Ippy's Guide to Buying a new snowboard

[Schneebored 0]

Holy Moly...there are lots of words there.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

 

this is the video from Ippy's post

[Tubby Beaver 209]

That TBT is interesting, I've never heard of it before. Anyone used a board that utilises this? Is it only Bataleon that uses TBT or have other brands copied it?

[ippy 66]

haha, you got the same bug i got when i first heard about it... namely: why the hell isnt this on everything??????

 

Im pretty sure the extr-eco from omatic uses a variation of it.

 

But as the clip says, people cant really copy it because its patented They'll have to pay royalties to bataleon.

[Jynxx 4]

I'm impressed.

I hope people will get to read this. You really did a great job explaining the very complex topic for many people.

Slap on the back, mate!

[ippy 66]

thanks man, this is definitely the bit i was most looking forward to. Obviously it's my favourite part I <3 camber profiles.

[Jynxx 4]

Visuals are really cool... lot of work.

Now, We go boarding... well, one day, I hope!

[ippy 66]

haha, not my work though, i just ninjad them And see you on the mountains dude! Just got to wait for summer to sod off

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Originally Posted By: ippy

haha, you got the same bug i got when i first heard about it... namely: why the hell isnt this on everything??????

Im pretty sure the extr-eco from omatic uses a variation of it.

But as the clip says, people cant really copy it because its patented They'll have to pay royalties to bataleon.

have you ridden a bataleon board then Ippy? If so what do you make of the TBT?

[ippy 66]

alas no. There's a dude at my local mountain through that rides an evil twin, and every time i see it i'm so freaking tempted to see if he'll swap out for an afternoon just so i can see if its as awesome as i think it will be (or if its as sluggish as ive heard others say it is). I guess that's the pain of living in korea and no one running tech demos here

 

Guess before the season starts here i need to learn the korean for:

 

"hey brah! want to swap decks for the afternoon, this one's totally legit so your ride's gonna be pro! And check out the flat kick on it! see how mellow it is? Come on! just one afternoon innit! You'll love it!"

 

oh. ps. added in zero camber

[Jynxx 4]

Whadda ya up to in Korea ippy?

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Originally Posted By: ippy

alas no. There's a dude at my local mountain through that rides an evil twin, and every time i see it i'm so freaking tempted to see if he'll swap out for an afternoon just so i can see if its as awesome as i think it will be (or if its as sluggish as ive heard others say it is). I guess that's the pain of living in korea and no one running tech demos here

Guess before the season starts here i need to learn the korean for:

"hey brah! want to swap decks for the afternoon, this one's totally legit so your ride's gonna be pro! And check out the flat kick on it! see how mellow it is? Come on! just one afternoon innit! You'll love it!"

oh. ps. added in zero camber

you really have given me the bug....I'm well impressed with this TBT idea that I've been scouting out reviews all over the internet. I haven't heard that the boards are sluggish though......maybe thats just the Evil Twin (or have you heard it about all of the Battaleon boards?). I have my eye on the Jam....I'm going home at Xmas and a shop in Glasgow sells them so I'm thinking about buying one and bringing t back over with me.

[ippy 66]

same as i was doing in japan, ALT peaceful life and all that. But its keeping me far off track from buying a house in myoko and becoming a shochu drinking grizzly like all the old guys there seem to be

 

And tubby, you have to let me play on it! I was seriously contemplating a bataleon this year, and it just got pipped to the post by the fact i could use my discount to get the charlie slasher for $319 (or $430 including shipping and import duty). The Jam and enemy were definitely the two decks i was considering. Man, i just need a few days on it (you honestly cant make your mind up on tbt in one afternoon in truth) and then ill likely buy only bataleon

[ippy 66]

7. FINAL THOUGHTS

 

"What do you want in a board?"

 

Arguably one of the least helpful questions a new or first time buyer can face. Do you even know what a sintered base is? Can you confidently explain what a taper is, how it works, or why boards even have them? Do you even know the benefits of a directional shape are? Likely you don't.

 

"good question! I want a hybrid (flying-v), setback directional twin with about a 7 for flex, and a sintered base, good for cliff drops and a bit of back country freestyle" probably won't be the words coming out of your mouth any time soon. But read this guide and you might be able to at least wing it a bit.

 

How this guide works: You read the section on board types. You see a stack of tech jargon. You think 'what the hell is that though? You read the rest of the guide. You read these final thoughts. Then you read the board descriptions again only now much more informed on what everything means.

 

However, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. And this introduction/conclusion is my attempt to have one last crack at trying to dissuade you from buying anything other than an all resort freestyle deck (well, maybe one of the park decks too if you want a bit more of a park focus for your all round deck).

 

In the next section you will see I have broken all the decks into 2 main categories (freestyle/freeride), AND 6 sub categories (jib/park/all resort/all mountain/freeride/powder).

 

My intention is to convince you that categories 1, 4, 5, and 6 are a little more technical than you might want. But understand that if I haven't convinced you after all my effort then this is a good thing since it likely means you know what you're after. It is after all a resource to help YOU decide what deck YOU want, not to help me decide what board I think you want based on no information at all about you.

 

With all that in mind, let's start with the two outliers:

 

The Quiver Deck - Jib (1) and Powder (6) Boards

 

A quiver deck is a board that is somewhat restricted to a very particular activity. Powder decks, for example, are built for powder. They're almost single minded in their entire design to get you riding nose up in powder. They can of course be ridden all over the mountain, but they aren't suited to it and you'd be honestly having a much more enjoyable time of it on something else. They have one thing they truly excel at (and a lot of things they're mediocre to useless at) simply because the board is designed almost entirely to do that one thing.

 

This also goes to the opposite extreme with the noodle. They are designed for buttering, pressing, hitting rails, and doinking off things. Keep them in the park or in the streets and they excel. Take them outside the park where they have to deal with steeps or a bit of speed, and you're better on something else. Really these two boards are not built with versatility in mind. This of course doesn't necessarily matter. If all you want to do is ride pow and more importantly CAN ride it every day of the year, then why not? If all you want to do is make goofy videos of you and your mates cracking your face on the steps outside the bank, then buy one of these.

 

The point is, you find out what you want, what you really want to ride, and whether you CAN ride it and you find the deck that suits you. If you don't give a crap about carving or speed, or back country, then why the hell would you need a deck that can handle those things. And anyway, if you're good enough, you'll take a fish in the park just as easily as you'll launch your horrorscope off a back country kicker.

 

90/10 and all that (90% rider ability/10% suitable gear).

 

That being said, for the MOST part these decks are quiver decks. If you are looking for a board to help you develop a wide array of skills, these probably aren't your best choice. They're awesome to supplement your main ride, but likely not your primary go-to deck.

 

[A disclaimer though: EVERY board is a quiver deck. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it's not until you start actually buying your quiver that you realise this. Until then, your freeride is your all mountain freestyle, jib deck just as much as it's your powder stick. By necessity it's your quiver killer deck.

 

Only when you start supplementing do you begin to think "hmmm, looks kinda lame, reckon I'll just be mucking around in the park today, I think I'll grab my evil twin instead of the titan!" And therein lies the birth of the quiver.]

 

The Big Mountain Sticks: All Mountain Freestyle (4) and Freeride (5)

 

These are tempting. If you're on your second pass of the guide I know what you're thinking. But I urge you to reconsider. These decks are not for you. At least not yet. (Unless of course they are in which case carry on). But assuming they're not, and assuming I've accidentally gone and overhyped these decks (as I likely have), and assuming you've thought to yourself "I could buy the deck that's good for me right now, OR I could buy the deck I'll PROGRESS INTO and save myself a lot of cash in three years" I'd like to try and dissuade you.

 

As I say, it's tempting to be seduced by these decks. They speak to your most base instincts of freedom and of taming the great outdoors. They are decks that are built almost entirely to deal with every possible obstacle you come across in the wilds and meet it unflinching and unyielding. If you've ever seen a movie with someone ripping it down a wall of white stuff, and think "that!" then these decks are like a sirens call to you. I know! i know! I feel the same as you. Only I went out and bought one at the start of my second year...

 

So I'm here to tell you, THAT! is not for you. At least, not yet.

 

These decks are unforgiving, evil, malicious, finnikity, spoiled, assholes.

 

Sure, they'll teach you how to ride on point through sheer pain, but don't think for a second that means anything to them. When I think of my little artec, there's one moment I'm drawn to that sums up how much of a jerk it really is:

 

Quote:

I gave it to my mate last year while i rode my sierrascope. We were bombing on the skyline in Nozawa, he had finally gotten a handle on the deck and was almost keeping up. I was really happy for him because he was hitting another level in his riding and it was the deck which was helping bring it out. I turned around (safely) waiting for him to pass, and we both had a little moment where we knew he'd really achieved something. I was stoked, he was stoked, he went to acknowledge that with a little hello as he was about to fly past me, when BLAM!!! the deck dropped him on his face... He relaxed for one tiny second and the board took him out. It bloody hurt too!

 

Of course, I took my own share of those falls so I know just how it happened (and how to never do it again) and sure, it probably taught him the same lesson, but the point is this: the stuff you can learn on a freeride is phenomenal for sure, but it will make you pay for it. The annoying thing is, get on a nice solid deck in category three and you can learn the same crap, just with a bit less of the board riding you. Sit on a custom and you'll get a similar ride, only with a bit more forgiveness and variety.

 

You don't NEED to be on a freeride stick. There are more appropriate choices for you out there which will give you a taste of speed and edge control, and sure, they will spank you around a bit if you aren't on top of them, but they will also occasionally let you get away with stuff, (or let you just cruise around a bit and enjoy everything the resort has to offer). As I say, the call is seductive, you'll be looking at a freeride thinking "that's it! that's what I want!" But it'll be the rocks and damnation for you unless you know how to outsmart the thing.

 

The big mountain boards are really for a specific rider that knows the kind of ride they want for the terrain they want to ride in. That terrain really isn't your greens, blues, reds, blacks, and double blacks. It's also not for your rails and boxes and jibs in the park, and just cruising around the resort. It's for the big park features where stability and precision is everything, and it's for the stuff you don't necessarily know is coming when you're dropping off a ledge and realise you've maybe got a bit more than you bargained for. It's for an experienced rider that knows precisely what they want to ride and will hike for a morning to get to it.

 

We all want to ride vast untracked lines of soft fluffy pow as far as the eye can see, but ask yourself this: is this honestly likely? Do you not mind getting up at 6am to hike through oceans of snow at a snails pace to get to those lines? And if you do, have you got the safety knowledge that will stop you triggering an avalanche? Finally, do you have a bunch of mates you can trust to bring THEIR shovels and transceivers? Just because you WANT to do something, doesn't necessarily mean you'll get to do it, so also consider where you will spend most of your time ACTUALLY riding (this obviously applies to EVERY deck you consider).

 

Still, if I haven't dissuaded you, and that sounds right up your street, then look no further, these decks are made for you.

 

If on the other hand you're hitting the resort and bombing red runs at your local, then it's really not quite the deck that's going to give you the best bang for your buck. It might sound like it could be, but it's likely not. To this day I feel I got about 30% performance out of my Artec. It was a fantastic deck, but I know it was capable of way more than i coaxed from it. Maybe if I'd have gotten on it this coming season (year 4) or more likely next (year 5), I'd have really got to see it's potential. But as it stood, I ended up giving it to my mate and getting on a softer more playful deck. I also ended up having a freaking blast and wondering why I wasn't on this type of deck in my second year!

 

That type of deck: All Resort freestyle (3) and Park freestyle (2)

 

'That' type of deck is category 3 - the all resort freestyle. It's easy in your first year to make a decision on what you want to ride. You get success in certain areas and you tend to want a board that keeps delivering that lets you becoming even more successful, but I'm going to spend this last part making a case for failure.

 

From my personal experience, I often end up having to ride on my own because I don't live close to a resort, and all my mates couldn't give a crap about snowboarding. I, however, will go out of my way to ride... even when it's boring as hell (and on your own it sometimes is).

 

Now this means that I spend a lot of time cruising the resort. Park is almost out of bounds simply because no one likes falling on their ass trying new stuff when there's none of your mates around to laugh with you about it. This sets in a sense of what you end up liking. I had great success early on with charging just because really that's pretty much what I was doing, and had very poor experiences the one or two times I found the confidence to get on a box. These successes and failures crystalised into my 'preferences'. It was from these preferences I ended up buying a board I shouldn't have even looked at for a good 2 or 3 years.

 

Naturally this board reinforced those preferences: I improved in my edge control, and charging, but every time I hit the park, a stiff deck plus lack of confidence, plus MINUTE incorrect weight adjustments on that twitchy bloody deck resulted in me landing on my ass. This board taught me to HATE park and LOVE freeriding.

 

It was only the jealousy of seeing people pulling off huge tail slides (where I had to use every muscle in my thighs to raise that nose an inch) that caused me to think about a park deck to SUPPLEMENT my artec.

 

So my research led me to the decks in category 3 (the sl-r's, indoor fk's, carbon credits, and custom-v's of the world). So I bought the sierrascope and was AMAZED to realise that this board actually made me excited to ride parts of the mountain I was really reluctant to get on. I was CRUISING even flat powder, jibbing off everything I saw, flying up walls, bouncing off every bobble, hitting the boxes in the park (rails still give me the fear), and taking off on my first serious air. Naturally I was keen to also do the stuff I wanted to do on my artec, and was ASTONISHED to find I was blazing through the trees and bombing these gorgeous open lines. Of course it had some stability issues which my artec didn't have, but for the sheer versatility and opening up of my horizons it was a price worth paying.

 

The artec taught me a lot about my edges, but my scope taught me a lot about the sheer wealth of stuff you can play with on a resort that you might not even realise is there. These decks are ASTONISHING good fun, and even without other people to ride with, they make everything a blast. They aren't some kind of poor version of their stiffer counterparts by any means: they're a trade off.

 

You trade off precision (to an extent: 90/10) for forgiveness (to an extent: 90/10). You trade off technical focus (to an extent) for diversity (to an extent). These decks are made for you to hit everything and hit it well. Off course you'll get a better jib performance by sizing down or dropping a category or two, and you'll get more control by sizing up or popping up 1 ore 2 categories, but you won't get that sheer massive opening up of styles and above all perspective (with the 90/10 proviso of course) you'll get with one of these decks. They are not only forgiving, which makes them IDEAL for a beginner wanting to get hyped about the sport, but they are awesome learning decks as well. They can carve, they can bomb, they can jib, they can butter, they can fly, they can float, they can pretty much do it all. They aren't the best at ANY of those things, but no other board matches them for sheer diversity, and that's why you want to be on them.

 

I believe strongly (because I'm a solipsist), that if you are in your first couple of years, you likely don't realise what you like. Just because you had a few bad experiences in park, or a few bad falls from catching an edge trying to ride switch means JACK in your first few years. Don't cut off any part of the mountain until you really know for sure it's not for you. And if it's not for you, then yeah, you need to be looking at a different category. But for everyone else, I hope I've convinced you that this is the area for you. These are the decks that will have you progressing all over the mountain and in a myriad of different directions to deal with everything it's going to throw at you for those first few years.

 

But of course, they have limitations, and you may eventually outgrow them for your primary ride because your interests have gone away from a bit of everything to something more narrow, but never fear, they'll just become your warm comfy security blanket cruiser board when you just want to chill out doinking the resort. They will always have a place in your quiver.

 

 

Too Long; Didn't Read

 

- When buying your board consider the following things: What do you want to do? What do you like to do? And where are you LIKELY to be riding? We all want to ride massive wide open lines, but for many of us, that's not entirely practical. Don't go buying a freeride if all your doing is cruising a shallow resort all day and spending most of your time in the park because the groomers are boring as hell.

 

- Consider also that all boards are built with a specific idea in mind on where they want to excel. It's pretty unlikely you're going to find a true twin freeride stick for the simple reason that you want to blast out of those turns and will likely need a specific sidecut, flex profile (the tip being softer than the tail), and a possible setback to do all that. Likewise when you're all about buttering, you want a nice twin shape with a smaller sidecut radius so you get sharper turns and a ride that feels the same no matter what leg you're leading with. This means they all have specific limitations and restrictions.

 

- But also remember 90/10. A good rider can account for the lack of stability in a jib deck at speed, just as a good freestyle rider will adjust for the stiffness of a freeride stick in the park (and probably use it to their advantage). You can ride anything, and in time you'll learn to overcome its apparent limitations.

 

- But consider if you should spend your time falling off boxes, just so you can do half the stuff the person on the jib deck is doing with seemingly half the effort. Boards come with in built design restrictions, and just because you can overcome those, it doesn't mean you're on the best board for the job. That's why many people end up with a quiver after all. We know that we can do it all on any one of our decks, but we'd just rather do something or other with a little less bother and a bit more ease.

 

- If you know what you want after having read everything here, then congrats. Go get that board, but if you don't, DO NOT WORRY. Much of this is because you haven't been on a board that let's you play on everything and give it a fair crack of the whip. If this is your first real board, get on an all resort and chances are you'll learn which parts of the mountain, and what style of riding appeals to you.

 

- If on the other hand you have been on one of those decks and still don't know, well maybe you are yet to outgrow your deck. Once you start pressing the limitations of your custom (or whatever it is), you'll start to see what type of ride you enjoy and can find the right board for you. Maybe its too stiff? Maybe it's a bit chargy? Maybe you're lucky and live in a land where the pow flows freely, but it keeps nosediving? And maybe you are continually finding the pow awesome but frustrating because of it? Well, have a look... hybrid camber freeride/freestyle looks right up your street! When you find what you love doing and understand why your all resort deck is hindering you from doing it, then you'll know why you need that next board. Until then though, more often than not (though you should confirm this for yourself by reading the guide) the all resort deck will be right up your street.

 

 

Sections of the Guide:

 

Step 1: Types of Board: The Quiver (and making sense of it).

Step 2: Sizing your deck, AND Step 3: Its impact on Flex

Step 4+5: Board Shapes and the Base

Step 6: Camber - Vs - Reverse Camber - Vs - hybrid camber - Vs - Camber 2.0

Step 7: Final Opinions.

[ippy 66]

righthyo, that's the first pass done. Things to do in section 2:

 

1. Preface and summarise each section to make it more noob friendly.

2. Get rid of jargon (or create a glossary).

3. Tidy tidy tidy. im one for shaggy dog stories so likely there's more than one unnecessary tangent in there. I'm pretty sure the final thoughts is FULL to the brim of random thoughts since I just wrote it and haven't really started editing it down

 

ETA

 

4. Yeah, so im not entirely happy with the direction of the final thoughts. Its getting heavily edited tomorrow

[thursday 1]

you're a maniac.

[ippy 66]

hehe, got to make sure its done right

[ippy 66]

kk, rewritten the entire opening now. Made it much more focussed on this one overriding question:

 

So er, ipps this is nice, but i'm none the wiser, can you just tell me what deck i want?

 

And the answer: You want an all resort freestyle because they're versatile and forgiving... unless you don't of course want either of those things.

[Thundercat 60]

When I get a bit of free time I'll try and read through this guide. Looks like there is a lot to digest. My personal opinion is that boards specifically designed to do a certain task are always a better buy than a board that claims to do it all. That old cliche about being a jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none is very true when it comes to boarding. I'd rather have a few boards in my quiver specific to certain conditions... I feel the same way about surfing! (4 snowboards, 5 surf boards)

[ippy 66]

ah hopefully the questions are addressed once you have a wee read through (its not all as black and white as my little summary there might have led you to believe).

 

And Tubby, just dug out my reviews thread (i spent an age finding all the reviews by the users at sierra last year and collating them). Theres a couple of bataleon reviews in there that i dont want to link too here just in case, but ill post them up because you will be on FIRE about teh riot:

 

This is from Kaptnkrunch at sierra:

 

Quote:

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 215lbs

Years Snowboarding: 12

Skill level: Free Ride = 9. Park/freestyle = 4

Board: Bataleon Riot 159

Bindings: Union Airblaster Inverters

Boots: DC Allegience. Size: 10.5

Angles & Stance +15/-15, 24"

Conditions: Hasn't snowed in over a week and temps have been in the high 30's = CRAP snow!

 

Review:

 

The Riot arrived at my house yesterday evening safe and sound on the UPS truck. I have to say that it looks awesome straight out of the box. Black & white striped top-sheet with a solid black base. Very classy IMHO. The TBT base is very subtle and unless I knew what to look for, I'd probably have missed it.

 

I had heard that waxing a TBT base was a challenge and I fully expected to curse my way through the process, but surprisingly, it wasn't bad at all. It did add a new element to the scraping process, but it only took an additional 5 minutes to scrape all the wax off the base.

 

Took it out today to Keystone for the 1st test-run. This is, hands down, the fastest board I've ever ridden! I'm talking scary, piss your pants fast. I took the board way faster than I've ever ridden before (And I've ridden pretty damn fast prior to this board) and was too scared to take it to the limits...If there are any limits. No matter how fast I mashed on the gas, I couldn't get it to chatter.

 

When I say fast, I mean, I routinely kicked my friend's ass who was riding a 163cm stiff as f*ck board. I didn't just win our races by an inch or a foot, I absolutely destroyed any chance of winning he had within the first 100 feet. This board straight up hauls ass! In fact, I found myself speed checking quite often just so my riding partner could remain in sight of me and the ski patrol wouldn't yell at me.

 

It's not only fast as f*ck, but it carves like a race board. Once I got used to the TBT, carving was a breeze. I was laying down fat carves like nobodies business and loving every minute of it. I could pop from toe to heel and back again without a 2nd thought. Once the board would rock past the flat base and onto the curved side, the board just locked into carve mode.

 

POP to the MAX! I swear I could ollie over small children with this board. This thing pops like no other! I was getting some crazy air off every bump/roller and mogul I went over. Load up the tail and boost yourself to the moon. None of my other boards come close to the ollie power that the Riot has.

 

I was having so much fun just hauling ass, jumping and carving my cares away that I almost forgot to do anything else. Toward the end of the day, I did try switch and like everything else, it was easy as pie. No fear of catching an edge or anything. I felt quite natural riding switch on the Riot. That meant that I could pop 180's off every side hit out there and land like a pro.

 

The Riot is decently stiff - which I expected seeing that it has a 7,5,7 flex (7 tip/tail and 5 between bindings). It's butterable, but just barely...And it's not exactly fun to try to manhandle it into buttering, so after a few minutes of messing around, I gave up on that.

 

Even though Bataleon says it's impossible to catch an edge on the TBT base, I did exactly that today. Granted, it was when I wasn't really paying attention and was manhandling it into a nose press backside 10...But I digress.

 

Side note: The board sucks up the wax like there's no tomorrow. After 10 runs, the board edges were dry as a bone and needed to be re-waxed.

 

I mean honestly...

 

Heres his Airobic review (airobic is the one between the total noodle funkink and the evil twin - ie, a netherworld sort of noodle/stiff park rat deck)

 

Quote:

Board: Bataleon Airobic 159

 

Boots: DC Allegiance size 10.5

 

Bindings: Rome Targas

 

My skill level: All mtn - 9. Park - 3 or 4. Switch - 4.

 

Stats: Weight 215lbs. Height 6'3".

 

Years riding: 12 (1/2 of those years, I only went 1 or 2x though)

 

Conditions: Hasn't snowed in well over a week. 32 degrees, sunny and windy later in the day. Runs were a mix of ice and groomed. Place was PACKED!

 

Even though I rode the Airobic yesterday, I didn't have much time to put it through the paces because I was riding with friends (one of whom was on her 2nd day ever of skiing). Which means that we didn't really do any hard runs/park/moguls etc.

 

Butterability:

 

This board is butter-tastic. If you can't press this thing, you should cut your legs off and quit snowboarding. I didn't really try much butters yesterday, but from the couple times I gave it a shot, it pressed quite nicely.

 

Speed

For an extruded base, I was expecting a dog slow board, but, once again, Bataleon TBT delivered. The Airobic, while not as fast as the Riot, is no slouch at all. I could easily make it past the uphill portions of the Breckenridge catwalks when other non-TBT riders had to skate. I sort of raced my friend who was on the Riot, and given equal riding skills, he would have won...But the Airobic held it's own and it would have been a good race.

 

Switch

 

Here's the part where the Airobic's flex was a marked difference from the Riot. When riding switch on the Riot, you can feel when you roll past the flat portion of the base and onto the 3 degree edge parts. IMO, it made switch on the Riot easier than the Airobic...But it could just be that by the time I really got into switch on the Riot, I'd already ridden it 3 or 4x.

 

The softness of the Airobic made switch a challenge for me because the board felt unstable when transitioning edge to edge. But it's just because I'm not good at switch. Regular, none of that unstableness was felt.

Pop

 

For a 4-3-4 softness, the Airobic has great pop. It's nowhere near the Riot, but it's really good. I had to load up the tail a bit more than the Riot to get good air, but once I got the hang of it, I was popping off every bump/roller etc with ease.

Carving

 

Just like the Riot, this baby carves like mad! Don't know what else to say about the carving except that riding Bataleons make me just want to carve my ass off all day long and say screw everything else.

 

Spins

 

I thought the Airobic was easier to pull out sketch landings on than the Riot. With the Riot, even though the landings are much easier to pull out than a non-TBT base, you can still end up eating shat. On the Airobic, sketch landings are not a problem at all. Combine the TBT + flex = just put weight on front/back leg and you can probably pull out any and all landings.

 

On Wed, I plan to hit the park, see if I can get this board to chatter, ride switch most of the day and, I hope, throw down a 3 finally!

 

For those that are wondering if it's too soft to be a good all mountain board, I think it's got exactly the right flex to excel at all mtn conditions. Soft enough to butter, but the TBT makes it still have pop and the edge holding is really good also. Those guys at Bataleon know their shat with base design...

 

For those that were waiting for me to hit the park with the Airobic - your wait is over. Finally got to hit the mountain again on Friday and spent 2.5 hours of the day hiking the park, so I got a ton of jibbing/spinning in.

So, I suck at boxes and rails. I tried to BS lipslide all day long, but I kept leaning back onto my heel edge which made me fall on my ass. I did, however, get in some crazy nose/tail presses on the boxes and a ton of 50-50's.

 

Spent 30 min or so buttering on some easy green runs and I just gotta say that the Airobic makes butters super easy/smooth.

 

Oh yeah, I threw three FS 3's and landed 2 of em cleanly. The 2nd to last one, I over-rotated to a 450 and washed out on my heel edge on the landing. Also hit a bunch of FS/BS 1's off rollers/moguls etc and got in a couple methods and a couple nose grabs today too. When I landed the 1st FS3, I took off my board and screamed at the top of my lungs. It was awesome! I checked off one of my long-term snowboarding goals today.

 

I landed a HUGE BS1 today where I floated for, what seemed like an eternity and had super slow rotation on the 1. It was scary as hell, cause while I was in the air, I wondered if I'd get the rotation in time, but I landed clean.

 

I've heard that BS3's are much easier than FS, so next week, I'm gona try a few BS3's too now that I've got the feel for em.

 

Like expected, I gouged the shat out of my board base. This time, it was right next to the edge and I can see where they pressed the edge in...So definitely going to have to P-Tex it before I ride the Airobic again.

 

Besides the base gouge, today was EPIC! Guess it's time to ride the Riot again.

 

Oh yeah - I saw someone on the mountain with a Goliath. 1st Bataleon I've seen all year besides the 2 I own.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

The Riot sounds....well....like a Riot!! I'm gonna have to have a read of the reviews a bit more. Although like I said before, the Jam is the one which is piquing my interest.

[ippy 66]

there is a review of the jam, but the dude riding it realised his test board had serious detuned edges for no reason. It makes the review really incomplete and gives you almost no sense of the deck.

 

so i figured id get you stoked on the issue of the base. Dont know where i got the idea it was sluggish... Maybe im compensating internally so i make sense of why everyone in the world isnt riding one of these. Im sure theres a problem, but nothing makes me think i wont love these decks

 

Anyway, heres shakazulu's brief '09 jam review:

 

Quote:

Just got done after a full day with the Jam that I demoed from a local shop. it was a 157. I'm 5'11" 165lbs, size 10 Burton SLX's on a medium set of Burton Triads.

 

Conditions were hardpack, just above 30 degree's or so with a very light dusting on top of the surface in some places, and some windblown stuff in others. Basically it was a day to bomb the runs and carve. Only one park built and I never bothered to wait in line to hit it, though I kinda wish I had.

 

Turn initiation is the first thing I can comment on. It is buttery smooth, even more so than on a banana board. Totally natural. One thing that I noticed right off the bat is that riding switch was much easier. I can not ride black runs switch. I can bomb at pretty high speeds and do some general carving action, but there is no way I'm hitting a tree run and busting moves left and right. Anyhow, I felt totally confident laying it from side to side and whipping it around the same way I would riding regular.

 

On to the bad parts. Some asshat decided to detune the entire board pretty majorly. Further inspection of the base revealed that this board has been used as a jib stick quite a bit. I did not discover this until a really high speed turn on some hardpack when I lost the edge. Thinking it was my fault, I dialed up the speed and the same thing happened. Initially I thought it was something to do with the board design and was all set to be pissed off and not ride it anymore, but the inspection of the edges revealed the likely cause.

 

As such, I'm going to have to get another run on one. Strangely enough, I could still get a pretty mean carve on with the edges being rounded. It has not snowed in several weeks, and most of the natural features were gone, plus there was a big line around the park that I simply didnt feel like dealing with. So I have no comments regarding jumps etc, which I really wantd to try. I would say the board was mid-stiff, very similar to my old Trice, which I have always said was the perfect flex for an all around board for me.

 

The board felt great though, and it was SUPER FAST! I mean like lightspeed fast, point it and chase down skiers with a smile while riding switch. That seems to be a common theme based on other comments.

 

I will try and score a ride on one that hasn't been butchered soon.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

yeah Ippy I've read that review before. I've got to stop looking at reviews and watching snowboard movies though cos the excitement is almost too much but its not even October yet!! Also the credit card is feeling particularly heavy in my wallet and temptation to blast the board onto it is growing at a daily rate!!

[Tubby Beaver 209]

actually Ippy, if we ever meet I reckon I'm gonna have to batter you!!

 

Not only have you BULLIED me into buying a new board, but now you've confused me.....do I want more flex to develop my buttering, jibbing and all round skipping skills, while still being able to max down the mountain (and so buy the Riot) or do I want it a little stiffer so i can bomb down the mountain like a bat outta hell (and so go for the Jam)!! So much to think about, so little time!!

 

 

 

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Actually I think if anything reading all of ippy's info has made me realize that my cambered board is just what I should be riding, and if I was to go rocker it really should have been at the time I was face planting every few metres!

 

Good Job Ippy