BEST rocker boards? Drop some knowledge on me!

[akitapow 1]

Heyyy party people, just switched to a rocker board last season, and I LOVE IT. Picked me up a Burton Hero (i know i know to all the Burton haters, haha). Anyway, such a fun ride, super playful, great in pow!

 

BUT, yea I definitely want to branch out from one brand, and try some new boards. Been wanting to switch to LIB TECH, but gotta save up some cash money first. Anyway all thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated! woot!

[ippy 66]

way too many to go into. Theres also several types of rocker out there as well

 

The hero (V-rocker) is similar to banana tech (rocker in the middle, with a flattening, and then a little raise at the end).

You could also look at EZ-V rocker which is continuous rocker from the center. Im pretty sure this is the same as the signal park rocker. Because its a continuous arc it obviously kicks up a bit more and thus has a looser feel than V-rocker.

Then theres the discontinued P-rocker. This one is very very similar to capitas Flat kick. I think burtons was the one you get on the current horrorscope, so its flat to the inserts, then rockers up.

Capita have three types of Flat kick. The first one youll find on the horrorscope and i think the ultrafear. You also have a similar design with the indoor FK but it kicks up AFTER the inserts.

The other capita rocker youll get on their pow board. Its called Pow FK. This is zero camber from the tail to just outside the inserts and then it kicks up.

The Burton version of this is called S-Rocker. Its very similar, but i believe they put camber in the design rather than keeping it flat which makes it more of a hybrid rocker i guess. Youll get that on the malolo and the fish.

If memory serves me right, Rides lowrize is pretty similar to capitas with flat base and then kicks up, the highrize is kind of the pow version of this, with the tip kicking up inside the inserts i believe and the tail being rockered from the outside of the inserts.

Actually screw it, ill go check it out: Turns out prorize seems to have a longer flat part, so maybe its closer to the indoor FK. Still just watched the lowrize clip, and it also seems like it kicks up late. I guess prorize is after the inserts and lowrize is AT the inserts? Either way, both are very similar ti capitas FK.

 

This is like three brands by the way, and this is ONLY their rocker boards. I havent even touched on hybrid camber

 

Ill maybe do that tomorrow though because i shoudl really get to bed

[ippy 66]

oooh, but id like to say four words before i go because its my favourite tech at the moment

 

BATALEON: Triple Base Technology.

 

This is just camber. But from around the inserts the edges start to glide up kind of in a spoon shape. You still have camber underfoot, but the edges are raised slightly which releases the contacts. This means you get that loose feel you get from a rocker board, but you still have the punch youll want from a camber board. And the nice thing is when you do get on edge it rails just as good as a camber deck because your contacts are still effectively there. Edge to edge is super quick, it pops, it locks in on a turn, and its loose and playful when you dont want those edges. Its also cheat mode in switch Its hard for me to fault the tech in fact. Its got all the good things you want in a rocker (loose, cruisy, pressy, relaxing fun) and all the pros of camber (poppy, stable, and lively). I guess if you want to nitpick, you still have to load/release for pop, and big fans of rocker find that annoying and unnecessary hard work. But im a camber kid and loading is part of the fun!

[Mick Rich 78]

This must be the kind of post you dream about Ippy! I ride a Ride Machete with their lowrize rocker and love it!

[andylaurel 3]

I ride a Ride DH2 lowrise and a Ride Slackcountry Highrise and they're both great.

I've not ridden a camber board in years, so I can't really compare.

[akitapow 1]

Yo IPPY big ups for all the info! There ARE def soooooooo many different types of rocker boards. I wish I could demo every single one, haha.

 

and Mich Rich, what do you like about it so much?

 

thanks guys, great info right here

[ippy 66]

This must be the kind of post you dream about Ippy! I ride a Ride Machete with their lowrize rocker and love it!

 

it is it is. But the site was down while i was at work, and they gave me a half day, so the rest can wait.

 

Suffice it to say:

 

Rome:

 

Jibpop: Flat in the middle, kicks up AT the bindings, so its the same as lowrize i reckons.

Freepop: Same as above only ends outside the inserts (inserts are the holes where you put your bindings by the way) and then kicks up - Prorize?

PSCamber: S rocker just like burtons.

 

Correction on the signal park rocker. Turns out its flat kick as well. But more like the horrorscopes flat kick. Flat between the bindings, then kicks up a bit at the inserts, goes flat, then kinks up again (: Ill pop back to the omni later when i talk about camrock.

 

K2:

 

Catchfree: Basically flat, then a very small amount of rocker at the contacts. Initially i thought it was like prorize, but actually itsvery very small. Its literally a flat board with a tiny tiuny bit of rocker. Im pretty sure DWD have something similar on the genovese. Its listed as flat, but a dude who knows his stuff on another site (and runs a shop) says it has the tiniest lift near the contacts.

Jibrocker = FK/Prorize. Flat then kicks after the inserts.

Allterrain rocker = Lowrize - flat to the bindings, then kicks.

 

Again, ill come to the other 2 after

 

Arbor:

Parabolic rocker: Sort of like the banana but the angle REDUCES the further towards the nose and tail you go. So although its still pivoting from the center, and its always increasing that angle, its not a continuous arc. Its kinda flattening from the pivot to the tail.

 

Elan:

JibRocker: Looks similar to rocker on horrorscope: flat between inserts and then kicks up.

 

Anyways, i reckon that covers most of the rocker shapes. They basically come in two essential flavors:

 

Rocker in the center versus flat in the center (and rocker inside/at/outside the inserts).

 

So this brings us to step 2:

 

Zero camber.

 

Lots of companies are pushing this right now. 2009/10 was defined by rocker. 2010/11 the hype was on hybrids. (well actually 2008 was really the hype year on rocker, but 2009 was when people started buying it in droves). So anyway, The hype of 2011/12 seems to be on zero camber. The success of K2 in the goodwoods (they mean nothing by the way), has put flatline on the map and lots of companies are moving some of their line to zero. Nitro have had it for a while, capita just put it on their midlife, burton just put it on the super hero, signal have it on the park, k2 obvioulsy have flatline, DWD have it on teh genovese, and Ride obvioulsy (being part of the K2 umbrella) also have it.

 

Flat flat flat. Not much more to say. It definitely offers an alternative to both rocker, camber and the hybrid cambers for those out there who want a slightly looser feel but still like their contacts and a bit of snap to their ride. As ever, im a technology sheep, so i really want to get on one this year.

 

I should add that rome have a really fun take on it in the hybrid fun camber. Its BARELY camber, and when weighted it kinda rockers. Bit weird. But there you go. Kinda flat, kinda cambered, and kinda rockered. Hard to know where to put it if im honest. so ill put it here!

And that leaves the weirdest world of all:

 

Hybrid cambers:

 

Much like rocker they come in two main shapes:

 

Camber in the middle and rocker at the inserts/contacts.

Vs

Rocker in the middle, camber, then rocker.

 

The main driving force of the first one are Nidecker. But youll find it on Yes, nidecker, technine, capita and a few others (i think jones has it too iirc). Oh and rome has it on their ripit series.

The main driving force of the second one is Neversummer (because they own the patent to Mervins annoyance), but youll also find it on Libtech, Burton, Rome, Nitro, Salomon, and a few others.

 

The designs of the first group (camrock) can be pretty much broken down to where the camber ends. Indeed, just head to the nidecker site and youll see a diagram of both.

The first has only a very slight camber between the bindings, and then at the bindings starts kicking up. Its kinda enhanced lowrize in a way. This is their standard camrock shape.

The second one has a bit more camber between the bindings and also pops up a little later in the inserts. This is pretty similar to Capita's Freeride FK which you can find on the BSOD and Totally FKn Awesome. Of the two the first one is a bit too close to rocker still to really do anything. As i say, its kinda enhanced rocker more than anything else. If you want a real hybrid ride, youd probably skip this one. If instead you were after something a bit like a rocker but with a wee bit more kickback or resistance, you might like this. But i dunno man, too many companies are using stringers to enhance resistance and give the extra benefits that the 'camber part' is supposed to bring, so its pretty hard to sell this tech if im honest. Its still got short effective edge, and still has raised contacts at the end of the day. So its hard to really say its going to deliver a mix of the two.

 

The second one though seems to have a lot of people stoked out. It offers a bit more pop, some nice resistance and thus snap, and also keeps the reverse down to a minimum since it has less of the boards length to run up. For a fair few people (whose opinions i trust), this shape really delivers a much more camber orientated ride than C2 et al. And certainly more camber esque than the standard camrock.

 

Anyway, onto C2 (though i should say R+C)

 

Drawing from banana rocker, it adds kind of wings to the shape like a seagull flapping. You should really just go look at a picture. Id post one up, but then id feel compelled to find one for all the techs im describing and i cant be bothered to do all that in truth (:

 

It offers rocker in the middle, then cambers out before hooking back up into rocker at the tip/tail. The benefit is pretty clear: you have rocker, but when its weighted you also have contacts and a bit of resistance. Its definitely bringing the best of both worlds in that you can simply weight yourself to disengage that front or back contact keeping it loose and playful when you want it, and locked in when you dont. Rome seem to have the weakest of the camber side of things along with burtons flying V. Whereas neversummer, lib and nitro (gullwing) all seem to be pushing things very much towards a genuine hybrid design (if that makes sense?)

 

So there you go. Thatll do, i was supposed to be playing my game on thsi bonsu half day, but instead i typed this out. Hope it helps you get your head around it.

 

In summary:

 

Camber: Yeah you know. Classic snowboard.

 

TBT (camber but with slightly raised edges around the contacts) - also check out lobster snowboards and omatic (who have a kind of hybridy version of this).

 

Zero Camber: Flat from contact to contact. Also some (DWD and Rome) have started adding slight tweeks to this design with a teensy camber arc, or a very small reverse camber lift at the contacts.

 

Rocker 1: Banana style: pivot in the center with either a curve like a banana (signal), flattening (gnu/lib) or mellowing (arbor)

Rocker 2: Flat Kick: Flat in center, but rocker either before bindings (horrorscope), at bindings (lowrize), or after the bindings (indoor FK/prorize).

 

Hybrid 1: Camrock: Camber between bindings, then rocker at (enhanced FK) or just after bindings (hybrid for the more camber style kids).

Hybrid 2: R+C: pivot between bindings, then camber, then rocker. Definitely the dominant hybrid shape. Veers a little on the looser rocker side than #2 camrock allegedly.

 

Pow Rocker: rocker at nose, camber or flat at the tail. Kinda hybrid, but kinda not really More accurate to call it dual or multiple cambers or something (:

 

Ive probably forgotten something, but thats all i can think off the top of my head

[akitapow 1]

IPPY you da man! thanks for all this great info bro! you def DROPPED some knowledge on me! Just out of curiosity, what boards are you gonna rock out this season?

 

thanks again!

[ippy 66]

Last year i was on:

 

Capita charlie slasher (POW FK)

Capita Quiver Killer (camber)

Capita Sierrascope FK (prorize)

Bataleon Airobic (twin TBT)

 

THIS YEAR im down to three:

 

I sold the quiver killer and the airobic (i tried also selling the scope, but its a bit messy ).

And replaced them with a Bataleon Riot (Twin TBT).

 

PS. TBT comes in 5 styles - jib, twin, freestyle, all mtn, and freeride. They all have different widths on the tbt itself (the middle part versus the two edges), and also all have different lengths raised as well as different angles.

 

The jib boards tend towards a solid middle platform for holding presses, while the freeride tends towards low angles and a narrow center. They also have different setbacks and the like.

[Mick Rich 78]

Yeah, Ippy's definitely da rocker man!

 

and Mick Rich, what do you like about it so much?

 

The Machete's my 1st rocker board and I think the lowrize tech offers a good compromise between camber and the more extreme rocker versions, for me at least. There's so much choice out there though - thank god for the "technology sheep" like Ippy!

[Tubby Beaver 209]

oooh, but id like to say four words before i go because its my favourite tech at the moment

 

BATALEON: Triple Base Technology.

 

This is just camber. But from around the inserts the edges start to glide up kind of in a spoon shape. You still have camber underfoot, but the edges are raised slightly which releases the contacts. This means you get that loose feel you get from a rocker board, but you still have the punch youll want from a camber board. And the nice thing is when you do get on edge it rails just as good as a camber deck because your contacts are still effectively there. Edge to edge is super quick, it pops, it locks in on a turn, and its loose and playful when you dont want those edges. Its also cheat mode in switch Its hard for me to fault the tech in fact. Its got all the good things you want in a rocker (loose, cruisy, pressy, relaxing fun) and all the pros of camber (poppy, stable, and lively). I guess if you want to nitpick, you still have to load/release for pop, and big fans of rocker find that annoying and unnecessary hard work. But im a camber kid and loading is part of the fun!

 

 

After today Ippy, I too am a believer!! Glad you whipped me into a sense of hysteria last year over the TBT........so that this year when the arse fell out the dollar, I got a board nice and cheap. Transitions are effortless, no edge-catch-craziness on chopped up piste, nice flex and floated well enough through the powder.

[ippy 66]

whee! its pretty neat eh? What surprises most people is just how fast it is edge to edge. On paper and with simple deduction (the contacts are far away from the snow) it seems like it should be its Achilles heel, but its really really not. It just kinda rolls edge to edge in a way thats both lightning quick and super fluid. Theres none of this alley-ooping onto yoru edge*

 

Did you pop into switch? Its freaking cheat mode isnt it? You just end up dropping in and out of switch without even thinking about it. (: Honestly, i was genuinely stunned just how much it went beyond my already over hyped expectations.

 

 

 

*Exaggerated for effect.

[ippy 66]

ETA: Just reread what he wrote about the DWD genovese. Its sort of camber humps (burton).

 

I forgot to mention that tech too and i should have because its actually quite interesting.

Its basically flat, but under both inserts they add camber. Its like a flattened c2 in a way What this gives you is just enough resistance for a bit more snap out of your deck, but not quite as much as youd get out of straight camber. Interesting idea. Mellow enough to ride out of the box (throw in infinite ride into that mix as well, why not?) but with a bit more pizzaz so it doesnt ride like its just dead camber (as some people report zero camber sometimes does).

The DWD genovese is less pronounced according to this dude, but nonetheless has that same hump - though it seems to stretch from the middle rather than being completely flat between the bindings. Heres his pic of it. I could have just shut up and posted this to be honest

 

 

Interesting the way people seem to be trying every possible variation of camber without it being camber. I dont know what the antipathy is since i personally reckon camber is awesome. But well, the more designs, the more you can tweek your ride to exactly what you want, so what the hey! The more choice the better

 

PS. This is exactly the kind of picture i LOVE seeing when people post their boards up. Camber profiles are so damn interesting

[Tubby Beaver 209]

whee! its pretty neat eh? What surprises most people is just how fast it is edge to edge. On paper and with simple deduction (the contacts are far away from the snow) it seems like it should be its Achilles heel, but its really really not. It just kinda rolls edge to edge in a way thats both lightning quick and super fluid. Theres none of this alley-ooping onto yoru edge*

 

Did you pop into switch? Its freaking cheat mode isnt it? You just end up dropping in and out of switch without even thinking about it. (: Honestly, i was genuinely stunned just how much it went beyond my already over hyped expectations.

 

 

 

*Exaggerated for effect.

 

yeah it was very easy to go into switch and back again. Doing little spins thru 360 degrees was easy too, no edge catch wariness. As you say, from edge to edge it rocks you easily....I was a little worried how the edge control would be on a packed piste but even late on when the piste had taken a battering, there was no less control than I've had on any of my other boards. Win-win IMO

[ippy 66]

and just think, youre on one of their stiffer boards in the line. Consider what its like when you just want to butter the mountain or stomp landings on a nice poppy but forgiving ride. I honestly cant say enough good shit about bataleon (: Man, indirectly youre stoking me out to get on that riot now. In many ways i forgot why i bought it, but now i remember:

 

Capita Quiver killer with an off switch q: A board that performs and pops like the quiver killer but is effortless to cruise on (thanks TBT!)

 

Anyway, let me talk about a nice solid camber board though just to balance all this rocker nonsense!!!

 

I <3 my quiver killer. Honestly, one of the best boards ive ridden. The pop and the edge hold is incredible. You aint never getting spanked by the terrain.

 

I love camber. Nothing beats it. Its nice playing with other techs and i get really excited just to try them out but theres a reason people keep trying to find ways to deliver a camber ride without all the loading/unloading or the catching. Its just the best for pop, the best for railing and the best for mastering the terrain. The conditions dont mean shit to camber. bring your A-game and the board will destroy whatever you put in front of it.

 

Obviously its not for everyone though. People hate loading/unloading camber and prefer a kind of looser skate style pop (it doenst play havoc on your knees and honestly you can get some wicked fun pop on reverse camber), they also dont like it for forgiveness. Nothing more fun than spinning about and scorpioning. You can do that on reverse camber of course, but well... you know. Also its a bit of effort to get on a press since youre fighting the boards desire to get back to its natural shape for no real benefit (at least when you pop youre getting exactly that benefit). Of course part of this is because people are trying to LIFT the board rather than PRESS the board (; Again, technique and all that (:

 

(pressing is really just about focusing your weight towards the arse end of the board somewhere around the contacts/tail, people often (self included) try and pull up the nose. And obviously the shape of camber isnt going to enjoy that, but these are some of the dirty habits you might pick up on a reverse camber stick).

 

Finally i guess the sidecut plays a much bigger part on a camber deck, which can create a hooky feeling with tight radius boards. The sidecut radius as a whole seems to be brought out a bit more for good or ill on camber. Great for fast slicing in trees, less so in landing slightly off center or railing looooooong carves.

 

So thats the negatives:

 

- Catchy due to contacts.

- Tiring due to loading/unloading and pressing failures.

- Really really enhances the sidecut.

- Doesnt float as well as reverse camber (in comparative sizes).

- Sizing plays a massive part - you want float, you size up, you want to hit boxes or just butter the hill, youll probably size down.

- Often requires a fair few rides to tone the camber down. In fact might as well mention tuning in general. Camber isnt entirely friendly out of the box. You may need to 'break it in' and you may need to get your edges beveled to get the "just-so" ride you want. I guess the second one applies to every board, but when you have raised contacts, it kinda removes the urgency to detune for nicks.

 

There, thats a bit more extensive than i thought it would be.

 

Now for the positives:

 

- Absolutely stable. You can get on something like the stairmaster (the camber version of the horrorscope) and KNOW that the board is still going to rock pretty much the majority of the mountain. You want to hit it? off you go. Unless its literally a wet noodle, camber is going to slay it.

- POP. I <3 pop. Last year pop became everything to me. And nothing pops like camber. NO-THING! Pop gives your ride a real lively feel to it and really makes you feel awesome. I dont know what else to say. A lively ride versus a dead ride is night and day. Dead rides are fun, dont get me wrong, its really neat just cruising, hitting stuff up and doinking off features, but after a few hours im raring to CHAAAARGE!!!! And camber delivers that hands down.

- The sidecut is there for a reason. When you choose your board, that raidus means a lot more in camber. It defines what style of carves this boards putting out as well as what kind of forgiveness its going to have when you dont quite hit your landing. As i said, its a positive and a negative. It requires a bit more background knowledge on tech, but when you know what its all about, you can get exactly what you want (might as well throw in the size up/down 'negative' as well on this point).

- It SLASHES pow. Size up, hit pow, be in absolute control. Yeah it might try nose diving, and youre going to get thigh burn, and you kinda have to ride on your ass, but it rips in pow (though to be honest, id still pick hybrid or s-rocker styles since they let you sit centered which is massive in my opinion - though of course if you size up a LOT then yeah, its going to be hard to sink that tail, but then youre kinda turning an oil tanker and i like riding my normal size in truth).

- Precision. Camber doesnt save you, it doesnt let you get away with stuff. You screw up, you get dumped on your face. This means one thing: you LEARN to not screw up. Camber is unforgiving and this lack of forgiveness means you take the trouble to NOT be loose. You get on point and you learn how to situate your weight/stance properly. And it rewards you with a lively poppy ride which brings all of this together in a rip it, do it all package.

 

The bottom line is this: Camber is awesome. Lots of people are coming back to it and realising what they were missing. (: Dont discount it as a tech. Theres a reason that its been the mainstay of snowboarding for the past however long snowbaords have existed.

[ippy 66]

I tried to find a decent thread to put this in... so why not this one since it has some nice info (as well as typical ippy bataleon hype).

 

Bataleon Riot 2011

 

 

Rider: Ippy; a shameful 165lbs; About 100 days total. Days 1, 2, and 3 of season 5.

Preferences: Camber.

Rider Style: CHAAAAAARGE!!!! <boing!> WAAAAAH!!!! <bail!>.

Board: Bataleon Riot 2011 - 155cm. A little bit shorter than id like (id prefer the 157 to be honest and of the pre-2012 i would have picked the 159 if the place i got it actually had them).

Conditions: Decent dump all over the resort. Even the paths amongst the trees were soft and fluffy. Probably knee deep freshies on non groomers. Though most were hella choppy and soft pack mogulbahns due to the proportion of skiers hitting them over boarders (probably about 75/25 from my careful scientific observation).

 

Preconceptions: This is it! Ive been researching properly for three seasons! this is the board i wanted from the minute i heard about it. To say my preceonceptions were unrealistic is putting it mildly (:

 

Edited Highlights (so you can skip the wordcount if you like):

 

Good: Pop; very playful; super loose; lively; energetic; super fast edge to edge.

Bad: Base; unstable; squirly.

Concluding remark: I said to my mate on day 2 that if i was just demoing the board, i wouldnt buy it. I kinda take those words back a little (but not entirely)... still, I should probably hand back my bataleon cheerleader pompoms though.

 

The Review:

 

Waxing the board was a pain in the ass.

I felt i had to add this point because it was the first real dent in the bataleon fanboy sheen. To put it simply, the point where the flat base meets the angled edge is really really easy to scrape dry. Scraping is already miserable without having extra irritants so it loses points from the off. Once you get used to it though its not a problem, you just have to be suuuuuper gentle around those points. But it was still a bother.

 

Speaking of wax, heres another MASSIVE weak point about the deck: By the end of day 1 (after a heavy summer coat (and a second wax specifically at the aforementioned points above after i screwed up the first scraping there), it was sticky and bone dry. Its also kinda slower than i hoped. It's alright when its got a line and can start picking up speed, but when you're dealing with flats and trying to keep up speed there is an issue, and it's pretty much down to this:

 

You can't really sit on your edge. Normally on a path you might just tweak or roll from edge to edge, but with the riot you're kinda tweaking from the flat base to the tbt rather than to the edges. When you engage those contacts at relatively slow speeds it feels kinda hooky kinda like if you tried to carve at low speed. At faster speeds it's not so much an issue, but when you're just cruising, you have to really spend it on your base and that means sluggish performance on that kind of terrain. It was kinda disappointing being the person at the back of the group im normally charging away from if i'm honest.

 

A second and similar complaint is the slidey feeling on the back foot. Transitioning edge to edge (if you arent popping your edges), there's a moment when the board kinda comes off the rails just a bit. The TBT obviously gives the board a super loose feel, but it also does make it feel a little unpredictable. The edge to edge itself is incredibly quick and you can dig some nice trenches with some super fast turns, but there is just that little moment every now and again when the board feels like its come off the rails and youre not entirely in control of your back foot.

It makes the board feel squirly and a little unpredictable at speed... and that's not what you really want when you're transitioning onto your heel edge and the back slides causing you to catch your edge on the steepest part of the nozawa skyline at full speed, (head first and backwards - good job i wore a helmet because that was a seriously heavy impact).

 

Okay, that's really the heart of what i don't like about the board: The base dries out way too quick and because you end up riding on your base more than youre maybe used to, this can create a bit of a perfect storm when the heel edge slides out.

 

So now to the parts i loved about the board:

 

Day 1 i loved the board. It was poppy, lively and above all comfortable (up until the tumble on the skyline), day 2 i was wary of it, but by day 3 i was getting my head around it (i even did my first (deliberate) forward somersault on it (into deep pow of course - im not totally mental) just because that nose is so explosive).

 

The board definitely leans more towards freestyle. I think the rider that would get a massive kick out of this deck is someone who wants something loose but seriously poppy. The pop on this board is its number one selling point and with good reason; its seriously explosive. By day 3 i was getting to grips with it and starting to feel like i was getting comfortable riding not just the way i wanted to ride (like i did in day 1), but how the board wanted to ride (sounds stupid, but there you go). I think once you start playing to the boards strengths (its pop and looseness), the board starts opening up a bit more and starts to unlock a few of its secrets! (:

 

It's slow. On flats. Because you cant really get on its edge without feeling like it hooks.

When you have enough time to ramp it up and open the throttle on it, it will bomb. The board is FAST.

 

So it's fast, its super poppy, and has explosive edge to edge. All around you get the idea what it wants to do. It wants to nuke stuff. (: It wants to charge up every wall and high mark it; it wants to hit every roller/kicker and launch from it. It wants to spin, twist, grind and stomp... but, (and heres the fun part), it also has an off switch for when you just want to cruise. Of course, its pretty stiff, so if you're looking for something with a bit more give for buttering and pressing i would look at the evil twin. But for just spinning about or cruising its rather good fun. It feels like a nice comfy snowboard. Its loose, spinney, and springy. Its *THAT* type of playful. Its not really a butter board, i mean you CAN butter it and all that, its slightly over moderately stiff is all so it'll take a bit of work. But unlike with my quiver killer, the tbt really helps in this specific area. If you just want to mellow down and ride, its kinda fine with that!

 

I Can't tell you about the park because i didnt hit a single feature. Pity, because thats what the boards all about i reckons. Well... pity someone *good* didn't check it out for me... What the hell would i have said? It rides 50/50s fine?

 

The conditions at nozawa were knee deep in ungroomed. It was also pretty damn choppy by day 3 with some heavy tracked skier lines cut in the steeper parts. On icier stuff it seemed perfectly stable. On the first run of the skyline i deliberately rode a hard edge to see how it felt and it was super stable (the second run had poorer light levels so i couldnt make out the skier cuts as easily). In choppy pow it was fantastic fun, and it didn't feel like i was getting bounced around like i might have on my sierrascope. It didnt blast it mind you, but it was happy to cut through it or bobble over it. No real crud and proper chop to speak of, but i reckon thats going to be one of the boards strong points (or at least i hope it is).

 

Last thing is pow. It's too small for me. I know this. It's hard therefore to give it a fair assessment in this regard. But it did better than i anticipated. It does nose dive, it does get stuck, and you are getting thigh burn, but it also feels playful enough to ride over it. I did find myself (often) remarking that i wish i had my charlie with me, but that was more because the conditions were perfect for pulling out the charlie. Again though, regarding pow, it felt kinda like a slightly tweaked camber ride. No extra special float or anything like that, but a little less effort than maybe keeping my 157 quiver killer up (when i was three kilos lighter).

 

All in all, its a board im still on the fence about. I feel the same about it as i felt about my quiver killer in the middle of last season: i need to give it a bit more time to see what side of the fence it falls on. Its super fun. Its very playful. Its also definitely an aggressive ride but i have this feeling that 3 days of pretty decent pow werent the best conditions to test out the boards actual potential. So maybe ill pop back to this thread later in the season and see how my thinking evolves on it.

 

Right now, gun to my head and if i could go back in time, i probably wouldnt drop money on it. Its that little bit of unpredictability that has me reluctant to keep it as my go-to board for this season. It also makes me super reluctant to get on the 2012 changes since it seems to enhance the parts that i found most problematic. That being said though, it will definitely be taken out almost exclusively for the rest of the season (aside dumps when ill pull out the charlie), so ill have some time to re-evaluate this position. As i said, i felt like it was starting to click on the third day, so a few more days on it and it might end up being the board i thought it was from the preconceptions above. Its kinda there, its just also kinda not there until i get it under control and learn to trust it (or my riding on it) a bit more.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I've found that about my Bataleon Omni as well. After the intial, "wow I love this TBT catch free-ness" you start to see little cracks in the armour. On flats, the back end likes to start squirming around, almost jack-knifing if you aren't on top of it. By the end of the day when you are tired and not at your alert best, this problem creeps up more and more. It's good on crud, the raised edges help to avoid the unwanted leading edge catch on a random pile of crap. I've had it in the deep and TBH it was very hard work. Back leg burn was uber!! BUT I hadn't moved my bindings back, like I had been on my previous board so I'm gonna reserve judgement on its Pow-Power later when I've adjusted my bindings. Edge to edge are super smooth, I've never felt a board that transitions so well. Carving is effortless and a whole lot of fun. The base is fast and although I haven't hot waxed it, I did add some rub on and gave it a polish in between days and the board flies like a bat out of hell. Cat tracks can be a bit painful as to stay on edge you have to lean over that little bit more and can start to cramp upi your feet for prolonged times....failing that you can sit it flat but then the back end starts to play funny buggers.

 

I'm reasonably happy with it, I'm hoping that as I get used to how it rides I'll enjoy it all the more

[ippy 66]

if you dont mind im going to post MikeDs review on his funkink that he posted after my review. He said it just takes a bit of time to get your head around it, but it helps balance out the feeling of doom and gloom by snapping me out of that "but maybe its not exactly what i want!!!" cloud that descended over me while writing my review.

Ok Ippy. I shall try my best with this review.

 

* I bought and 1st rode my fun.kink last season 2010-2011 (my 1st day on it was Dec 5th or 6th 2010)

 

Bataleon Fun.Kink 2010

 

 

Rider: MikeD; 190-195lbs; 24 seasons with an average of about 25 days per season.

Preferences: Camber and Hybrid Camber (*Before TBT*)

Rider Style: Slash, pop, press, ollie, grab, drop

Board: Bataleon Fun.kink 2010- 157cm. About the perfect size for me. I seem to feel the best riding 157-159 cm boards .

-Bindings: Union Contacts 2011 (white/ red)

Conditions: I have tried the Fun.Kink in all conditions after 40+ days on it

Preconceptions: It's on!!!! I had been researching for a season. I wanted either the fun.kink or the Evil Twin, just something fun to mess around on when the snow conditions are not good for riding my custom. I found the Fun.Kink was on sale for $207 shipped!!!! How could I pass it up!?!?!?! I was really excited to try TBT out!!

 

Good: Pop and lots of it!!! Super playful; super loose; Super fast edge to edge. More stable than I thought it would be for a board listed w/ a 3.5 flex/ feel (when Brand New. It has become more flexy since then, w/ about 40 days riding it. It's prob more of a 3.5 now, it may have been closer to a 5 when new/ the 1st 5-7 days.)

Bad: squirrely ... until U get used to the feel

 

The Review:

 

1st impressions of TBT:

 

TBT feels solid and snappy like reg camber. I remember how TBT felt 'loose' in the tail compared to reg camber, not in a bad way.. just different. Not less stable feeling IMO. It is something U naturally adjust to when riding TBT. (it seems natural after 4-5 days I would say) I was happy about this! It's one of the reasons I was so intrigued by Bataleon and TBT.

I really don't feel that it's 'loose' now when switching from my Custom to the Fun.Kink or from my Fun.Kink to my Custom.....More that my Custom feels like it's locked in and really flat. And the Fun.Kink / TBT is more surfy. So, just a different feel.

TBT feels really 'surfy' to me. Almost like U are riding fresh snow always (excluding icy spots). TBT is super catch free!! U can slide out of almost any situation and not catch an edge! TBT also handles just fine in icy conditions, even though it doesn't seem like it would, it's 100% good to go on ice!

 

How the Fun.Kink rides: (with Union Contacts)

Like I stated above, this board was a little stiffer than the flex/ feel rating implied. It took about 5-7 days riding it before it loosened up. The middle of the board seems to have more flex than the nose and tail. It's a softer board, but by no means is it a noodle. The 3.5 flex/ feel rating seems correct. The nose and tail feel like 4-ish and the middle more like 3 (since it feels softer/ more flexy than the nose and tail). The Fun.Kink has a lot of pop! Ollies like a dream! It's really fast edge to edge! This board can handle some speed, but not a ton (not the best for carving on groomed blacks or double blacks). U can rip around on it some though, so it's not like U are stuck in the park all day on this board. This board is at it's best at medium to slow speeds. Spinning ground tricks, presses and butter are super easy and fun. It presses well but not automatically. It does great on boxes, haven't hit rails w/ it. I haven't hit any medium or bigger kickers (I will when they set up some medium kickers) just smaller jumps, side hits and lip poppers. It handles all of them fine and would imagine it can handle medium-ish sized kickers w/ out a problem.

I haven't tried the Fun.Kink in any significant pow, only 6-8''. Which it handled OK, but but def not the best for pow (esp/ w/ the contact bindings).

 

Waxing/ Scraping

Waxing/ scraping a TBT base is def different than a flat based board. And Like Ippy stated, you can mess up the base at the TBT zones if U aren't careful ( I almost did this scraping my Fun.Kink the 1st time) . I have found the trick is: #1 PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing!!!! #2 Scrap the middle 1st.. then the edges.

 

Conclusion:

 

After being on my Fun.Kink for 40+ days now ....I really love my Fun.Kink! And I really love TBT! I was in love from the 1st day! The description truly is in the name of the board 'Fun'! This board is great for someone who is a freestyle rider who likes to lap the park, jibs everything they can find on every run... and I would say it should be great for urban riding too. Anything that involves rails, gaps/ transitions, sliding.. so, park, jibs, urban, etc.. this board will be awesome for any of it!!

 

**I feel I have a lot of positive things to say about this board and TBT since I have had a good amount of time to find/ discover the benefits of TBT. I also ride smaller resorts (for the most part) and have to find the fun... and riding TBT makes that a lot easier.. To me it's like strapping on instant fun!

 

*Sidenote about the base getting dry*

I feel I need to comment on this too. My base (extruded on the Fun.Kink) seems to get dry at the edges too. But, not much more than the base of my custom. When I ride my Fun.Kink I am usually in areas where there are more ppl, so I frequently stop or have to speed check, which can't help the situation. I ride logs and stumps .. and jib stuff too. not helping the base.. but super fun It also depends on the snow conditions too, of course. Hard pack or icy conditions def make the base dry on the Fun.Kink. And the dry zones are def at the edges. But, when I wax it again it's good to go. I pretty much wax the edges after each day. Just a quick crayon/ rub on and hit it w/ the iron, no scrape. Just a thin new layer, enough for the base to soak it up. So, it doesn't really bug me too much. But, def a lil issue w/ TBT I suppose. But, if I have to put a little more work in to have a lot more fun .... I have no prob w/ that

[panhead_pete 27]

Im loving my NS SL. Very forgiving board. I know that has NO techinical information but that's all I have. Where my Lib Tech would throw me on my ass Im riding out on on the NS.

[Jynxx 4]

I reckon this hybrid definition is really sketchy.

I would not consider a camber board with a long nose to get float on pow, a hybrid.

As a matter of fact, the 2007 Salomon Burner had exactly that. They called it LMC (long nose camber). The current Atomic Banger´s pop rocker is in essence very similar. Something about the woord `rocker´ gets peoples attention. It rocks.. blah . Hybrid rocker . sounds good, huh ?

Wether you call it rocker or not, I definitely think the nose profile is important for powder. Having a rocker in tail - not.

But this is all because I like freeriding and powder. I don´t to big drops either. Different strokes for different blokes.

 

You will never see me ride a rocker, and I didn´t buy into the idea when it came out.

( Imho, a rocker board is the reverse camber between the feet.)

Why ? Because I don´t like adjusting to technology marketing. As an Old skool skier, I would not buy carving skis - One has to re-learn how to ski on them.

Rocker boards are the same.

But then, this comes from a background of what one has been doing. I have never ridden skateboards. Personally, ex-skateboard-snowboarders seems to have an attitude of 1) snowboarding is not surfing. 2) What ! U bin a skier wtf ..

I can´t ride short skateboards and I don´t like loose short snowboards. I do actually respect and admire what skaters can do !

In general, when I hear someone say I coouldn´t turn on camber and now loving the rocker, I reckon they are swinging the board to turn. Might as well de-tune (round the edges) on the nose and tail contact points on that camber board.

[RobBright 35]

For those that ride rocker, how does it feel when you go back to camber?

 

Going to get a new board next season, so doing some advanced research now...

[ippy 66]

Its kinda like riding a bike.

Its also a matter of what you personally like to ride.

 

I like riding both and dont really feel its a massive deal riding rocker. Rocker feels dead to me, but thats not in a bad way, whilst camber feels zippy and lively. What i mean is that when i get on rocker after riding camber it feels more pliable, giving, loose and surfy. And when i get on camber after riding rocker for a while, it feels much tighter, poppy, explosive and aggressive.

Both put a smile on my face just for different reasons.

 

If i was picking one over the other, id pick camber no question, but switching things up is fun.

 

What it doesnt do is force you to readjust your riding like youve somehow completely forgotten how to ride. You wont suddenly start catching edges when you get on camber again, and you wont suddenly forget how to carve. Likewise going the other way, you wont suddenly forget how to pop a board (though you might get a little more lazy and just spring the board a bit more since you clearly wont have to put in as much effort to er, load it (if thats what you can call it).

 

I always remember the day i switched out with my mate because he hated his indoor fk. Hes about 200lbs on a 156 indoor fk, and couldnt stand how squirly it felt. I leant him my quiver killer and played on his indoor. It was really nice because i hadnt been on reverse camber all season. Heres how i found it:

 

First thing i noticed was just how playful it was. I couldnt help but start buttering. It was MASSIVE fun. The second thing i noticed was just how soft it suddenly felt. The indoor is a soft-medium flexer, but two seasons ago it felt kinda decent stiff. This deck felt super soft and buttery, and i reckon that was because id gotten slightly used to riding more aggressive boards again. The final thing i noticed was that after a season on camber again the washing i experienced on the indoor had pretty much stopped. This was 100% down to improved techniques. I was better at spotting issues (conditions that would catch me out) and taking preventative measures. What i found is that i was much more prone to bouncing my edge changes and instead of riding chop, id just bobble over it. I did blast on the indoor, dont think i was holding back... im a speed kid, i like charging. So it wasnt that. Its just my riding felt much tighter and coming back to reverse camber suddenly required no transition or negatives at all. It felt loose and playful, but not squirly, and was AWESOME fun. I had a blast just buttering and doinking about the mountain (muju and its ice fields).

 

After lunch we switched back. And this was the second huge smile on my face.I looked down mujus steepest line - a line that can spank you since its so damn icy, pointed the quiver killer down and just bombed it. I suddenly felt really tight on my edges again and knew that i didnt have to think about them. I completely trusted the board and knew i wasnt being thrown out. The ride suddenly super powerful, really poppy, and hyper aggressive. It really brought out a few things i couldnt really put my finger on about the quiver killer. But it also drew out the comparison between camber and reverse camber rides (though not of course entirely given that the quiver killer is still a much more aggressive ride than the indoor anyway - camber or no camber).

 

What it also drew out was that i was kinda stoked getting on reverse camber again. I thought after that season i wouldnt really bother with it again because i was back on camber and loving it, but that day really reminded me that a reverse camber ride still has loads to offer. Its not in competition with your camber ride, its supplementing it and giving you a different feel. Its definitely worth having one in your quiver just to pull out on those days you just want a mellow fun butter around. Though i doubt my scopes getting brought out much in the next couple of months (the charlie and riot are pretty much my go to boards for the main season), i reckon late season it'll be getting pulled out for some spring time shenanigans.

 

Its not a big deal. I think the whole attempt by people to suggest that reverse camber is in some way competing with camber for your ride is kinda wrong headed. Its not. They offer something different and both put smiles on your face for entirely different reasons. I lean heavily towards camber because i love pop. I cant get enough of it. I also like bombing lines (even if as on line 23 in nozawa - i forget its name kurokara or something like that - i end up on my face more often than a grown up probably should). Camber suits my main riding fine and it does what i want to do.

 

But reverse camber also has a place for those days when I just want to drop it down a notch and muck about a bit more. Its lifeless, pliable, and very very buttery and it feels a lot less like hard work. It feels lazy fun, but in a good way. Of course, thats just how I relate to my quiver. Other people will find reverse camber gives them EXACTLY the main ride they want and pull out their camber board on those rare days they just want to bomb stuff. We all have our preferences and assumptions at the end.

 

So to answer the question: no real adjustment required. Riding camber all year then getting on reverse camber draws out exactly what makes reverse camber fun. Likewise, (so long as you keep an open mind), riding reverse camber all year and then popping onto camber reminds you why you loved camber after all those years. Riding both draws out why you like riding both and why they arent trying to replace each other or mimic each other. They both make a legitimate claim for a spot in anyones quiver.

[Jynxx 4]

Interesting thought, Ippy.

It´s defo a taste thing imo.

Once on this forum, as a beginner, I wanted to do freestyle and was doing a lot of switch.

Someone said, It just takes too much time to master regular and switch both.

At my stage, I can relate to that. An old surfboard shaper friend of mine used to tell me, ``Very few surfers can truly get the most out of the shape of the surfboard. ´´ I think the same goes with snowboards.

I´d rather have two boards , One for deep pow and another for on/off piste. And I will choose the board spec that I know it will work for me. Rocker has no place for me. Waste of money and time.

[akitapow 1]

Im loving my NS SL. Very forgiving board. I know that has NO techinical information but that's all I have. Where my Lib Tech would throw me on my ass Im riding out on on the NS.

 

what Lib Tech board were you rockin? I was lookin into buying a Sk8 banana, because my Hero slips out ALLL the TIMEEEEEE (its really really really annoying). Anyway maybe I should look into another board?!?! Any advice would be great! thanks!

[panhead_pete 27]

Had a Jamie Lynn model with all the Lib fruit mate. Traction etc, like most/all bananas. I think it may have been too precise for me, kinda like me driving an F1 car when Im really only a Kia kinda guy