Archive for the “Product review” Category

SNOWBOARDER Magazine’s Best of Test Snowboard Review is not about finding the best snowboard as chosen by expert testers on limited terrain in predictable conditions during a short time period. It’s all about the largest on-snow retailer demos.

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The Truth is finnaly here. Now we don’t need to think and surf all over the web which snowboard is best for you. TWS did all the work instead of us. Check below which snowboard will you have this year under your feet…

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Innovation makes the world go round. And in snowboarding, innovation has been Burton’s obsession day in and day out.
In 2008 they hit us with their Infinite Channel System which allows you to set up your bindings with the exact stance that you want for more comfort and board control. ICS is compatible with every bindings from the Burton range thanks to a special disk. However the best option is to invest in the new EST bindings which is really the main innovation.

The baseplate has dissapeared and has been replaced by super-cushioned pads, for extreme board and terrain feeling! It’s like riding with old school Contact bindings - for those who remember them - but with new school sensations!
The down side however is that EST bindings can only be mounted on selected boards with ICS.
So the whole system is quiet expensive!

Check it out on video!

Beginning of March we had already posted about the SQUAD series. Here is the second and final part of this focus with the 08 SQUAD PRIME, the VÖLKL Pro Team favourite’s board !

Regarding the main features :
- sizes : 152-155-158-161 + 2 wide sizes
- tip-to-tail ultra-light wood core
- squad twin-tip sidecut
- 6×2 insert system
- wooden sidewalls
- sandwich construction
- sintered base with die-cut
- stone and diamond finish

We will give you our feedback as soon as we will ride it next season!
Photo credit : Marcel Lämmerhirt

This is a short short video that we shot during the ISPO 07 showing you in a glimpse the whole 2007/08 Forum snowboard range.

It’s short, colorful and straight to the point.

For all you guys and girls who are already thinking about what you will want to ride next season, check out those two short video presentations with 2008 snowboards from Allian and Gnu.

The girly freestyle range is composed of the Vivian serie (138-142-145-148) in the high end, while the Freedom serie (136-142-146-150-154) is offering the best prices.

Girls will be happy with this easy riding B-nice serie (144-147-150-153). All mountain freestyle boards from entry level to rippers who want to look at the whole mountain as their park. Available in regular and smooth riding Magne-traction.75. The nice design is from Fumi Watanabe.

All lot of snowboard companies have developped the “mini-me” snowboard these past season. These boards are super playfull and taking them out for a day gives a completly different feeling to a regular snowboard day. When we met Darius last time, he was rocking the new 2007/08 Nidecker Nano and that’s what he had to say about it:

Short video presenting some 2007/08 boards from Santa Cruz exposed during the Intergirlactik in Les 7 Laux.
Unfortunatly we did not catch the names of these 3 models, so if you got them leave us a comment!

Ever since we first heard about the Beyondsnow binding concept we wanted to get a closer look at the products and if possible try them out to make up our mind and get the feeling about riding them.

It happened during the Intergirlactik, where Florent was holding the Beyondsnow booth with test gear. So we went to see him to ask him what this strap-in patented concept was all about and tried them ourselves.

Here’s our feedback : Ok, on a powder day when the “friendship doesn’t count” rule applies, you will be happy to gain a few precious seconds to be the first to hit the powpow line because when you have to step-in, the straps are widely opened and a simple pressure on the heel cup sets them in “closing” position in a flash. But then of course you have to tighten them like for a regular binding. We must say that we appreciated the comfort of the main strap. It’s design - split in two parts - makes it pressure points free. The front strap is not different then on a regular binding.
The straps are really easy to close but the ratchets could be improved as the “release button” is too sensitive.
General feeling when riding is good. The bindings offer good board control and are well balanced all round.
In terms of looks, let say that for their first season, the guys probably decided to play low profile with sober colours and designs, axing their communication on the technology more than the aesthetics.

Check out our BrOADER TV episode for our interview of Florent and our product review!

Sunny weather, fresh air, green grass, red flowers and milky cowes for this product review with Fanny Foucrier from Roxy Winter Division.

Fanny presented us the new 07/08 board “Envi“. It’s a nice looking all mountain freestyle board for the ladies including features like the magnetraction edge concept and a 100% natural bamboo topsheet.

This board is Torah Bright’s favorite! She was riding it when she won the X-games! So it’s definitly a board for good riders who wnat to push their level and progress in freestyle.

Watch our video & pics for more details and appreciate sexy Fanny with her “envi”…

Special thanks to Elodie T. for her support

Here’s our friend and Rossignol team rider Christian “KIKI” Moillen again, with a short video presentation of one of his 2007/08 set-ups from Rossignol snowboards: the Premier with HC 2000 bindings.

Check out our video interview with swedish rider Michael Lundmark.

Michael is a strong allround rider and proved it in 2004 when he won the Billabong Jr Pro and imposed himself as a force to be reckoned with.
We met him in Leysin beginning of March and asked him some questions about his season and set-up. Michael is equipped head to toe with Rossignol snowboards gear and seems stocked about it. Check it out!