December 11, 2009

2010 Burton Ozone Boot Review

Posted in Boots, Reviews, Snowboarding Gear by Hoon | Tags: Burton 2010, burton ozone boots, Reviews, snowboard boots

A rider review by Hoon, a rider, surfer, biker, and all around family man: hoonhwang.blogspot.com

There’s that old marketing message that’s used for everything from cars to ketchup that goes like this: everything you need, nothing you don’t. After testing a pair of Burton Ozones, this slogan kept coming to mind.

The Ozones fall in the middle of the Burton lineup with a cost of $279.95. Pro riders testing, defining and riding the Ozones are: Mason Aguirre, Jussi and Dave Downing. The boots feature such Burton innovations such as Speed Zone lacing, EST optimized soles with B3 gel, articulating cuff and Park-Specific Soft Flex 3D® Molded Tongue.

In the past, my go-to boots have been the iconic Burton Sabbaths, which have been remade into the Grails, and the Vans Andreas Wiig pro model boots. You’ll notice that both boots offer similar features: stiffer, freestyle flex, adequate cushioning and laces.

The Ozones are a different animal. Lightweight, Lacing system and medium flex. Kudos go to Burton as the Speed Zone system has continually evolved for the better. The boots are also ridiculously light yet have sufficient cushioning to handle many a flat, icy landing with my thrashed knees. Articulating cuffs are great, nuff said. And I have a size 9 foot, but the footprint reduction really helps when I happen to jump on a smaller deck or Women’s board. The EST optimized sole seemed to offer better feel when paired with an EST binding, but I can’t offer a definitive answer on this. Of course Burton’s boot are compatible with anyone else’s binding but always have that glass slipper feel with their brethen binders.

Complaints? Worries? Jabs? After about a few months of riding, I started to notice a tear in the back of the boot around the calf as well as some wear and tear, usually consistent with a longer length of riding (6 months). It could possibly be he killer calf bite of my Cartels. I can only speculate that the light weight of the boot comes at the cost of long term durability. Or that the size 9 boot wasn’t designed for a 185lb dude.

All in all, a sick super fun boot! It felt like a skate sneaker (and I think weighs the same) and cushioned like that goose down pillow on your bed. If you’re rotating boots each season, I suggest that you add the Ozones to your line-up. But if you want a boot that lasts a few seasons (a tough request by most standards), I’d look elsewhere.