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Rome - cosmetic or construction weakness

My 05/06 Anthem has developed impact dents along one strip of the length of the board from the outer edge corners of the bindings, after only 3 days of moderate use on snow.

I’ve never seen impact dents like these before on any previously owned board including a previous Rome Anthem, and my bindings haven't caused any similar marks to other boards.

A resort technician suggested a core defect but Rome say it’s only cosmetic, but why would their top sheet be so soft on a high performance board?

Has anyone else had any similar experiences with their Rome boards - is this normal for Rome?

867-5309

my agent did that, so did all my Burtons, its no big deal, don't you ride the shit out of your stuff anyway?

Cheers for your input. Can yo

Cheers for your input. Can you post some pictures of your impact marks. I'm not taking the normal wear you get when using bindings - these ones are almost 25c size dents into the top sheet.

Anyways your right! Boards pick up plenty of damage through use and how you use them. Its the nature of snowboarding but this Rome had only 3 easy going days on snow and not a season full of park and rails.

When you spend your hard earned cash on a good board you want it to be able to take a few runs without it looking like it's done a season? or is that just me?

well

I'm not sure if I can post pics, I don't own a digital camera or anything, sorry, but what you are describing is similar to what mine look like

What bindings are you using?

No worries about th

No worries about the pics - did you just accept the dents to your Rome Agent top sheet as wear and tear then?

Did you get anyone to look at it?

Was it the 05/06 Agent that has the "Impact Plates under the front and rear portions of both bindings to increase resistance to core compressions"

If you still have the board you should contact Rome Warranty and get that weak core board replaced with one that you ride the crap out of with out it looking like crap when you do!!

I was using 05/06 K2 Formulas - K2 incidently have never come across damage similar to what I have described, while other people have told me it is an obvious core defect and warranty issue.

Anyways if a compressed core isn't a problem why has Rome gone to so much trouble to find solutions to prevent it??

Leroy might respond with some

Leroy might respond with something obvious and typical from someone of his character by saying it is the bindings' fault, since it's a K2 proddy. So let me refute that in advance. Definately not the bindings' fault. Your Rome Agent is constructed poorly and is an obvious manufacturing defect, and their customer service should be mindful enough to respond accordingly and square the situation. Go raise hell, and don't be content with anything but a full replacement.

xoxo mgineering dot net not com

Thanks for the replies. I

Thanks for the replies.

I hope I am not creating a ‘which product is best war’ – I’ve spent the majority of all my spare hard earned dollars on snowboarding stretching over the last 11 years. In fact it may be easier to list the brands I haven’t bought. This incident has been my first experience of snowboard warranty return and to be honest, I was pleased that it was going to be Rome – not only did I think they had an excellent product (of which this was a one off) but I believed they operated to ensure high customer satisfaction.

My own opinion here is that as my Anthem was only used for 3 days, Rome may think that its otherwise immaculate condition (minus the dents) doesn’t merit a warranty replacement and I should accept this as a common cosmetic feature. Well I know enough to know thats BS!

Their customer service was happy under the circumstances to sell me a new one at cost and retain the one I returned. So far, all I have been able to see is that like everything they are only interested in profit rather service and value. To support this theory further….

During my crusade for value for money, I have learnt that Rome boards are pressed by Élan in Slovenia, a company that does so much OEM work that they try to save time and cash by using cheep pre-peg fiberglass. It is very common for Élan topsheets to become severely indented with mild riding, where the weak fiberglass would compress and impact the core. This is a structural defect which should be covered under warranty.

Rome’s response to me so far……..no reply.

Wow.

Wow. This makes me never want to buy a Rome again. My Solution is super thrased, but that's all my fault. Actually, I'm looking at a CAPiTA board. Sure, they probably manufacture in Europe too, but still, at least they don't claim to be ultra core and then be hypocritical and produce at an Elan factory. Rome still makes great boards, I'm not going to lie, but for all their undermining, they still make their stuff at Elan. Dorks.

airblasted.blogspot.com is my blog. It's ugly and lame right now.

I just hope it loads.

!@#$%^&

yeah, in a perfect world all companies would have their own factories. right now, only a a handful do, Burton (most boards), Option, Mervin, and a few others including some small companies like Never summer and Smokin jay. even palmer farms boards out now. "just built better"? we shall see.

But Elans factories must be doing something right if they can get that much business from other companies, right? if they turned out tons of junk boards wouldn't companies jump ship to domestic factories like 5 Axis or go to japan?

I think having defective product (be it gloves, bindings or boards) is just a side effect of growth, how many snowboards are made a year now? crazy volume

it comes down to how each company handles these situations in my eyes. did Rome step up to the plate? hard to say, since it could be argued that these dents were of no significant importance (did ther board still ride ok?). obviously Gord thinks they are, and thats fine, I don't want to argue about the merits of his issue but each case is different.

hmmmm

Dosent say much for Rome customer service tho.and would taint any future purchases i make with them.

costumer service

i think romes costumer service is pretty good. friends of mine have fucked up there rome boards, having edges pop-out and what not, and theyve had replacements shipped right to them.

My point at the beginning was

My point at the beginning was just to see if anyone else who owned a Rome suffered indentations to the top sheet from the corners of their bindings, as I have never encountered this before.

I mean Rome don’t use soft foam or jelly in their construction which would explain how a hard binding can press into the construction.

Every company goes on profit or otherwise they would go out of business and each company has tight guidelines on issues regarding things like sponsorship and warranties.

I guess in my case I have a brand new board with a couple of dents where it shouldn’t have dents after a few days of mild riding – compared with a board that is falling apart it may be easy to say one is obviously more of a warranty issue than the other.

Rome Customer Service and Authorized dealer shouldn’t want me to keep riding this board until it falls apart unless they hope I’m on it at the time!!

As far as Rome customer services go my friend said they were great too – now from my own my personal experience I am seriously disappointed – As the expression goes they need to ‘Pony Up’ and replace the board or give me the opportunity to spend my money another brand.

Are there any good brands out there that don’t suffer top sheet dents from bindings after a few days of light use?

I have always found Rome prod

I have always found Rome products to be top quality and a lot of people have nothing but good reports about Them. That's why I still believe that this incident is a rare one off but can't believe it is being sluffed off.

Just because I have issues with Rome, you may find you have no problems.

My two cents

Back when I didn't suck, I rode pretty hard and broke a good number of boards, mainly Burton and Nitro. I used to put a lot of pressure on my back binding while tweaking and would get the same dents you are describing. This happened with Burton, Drake, and Agency bindings. I was riding a lot and usually had two boards per season, so I would just ride until their was a catastrophic failure. In most cases, the dents would eventually turn into a full core failure. I can speak from experience, that it really sucks to have your tail fold under you when landing on a big east coast iceberg. Just my thoughts from experience, without seeing the board its hard to say, but if its the same thing, it indicates core failure and they should warranty as a safety issue.

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5 Days Until the Mongol Rally

!@#$$@#

I don't know what that other guys problem is, but he should get a raise from k2 for defending them even BEFORE anyone says anything, way to go GOMER!

anyway, i thought maybe you were using Burton cartels because i have heard some people say the shape of the baseplate has been known to cause damage

anyway, no i didn't have anyone look at it, yes it was the 05/06, my sidewalls came apart between the black and pink, but i just epoxied them back togethr and it was fine. the board is thrashed now, i ride tons of days and buy new boards every year (not trying to brag or claim, sorry if it comes off that way)

hope you get the situation rectified to your satisfaction

Thanks. I heart you too. x

Thanks. I heart you too.

xoxo mgineering dot net not com

I'm having trouble visualizin

I'm having trouble visualizing it. Is near the placement of the internal carbon strips?

I fitted my bindings to the s

I fitted my bindings to the suggested 'sweet spot' markings for the 4x4 hole pattern. +18 front and -12 back (goofy) The bindings are about 5 1/2 inches wide at the heel cup. the indentations have occured at the corners of the heel cup and are about 2 inches from the hole pattern and about 2 inches from the edge.
Holing the board up to the light you can see that the dents appear along a straight line, suggesting perhaps a soft wood strip. It is hard to tell what exactly lies beneath the top sheet at theses locations and Rome won't specify.

Rome state on thier web site they have been searching for ways to increase impact resistance under the bindings and have introduced metal plates with thier Impact Cores on models such as their Agent.

I guess I should keep riding it until it gets much worse but then where's the fun in riding an expensive board that raises doubt about its integrity when you want to go beyond moderate use.

Dents on decks

gordo you pastey-ass-butt-pirate.

Just get a steepwater board and it will never happen.

Dents happen / that's riding.

Stop complaing and making snowboarders look like dicks.

Get over it tool.

Thanks for the support.De

Thanks for the support.

Dents do happen? Well so do manufacturing and design faults - should I be the dick who just accepts them too?

Sorry if I am embarrassing you.

do your research!

If i am correct, Capita IS MADE AT THE ELAN FACTORY! (along with Rome, Nitro and many other brands)

On another note.....

Why K2 bindings? Why didnt you scoop some Rome bindings (or Union, Technine, Burton etc) if you were already riding a Rome board? K2 bindings on a Rome board seem to be a bit of an odd combo.

Support Snowboarder owned Snowboard Companies!

This is reseach.

I'm was looking for input on Rome boards but thanks for your input.

It was Dan further down this page who wandered were Capita Boards were made. The previous comments about the Elan factory was information supplied to me from someone in the industry.

There has been a lot of private feedback too exonerating the quality of the products turned out by Elan in Austria (not Slovenia) and some questions raised about the Rome design being at fault and more susceptible to damage than boards should be.

Why K2 Bindings? My initial set up was a WWW with K2 Formulas. I got a deal for the combo.

When looking for an all mountain board and when I had the spare cash I automaticaly choose to upgarde my tired old Anthem (dent free) with a new one. I didn't have the spare cash for Rome bindings they were mostly sold out by March.