The answer to the extruded vs sintered base question is, as always, depends.
The best snowboard base for you will depend on a few factors including budget, ability level and riding style.
Below I will outline the differences between the two different bases and which is better suited to which rider.
The Manufacturing Process
Extruded bases are created by super-heating and melting polyethylene pellets. The result is a base that is essentially one piece and is not very porous (not as may tiny holes as sintered bases).
Sintered bases are also created using the polyethylene pellets. However, instead of being melted they are forced together under super-high pressure. Don’t ask me the technical details as to why this occurs but this results in a porous base (one with lots of microscopic holes in it).
Extruded Bases Pros, Cons & Best Uses
Despite the often held assumption that sintered bases are better there are some pros to having an extruded base – there are also downsides.
PROS
Pro #1: Extruded snowboard bases are cheaper to manufacture than their extruded counterparts. This means that the overall cost of the board for the consumer is also typically less expensive.
Pro #2: They are cheaper to repair. If your extruded base gets damaged it will be less costly to get fixed and easier to fix if you are fixing it yourself.
Pro #3: Easier to maintain. Although they don’t hold wax as well as sintered bases they require less waxing. Huh!?
Waxing an extruded base won’t make as much difference as waxing a sintered base will. Therefore it is not necessary to wax as often. For example an un-waxed extruded base (EB) will actually be faster than a an un-waxed sintered base (SB). A waxed SB on the other hand will be faster than a waxed EB.
So if you want to wax less often and still maintain a reasonable speed of base then extruded is the way to go.
CONS
Con #1: EBs won’t hold wax as well. They aren’t completely non-porous (that’s the technical term – well that’s my story anyway and I’m sticking to it!) but aren’t as porous as their sintered cousins so won’t hold as much.
Con #2: Because of con #1 they aren’t as fast as a waxed SB – so if you are willing to keep your SB well waxed and want better speed out of your base then go for SB over EB.
Con #3: Less durable. Though there is some debate as to which is more and less durable. Even so, as per pro#1, if you do damage your EB it is easier/cheaper to repair.
Extruded Bases are Best Suited to:
Freestylers: Freestylers aren’t typically too worried about hyper-speed so that’s not really a downside. Also if you are riding a lot of rails and other obstacles there is a higher chance of damage – the EB is cheaper and easier to repair, so might be a better option. If you’re hitting big features, and mostly ride the jump line as opposed to the jib line, you might still appreciate having a sintered base, rather than an extruded base.
Some All-Mountain Riders: Less aggressive and more budget conscious riders will be OK with an EB and maybe won’t notice enough benefit of going for the SB if they are looking to save cash and don’t ride that aggressively and/or want to be lazy with waxing. But most all mountain riders are better off with a sintered base.
Beginner: Beginners are probably more likely to cause damage (if trying new things, or if there are exposed rocks or roots in the terrain – e.g. late or early season), are less likely to be skilled in the art of waxing and less willing to pay the extra cost of a sintered base (and the extra maintenance costs). Also, quick acceleration is not necessarily a desirable feature for a beginner!
Lazy or more casual riders: Less maintenance is great for those who can’t be bothered waxing (and don’t want to pay to have it done) and those who only ride a couple of times per year and don’t want to invest in waxing gear (especially if they are only going to wax once a year or every other year) or pay someone to wax for them.
Sintered Bases Pros, Cons & Best Uses
Most of the pros and cons are the opposite for sintered bases naturally.
PROS
Pro #1: Holds Wax well. Yes you have to wax it but the SB will hold that wax well, which means you should get a fair bit out of your waxing – and this should also help with prolonging the life of the base. Plus and you will get the benefits of Pro #2 below
Pro #2: Speed. A well waxed SB will accelerate quicker and glide much more easily on those slight up-hills and flat sections. They are also faster through powder and slush – particularly the sticky kind.
Pro #2: More durable. This is somewhat debated but the balance of evidence seems to be in favor of the SB being more durable.
CONS
Con #1: Maintenance. In order to maintain its speed advantage over an EB, the SB needs to be regularly waxed. If you are riding a lot this should be a regular task anyway regardless of EB & SB but if you neglect it with SBs then you will notice a greater difference. I should know!
Con #2: Price. The process of “sintering” the base is more expensive for manufacturers and that is reflected in the price of the snowboard that has a SB.
Con #3: Cost of repair. SBs are more costly and more difficult to repair if damage does occur.
Sintered Bases are Best Suited to:
Free-riders: Those who enjoy and search out speed, the backcountry, powder etc will definitely want a sintered base. This is a major part of the reason why free-ride boards are more expensive on average than freestyle and beginner boards.
All Mountain Riders: Those all mountain riders that are willing to spend a little extra on a SB. Most all-mountain riders, who are at least an intermediate level, will appreciate a sintered base. It’s even more appealing for the more aggressive style all-mountain rider and worth the extra cost in most cases.
Advanced Riders: If you are a more advanced rider (except perhaps if you only ride jibs in the park) then it’s probably worth the extra cost to go with sintered.
Racers/Boardercross riders: Anyone racing wants to be fast of course!
Which Do You Ride and Which Do you think is Best?
There’s often a lot of debate over which base is better. I think it depends on your purposes, as illustrated above, and that there are situations where one is better than the other. What do you think? What do you currently ride? Leave a comment below.
Photo Credits
Photo by Lukas Mathis [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
How often should a sintered base be waxed if you ride 5 days a week hard. Also the difference between 1000 sintered and 8000 sintered base? Is there a quality difference? THANKS MODO
Hi Dale
Thanks for your message.
Ideally, if you’re riding 5 days a week and riding hard, then I would do it once a week. Make it part of the weekly routine to wax your board. Optimally, you would probably do it every 3-4 full days of riding, but I think for convenience once a week would be easier. Also, by full days, if you’re like riding from 9am to 4pm every day kind of thing. If you’re only doing like 2 hours a day, then you could still do it once a week, but it would be more optimal. Or if you didn’t want to have to do it that often, then once every 2 weeks would be fine. But yeah if you’re doing 5 pretty full days a week, I would certainly wax once a week.
The numbers for sintered bases can be a little misleading as I think there are different companies that make bases and their numbers can be different, so comparing between brands can be inaccurate. Comparing within a brand though, who will have their bases made by the same company, presumably, the higher the number, the denser/harder the base – which typically means faster and more durable.
Hope this helps
What about graphite base?
Hi Romros
As far as I know “graphite” bases are sintered bases with Graphite as an additive, but I’m happy to be corrected there. I don’t really come across graphite bases with the boards I demo. Do you have a board with a graphite base or have an example of a board with a graphite base? I am curious.
Cardiff’s line of boards have graphite infused bases
Great info. I love how you break things down.
I own a 2018 Gnu Velvet Gnuru and a 2019 Gnu Ladies Choice. I never looked into bases before, so when I read this, my eyes went wide and I immediately looked up the specs for both boards on evo.com. The Velvet base info says “Co-Ex – Fast and easy to maintain.” Is that just Gnu’s fancy word for their extruded bases?
I then looked up the Ladies Choice, which says “Sintered Knife-Cut – Fast, tough, and holds wax.” So that’s pretty clear!
I’ve owned the Velvet since last year and the Ladies Choice just as of last week. I’m curious now to see if I notice a difference. Funny thing is I’m just fast no matter what, haha, but I’m glad I have the sintered base on the Ladies Choice, because that seems to suit my needs and riding style anyway.
Hi Vesna
Thanks for your message.
Yeah co-ex is just a fancy way to say extruded base!
The Ladies Choice should feel faster, particularly when you’re gliding on flat terrain or slight uphills. You should get a bit more glide out of it. You’ll just have to wax it more regularly than you need to with the Velvet, but so long as you do, you should get more acceleration and better glide out of the base.
Is sintered base related to the more weight of snowboard than extruded base?
Hi Korn
Thanks for your message.
I haven’t actually thought about which might be heavier or lighter. It would make sense that a sintered base might be heavier as it’s more dense, but I’ve never actually thought about it. There are certainly boards out there with sintered bases that are really light, so if they are heavier, I don’t think it makes a massive amount of difference.
Hey. I love your site. You’ve got the best info online.
I just bought a Rossignol Justice and I ride on the east coast (granular, man made, icy, mostly cold af). I want to put a good base wax on my board, and I wanted to know if you had any recommendations.
Hershel hot sauce and toko universal seem to be the 2 that keep popping up. Or would you recommend spending more money to get a high quality wax base?
Thanks
Amy
Hi Amy
Thanks for your message.
I’m a fairly lazy waxer, so I tend to go with an temperature wax (rather than using a specific wax for the weather), so that’s one thing to think about. But in terms of the brand of wax, I’m also not that fussy personally (though some people are). Some waxes are certainly better than others, but I think the quality of the wax job is just as important. So for me personally, I’m not too concerned about the type of wax, I just make sure I do a good wax job.
Also, note though, that I’m not looking to get the fastest base ever, I’m not too worried about that. I just a like a nice smooth even glide, and I find that the quality of the wax job, rather than the wax itself, tends to be the biggest thing where that’s concerned. If you’re looking for a super fast wax, there are some waxes that are faster than others, I would imagine.
I haven’t used Hershel Hot Sauce (but have heard good things). Toko is a good wax, IMO.
Hope this helps
I don’t understand the difference between cost of repair. I’ve only heard of PTEX being used for the base because I thought that is what the base is made of.
Hi Daniel
Not sure why the cost is different. I’m guessing that it’s just more difficult to repair a sintered base or takes longer, regardless of the materials used in the repair. But I haven’t looked into the reason why cost might be different, that’s just my best guess. If anyone knows, feel free to chime in.
From what I’ve heard, repairing a damaged section of sintered base takes die cut of it and replacing with piece of base material.
I believe this claim is logical but mostly marketing towards a less durable base material. The idea is that base repair patches done from burning a ptex candle will hold in longer in an extruded base and base repair welds with a sintered base should be done with a high temp extruder, a tool usually only owned by shops. Really though ptex patches are a softer material and commonly need to be redone if larger.
After some riding on a board with an extruded base I can tell you that I will never buy one again. The base is too soft for the hard snow we’ve had here lately. The base got grinded down next to the edges by the abrasiveness of the snow so I had to get a base grind after less than two weeks of mostly just two runs a day to make it flat again and so the edges didn’t stick out from the base.
I contacted K2 about it and they said it was to be expected because of hard conditions and man made snow. They even had an expression for it, the board becomes edge high. Basically, don’t buy an extruded base if you live in a place where you have lots of those conditions, like the east coast.
The board is a K2 WWW and this might be a k2 problem and other extruded bases might be better but don’t buy this one. Too bad since it’s a fun board.
Hi Nick
Thanks for sharing. That’s a vote for sintered being tougher and more durable for sure. And you bring up a good point that I hadn’t considered – how well they hold up in hard/icy snow conditions. Like you say, maybe other extruded bases might be tougher but thanks for bringing this one to attention – certainly not what you want having to have a grind after only 2 weeks!
I don’t understand this at all. I snowboard on small hills in minnesota and mainly exclusively ride park with 80% man made snow. Me and Almost everyone I know only rides exteuded if possible in the park because it’s tougher and gashes only set you back a few bucks (just gotta buy ptex and melt it into the base. I don’t know much about k2, but I have never heard of “edge high” or whatever, and I’m riding almost every day on man made AND hitting rails and boxes.
Edge High is a thing. Capita had big issues with theirs for a season or two. Pretty sure because of the feedback they received, they’ve since moved to Sintered bases.
Hi Jack
Thanks for your input.
Edge high is definitely a thing, thanks for pointing that out.
Capita do use sintered bases on a lot of their boards, but still use Extruded for some. This is the case for most snowboard companies. Extruded bases can be a better option in some cases – e.g. to save costs on a more budget friendly board – and often jib boards have extruded bases as they’re easier to repair. But yeah, for an all-mountain board, freeride board – that type of thing, Sintered is definitely preferable.
I call those “edgeys” and I’ve heard it’s more so from the board heating and cooling. When the board heats up and cools the metal edge and wooden core do so at a different rate making the edge start to patrude more so than the base