Author: Andrew

Titanal 99cm’s are an amazing pair of boards…


Topsheet:
The look and quality of the titanial topsheet is amazing. Not only does it look and feel amazing, It seems to have a heavy resistance to scratching and gouging. Various people stepped on and rode over top, and there seemed to be no apparent marking from doing so. On the edges of the topsheet; where the most damage begins occuring, there was none. While not totally invincible, they are pretty damn close. Looking over after a heavy day of riding….(7.5hrs) there were only a few minor scratches from heavier spills. One of which I broke some leashes.

Edges:
They are rockwell steel edges on these still; but as discussed in other threads, they seem to be much sharper. My full day of riding, the edges always felt sharp….They dug in consistently as if they were right out of the box. This feeling lasted all day. I am not sure if the angle of cut on the edges differs from the Revel 8 lineup, but there is a deffinate sustainability of edge sharpness. I always ride hard and fast when I go out, which usually takes away edge sharpness at the end of the day…especailly with partial ice conditions. This was not the case with these boards. I was hard carving all day and they still seemed to stay sharp.

At the end of the day I actually cut myself on the middle edge of the board. After a full day of riding!! A clean razor style slice. If that doesnt say anything about the quality of edges, nothing does.

Bases:
The base on these boards are the Ptex2000 Base. The speed while riding is truly amazing. The bases ride smooth and fast and do it consistently. As the conditions were melting and getting sloppy. The bases allowed me to cruise over crude, ice, and grainular with ease. The bases allowed for an extra push of speed in the steeper areas.

Weight:
These things are built like tanks. Whatever extra materials go into the making are felt while riding. With a pound difference between the BWPs or (.5 per foot) and .6 between the 105 Revolt (.3lbs a foot). It take a while to get used to the weight differential once they were strapped to my feet. I usually have Tanshos on, so I was up 1.5lbs. Once you get used to the extra baggage, it get right back to that skiboard feel. For those of us that enjoy the heavier boards, these are a must have.

Butters:
No troubles here. Same feel and consistency as BWPs. Buttering was a little firmer which I liked, because I have more of a taste for firm boards. Being firmer, they have a little less “bounce” or “pop” when pressing weight into your tips, this could lead to smoother or rougher buttering depending on your riding style. A lighter rider may not be able to get the real flex that these can have when hardpressing. (Im 200lbs) This may be the sub 100 for you heaver gents because of the firmness they offer.

Fakie:
MMM fast. Loved the fakie riding on these. Although I have not tried the KTPs and have kind of steered clear from post 100 boards. These could very well be a contender for you fakie lovers. With this base being as fast as it is, I was pushing speeds well beyond my normal fakie riding. I dont know if it was the torpedo shaped tails/nose or the slick bases. They seemed to be locked to the snow, while at the same time gliding so fast i actually had to stop myself from running ovr people. They allowed me to ride harder/faster/longer backwards. It was great. If you love to go backwards and fast, I highly suggest a pair of these.

Flex:
The most Bulky/firm sub 100 on the Revel 8 site. This is the best board for those of us that like a little less flex. Very firm and consistent throughout the board, although forgiving on those hard landings. Much Lighter persons may find the firmness more unforgiving.

Rails:
The bases are a big part of rails. The bases slide over rails and boxes with ease. It felt like the boards were prewaxed every time. I never got caught up on any rails, as i sometimes do when it gets sticy out.

Jumps:
Great overall board for Big Airs. I dont know what it was but they reminded me of 105s when I was riding them. A 99 that lands like a 105cm, it was strange. Its like a had a heavier/firmer pair of Revolts on my feet. I landed firmly and consistently like I did when I had EMPs(Revolts) in my lineup. You would expect the sharp edges to hold you back in your landings, but they did the oposite. I was able to pull out and fakie out of possible bad landings. The sharp edges made board control quick and sharp.

Final note:
Amazing pair of boards that add some weight and firmness to your riding. Lacroix has made a real winner, and I hope this year is the beginning of many with their sub 100 boards.

Rider – J. Manley – Expert Skiboarder


Off Limits is a fabulous do-it-all short ski…

At 130 cm long and 130 – 90 – 110 the Hagan Offlimits was originally designed as an approach ski. For anyone interested in trying a short ski, the Hagan Offlimits is a fabulous do-it-all short ski. Not being symmetrical and twin tip a skiboarder will say this is not a skiboard. We’ve hashed this subject over for a long time. This is the best ski/skiboard I have ever ridden, and my number one go to board. The recommended boot center is approximately 12 cm back from center on this board. With this setback, this ski will allow one to ski the deepest powder without any risk of the tips diving. It is a tortionally stiff ski and handles groomers and hard snow very well. The one draw back of the severe rear mounting is that one needs to put pressure on the toes to stop on hard snow or the ski will chatter. Post holing is also a problem in deep powder. Going slow the heel will actually sink too deep and some control is lost. I have the Tyrolia LD12 binding on this board. This binding allows adjustment forward or backward 3cm. In addition, one can reposition the boot in the binding to gain additional forward or rear mounting. I have skied this board now with a boot position as far as 9 cm forward. With this position, the post holing and chatter has been eliminated with little sacrifice to the powder handling of this ski. In addition, spreading the weight out more evenly on this board has made it the fastest of any ski or skiboard I currently own. This board doesn’t have that great skate like skiboard feel that skiboarders love, but it is also not like any long ski either. This is a wood core ski of very good quality. The 2008/2009 model has been renamed the Eagle. Anyone who enjoys all mountain skiboarding will like this ski.

Rider – Wendell Jeong – Expert Skiboarder


Invertigo skiboards are sweet sweet boards…

The Groove Invertigos are sweet sweet boards. That’s the best way that I can describe them. They are very well constructed, agile, and yet stable.

On groomers these boards perform very well. Although they are only 90cm long, they are quite stable at speed, and the sidecut dimensions make them great for quick hard carves.

They are a sidewall construction and stiffer than say the RVL8 boards, so in choppy conditions they tend to kick around a lot more. However, they generally are quite easy to keep under control. On the other side, the stiffer feel means the grip quite well on ice.

These are definitely not powder boards, but I have ridden them in ankle to waist deep powder. Anything under a foot is doable as long as you pay attention to your tips and keep your speed up. I’ve had them in powder over my knees and the only reason I was able to keep going was because I was on a fairly steep slope. On the positive side, the short length makes it very easy to crawl out of stashes that you may fall into.

I have never hit any rails or boxes with these, but I have gone off of jumps. At only 90cm you’d expect landings to be a bit more difficult. In my experience though, they are very solid landing jumps, and I actually had more success landing with them than weith my 105’s. I believe the stiffer flex helps with that.

I generally ride these with Bomber Elites, which I think allows them to perform at there highest potential. If you come across a pair of these for sale, don’t hesitate to snatch them up. They are a great classic set of boards that still perform very well.

Rider – Tim – Intermediate Skiboarder


M7 skiboards were top of the line back in it’s day…

The Canon M7 back in it’s day was one of the top line skiboards. This was my first skiboard and I bought it after reading a small article in some travel magazine in my workplace breakroom and I have never looked backed!

I still think about my long skis but just can’t seem to take them out on a slope again, but someday I will. This review will reflect these boards for it’s time. Canon is no longer around and the new top line companies such as Revel 8 are far superior! But for it’s time, the Canon M7 was very fast, but not as stable as I’d like. I did about a half a dozen rails on it and it did just fine, the landing surface area was great. But I am not an avid park rider. Maneuverability was awsome! Zip it anywhere, turn it for a slew of 360 spins quickly, alot of fun!!! People will stop you and ask what you are riding for sure. Go down steep slopes, blacks, and these boards were fantastic! Carve it and do snow grabs easily! The Canon M7 99cm is a perfect size, I am 5’4″ and use non release bindings with ease on these. I never got sore or tired out on these boards either great all around board. Just lean way back for powder or you’ll biff it!

Rider – Shelley Bright – Intermediate Skiboarder (2004 model)


M7 skiboards are pretty sweet…

These boards are pretty sweet, i really like the look of them. The black with the canon logo looks really sweet. The boards are 99cm, but they seem longer and are relatively skinny. The tips are also shaped pretty weird compared to the blunt tips of the RVL8s. Carving, they are awesome and they fell really fast. In the park they feel smooth although a little bit too thin for my personal preference. They arn’t too great in powder, but they will get you down the mountain.

Rider – Ty Bereskie – Expert Skiboarder


Bulldog skiboards are a great and versatile product…

First impressions.. they are pretty long. I put them up against my Condors and realized they are longer than them. At that time, I didn’t know they were 112.8cm, but I suspected as much from the difference. The shape is more attuned to the Lacroix and Summits than the ALPs. The ALPs, Condors and Spruces have a broad tip/tail, while the Bulldogs, Lacroix, and Summits have a more tapered tip/tail. The Bulldogs are also heavy, similar to the Woodies, but not because of the material to make the skiboard, but due to it’s binding system.

On each skiboard, there are 4 metal plates. These plates allow you to switch between skiboard and snowboard mode. These metal plates add weight. The bindings are all metal, solid. Since they rely on the metal plates for their skiboard/snowboard mode, you can only use the bindings that come with the Bulldogs, they are not standard 4 x 4 mountings. The bindings are extremely heavy, much heavier than the Bomber Elites, and almost as heavy as the Spruce Pro Lights. If the Bombers were called bomb-proof, these beefy bindings are nuclear-proof. Unlike the FF, Elite, and Extreme II bindings, they are constructed very differently.

Both the FF Pros Aluminums and the Snowjam Extreme IIs are constructed with a rubber washer-type material on the bottom for shock absorption that spans the length of the binding. On top of this is a metal plate, which is about 1/4″ thick. This plate is used to mount the binding into the skiboard, and to also mount the heel/toe pieces to clip into your boot. Adjustment for boot size is made by moving the heel/toe pieces on metal teeth which makes sizing very easy.

The Bomber Elites are different to their approach. There is a 1/2″ circular metal disk that attaches to a 1/4″ metal plate. This metal is plate is attached to a skiboard throught the circular metal disk. The disk is used for the height needed for the shock absorption bumbers on the heel and toes parts on the bottom of the metal plate. The metal plate is also where the toe and heel metal pieces are mounted to clip your boot onto, and they adjust by having 3 hole settings on the heel and toe (total 6 hole adjustments) on the metal plate, plus the toe/heel pieces have another 4 adjustments available. This makes them also very easy for sizing up boots, though not quite as easy as the teeth method.

For the Bulldog bindings, first, there is no shock absorption pads/bumper on these bindings. Instead of mounting the bindings via a center 4 x 4 mount on the binding, these are mounting onto the Bulldog via skiboard mode with toe and heel clips. These clips are all metal, so there are no rubber pieces between the bindings and the skiboard. Second, the bindings are very heavy. It’s a solid piece of 1″ thick metal. One Bulldog binding weighs the same as two Elites/FF Pros/Snowjam Extreme IIs. Third, the micro-adjustments for the bindings are similar to the Bombers where the toe and heel bails can be twisted for micro-adjustments, which is great and adaptable to all boot sizes.

Now comes the review of how they perfomed on the slopes. Since I don’t snowboard, I only used them as skiboards. For the rest of the day, I dedicated my time using the Bulldogs in skiboard mode, from mid-mountain down to base and from summit down to base, made a total of 8 runs to get a proper feel of them. As skiboards, they perform very well, with the length and speed of a 110 such as the ALPs or Custom 110s. They flex similar to the ALPs and the Custom 110s Carbons, not as soft of a flex as the Spruce 120s and not as stiff as the Custom 110s Woodies. The added 2.8cms didn’t seem to make them feel any less quicker/slower than the 110s, but the added weight of the bindings go make you have to push them more on your turns.

One month later, I took the Boardskis out in powder and they performed great. The boardskis are just as wide as the KTPs, but slightly longer than the ALPs/Condors. Condors are slightly wider than the Boardskis, but the Boardskis have less flex than the Condors and it also heavier. This made them able to blow through powder. The powder today was a bit crusty because there was no snowfall yesterday, but the Boardskis were able to go through them without a problem. By the afternoon, once the temps went up and the powder became softer, the Boardskis were also able to handle the powder without skipping a beat.

After all that powder, I decided to take them to the terrain park at Steamboat Springs to go through the small boardercross track and hit some small jumps. Again, they didn’t miss a beat!

Overall, if you like something that can give you the option of both being able to skiboard and snowboard, then this can work very well for you. I do have to note, there is a pretty large gap when in snowboard mode in the middle, and I do wonder can powder get caught in there, especially when making a carve. When going on a flat, the tips are fairly tight so I’m sure they can plow through the powder such that it middle gap won’t get caught.

The Boardskis are a great product and versatile product.

Rider – Edward Ho – Expert Skiboarder


Allz 94cm are classics…

People tend to shy away from shorter skiboards these days and I find its really a shame. There is a lot of top notch shredding to be had on shorter sticks. Allz 94 are the perfect example of mid-small skiboards that feels more like bigger mid sized alternatives.Allz 94 have a shape reminiscent of the late great Canon M7s but with a few centimeters off the top, giving a pretty big tunring radius of 6.5 meters, one of the biggest in the sub 100 sized skiboards. Combine that with a medium stiffness, and these feel and ride more like bigger skiboards compared to other shorter skiboards on the market.The 94s would rather you stitch your lines wide if you want to avoid tail scrappage. At 12.5 cm wide at the top and bottom, and 10.5 at the waist, they won’t keep heavier cargo sitting a top the soft snow, but small to medium sized riders should get some lift in not-so-deep snow with help from some pretty long and smooth tips. Setback feels less awkward on the bigger turning radius of these sticks on groomed runs, so you can allow yourself to set these back a bit if you’re going to be both plowing soft snow and riding groomed runs.

The width of these boards compliments the larger turning radius and stiffness, giving quick a quick edge to edge transfer for maximum edge handling of those wide turns. Keep the edges tuned and the 94s will cut through ice like skates, and the stiffness helps keep their mid-wide profile holding their edge.

The mediocre stiffness of the 94 boosts popping power off lips and on those tail/nose press/butters. Some might find them a little too small for big airs, but the wider radius keeps landings stiff and straight, and not twirly whirly. On rails they feel a little less solid than wider boards, but they are quick and nimble because of their size.

These classic skiboards are really going to please those looking for a different riding experience. Today’s skiboards tend to be wider, longer and with a super tighter radius. These offer up a different theory; mid-wide, shorter with a wider radius. East coast, icy mountain shredder would really enjoy the Allz, as well and those who like doing wider carves on groomed runs. For those looking for a ”back in the days” feel to their sticks might need to pick these up! Skier convert looking to go short will find the Allz an easy transition.

Rider – Jason Roussel – Expert Skiboarder Co-founder Skiboardmagazine.com




Allz 94cm boards made this first timer extremely happy…

I’ll mention a few facts before I start. These are my first skiboards, I’ve never used snowblades/skiblades before because I found it pointless. I am 5’9″, 170lbs. I have 5 years of experience of snowboarding, and 3/4 skiing before that.
After finally convincing my parents to let me buy some skiboards, they still seemed pretty hesitant about how I would hold up, especially because my dad wants to take me to Whistler during the 2nd week of March.

It took me about 3 runs to get used to the feeling of 2 small boards under me, unlike the 1 board I’m used to. I went down the hill keeping up with my friend who has many years, roughly 9/10, of skiing. I had no problems, and soon learned how to turn properly, hockey stop, etc. My biggest fear was small lumps made by beginner snowboarders and skiers. I leaned forward to keep my certain of balance and, according to my friend, I was jumping off of them like a “Mexican Jumping Bean” because I had crouched down for speed.

Next I tried them in the powdery sections to the side of the runs. I had non-release certain mount bindings, Snowjam Extreme II’s to be exact, and had no problem. It was easy to keep my balance a bit back to make sure I didn’t fall forward.

My next experiment was riding switch, a.k.a. backwards. I am quite hesitant in doing this but know what to do. My friend taught me, and now it seems just as easy as riding forwards.

And did I mention I like the stiffness of these? They give me the good flex I like, and after watching a few skiers I was carving down the hill no problem.

I am extremely happy with my purchase of these, and I can’t wait to hit the slopes again.

I read all the warnings of not pushing yourself too far because you will get hurt. After reading these, I decided to not do anything in the park expect for 1 hip jump, and hitting up the super pipes. No they did not have any regular half pipes.
Rider – Pawel – Beginning Skiboarder




Allz 94cm boards


I purchased these as I was looking for a shorter pair of boards for other people in my family to use, but I wanted to ride them myself at first. Initial experiences were on a indoor slope, but I managed to take them outdoors to Villares, Switzerland a couple of days ago.

The shorter length caught me out twice. I fell on my back twice when riding the tails, but the second time I did actually push it to see how far I could ride on tails alone. I also think the shorter length contributes to the boards being slow starters, but I did manage to build up quite a bit of speed. Speed control was easy and so was stopping at the end of the runs. I did notice that the glided very well coming into the lift – better than Summit Nomads (another pair that I own). There were some “out-of-control” moments at speed, but they were easy to correct as the Elailas just responded very quickly.

For a number of rides I followed a snowboarder down. He was riding a good line and it was a good exercise chasing his line or going across the wake he created. He was faster than I was, but I caught up when I rode off my tails, keeping the tips a bit up.

I did upset one instructor because I slalomed through the poles he set up for some pupils. But hey-ho, it was a piece of cake, given the turning radius of the Elaila. I did not even break a sweat and was still riding upright!

It was outdoors that I really wanted to ride and I never realized what a test that would be. There has been no decent snow in the two weeks leading up to my visit, so snow conditions were terrible. Lots of icy sections in the shadows, followed by lots of slush in sections exposed to the sun. Definitely not ideal conditions, but very good for a review of how these boards would perform.

Carving was excellent, even using non-release bindings. I managed to get finger-dragging turns going without an issue. Skating the flats was easy, so was riding fakie.

The only place where the boards struggled was hitting the slush. I spun out a couple of times, and I would think this is partially due to the low tips. Higher tips on these boards would not be impractical though as it would reduce the running length.

I never had a chance to test them in powder, so no opinion on this. Park is not my thing, so no review here, although I must say I have seen guys do some sick tricks using these, so I suspect they are really well suited to the park.

Personally, as I am 179cm, I felt they were a bit short for me as a goto board, but for a shorter person they would be ideal. Martins might not like me calling his boards feminine, but I think given their beautiful artwork, they would definite suit a lady wanting to make a statement on the slopes. Seriously, these boards have an excellent top-side graphic, some of the best I have seen. Compared to the RVL8 boards which tend to have extravagant graphics, the ’11 model has a much more relaxing, mellow design.

I can recommend these boards anytime to anyone looking for a sub-99 board. Beautiful, top-performer, high quality construction, and reasonably priced they are a worthwhile investment and will provide hours of tireless riding.


Rider – Schalk W. Cronjé – Intermediate Skiboarder




Pro Sport bindings plowed through everything with ease…

After riding non releasables for a few years, I decided to try the Spruce Riser system with the Head SL100 releasable binding system that was bundled with the Spruce 120 skiboards on special at SBOL. I took them out for my first day out of the year and put them through everything I could going full speed up on edge around switchbacks and through some glades with some fresh powder (the eastern north american kind) and it plowed through all of these with ease. The height difference from my Bomber elites to the riser is quite a bit, but I found it to be beneficial to getting up on edge and didnt notice much difference after a couple of runs — even the weight isnt noticeable.

Rider – Bruce McDonald – Expert Skiboarder