Back from SIA in Denver and just visited a long and winding thread here full of questions about 2012 Bataleon.
I spent a bunch of time with Bataleon guys and will be happy to answer any Q's abot the upcoming line.
As an up front, Bataleon had a breakthrough year in 2011 and is going to explode in 2012. TBT has come of age! On a graphics front, the boards look insane (way better even than the pictures I am seeing). A new pressing process allows the TBT to show through the topsheet. This is not a performance thing, but it does help riders to visualize the tech.
The Evil Twin SE and the Women's FeelBetter (yeaaahh!) look ill.
This is awesome. Bataleon is a really cool company and I think they make great boards. I've ridden two and have been pretty stoked on both. It was cool to see Halldor warming up on the 2012 ET. It's legit technology and it's neat to see that Bataleon is the only company doing it. I have two boards in my quiver now, Burton Custom cambered and Bataleon ET.
As far as questions- are they changing the TBT specs on any of their classic boards? Are they coming out with any new models? Any new tech?
EDIT: I scoped out some pictures and the TBT looks more drastic on a lot of boards this year. The 08/09 Goliath and the 10/11 ET seem to have the right amount of TBT in that they're not catchy and perform quite well. They had a good balance between carving performance and playfulness. I hope the more drastic TBT (if my eyes are correct) doesn't unbalance that too much.
This is awesome. Bataleon is a really cool company and I think they make great boards. I've ridden two and have been pretty stoked on both. It was cool to see Halldor warming up on the 2012 ET. It's legit technology and it's neat to see that Bataleon is the only company doing it. I have two boards in my quiver now, Burton Custom cambered and Bataleon ET.
As far as questions- are they changing the TBT specs on any of their classic boards? Are they coming out with any new models? Any new tech?
The biggest change is to the TBT structure itself. For 2012 TBT extends further out to the tip and tail. Where it used to end at the contact points, it now runs smothly all the way to the tips. The nose and tail ramps have been updated on every model becoming moderately longer and smoother. Along with the TBT change, this dramatically smoothes the contours and reduces petential grab spots. These are further refinements to an already refined product. You will also see a reshaping of the tip and tail to more blunted outlines. This is great for reduced swing weight, stability in presses, power in ollies, etc. 4 different carbon layups are being used in different models in 2012.
You will also see additions of 4 new models: The Disaster Twin at $359.95, The FeelBetter Women's Twin at $349.95, Whatever All mountain Freestyle at $399.95, Enemy All mountain Freestyle at $799.95
We are stoked to see 3 new models under $400.00! As Bataleon grows it becomes more economical for them to bring this insane tech at lower price points.
thanks. When is the release date? Im actually curious as to when most companies release all the 2012 gear. I don't want to buy something full price when the next years product comes out in 2 months
I get all that, I've been riding for quite some time and sell this snowboard stuff. I'm not new to the nuances of snowboards.
No, you can't compare numbers between companies. An experienced rider can compare in a companies line. They call their stiffest boards 7's. So to call the Whatever a 7 to me just seems wrong. It is not near the stiffness of a Jam or Undisputed.
It felt to me just shy of mid-stiff for a park board in a 153 and I weigh 145. So in that case to say that it ranks with the stiffest of the rest of the Bataleon line just doesn't add up.
I'm 6'1 tall, weight 80 kg and have a US12 size boot. I am riding a Goliath 161W, and LOVING it!
I would like to get a more freestyleboard for next year, at least a lot shorter one, to make rotations etc. easier. I've heard the Whatever as a suggestion, would you have any other ideas?
It looks like the Whatever has a freestyle TBT profile instead of the twin TBT that the Airobic, ET, and Riot have. It's also extruded instead of the Riot's sintered. It's kinda like a mixture of a Goliath/Riot maybe? or the Jam/Riot?
The Riot and the ET use Twin TBT, but the Airobic 2012 uses Jib TBT as does the new Disaster 2012.
Also, Bataleon is categorizing the Whatever and the Goliath "Freestyle", while the Riot is categorized "Park Freestyle". The Jam is categorized "All Mountain Freestyle".
Also, note the construction differences:
Whatever: Core Core, Bi ax Laminate, Extruded base
Goliath: Core Core, Tri ax Laminate, Sintered base
Riot: Core Core, Tri ax Laminate, Sintered base
Wow, they've added some new categories. Can't wait to see the catalog. i've been enjoying my 09 Riot but feel the need of something more playful. Taking a serious look at the ET.
for 2010 the ET classic had the smallest length. Now the non-ET Classic has the smallest length. Weird.
Anyhow, do you have the board specs like contact length and waist width for the 2012 ET? 2010 had more contact length but at a shorter board length. I'm thinking that if they had made a 149 ET I would have gotten that over the ET classic. When comparing the specs that seems like the only real difference. That and when I asked Bataleon they said the TBT was slightly more angled.
It seems like the Whatever is the baby brother to the Goliath. Similar, but the Goliath has more tech in it. I'm assuming the the Goliath goes from 150 to a 153?
As mentioned earlier in this thread and elsewhere, we highly suggest not paying much attention to flex numbers. I am, of course, happy to put up the manufacturer #'s here if requested.
Consider that the Airobic is now published at 7-8-7 and the Undisputed at 3-4-4
At the very least Bataleon has reversed its flex rating so that 1 is now the stiffest...or maybe they are just ghouling on flex ratings a little...or maybe some of both.
I'm so glad to see that they are finally making smaller boards across the entire line. Last couple years, the only thing they had that would fit me were smaller park sticks, now I can finally get an all-mountain TBT board.
as far as the new tbt tweaks, who's designing them? The guy (jorgen karlsen) who researched the original base design is a biophysics engineer...just wondering if those changing TBT (which was already pretty damned good, imo) are engineers or just riders. Is jorgen still involved with the company?
Great question. I'm not opposed to change at all but TBT seemed to already work as advertised with no discernible compromise to my riding style or carving ability. They've extended the TBT further and it definitely has me curious.
How would you compare the shape of the 10/11 ET Artist Edition (The antistrot one not the Parra from 09/10) to the new 11/12 shape. Same thing, I know the ET AT this year had the blunted nose for the first time... about to pick one up..
What's the story with the Undisputed for next year, I've been looking at that and TBT a lot recently. I love stiff, fast boards for railing down the hill & catching an edge can be brutal, so TBT has my attention.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums
1M posts
46.5K members
Since 2006
A forum community dedicated to all Snowboarding enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about equipment reviews, tips, traveling, gear troubleshooting, share photos, and more!