charged both import duty and VAT?
          Current: '20 Spruce Slingshot 119s, '20 Spruce Crossbow 115s, '18 Spruce Osprey 132s (touring), '21 Rvl8 SII 104s, '21 Summit Invertigos 118s
          Also: '11 Allz Elaila 94s, '12 Rvl8 Rockered Condor 110s, '15 Spruce Osprey 132s , '18 Spruce Crossbow 115s
          Previous: Gaspo Hot Wax 84s, Mantrax 98s, Summit Nomad 99s, Spruce Yellow 120s, Eman Uprise 104s

          Comment


          • #6
            Yeah I think so. The bills' a bit unclear but it included an extra £11.00 for "Other Governmt. Charg." whatever that implies.

            Comment


            • #7
              I dug out links to the HM Revenue & Customs procedures and added it to the original post.
              Current: '20 Spruce Slingshot 119s, '20 Spruce Crossbow 115s, '18 Spruce Osprey 132s (touring), '21 Rvl8 SII 104s, '21 Summit Invertigos 118s
              Also: '11 Allz Elaila 94s, '12 Rvl8 Rockered Condor 110s, '15 Spruce Osprey 132s , '18 Spruce Crossbow 115s
              Previous: Gaspo Hot Wax 84s, Mantrax 98s, Summit Nomad 99s, Spruce Yellow 120s, Eman Uprise 104s

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Crimson Pilot View Post
                Great informative thread. Thanks!
                At the time of writing Exclaim have a few skiboards left in their closing down sale, both 125 and 99cm.
                I on the other hand successfully bidded on a pair of Summit Marauder 125s with SP100 bindings in an Ebay auction a couple of weeks ago which I won for £176.27. They arrived today and the box it arrived in looked like it had been through a mangle but luckily the boards and bindings were undamaged. Unfortunately the UPS driver needed another £47.36 to cover the UK import duty. With the postage and tax it added another £107.13 to the price of the boards!
                I think that's something UK buyers should be aware of if they think they're getting a really good bargain.
                that's why we only ship via USPS for international orders.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Greco-

                  Just to clarify, is skiboards.com no longer an authorized seller of Summit products or Spruce?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by hans View Post
                    Greco-

                    Just to clarify, is skiboards.com no longer an authorized seller of Summit products or Spruce?
                    Hans,

                    Summit skiboards are (and always have been) skiboards.com's "house brand" and are therefore sold there. SBOL is Spruce's authorized retailer. Spruce products haven't been sold through skiboards.com for many years and if my guess is correct aren't likely to be sold there anytime soon.

                    G can correct me if I've missed anything here ;-)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bill View Post
                      Hans,

                      Summit skiboards are (and always have been) skiboards.com's "house brand" and are therefore sold there. SBOL is Spruce's authorized retailer. Spruce products haven't been sold through skiboards.com for many years and if my guess is correct aren't likely to be sold there anytime soon.

                      G can correct me if I've missed anything here ;-)
                      you got it Bill

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        i do find it kinda funny that out of the 2 major us sellers mentioned, one heavily pushes the 4 hole mount and the other is clearly in favour of drilling bindings directly to the board. that being said its probably another argument for another time, and in case anyone was wondering i love my line non release bindings

                        my simple advice for anyone buying in the uk would be to make an informed decision on the product that best suits you, possibly with the vast array of information given on this site and forum. use the community which is at your disposal, most people on here are keen to help and impartial.

                        spend as much as you can afford on something good and dont look back, you wont regret it - if it helps, consider how much and equivalent ski or snowboard setup might cost you. 90% of the stuff on ebay, in the uk at least seems to be crap. thinking back now i cant believe some of the stuff i considered buying before getting my revolts.

                        oh, and if i remember correctly im sure the duty on my parcel at the time was about £40. just another aspect of life today in rip off britain.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          For anyone not sure whether to buy from the US or not, my advice is, do it! My KTP's which I ordered sometime around the 22nd of January, are meant to arrive tomorrow. They arrived in the UK very quickly, and then spent a little while in our customs (about a week or so). Of course, I was unlucky and got charged Import VAT, but thanks to Greco filling everything in correctly, I only got charged £26. I was expecting way more than that. I'm not sure if they check every package going through, but last time I ordered skiboards from the US, I never had to pay anything, so you might be lucky and get away without Import VAT. But if not, worst case szenario will be forking out another £26 or so. Sure, if www.skiboards.cz have your board of choice in stock, there you go, you won't have to wait as long for them to arrive, but honestly, it's not that big of a price difference.
                          Line Jedis
                          Line Bullets
                          '11 KTP's
                          2xFF cams
                          '11 silver receptors
                          Full Tilt Booters

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi All,

                            I agree with Fast. I ordered my KTP's off Greco a couple of weeks ago and they're here already! I got stung for import VAT as well, but thanks to G filling everything out correctly it was less of a hit than I was expecting. My advice is not to be put off by ordering from the US.

                            The only delay now is having to wait till next month to use them!

                            p.s. The KTP's and Receptor bindings are fantastic. Feel like hanging them on the wall, just to admire the artwork!

                            Woody.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Woody View Post
                              I agree with Fast. I ordered my KTP's off Greco a couple of weeks ago and they're here already! I got stung for import VAT as well, but thanks to G filling everything out correctly it was less of a hit than I was expecting.
                              Can you work out what the percentage import VAT was you paid?
                              Current: '20 Spruce Slingshot 119s, '20 Spruce Crossbow 115s, '18 Spruce Osprey 132s (touring), '21 Rvl8 SII 104s, '21 Summit Invertigos 118s
                              Also: '11 Allz Elaila 94s, '12 Rvl8 Rockered Condor 110s, '15 Spruce Osprey 132s , '18 Spruce Crossbow 115s
                              Previous: Gaspo Hot Wax 84s, Mantrax 98s, Summit Nomad 99s, Spruce Yellow 120s, Eman Uprise 104s

                              Comment

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