As a board builder I think one aspect of pu/pe construction, that is to it's benefit, is ease and speed of construction, and low cost. As far as I know there is no lower cost combination of materials. That combined with it's performance makes it a winner. Especially for pros who go through, what, 20 boards a year?
Still, I think it's sad that so many of you are so "settled" and dismiss the possibilty of advancements. Again, I look at yacht design and to a lesser extent ski/snowboard construction (less because I'm not familiar with the process). They are all using epoxy, and various combinations of composite materials. However, when I gave a quick look at ski/snowboard contruction I was pleasantly surprised to find that most (if not all?) use wood cores. Wood is good.
I gave up on pu/pe almost two decades ago because my last few pu/pe boards just got chewed up in a season. One was a cratered mess after a couple sessions. I guess I have a bony butt and knees, and I stomp around too much? That, and at the time I was building boards in the bedroom of our condo. I tried once to use polyester (for a gloss coat) and my wife freaked out and my neighbors were asking what the smell was. Epoxy is without a doubt more environmentally friendly, lower VOCs and more durable.
As someone said above, a good combination is pu blank with epoxy glassing. I've done a few of those. More denting and not as light as EPS, but the same damping as pu/pe
