The 2009 RVL8 Tanshos are great all around boards. The 90cm length gives them great maneuverability and the width gives them plenty of surface area to keep you moving fast and stable. One of the first things I noticed was the flex. I had been used to riding stiff boards and it was nice being able to lean back and feel the board flex a little. The Tanshos are still plenty stiff for me and I haven’t had any problems with them being too flexible.
Riding park on 90cm boards can be a lot of fun – just keep in mind you only have 90cms to land on. Being on point in your landings will be important on these boards as there is less of a back seat to land in compared to longer boards.
The Tanshos aren’t generally considered a powder board but I managed to make it through knee deep powder on them without getting buried alive and getting too caught up. I had to keep my weight on the tails which was quite the work out on my knees but I’m not so used to riding powder. If I were to do a lot of powder riding I’d get something with more float but these do the job for riding the few powder days we get in Minnesota. It is quite tricky riding these on tracked out powder but I had a blast in the untouched stuff.
Overall the 09 Tanshos are high quality and very maneuverable boards. Whether you’re riding all mountain, groomers, park, occasional powder, or bumps you’ll be covered on these boards.
Rider – Courtney Celley – RVL8 Flow Team Rider/Expert Skiboarder – SkiboardMagazine.com
