Capita Birds of a Feather 2020 Review

Capita Birds Of A Feather 2020 Review

The Capita Birds Of A Feather is their popular, ride everywhere women’s board that has the right balance of camber and features to make it a fun to ride everywhere. It shares the same features as the award winning mens DOA, and is made in lots of sizes as is it such a popular choice.

Features of the Capita Birds Of A Feather

Resort V1 ProfileOverall the Birds of a Feather has a camber profile, though it is slightly toned down with the flat sections at the contact points, then with a tiny reverse camber section closer to the nose and tail. The reverse camber and flat sections help make the start of turns smooth and easy, and reduce a little bit of the “catchy” feel you can get from a full traditional camber board.
FSC Certified Dual Core
The Dual Core is used on quite a few mid level Capita boards as it has a light weight and consistent flex. Most of the core is made from Poplar wood, with two strips of running down the middle for extra strength and durability. The FSC in the name means that is is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, meaning that the wood is sourced from renewable, managed forests.
Fortress Kevlar Bound Sidewalls
Kevlar wrapped around the sidewalls for extra protection from sidewall damage.
Carbon Fiber Beams
Two carbon fiber beams that run down the length of the board, adding some extra response without adding a bunch of weight.
Special Blend Fiberglass
A biax (two directions) of glass, that give a smooth flex, that isn’t too stiff torsionally (twisting).
Magic Bean Resin
Made up of 60% renewable, agricultural raw materials, it is plant based, and is made without waste or greenhouse emissions.
Quantum Drive Base
Just a fancy name for a sintered base, which means that the more you wax and maintain it, the better it will ride.
Die Cut Base
ABS1000 Sidewalls

Sizes available:

140cm
142cm
144cm
146cm
148cm
150cm
152cm
154cm

How it Rides

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Elle. I’m Australian and only started snowboarding about 4 years ago but I absolutely love it! This was my first season working at a resort but I have been lucky enough to ride in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Canada. I worked with Lachlan this last season (2019/2020) at Big White and he taught me a lot about what all the technical jargon around snowboards actually means. I like to ride everywhere and everything; in the park I’m comfortable on boxes, ride-on rails and small jumps- this year I pushed myself in attempting street-style rails and medium jumps. I like to ride fast and ollie off everything; I’m not the best rider but I give most things a go!

Board size: 148cm

Boots: Salomon Pearl Boa 2018 U.S 8.5

Bindings: Burton Lexa 2018

This review is based on me (169cm, 70kg/154lb) riding the 2020 Capita ‘Birds of A Feather’ in a range of conditions, from hard-packed groomers to off-piste pow. I purchased this board in February, at Big White, and rode it for the remainder of the season. I was also able take it on trips to Sun Peaks, Silverstar and Revelstoke, so I got to ride it on a variety of terrain. I always have my bindings in a Goofy position, positive 12 on the front and negative 12 on the back.

Camber Profile

The board is predominantly cambered, with it going flat just past the inserts, before rising up at the ends; riding wise, this just feels like a regular traditional camber. It holds an edge really well, feels stable when ripping fast and snaps back nicely during an ollie.

Flex and Pop

This is one of the stiffer women’s boards I’ve ridden, which I really enjoy! In saying this, it’s rated as a 5/10 flex on the Capita website, which means it’s mid-flex. I found this a nice balance of feeling reliable and responsive during fast, hard carves, whilst also giving great pop when ollieing. It never felt overly stiff and I was still able to be really playful with it.

Edge Hold

The edges were super sharp from being a brand new board, so even though the first few days I rode it were hard packed and icy, the edge hold was incredible. Even once I had ridden the board a bit and the edges had softened, I felt the board always felt reliable and quick to come to a stop.

It took a while for me to ride it in the park, given how sharp the edges were (though 50-50s on the box were fine). Once I did start to ride it on rails and boxes, it didn’t feel too grippy and always felt predictable in the way it would make contact with the features.

Float

I purchased this board with the intention of being able to ride it in pretty much all conditions, however, it’s not a powder board in that it’s cambered, a true twin shape and on the shorter side. This meant that riding deep, off-piste powder took a fair bit of effort on my part, leaning back to keep the nose above the snow. It still rode fairly well and was as responsive as a non-powder orientated board is going to be but definitely not a board I would choose to fully enjoy a powder day on.

Speed

Speed wise, this board performed well in all the conditions I rode it in (which truely was a bit of everything). It has a sintered base, which I kept well waxed. There was only once it felt grippy, on a light powder day, and a quick wax seemed to rectify this problem.

Pros:

Cambered
Sintered base
Great edge hold and pop
Good all-rounder board
Consistently good graphics

Cons

Effort to ride in deep powder

Overall

The 2020 Capita ‘Birds of a Feather’ is a fantastic all-rounder and I would recommend it to any woman who is a competent rider, looking for something to progress on. I found this board performed well in almost anything I threw at it.

If you are new to the sport, or still getting comfortable with riding, it wouldn’t be the first board I’d recommend; it is stiffer than a lot of the womens boards available, which means that you have to work to really flex it into the most beneficial carving shape. In saying that, I found it to be a perfect flex for me. When I felt like riding fast and leaning into my carves, the board was reliable and responsive and yet it will still flexible enough to be playful with, and it hit all the features in the park in a predictable manner.

I think the Nitro ‘Fate’ and the Capita ‘Birds of A Feather’ are super interchangeable, they are such a similar ride. When I went to purchase a new board, I had ridden the Fate a lot and really enjoyed it- but I hated the 2020 and 2021 graphics, and also wondered if there was a similar but slightly stiffer board out there (not that the Birds of A Feather is stiffer, they are pretty much the same). I looked up the specs for the Birds of A Feather, and found that it was super similar to the Fate, with graphics I liked. I also had a lot of guys I know rave about the Capita ‘Defenders of Awesome,’ which is the mens equivalent of the Birds of A Feather, so I knew it was a safe bet. Knowing everything I do now, including having ridden both, I would have still purchased the Birds of A Feather.

Similar boards that would be a good option:

Nitro Fate – extremely similar features with a very slightly smaller feel
Burton Talent Scout – very similar features but with channel bindings so a slightly different torsional flex feel

Capita Birds Of A Feather 2020 Technical Specs

Length (cm)	Effective Edge (mm)	Waist Width (mm)	Sidecut (m)	Weight Range (lbs)	Weight Range (kg)
140	1046	226	6.60	90-140	41-64
142	1062	229	6.80	90-140	41-64
144	1078	232	7.00	100-150	45-68
146	1094	235	7.20	100-150	45-68
148	1110	238	7.40	110-160	49-73
150	1126	241	7.60	110-160	49-73
152	1142	244	7.80	110-160	49-73
154	1158	247	8.00	110-170+	49-77+