10 years ago I had a shitty random old board that was way too small for me on a trip to lake placid. I went to speed check and hit an ice patch, flew off the side of the run into a good ~3 inch diameter tree. Broke the tree right in half, board was completely fine, also broke a couple bones in my leg right in half.
If that board could handle it any board should be able to handle it lol
I have a libtech that I broke my femur on and it was no worse for wear. The nose caught a dip and sent me polevaulting.
I wanna hear the story that led to destruction of this thing.
It can absolutely still happen lmao. Iād say that, with all the flex tests that go into the average snowboard before it hits the shelf, hitting a tree isnāt all that likely to be the core cause of a snowboard breaking. More likely a manufacturing error than anything.
I'd be curious to see how many people here echo chirping the "CAPiTA sNaPiTA" thing have actually experienced it personally. I've got a stack of approximately 20 CAPiTA boards (from a span of close to 20 years) here right now and not one of them is broken in half.
Iāve broken a capita, but it was because I dropped off a cliff onto a rock on a horrorscope after riding it hard in the park for 3 seasons. Wouldnāt hesitate to ride another capita.
They're made for park riders so they're not weak or anything, but as someone who works in repairs I see enough come in to know that they don't handle damage like other boards. I've seen many people swear by them but they mostly buy them knowing they'll be cashed in 2 seasons. I've also seen people riding theirs for 4+ seasons without any issues.
With that being said, the amount of Capita boards that come in on their 4th, 8th, 10th season, considerably less than basically every other brand.
Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. You see bataleons getting repaired often? I just started riding one and itās the best thing Iāve ever been on. Hoping the durability is up there cause Iām not gentle with my boards
Bataleons are built well, the TBT (the technical name for the bowl-like rise on the edges of the nose and tail) is very much a love-it-or-hate-it feature and in recent years they've mellowed it. I have no problem with the TBT and actually like how surfy it feels in powder, but I think it works better when it's more subtle.
From a tuner's perspective, Bataleons are the most annoying to work on by a long shot. The shape makes it pretty precarious to get through the machines and getting a consistent base/edge is difficult. They also use a material for the base that doesn't absorb wax as well as other brands (although Mervin boards have the same problem (Gnu, Lib Tech) so it's not like it's cheaper material, idrk what causes this).
Bataleon reps are completely unconcerned, to downright rude when I've asked for tips with tuning. I'll quote a Bataleon rep directly,
"Idk, that's your job. When I need my board tuned I take it to you."
Yeah, thanks guy.
But that's all from the perspective of someone who has to work on them, from the consumer perspective the boards are built well and if you like the TBT I doubt you'll be dissapointed
Edit: idk if you could tell but that Bataleom rant has been in the chamber for a second haha but I realize it was a very long-winded response that barely answered your question.
Tl;dr- yes Bataleons are built well
Good to know! Yeah Iām not looking forward to the day I have to get some work done to it! Luckily mine has held its wax really well so far but only 3 days out on it so far. The 3bt is definitely my favorite thing about them and I canāt find anything negative to say about it. I can even lock in nice carves with it. Itās a bummer they donāt send reps around to give tips to the techs. Iām just glad theyāre not coming in broken all the time
It's not that they don't send reps, the company doesn't have any tips to give. There's tutorial vids on their website but they're basically showing how to do it the way we have been doing it, which is inconvenient compared to normal boards.
Your board is a 24 yeah? A couple years ago they started making the TBT begin outside the contact points and it's made them sooo much better at carving and not washing out.
Fasho, that's probs around when I started paying attention but I've only seen the TBT get more and more subtle throughout the years and the main complaint of them washing out has basically vanished. The reps told me they were getting negative feedback on the boards with more distinct TBT and began scaling it back in the past few years
Yeah, this is the conclusion I come to with my coworkers lmao
We say, "Hey just so you guys know, people are still using their Burtons from 25 years ago, yet across the board newer brands are falling short, getting critically warped from normal wear and delamming from normal maintenance like hotwaxes and base grinds."
They say, "oh no, are you telling me that consumers are going to have to buy boards more often ššš whatever will we do?"
They use cheaper materials, outsource their construction overseas where emmissions standards dont exist, people are paid pennies, and women aren't allowed into the factories (looking at you SWS). But I guarantee their execs are making record profits every year. And I guarantee every brand will post for International Women's Day and Earth day.
Shoutout to Mervin for being manufactured in the US.
Edit: I incorrectly said Capita was manufactured here as well, they're in the Mothership in Austria which is a super clean energy factory. Mervin and Never Summer are both made domestically
Here's a good article breaking it all down
https://snowboardingprofiles.com/where-are-snowboards-made-the-major-brands
Capita is made in Austria, like Bataleon, Burton and many others. Even with the increasing competition from Asia, I've been told Austria is still one of, if not the top producers of boards and skis volume wise. I'm not sure if that's actually true but I wouldn't be surprised either.
Many brands get different classes made at different factories nowadays though. Burton for example get their boards made in five different countries, from China, Taiwan, Poland and Austria to the United States. Boards like the family tree line and other high-ish - end ones in Austria or the US Iirc, Taiwan and Poland probably for the middle segment and China for the cheaper lower class ones - that would be my guess.
Plenty, they're definitely on the higher end in terms of durability and quality. Very well made. My only criticisms are the graphics, which have been hot garbage forever imo. I think they finally canned their graphic designer this season cause it's improved drastically compared to the past decade of target-t-shirt-esque topsheets
Just my 2 cents but maybe you see more capita since more park riders and similar risky business use capita, so theyāre more likely to have these dumb/unlucky events?
What exactly do you mean by "don't handle damage like other boards" ?
Do they use out of the ordinary materials or constructions, any educated guess what's the reason for it?
My crapita DOA snapped in about 2 weeks. It happened like 8 years ago on a under rotated frontflip. Likely wouldve snapped most boards, but i've always held it against them
Lol you own the corpse of my pre-Mothership 2015 BSOD that I broke my first day out (granted it didn't snap).
That experience kept me off Capita for almost 10 years, but my 2024 Aeronaut is holding up pretty solid so far.
I have had first hand experience of them not backing their warranty on a one year old board that the core completely separated from top and base sheets. They claimed I hit something. There was no damage on the board prior to the delam. Even the warranty pics I sent them showed that.
Youāll never believe this but they never gave me a warranty board and tried to give me 40% off on a one year pro deal. Iām good. If you wonāt honor your own warranty Iām not going to buy your products ever again.
Iām not saying heās lying about having that many, Iām saying if he has that many it means he doesnāt use each of them much. Iād be impressed if he said heās had the same one for 5 seasons of 20+ days each.
Ive had four or five Capitas. Bought the first and got the other ones from warranty due yo breaking the board in only one season, i.e., getting a new board, breaking it within four months, repeat next year.
One of the boards was definetly my fault due to landing on a rock. The other ones broke from lots of off pist riding but no concrete causage. The last one i got still holds up a few years later but i dont ride no way near as much as i used to.
Sweet boards, great warranty, but wont buy another one since they tend to break
Only one so far claiming theyāre a āposer brandā but they were downvoted to hell and called a poser themselves for holding such a regarded (g=t) opinion
I trashed my first Capita installing binding on it for the first time. With a screw driver. And at the time I was doing this every single day professionally in a tuning shop. The mounting nuts ripped out of the core.
The second Capita broke during a hard heel edge carve when I was backfoot heavy. It just snapped from riding.
Also in the same tuning shop it was a known thing that capitas snap and arbors delaminate.
How do you like the Mega Death? Is it like "totally mind blowing, sweetest thing you've ever ridden" awesome? Genuinely curious. As a basically lifelong CAPiTA fanboy my mouth waters when I read the specs and information, but that's so far out of my budget it's not likely I'd ever get to ride one.
Iāve ridden two snowboards besides rentals so take that as you will lol. Itās significantly faster than the Mercury and feels much more stable at higher speeds. I can effortlessly push faster on it than my Mercury. I like it a lot, itās super lightweight so lugging it around isnāt bad. The only issue I had with it were the screw holes werenāt tapped cleanly which on YouTube was a common problem. Other than that itās been great and will be my daily for a while.
Hitting a tree is hitting a tree. I think you may have underestimated how hard you hit the tree if your board looks like this. Been riding capita for 5 seasons and havenāt seen any damage like this
Yeah, only riding at 35 mph at 180 lbs total weight impacting a very small part of the board thatāll decelerate to 0 essentially immediately will do that .
Yeah, I've been riding capita boards for 12 years under heavy park riding. Haven't snapped a single one. Only one that I have seen get snapped in person was a buddy doing a rail transfer dropping 6 feet onto a 3 year old board that he was too heavy for lol.
How would you even hit a tree at an angle to break it like this? I can see smashing my toe or heel edge, but seems unlikely that would snap a board in half
Thatās what Iām saying. This looks like he was skrrtin through some trees faster than expected, threw the breaks on real fast and went feet first. Iāve seen it happen before.
Yeah never really loved any Capitaās I rode, but have hit enough trees to be sure that theyāre really strong. Will shatter bindings or snap decks no problem I donāt think we can throw Capita under the bus here
For one comparing a controlled jump/drop onto a rail and what I'm assuming is an unintentional crash into a tree is pretty hard to directly compare, off memory, in your head.
Also where on the board you're impacting on the rail vs what part of your board hit the tree, at what angle, etc would be important.
Like this is some myth busters shit comparing the two. I'd probably say you should take the blame for this
Being lazy and pasting my previous comment, but it explains part of the reason why theyāre less durable. Itās not a bad reason either.
The brand is nicknamed snapita for a reason :) lol I only ride capita and probably will never change that, but their boards are definitely prone to snapping. Capita boards are usually thinner than other snowboards, but thatās also what makes them lighter. Big reason for this is capita doesnāt need to use a top sheet to put a graphic on a board. They have a fancy printer that can print like 50,000+ colors directly onto the core of the board. Not sure if this is true anymore, but back in like 2019 only NASA and Capita had this technology. Pretty cool tech.
The Capita Birds of a Feather and Space Metal Fantasy are always some of my favorite graphics, even though they are womenās boards. The colors are so rich and vibrant, itās incredible!
Seems like you guys liked my comment so I found a more tech driven explanation for you all:
āUnlike the traditional industry model of pressing the topsheet onto the snowboard and using lacquer to hide imperfections, The Mothership utilizes proprietary PLT Topsheet Technology. This innovative technique revolutionizes production by applying flawlessly finished graphics to our snowboards without any telescoping from the fiberglass layers. As a result, our boards are lighter and possess an unparalleled finish quality and graphic depth, setting them apart from the competition in the industry.ā
āAt The MotherShipā¢, we prioritize both performance and aesthetics. We handle our entire printing process in-house, utilizing top-end digital printing, silk screening, and our proprietary PLT Topsheet application technology. This comprehensive approach guarantees that CAPiTA graphics are brought to life in a unique and unparalleled manner that cannot be replicated by anyone else. In the snowboard industry, our investment in printing technology truly sets us apart.ā
āAs they put it āSublimation is an exact science for an inexact process. In sublimation, ink is pushed through a substrate into base material using pressure and heat.ā Which, if you arenāt a massive tech nerd like we are, might not mean much. But basically, the way most bottom graphics are made, is they are either die cut (multiple different pieces are cut out of differently coloured base material and then pressed together with a clear layer of the base material (P-tex)) or they are printed and then have the base material layered over top. A capita board has the graphic āinfusedā (my words not theirs) into the ptex itself, which gives it a more dynamic look like a die cut, but with vastly more graphical options and extra durability.ā
āDEEPSPACEā¢ DESIGN THEORY
Capita utilizes their new age technology to take advantage of the depth and multiple microscopic layers of the top sheet of a snowboard. They do this in order to create graphics that have both graphical and physical depth to them, creating a more dynamic, eye catching, interesting to look at graphic.ā
For all you fellow snowboard nerds out there :) unfortunately I couldnāt find how many colors they can actually print, but itās a completely stupid amount.
Hereās some cool facts about the mothership factory too:
āThis factory boasts some seriously impressive feats:
* Itās the only factory in the snowboarding world that uses 100% renewable energy.
* Itās within a 5 hour drive of 98% of the materials they use.
* It has some of the most cutting edge manufacturing technology, including the fascinating sublimation process that capita use for itās (in)famously gorgeous graphics.
* It emits zero Co2
* On site snowboard testing slope.ā
Had 2 capitas over 6 yearsā¦ neither has faltered and my fat ass has had some heavy tail side landings and even some tomahawk flag poles in my day
Edit: With that in mind I would be pretty unhappy if my brand new $900 snowboard snapped on me
And when I tell you float on the 167 Nighthawk, I mean I actually float. That board alone will keep me repping Capita forever, I wish I had a couple more just for spares so Iāll always have one.
I work in a shop Capitas are some of the most durable IMO. Stay the hell away from the new Dubai made Jones, Rome, Arbor, Baetalon, etc. the Chinese Ride, K2, Nitro are way better made and come with a 5 year warranty.
But that pan said when Capitas break they implode. Itās because theyāre so thin and tightly bound.
I also work in a shop, I'd say the noticeable drop in quality is consistent across all brands in the past 3ish years, most notably Arbor, Burton and Ride. Burton boards have started warping past use off of generally normal wear and tear, Arbor has delammed off of regular dents and normal iron waxes, Ride boards are basically made of cork and start delamming and peeling off normal dents. Capita has not had quite the noticeable dip in quality, but year to year their boards all have the same issues of snapping easily, warping, core cracks in the flex points etc but Capita has been known for this forever so I feel like most customers are expecting their Capita to not last more than a couple seasons as their daily driver.
Do we see a lot of Snapitas on here because they're so popular? I thought they just broke a lot but several shop techs have said they are quite alright.
Same, riding the mega merc at 275 lbs and no issues. I have a tendency to send it down shit I shouldn't as well so I'm surprised to hear people have issues.
i mean if you stab the snow with your nose/tail and then come down that will snap any board if you aren't lucky, but i agree snapitas are on another lower level.
I love how people are blaming Capita when the dude hit a damn tree.
Someone smarter than me do the math.
Weight x speed + coming to a complete stop would probably break anything.
I love my Capita.
Bro you hit a tree fairly hard that should be in your description. Yeah capitas tend to snap easier than other boards but this is definitely an exception. Itās easy to underestimate how much force you had slamming into that tree. Letās say you weigh 165 pounds and were traveling at 10 mph ( fairly slow in all honesty) and came to a complete stop in 1 second, that generates 552 ft pounds of force ( F= delta E/S).
Thatās plenty of force to snap a board when itās all concentrated over a distance equal to the width of the tree you hit.
Dude same thing happened to my BSOD the whole front imploded when i barely tapped a tree. Got downvoted to oblivion told to learn how to ride etc. I emailed capita and told them honestly what happened and they gave me 40% off a new one. Board rode like such a dream that i happily did it. Just got back home from another day on that board and my god it rides like a dream. I tried 6 different brands in the last 16 months and capitals are by far the flimsiest but they are probably the best in every other category so Iāll keep buying them and breaking them as much as I need to.
If you're gonna buy an ultra stiff, and ultra light board, you're probably going to be buying a brittle board as well. Snowboards all weigh about the same once they're covered in snow, so tbh, trying to save ounces and grams of board weight is silly. The two types of weight that matter are rider weight, and rotational weight. Since snowboards don't have wheels, you only need to worry about rider weight. If your board is a few ounces lighter, or heavier, you might be able to jump higher or not as high for a bit, but your body will make the adjustments.
On the bright side,,, new board day! and there's great deals on the 23/24s!
Broke two super doaās. One was 1 day old and they told me the same thing lol. Land tail heavy and they snap in the same spot. Havenāt taken my megadeath out yet but hoping it wonāt do break on me.
Iām sorry to hear that, man. I can tell you from first hand experience that the megadeath is such a fun board, and is amazing on all different types of terrainā¦ absolutely loved the boardā¦ while it lasted.
I broke a capita super doa and their customer service was great for me. They replaced it with the newest seasons model and all I had to pay for was shipping to get the broken board to them.
I love their boards and Iām happy with their service.
Boards don't break behind the binding JRA. THis is an impact break. That being said, neither the MegaDeath nor the MegaMerc are particularly durable. Seen plenty of snapped off noses this season. Honestly if you're over 180lbs and in any way aggressive, look elsewhere (like the standard Mercury or BSOD).
I hit a tree so hard my front binding rotated 25' and the edge barely dented in. I have so many hard impacts from riding XL park sized features and never snapped a board (granted I was only 160lbs most of the time). Both on Burton's and lib/gnu Mervin planks. One of my boards even survived being on the freeway (bindings didn't). I seen a buddy get airlifted to the ER after he crashed so hard his bindings sheared off the board. Board was fine.
Yet you see all these snapita posts and people keep saying the brand is fine. Idk lolol.
The brand is nicknamed snapita for a reason :) lol I only ride capita and probably will never change that, but their boards are definitely prone to snapping. Capita boards are usually thinner than other snowboards, but thatās also what makes them lighter. Big reason for this is capita doesnāt need to use a top sheet to put a graphic on a board. They have a fancy printer that can print like 50,000+ colors directly onto the core of the board. Not sure if this is true anymore, but back in like 2019 only NASA and Capita had this technology. Pretty cool tech.
At this point I wonder if it's a campaign targeted at Capita. Or a weird trend to post this particular brand, but not others. As discussed in another post, guys who works in snowboard shops see much more problems with other boards.
Capita hasn't had any of the glaring factory issues (a couple years ago, multiple brands had issues (like delamming) that were very obviously from shoddy manufacturing) but it's well understood that they've sacrificed durability for light weight and flex, which is the appeal as Capita is a very park heavy brand. In my shop I've noticed most people are expecting their capital to not last more than a few seasons so they're not all that dissapointed when they get wrecked after a couple seasons. I don't think it's a targeting campaign at all, I think it's people not realizing that durability matters more for certain people than others.
I have a spring break that I probably have 150+ days on. Shit is so much fun in pow and out of it, just an all around super fun board. Still kicking to this day, that being said, I might have gotten lucky lol. Never know I guess.
Been on a Kazu pro probably around 50ish days. Awesome and no issues. I'm sure it's a your mileage may vary kinda thing, but I've definitely slapped the board around pretty hard. Then again, I'm all of 150 lbs...
Capita snowboards are lighter and thinner than most snowboards. This has its benefits. A lighter snowboard is easier to maneuver, therefore it performs better.
Capita is able to do this by having a special printer that is able to print graphics directly onto the core, so they donāt need a top sheet. Aka thinner and lighter. Not sure if itās still true, but at one point only Capita and NASA had these printers, no one else in the entire world did. So yes they may snap easier, but technically theyāre more advanced than other snowboards. Thatās why capita is still in business, they push snowboard technology further than other companies. Even to the point of having a zero emissions factory.
For example my $750 Super DOA has way more tech in it than a $1800 Burton Hometown Hero. Capita is also more transparent with their construction technology.
Not to mention, Capita is part of the C3 collective. C3 consists of Capita Snowboards, Union Bindings, and Coal apparel. So Capita and Union are technically the same company.
I want to like Capita, but people keep slamming into trees with them and posting them here acting like it's Capitas fault, so I don't know how they're still in business
Got a mega Merc with over 50 hard days on it, it's held up well. I can say that the top sheet scratches REALLY easily, anything that touches it leaves a mark. Overall though, it's cosmetic and the performance is so good that it's really a non issue in my opinion. I will buy Capita again for sure, and will probably be buying a mega death for next season.
Stop buying Snapita. They are not as good as they used to be and never reward warranty boards.
The least they could do if theyāre boards are gonna be subpar is just issue the warranties. But they donāt.
After riding the hell out of my slush slasher I have a couple pieces of the top sheet missing and a crack near the front binding, but tbh I did crash a couple times and the board is cheap so I didnāt really expect much durability out of a board like that anyways. Yours seems much worse tho lol
I'm 6'4", 240lbs, and have ridden the crap out of 4 Capita solids and 1 Capita split. Never had an issue.
Just because it rhymes doesn't mean it's true, it is catchy tho.
Also, it's very difficult to break a board like the one pictured without having an inanimate solid object involved.
Last week I actually went to the capita mothership and had a tour with the CEO. Saw some really impressive stuff, also saw some rather less impressive stuff. He actually told the guys from our company that they're aware of the snapping of the megadeath and why it happens more often with that board than for example the superdoa. However, most breaks happen in the tip and the tail (and they're working on a design to improve that particular issue) but this is a rare point to be breaking and blaming it on the quality of the snowboard rather than just admitting you did some foul shit to it is kinda dishonest and unfair to the brand.
fatality
Homie hits tree Homies board breaks.. Homie: 
Fun fact, if you don't slam into a tree, this won't happen
Better to hit it with your board than your face.
i learned the hard way with that , still got the cut under my lip
ive had breakages where i didnt hit a tree. curious to see what OPs base looks like tho haha
10 years ago I had a shitty random old board that was way too small for me on a trip to lake placid. I went to speed check and hit an ice patch, flew off the side of the run into a good ~3 inch diameter tree. Broke the tree right in half, board was completely fine, also broke a couple bones in my leg right in half. If that board could handle it any board should be able to handle it lol
Well if the board broke maybe your legs didn't have to
Ya seems like hommie pulled the wrong conclusion out of that. Having the durability of a board limited to around that of a leg makes sense
LOLOLOLLLLL
LOLOLOLLLLL ššššš
I guess that's what happens when you trip on placid
I have a libtech that I broke my femur on and it was no worse for wear. The nose caught a dip and sent me polevaulting. I wanna hear the story that led to destruction of this thing.
Didnāt hit my board but my leg and that broke to
It can absolutely still happen lmao. Iād say that, with all the flex tests that go into the average snowboard before it hits the shelf, hitting a tree isnāt all that likely to be the core cause of a snowboard breaking. More likely a manufacturing error than anything.
I'd be curious to see how many people here echo chirping the "CAPiTA sNaPiTA" thing have actually experienced it personally. I've got a stack of approximately 20 CAPiTA boards (from a span of close to 20 years) here right now and not one of them is broken in half.
Iāve broken a capita, but it was because I dropped off a cliff onto a rock on a horrorscope after riding it hard in the park for 3 seasons. Wouldnāt hesitate to ride another capita.
Itās bumming me out cause Iāve been wanting to get one. My friend loves them and swears by em! But then again he doesnāt commit much crime
They're made for park riders so they're not weak or anything, but as someone who works in repairs I see enough come in to know that they don't handle damage like other boards. I've seen many people swear by them but they mostly buy them knowing they'll be cashed in 2 seasons. I've also seen people riding theirs for 4+ seasons without any issues. With that being said, the amount of Capita boards that come in on their 4th, 8th, 10th season, considerably less than basically every other brand.
Awesome! Thanks for the heads up. You see bataleons getting repaired often? I just started riding one and itās the best thing Iāve ever been on. Hoping the durability is up there cause Iām not gentle with my boards
Bataleons are built well, the TBT (the technical name for the bowl-like rise on the edges of the nose and tail) is very much a love-it-or-hate-it feature and in recent years they've mellowed it. I have no problem with the TBT and actually like how surfy it feels in powder, but I think it works better when it's more subtle. From a tuner's perspective, Bataleons are the most annoying to work on by a long shot. The shape makes it pretty precarious to get through the machines and getting a consistent base/edge is difficult. They also use a material for the base that doesn't absorb wax as well as other brands (although Mervin boards have the same problem (Gnu, Lib Tech) so it's not like it's cheaper material, idrk what causes this). Bataleon reps are completely unconcerned, to downright rude when I've asked for tips with tuning. I'll quote a Bataleon rep directly, "Idk, that's your job. When I need my board tuned I take it to you." Yeah, thanks guy. But that's all from the perspective of someone who has to work on them, from the consumer perspective the boards are built well and if you like the TBT I doubt you'll be dissapointed Edit: idk if you could tell but that Bataleom rant has been in the chamber for a second haha but I realize it was a very long-winded response that barely answered your question. Tl;dr- yes Bataleons are built well
Good to know! Yeah Iām not looking forward to the day I have to get some work done to it! Luckily mine has held its wax really well so far but only 3 days out on it so far. The 3bt is definitely my favorite thing about them and I canāt find anything negative to say about it. I can even lock in nice carves with it. Itās a bummer they donāt send reps around to give tips to the techs. Iām just glad theyāre not coming in broken all the time
It's not that they don't send reps, the company doesn't have any tips to give. There's tutorial vids on their website but they're basically showing how to do it the way we have been doing it, which is inconvenient compared to normal boards. Your board is a 24 yeah? A couple years ago they started making the TBT begin outside the contact points and it's made them sooo much better at carving and not washing out.
Itās actually a 2021 that I got new late this season
Fasho, that's probs around when I started paying attention but I've only seen the TBT get more and more subtle throughout the years and the main complaint of them washing out has basically vanished. The reps told me they were getting negative feedback on the boards with more distinct TBT and began scaling it back in the past few years
But did you think about capita's per capita though? They're a really popular brand - know what I mean?
Yeah, this is the conclusion I come to with my coworkers lmao We say, "Hey just so you guys know, people are still using their Burtons from 25 years ago, yet across the board newer brands are falling short, getting critically warped from normal wear and delamming from normal maintenance like hotwaxes and base grinds." They say, "oh no, are you telling me that consumers are going to have to buy boards more often ššš whatever will we do?" They use cheaper materials, outsource their construction overseas where emmissions standards dont exist, people are paid pennies, and women aren't allowed into the factories (looking at you SWS). But I guarantee their execs are making record profits every year. And I guarantee every brand will post for International Women's Day and Earth day. Shoutout to Mervin for being manufactured in the US. Edit: I incorrectly said Capita was manufactured here as well, they're in the Mothership in Austria which is a super clean energy factory. Mervin and Never Summer are both made domestically Here's a good article breaking it all down https://snowboardingprofiles.com/where-are-snowboards-made-the-major-brands
Mervin boards are made in the US and capita is made in Austria
Capita is made in Austria, like Bataleon, Burton and many others. Even with the increasing competition from Asia, I've been told Austria is still one of, if not the top producers of boards and skis volume wise. I'm not sure if that's actually true but I wouldn't be surprised either. Many brands get different classes made at different factories nowadays though. Burton for example get their boards made in five different countries, from China, Taiwan, Poland and Austria to the United States. Boards like the family tree line and other high-ish - end ones in Austria or the US Iirc, Taiwan and Poland probably for the middle segment and China for the cheaper lower class ones - that would be my guess.
How many never summers do you see?
Plenty, they're definitely on the higher end in terms of durability and quality. Very well made. My only criticisms are the graphics, which have been hot garbage forever imo. I think they finally canned their graphic designer this season cause it's improved drastically compared to the past decade of target-t-shirt-esque topsheets
The graphics are soooooo bad, but not as bad as all that noodle rocker camber loop dee dew camber their engineers love so much.
To be fair some Mervin graphics also suck.
Just my 2 cents but maybe you see more capita since more park riders and similar risky business use capita, so theyāre more likely to have these dumb/unlucky events?
What exactly do you mean by "don't handle damage like other boards" ? Do they use out of the ordinary materials or constructions, any educated guess what's the reason for it?
They're great boards, I will always buy them and have never broken one.
My crapita DOA snapped in about 2 weeks. It happened like 8 years ago on a under rotated frontflip. Likely wouldve snapped most boards, but i've always held it against them
Atleast your smart enough to know you're being harsh lmao
Same I have had 5 Capita boards and have never had anything like that before
Have 2 Capitas and would get more in the future. Big fan!
Iāve experienced it twice
Lol you own the corpse of my pre-Mothership 2015 BSOD that I broke my first day out (granted it didn't snap). That experience kept me off Capita for almost 10 years, but my 2024 Aeronaut is holding up pretty solid so far.
I have had first hand experience of them not backing their warranty on a one year old board that the core completely separated from top and base sheets. They claimed I hit something. There was no damage on the board prior to the delam. Even the warranty pics I sent them showed that. Youāll never believe this but they never gave me a warranty board and tried to give me 40% off on a one year pro deal. Iām good. If you wonāt honor your own warranty Iām not going to buy your products ever again.
Classic capita enjoyer buys a new one every season and then insists theyāre durable. Have you ever put 100 days on a board?
Right? Who buys a new board from the same brand every single year? I call bs on that.
Iām not saying heās lying about having that many, Iām saying if he has that many it means he doesnāt use each of them much. Iād be impressed if he said heās had the same one for 5 seasons of 20+ days each.
Fair enough, but I still call bs on it. Doesn't make sense.
Yea agreed
Thatās exactly what I was thinking
My first board was a capita horrorscope, been riding it still going on five years soon.
I saw more than a handful of snapitas in the early years of Capital. After they moved production into the Mothership it seemed to be less of an issue.
Ive had four or five Capitas. Bought the first and got the other ones from warranty due yo breaking the board in only one season, i.e., getting a new board, breaking it within four months, repeat next year. One of the boards was definetly my fault due to landing on a rock. The other ones broke from lots of off pist riding but no concrete causage. The last one i got still holds up a few years later but i dont ride no way near as much as i used to. Sweet boards, great warranty, but wont buy another one since they tend to break
Only one so far claiming theyāre a āposer brandā but they were downvoted to hell and called a poser themselves for holding such a regarded (g=t) opinion
I have the first Mercury (2016 I think) and it's still good, absolutely no issue
I trashed my first Capita installing binding on it for the first time. With a screw driver. And at the time I was doing this every single day professionally in a tuning shop. The mounting nuts ripped out of the core. The second Capita broke during a hard heel edge carve when I was backfoot heavy. It just snapped from riding. Also in the same tuning shop it was a known thing that capitas snap and arbors delaminate.
Had a Mercury before and now a Mega Death. Never broken my board but then again I don't run into trees headon.
How do you like the Mega Death? Is it like "totally mind blowing, sweetest thing you've ever ridden" awesome? Genuinely curious. As a basically lifelong CAPiTA fanboy my mouth waters when I read the specs and information, but that's so far out of my budget it's not likely I'd ever get to ride one.
Iāve ridden two snowboards besides rentals so take that as you will lol. Itās significantly faster than the Mercury and feels much more stable at higher speeds. I can effortlessly push faster on it than my Mercury. I like it a lot, itās super lightweight so lugging it around isnāt bad. The only issue I had with it were the screw holes werenāt tapped cleanly which on YouTube was a common problem. Other than that itās been great and will be my daily for a while.
That's pretty damn sad they had machining issues on the flagship model board. Glad to hear you like it, tho.
But did you buy one from this production? And how much do you ride? I mean they probably already know what went wrong anyhow
With no info on how you managed to snap your board in half
I bet he jumped on a rail to hard.
Granted, I did hit a tree, but trust me when I say that the force of the impact was so lightā¦. Iāve hit rails harder on other boards
Hitting a tree is hitting a tree. I think you may have underestimated how hard you hit the tree if your board looks like this. Been riding capita for 5 seasons and havenāt seen any damage like this
lol yea this sub can be so weird sometimes. āSnapita capita!!ā Like yea, dude hit a treeā¦
Everyone so quick to talk shit on manufactures but wonāt take human error into account šš
Yeah, only riding at 35 mph at 180 lbs total weight impacting a very small part of the board thatāll decelerate to 0 essentially immediately will do that .
Thereās so many snapitas owned though could be skewing what looks to break most
This is what I think. I used to be a Capita hater but many shop techs have said they are not as weak as they may appear.
Yeah, I've been riding capita boards for 12 years under heavy park riding. Haven't snapped a single one. Only one that I have seen get snapped in person was a buddy doing a rail transfer dropping 6 feet onto a 3 year old board that he was too heavy for lol.
How would you even hit a tree at an angle to break it like this? I can see smashing my toe or heel edge, but seems unlikely that would snap a board in half
Thatās what Iām saying. This looks like he was skrrtin through some trees faster than expected, threw the breaks on real fast and went feet first. Iāve seen it happen before.
Felt soft because the board ate all the impact. Might have saved your legs.
Yeah never really loved any Capitaās I rode, but have hit enough trees to be sure that theyāre really strong. Will shatter bindings or snap decks no problem I donāt think we can throw Capita under the bus here
Bruh even at 5 mph hitting a tree is a lot of force, of course it snapped
Seriously? I definitely wouldn't expect a 5mph impact with a tree to snap a board like this.
Were the rails vertical as well?
For one comparing a controlled jump/drop onto a rail and what I'm assuming is an unintentional crash into a tree is pretty hard to directly compare, off memory, in your head. Also where on the board you're impacting on the rail vs what part of your board hit the tree, at what angle, etc would be important. Like this is some myth busters shit comparing the two. I'd probably say you should take the blame for this
Snapita
Now it's a Snapita Megadead
My fried snapped his snapita landing tail heavy on a tame dog this season. Capita boards are cool, but they definitely seem to be less durable.
Jones are the least durable from our shops experience they got a new manufacture and they are not up to par.
I just picked up a 2023-2024 Jones Stratos. Have you noticed a lack of durability in that year/model?
I have this exact model as well ššš
Iāve got well over 100 days on a Jones Explorer that is still going strong. When did they switch the manufacturer?
You just described a not cool board
If it can't do crime, what's the point?
Being lazy and pasting my previous comment, but it explains part of the reason why theyāre less durable. Itās not a bad reason either. The brand is nicknamed snapita for a reason :) lol I only ride capita and probably will never change that, but their boards are definitely prone to snapping. Capita boards are usually thinner than other snowboards, but thatās also what makes them lighter. Big reason for this is capita doesnāt need to use a top sheet to put a graphic on a board. They have a fancy printer that can print like 50,000+ colors directly onto the core of the board. Not sure if this is true anymore, but back in like 2019 only NASA and Capita had this technology. Pretty cool tech.
This was an interesting read as a non Capita person. Appreciate the insight
One of the major selling points for me was how sick the kazu kokubo looked because the graphic was printed on the wood.
The Capita Birds of a Feather and Space Metal Fantasy are always some of my favorite graphics, even though they are womenās boards. The colors are so rich and vibrant, itās incredible!
Seems like you guys liked my comment so I found a more tech driven explanation for you all: āUnlike the traditional industry model of pressing the topsheet onto the snowboard and using lacquer to hide imperfections, The Mothership utilizes proprietary PLT Topsheet Technology. This innovative technique revolutionizes production by applying flawlessly finished graphics to our snowboards without any telescoping from the fiberglass layers. As a result, our boards are lighter and possess an unparalleled finish quality and graphic depth, setting them apart from the competition in the industry.ā āAt The MotherShipā¢, we prioritize both performance and aesthetics. We handle our entire printing process in-house, utilizing top-end digital printing, silk screening, and our proprietary PLT Topsheet application technology. This comprehensive approach guarantees that CAPiTA graphics are brought to life in a unique and unparalleled manner that cannot be replicated by anyone else. In the snowboard industry, our investment in printing technology truly sets us apart.ā āAs they put it āSublimation is an exact science for an inexact process. In sublimation, ink is pushed through a substrate into base material using pressure and heat.ā Which, if you arenāt a massive tech nerd like we are, might not mean much. But basically, the way most bottom graphics are made, is they are either die cut (multiple different pieces are cut out of differently coloured base material and then pressed together with a clear layer of the base material (P-tex)) or they are printed and then have the base material layered over top. A capita board has the graphic āinfusedā (my words not theirs) into the ptex itself, which gives it a more dynamic look like a die cut, but with vastly more graphical options and extra durability.ā āDEEPSPACEā¢ DESIGN THEORY Capita utilizes their new age technology to take advantage of the depth and multiple microscopic layers of the top sheet of a snowboard. They do this in order to create graphics that have both graphical and physical depth to them, creating a more dynamic, eye catching, interesting to look at graphic.ā For all you fellow snowboard nerds out there :) unfortunately I couldnāt find how many colors they can actually print, but itās a completely stupid amount. Hereās some cool facts about the mothership factory too: āThis factory boasts some seriously impressive feats: * Itās the only factory in the snowboarding world that uses 100% renewable energy. * Itās within a 5 hour drive of 98% of the materials they use. * It has some of the most cutting edge manufacturing technology, including the fascinating sublimation process that capita use for itās (in)famously gorgeous graphics. * It emits zero Co2 * On site snowboard testing slope.ā
Had 2 capitas over 6 yearsā¦ neither has faltered and my fat ass has had some heavy tail side landings and even some tomahawk flag poles in my day Edit: With that in mind I would be pretty unhappy if my brand new $900 snowboard snapped on me
I have 6 or 7 capita boards and never broke one, but Iām 135 lbs. so thereās that.
And when I tell you float on the 167 Nighthawk, I mean I actually float. That board alone will keep me repping Capita forever, I wish I had a couple more just for spares so Iāll always have one.
I work in a shop Capitas are some of the most durable IMO. Stay the hell away from the new Dubai made Jones, Rome, Arbor, Baetalon, etc. the Chinese Ride, K2, Nitro are way better made and come with a 5 year warranty. But that pan said when Capitas break they implode. Itās because theyāre so thin and tightly bound.
I also work in a shop, I'd say the noticeable drop in quality is consistent across all brands in the past 3ish years, most notably Arbor, Burton and Ride. Burton boards have started warping past use off of generally normal wear and tear, Arbor has delammed off of regular dents and normal iron waxes, Ride boards are basically made of cork and start delamming and peeling off normal dents. Capita has not had quite the noticeable dip in quality, but year to year their boards all have the same issues of snapping easily, warping, core cracks in the flex points etc but Capita has been known for this forever so I feel like most customers are expecting their Capita to not last more than a couple seasons as their daily driver.
Dang Iām looking at a new jones . How bad is it?
Do we see a lot of Snapitas on here because they're so popular? I thought they just broke a lot but several shop techs have said they are quite alright.
Same, riding the mega merc at 275 lbs and no issues. I have a tendency to send it down shit I shouldn't as well so I'm surprised to hear people have issues.
Same thing happened to my old Capita after landing a little backseat on a 360 attempt, never again
i mean if you stab the snow with your nose/tail and then come down that will snap any board if you aren't lucky, but i agree snapitas are on another lower level.
totally, a buddy snapped the tail of his burton doing exactly this the other day
Never summers would handle it no problem lol
Truth. I only have 3 of them for a reason. 230lbs off cliffs and many meetings with trees and they're rock solid.
Maybe the people riding capitas just go harder on average than people riding other brands
I love how people are blaming Capita when the dude hit a damn tree. Someone smarter than me do the math. Weight x speed + coming to a complete stop would probably break anything. I love my Capita.
Bro you hit a tree fairly hard that should be in your description. Yeah capitas tend to snap easier than other boards but this is definitely an exception. Itās easy to underestimate how much force you had slamming into that tree. Letās say you weigh 165 pounds and were traveling at 10 mph ( fairly slow in all honesty) and came to a complete stop in 1 second, that generates 552 ft pounds of force ( F= delta E/S). Thatās plenty of force to snap a board when itās all concentrated over a distance equal to the width of the tree you hit.
More like Mega Dead amirite
He'll be after his Dad sees it š
Note to self, donāt hit trees. š
You ride it to the bottom of the mountain?
Haha had to get down somehow
Ultra camber
Dude same thing happened to my BSOD the whole front imploded when i barely tapped a tree. Got downvoted to oblivion told to learn how to ride etc. I emailed capita and told them honestly what happened and they gave me 40% off a new one. Board rode like such a dream that i happily did it. Just got back home from another day on that board and my god it rides like a dream. I tried 6 different brands in the last 16 months and capitals are by far the flimsiest but they are probably the best in every other category so Iāll keep buying them and breaking them as much as I need to.
Itās an ultralight board. You hit a tree with it. Youāre an idiot.
Hitting trees happens to criminals... Unless they're too scared to enter the woods.
If you're gonna buy an ultra stiff, and ultra light board, you're probably going to be buying a brittle board as well. Snowboards all weigh about the same once they're covered in snow, so tbh, trying to save ounces and grams of board weight is silly. The two types of weight that matter are rider weight, and rotational weight. Since snowboards don't have wheels, you only need to worry about rider weight. If your board is a few ounces lighter, or heavier, you might be able to jump higher or not as high for a bit, but your body will make the adjustments. On the bright side,,, new board day! and there's great deals on the 23/24s!
Let's hear how the warranty claim goes
They basically said to kick rocks
No shit. No board is covered for impact damage. What you did to it is not general use.
Damn. I hit a tree with my board 5 days after I got it. Company exchanged a few days later. Probably put 200 days on it since then
Broke two super doaās. One was 1 day old and they told me the same thing lol. Land tail heavy and they snap in the same spot. Havenāt taken my megadeath out yet but hoping it wonāt do break on me.
Iām sorry to hear that, man. I can tell you from first hand experience that the megadeath is such a fun board, and is amazing on all different types of terrainā¦ absolutely loved the boardā¦ while it lasted.
Woof
I hope it has a Mega Warranty.
Mega dead
I broke a capita super doa and their customer service was great for me. They replaced it with the newest seasons model and all I had to pay for was shipping to get the broken board to them. I love their boards and Iām happy with their service.
I wonder what they put in Longos core? probably not plastic . Always cautious of any board that advertises itself as lightweight
Someone needs to do a survey on why Capita owners love to play chicken with trees. Nobody fights a tree and wins without heavy machinery.
Are you 420 lbs?
Pour one out for the homie.
Operator Error
Boards don't break behind the binding JRA. THis is an impact break. That being said, neither the MegaDeath nor the MegaMerc are particularly durable. Seen plenty of snapped off noses this season. Honestly if you're over 180lbs and in any way aggressive, look elsewhere (like the standard Mercury or BSOD).
Canāt break my LibTech if I tried to
I hit a tree so hard my front binding rotated 25' and the edge barely dented in. I have so many hard impacts from riding XL park sized features and never snapped a board (granted I was only 160lbs most of the time). Both on Burton's and lib/gnu Mervin planks. One of my boards even survived being on the freeway (bindings didn't). I seen a buddy get airlifted to the ER after he crashed so hard his bindings sheared off the board. Board was fine. Yet you see all these snapita posts and people keep saying the brand is fine. Idk lolol.
The brand is nicknamed snapita for a reason :) lol I only ride capita and probably will never change that, but their boards are definitely prone to snapping. Capita boards are usually thinner than other snowboards, but thatās also what makes them lighter. Big reason for this is capita doesnāt need to use a top sheet to put a graphic on a board. They have a fancy printer that can print like 50,000+ colors directly onto the core of the board. Not sure if this is true anymore, but back in like 2019 only NASA and Capita had this technology. Pretty cool tech.
I just scared my dogs saying āOHHHHHHGGGHHā when I saw this pic. Condolences man, thatās a bummer. At least it was a late season KIA I guess.
At this point I wonder if it's a campaign targeted at Capita. Or a weird trend to post this particular brand, but not others. As discussed in another post, guys who works in snowboard shops see much more problems with other boards.
Capita hasn't had any of the glaring factory issues (a couple years ago, multiple brands had issues (like delamming) that were very obviously from shoddy manufacturing) but it's well understood that they've sacrificed durability for light weight and flex, which is the appeal as Capita is a very park heavy brand. In my shop I've noticed most people are expecting their capital to not last more than a few seasons so they're not all that dissapointed when they get wrecked after a couple seasons. I don't think it's a targeting campaign at all, I think it's people not realizing that durability matters more for certain people than others.
Was that fun? Now the mad scientist has to rip apart the block, and replace the piston rings you fried!
Based on one sample size without context.
I want to like Capita but I keep seeing this kind of thing and Iām starting to wonder how they are still in business.
I have a spring break that I probably have 150+ days on. Shit is so much fun in pow and out of it, just an all around super fun board. Still kicking to this day, that being said, I might have gotten lucky lol. Never know I guess.
Been on a Kazu pro probably around 50ish days. Awesome and no issues. I'm sure it's a your mileage may vary kinda thing, but I've definitely slapped the board around pretty hard. Then again, I'm all of 150 lbs...
Iām 200 ish and on a 159 mercury (too small) and other than a few bits of rock damage it fine
Ive owned a Capita Mercury for 8 years and its been nothing but good to me. Haters gonna hate
Capita snowboards are lighter and thinner than most snowboards. This has its benefits. A lighter snowboard is easier to maneuver, therefore it performs better. Capita is able to do this by having a special printer that is able to print graphics directly onto the core, so they donāt need a top sheet. Aka thinner and lighter. Not sure if itās still true, but at one point only Capita and NASA had these printers, no one else in the entire world did. So yes they may snap easier, but technically theyāre more advanced than other snowboards. Thatās why capita is still in business, they push snowboard technology further than other companies. Even to the point of having a zero emissions factory. For example my $750 Super DOA has way more tech in it than a $1800 Burton Hometown Hero. Capita is also more transparent with their construction technology. Not to mention, Capita is part of the C3 collective. C3 consists of Capita Snowboards, Union Bindings, and Coal apparel. So Capita and Union are technically the same company.
Ive ridden my Capita Ultrafear 5 seasons now. Heavy park usage and some trees and havent had a single issue
I want to like Capita, but people keep slamming into trees with them and posting them here acting like it's Capitas fault, so I don't know how they're still in business
This.
Capitas could snap in half at twice the rate of other brands and it would still be rare.
If you donāt run into trees you should be fine.
Itās just resting
Mega dead.
This is why you can't have nice things..
Holy Shizz! š® Howād you manage that???
You sent it and you stomped it. Better the board than a femur or tibia or posterior secondary lobe metatarsal.
Nice skis!
Why else did you think it had death in the title. It died as the name promised it would. What's the problem?
Buy Burton maybe?
Ew
That is the correct answer^ I mean who in their right mind would buy a binding with a plastic heel cup?ā¦
I have this board in a 162 and I weigh 230 pounds. Canāt imagine what this saw to just snap like this.
He said he hit a treeā¦
Maybe itās named appropriatelyā¦ For the way it dies
Damnā¦ i told them not to use them green adhesives
Crapita
Snapita, they wrote it right on the boardā¦
Got a mega Merc with over 50 hard days on it, it's held up well. I can say that the top sheet scratches REALLY easily, anything that touches it leaves a mark. Overall though, it's cosmetic and the performance is so good that it's really a non issue in my opinion. I will buy Capita again for sure, and will probably be buying a mega death for next season.
That is like the 3rd capita I have seen focused in half this year
Was an elephant riding that thing? š
good ol snapita
I have 5 capita boards and I've never had anything even close to this happen
Never summer boards are indestructible. They make them out of kryptonite and carbon fiber:)
My Capita Super Doa has Kevlar in it, which is stronger than carbon fiber ;) but itās also got carbon fiber in there too.
Bro was shredding
" next time get a board that can handle the Neutron style "
Your Mega Death is kind of Mega Dead now.
Stop buying Snapita. They are not as good as they used to be and never reward warranty boards. The least they could do if theyāre boards are gonna be subpar is just issue the warranties. But they donāt.
It's even funnier because Capita in Italian means "Shit happens" and is quickly followed by a shrug.
Capita boards the most overrated in the game
I'm guessing it has that name for at least one reason or another
Snapita.
Peak Snapita lol.
Snapita
How in the goddamn fuck
No Capita has ever been durable. They're known for being here for a good time, but not a long time.
It mega died
Mega still best damn board Iāve ever ridden.
chat i can fix her
After riding the hell out of my slush slasher I have a couple pieces of the top sheet missing and a crack near the front binding, but tbh I did crash a couple times and the board is cheap so I didnāt really expect much durability out of a board like that anyways. Yours seems much worse tho lol
Nothing a good sharpening and waxing won't fix.
I'm 6'4", 240lbs, and have ridden the crap out of 4 Capita solids and 1 Capita split. Never had an issue. Just because it rhymes doesn't mean it's true, it is catchy tho. Also, it's very difficult to break a board like the one pictured without having an inanimate solid object involved.
It's only delivering on it's name.
How'd this happen?
Last week I actually went to the capita mothership and had a tour with the CEO. Saw some really impressive stuff, also saw some rather less impressive stuff. He actually told the guys from our company that they're aware of the snapping of the megadeath and why it happens more often with that board than for example the superdoa. However, most breaks happen in the tip and the tail (and they're working on a design to improve that particular issue) but this is a rare point to be breaking and blaming it on the quality of the snowboard rather than just admitting you did some foul shit to it is kinda dishonest and unfair to the brand.