Burton Hometown Hero Review

Who is the Hometown Hero Most Suited To?

The Hometown Hero is best suited to anyone looking for a freeride board that isn't overly stiff, but just that little bit stiffer than medium, but still very directional and oriented to riding in one direction and is still quite an aggressive ride. 

And whilst being first and foremost something to carve and ride powder on, it's something that's also a good jumper. 

Definitely not for the beginner and probably not even for an intermediate rider. 

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Setback 40mm

Width at Inserts: 263mm (10.35") at front insert and 262mm (10.31") at back insert  

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 185lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Vans Aura

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M 

Flex

Overall it's just a shade stiffer than medium. Feels stiffer than that tip and tail, but it softens up through the middle and isn't overly stiff torsionally. 

Powder

Felt nice to ride on powder. I didn't have waist deep powder or anything like that, but what I did find, the Hometown Hero felt at home there. 

With a rockered nose, a tapered shape and ample setback, it's designed to perform well in powder. 

Carving & Turning

Carving: Fun to carve on and you can get quite a deep aggressive carve going on it. For some reason I didn't quite get the same on a carve as on the Skeleton Key. I was expecting it to be as good or better, but I slightly preferred the Skeleton Key. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: It's pretty good in terms of slow speed maneuverability. It's not super agile, but it's pretty agile and strikes a good balance between being good on a fast, deep carve and being good in tight spaces at slower speeds.   

Skidded Turns: You can, but it's not the most friendly board in terms of skidded turns or riding too casually. 

Speed

It's not a speed demon, but it can handle a decent amount of speed for sure.  

Uneven Terrain

It's nimble enough to navigate through bumpy terrain and is OK at going over the top of it, but felt the Skeleton Key was just that little bit better. 

Good in crud, but again, I just preferred the Skeleton Key.  

Let’s Break up this text with a Video

Jumps

For a freeide board it's really decent for jumps.  

Pop: Good amount of pop. Quite similar to the Skeleton Key. A good bit off the Paramount, which I also rode that day, but decent enough. You've got to work a little to extract it, but don't have to work too hard. 

Approach: Stable and with good maneuverability

Landing: Solid landings

Side-hits: Good, without being amazing. Decent pop and nimble enough. 

Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for medium to large jumps, IMO

Switch

It's not made for riding switch, but you can do it for sure. It's a little better than the average freeride board for this, and was certainly better than the Skeleton Key. 

Spins

OK for spins. Getting the spin around was fine, and there's decent pop. OK landing and taking off switch but not great. 

Jibbing

Doable, but not ideal of course. Not what this board was made for. 

Butters

It felt quite stiff in the tip and tail vs the overall flex of the board, which made butters quite hard. Not a great butterer. 

Overall, the Hometown Hero fits in the ever growing category of in between medium and stiff freeride boards. It's all round a nice ride and quite versatile for a board so directional. Nothing that I disliked about this board at all, but nothing that really stood out as amazing either.