Sarah takes on the 2013 RVL8 Tansho’s…

I am a 5’2″ 145 lb non-athletic female from a skiing background. I was an intermediate level skier years ago, and decided to pick up some skiboards now that I live close to a ski resort.

I have a pair of 2013 Tansho’s with the Spruce risers and release bindings. I have taken them out 3 times now, and I absolutely love them. They are very maneuverable and I felt pretty confident with them even on steep blue runs that would have given me trouble with traditional skis.

The only place I had trouble with them was on the flats in choppy snow. I usually relax and stand up when I am tracking through a flat area, and in the choppy snow, there was a tendency for one of the ski edges to grab and run away from me. So I had to always pay attention or try to stay on edges in the flats as much as possible.

I am very pleased with these boards, and I would recommend them to any beginner skiboarder who is a similar height to me.

Rider – Sarah Fields (2013 Tansho)- Beginning Skiboarder

Revolts are awesome for riding the mountain…

This is a review of the 2013 Revolt Trees, I have these mounted with the Receptor Snowboard risers and I use Union Force snowboard bindings. I used these skis at Whiteface in NY for the first time last weekend. Conditions were primarily packed powder and loose granular. I can honestly say that this skiboard can handle anything. It was quick and stable through the moguls, held a great edge on the hard pack and handled well on the jumps. It was stable at high speeds and performed very well on all open trails. Unfortunately due to a low snowpack, I was unable to test the ski boards on the slides at Whiteface or in the trees. The flex on this skiboard was perfect for all mountain riding. This is an awesome skiboard for riding the mountain and handled great even with the soft boot setup!
Rider – Kevin – Expert Skiboarder (2013 Tree model)


Skiboardmagazine’s Courtney rips on the Tanshos…

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


Skiboardmagazine’s Jason tries out the Tanshos…


In a day when the average skiboard is getting longer and longer, it’s nice to see that RVL8 has stepped up and made a truly high performance shorter skiboard. I’ve been riding these for the past month and a half now and they have exceeded much of my expectations.

Don’t let the shorter length of these boards scare you, they plow through anything. Having ridden other short boards before, I can really say that I feel much more confident on these boards on any kind of terrain.

RVL8’s innovative “blunt tips” combined with the high tips of the Tanshos give them great leverage when ridding through softer snow, and actually give more edge contact the harder they are carved. I do find that the tips give a bit of drag through the snow when carve as fast and as hard as possible, but it’s only a small complaint.

The flex on these boards is amazing. The Tanshos might take a bit more effort for the novice skiboarder, as they are a bit less forgiving then other short boards, but give the performance a big boost. They are stiff enough to hold their edge alomst anywhere. The flex in these boards really shines in the park and on jumps. The tails spring so nicely off kickers feels like it pops off the lip of the jumps.

Inline skaters will really enjoy the tight turning radius and skate like feel of these boards. I did find the turning radius might just be a little too tight at 4.8 meters. It would have been nice to have it maybe a bit bigger, at 5 meters maybe. The tight radius does come in handy in the trees or moguls, but slows down high speed carving a bit.

To to wrap it up, the RVL8 Tanshos give a lot of performance in a small package. They are not for everyone, but those looking for smaller skiboards now have a great high performance option, and don’t need to settle for entry level skiboards. And by the way, they look even better in person, the graphics are truly a work of art.

Rider – Jason Roussel – Intermediate Skiboarder SkiboardMagazine.com




Tansho’s are very underrated…

I rode these RVL8 Tansho’s 90cm the second half of a skiboard day after riding the RVL8 Revolts 105cm. I am used to riding Canon M7’s 99cm this was my first day out RVL8 boards, but as soon as I was strapped in on the Tansho’s I felt like ‘I was home’… they felt very natural and comfortable and I felt like I had my good ole M7’s on again! So, how did they ride? Perfectly. I was impressed! Better than my M7’s and they were FAST & STABLE & yes VERY maneuverable! They are very underrated! No they are not as fast as the RVL8 Revolt’s, but not by much!

The Tansho’s surpassed my expectations and I am glad I bought them, plus the graphics are awesome! They will be great for any day riding; fresh powder might be a little tricky but just keep leaning back. I am 5’4″ (ride only non release bindings)and the RVL8 Tansho’s 90cm compared to my old Canon M7 99cm is by far better and faster and great all around with a skate like feel and great maneuverability. Comparing the Tansho’s to the Revolt’s, for me I preferred the Tansho’s, but give me another full day of riding the Revolt’s and they will be fine.

Rider – Shelley Bright – Intermediate Skiboarder




Tansho’s not for this rider…

In a nutshell:

200 lb. male, brand new 90 cm well waxed Revel 8 Tansho’s; 3 feet of very fresh, very soft, very fluffy white stuff; a lot of un-groomed trail, and a lot of chop = A VERY BAD DAY !!!!

OK .. maybe not a “very bad day” since any day up in the snow is a good day, buuuutttt…..

A guy my size in these conditions has no business being on these boards. I got into one section of un-groomed snow between two trails and sunk up to my mid-thigh. Green runs and fluffy stuff = no speed and way too much work skating just to keep from coming to a stop.

Blue runs with a lot of chop = me having to lean way back to keep my tips up and avoid hitting a big mound of snow and face-planting. My quads are killing me right now.

Un-groomed blacks = forget about it. No float and all sinkage. Even when I started bombing straight down to pick up some speed, I’d hit a mound of soft stuff and rather than rising up over the top of the mound, the tips of the boards would cut through, I’d hit the mound with my boots and face-plant again … even while leaning back to keep the tips as high and light as possible.

These are also not long enough for me to feel any flex in the boards at all …. undulating terrain and firm bumps nearly bounced me right off my feet and onto my head – very unforgiving and definitely much better suited to flat and even groomers for someone my size. As well, I noticed the lack of length and flex out in front of me contributed to the boards failing to rise up over the tops of mounds and drifts.

These are going to the wife for sure. Today, she rode on the Head Shape 94s I started out on last season. These should be a good upgrade for her and may be the ideal board for her.

The tips of the Tansho’s are higher than the Heads, they are wider (though a bit shorter), and look to have a larger surface area. These should be just about perfect for my 115 lb. novice skiboarding wife.

Hopefully, my newly acquired KTP’s will be better in varied conditions, chop, and pow. They look good and by their size they should do better in the dumping of snow we have gotten out here this last week.

Time and next weekend will tell.

Rider – Robert – Beginning Skiboarder




Tanshos an excellent beginner board…

I am 5’4, 110lbs and began skiing about 6 years ago. This is my second season on skiboards and I found the Tanshos to be an excellent beginner board. My skill level has improved dramatically since I first got these boards, and I can see that there is still room for improvement, skill level wise, without needing to change boards. The Tanshos are easy to ride. I have been able to ride these boards on every slope I have ventured on (something I couldn’t do when I was a skier ) and they have not let me down once! I have also found these boards to perform really well on the much hated ice (especially after sharpening my edges).

Rider – Lila – Beginning Skiboarder




Tansho Review

I have ridden KTP, ALP, and Revolt. As soon as I snapped on the Tansho, I didn’t feel like I was on ski. These are very short and light. I could turn, jump, and ride around on the Tansho without any problems. With long skies, I had problem with controlling skies and have them what I want to do. but this Tansho was amazing. It moved and did what I wanted it to do. The only downside is when you land you want to land perfect otherwise you’ll sit on it and fall.My girl friend is riding them now and she’s loving them. She’s the beginner and she just started to learn how to ski both legs parallel to each other. (instead of A shape).
She learns very quickly and now she can turn 360 on ground (slowly) and do a “hockey stop” as well.
They are very easy to learn with, and ideal for small people like my girlfriend.

Rider – Jeaho Park – Intermediate Skiboarder




Tansho’s impress…

Last night, I rode my wife’s Tanshos for the first time. My only prior experience had been on my own 103cm Rumspringas (MaryJanes), which are the narrowest RVL8 boards at 11.6/9.5/11.6. Prior to that I’d only ridden Elan Freelines and Snowblades, which are even narrower.

I stepped into the Risers on the Tanshos and “just went for it” down an unrated (probably green or blue) hill at my local ravine ski club, and I was thoroughly impressed. The extra width I’d feared were a non-issue, and in fact, after about 2-3 runs, I learned to appreciate it more than the Rumspringas’ narrowness.

People say that wider boards are supposedly harder to get on edge, but I really didn’t notice a difference with the Tanshos. Especially with Risers, you are higher on the boards, so there is a higher centre of gravity, which makes it easier to “tip” onto edge. That’s not to say there is no difference in the way Rumspringas feel versus Tanshos (13.5/10.5/13.5); there is a definite wider feel to the Tanshos, but the difference (to me at least) is that on wider boards, you have a better sense of when you’re on edge than when you’re not. This provides better feedback to the rider. Conceptually, edging on Tanshos feel like a “\_/” with a noticeable “flat spot,” whereas Rumspringas feel more like a “U” where the edge isn’t as detectable. Good or bad thing? That’s up to the Rider. I prefer the Tanshos.

The one thing I disliked about the Tanshos (which is in no way a design flaw) is their length. Everytime I hit a large pile of crud, it felt like the boards became unstable, especially at slower speeds (i.e. right off the chairlift) when they would sometimes prematurely come to a dead stop. However, they still felt quite stable at higher speeds, much better than older 90cm Snowblades I’ve ridden. They actually feel a bit longer than 90cm!

I don’t ride in the park, but overall the Tanshos felt like a fun, casual board. They feel so lightweight and are a pleasure to skate on. Coming from the narrow Rumspringa camp, I feel the extra width should be embraced rather than feared, but I did wish the Tanshos were longer. I guess that’s what BWP’s are for…

Rider – Brian Wolk – Intermediate Skiboarder