So i was getting tired of riding my stiff, old, but reliable Lib Tech Jamie Lynn 157cm and wanted something a little more fun . So i decided to go with the Bataleon Evil Twin. Scroll to bottom for my clif notes review .
My stats are...
Height: 6 feet tall
Weight: 147ish
Boot: 9
Equipment is...
Board: 09 Bataleon Evil Twin 155cm
Bindings: 08 Burton Cartels set at 18/-15
Boots: 08 DC Super Park
First thing a noticed when i pulled this thing out of the box was how incredibly light it is. This board really does not weight much at all. Next i looked for the tbt, and in poor lighting or just at a quick glance, it is hard to even notice.
After admiring the lightness of the board a quickly threw on a quick hot wax to the base. Some people have complained about the waxing/scraping process on tbt but it really didn't change the process nor add a noticeable amount of time.
Now my location is basically the Poconos here on the ice coast and tested out the board yesterday 2/10/2009. I went up to Blue Mountain and was expecting a slush fest considering it was around 40 degrees. To my surprise there was virtually no ice and the snow was very soft and a bit on the wet side.
With lift ticket purchased i walked to the run and strapped in. Luckily at Blue Mt you walk right onto a green trail that leads to either a more boring green or short black. So after a quick run down the green, my first impression was that it really didn't feel any different. So i continued on down and bombed the black. Here is where i noticed some differences from my other board.
For general freeriding, the first thing that stood out was that it is an extruded base, but definitely not a slow one. It is not a fast as my old Lib Tech with its sintered base, but because of tbt is faster on flats and connector trails. You really can just book down the mountain flat based without a care in the world on this board. This alone practically makes tbt worth it.
Second was carving, it is a blast. The up-swept edges of the board lock into the snow and hold great. Plus tbt allows switching from edge to edge to be even more fun. The board seems to just roll from one edge to the other smooth as silk.
Now for the freestyle aspects of the board. The board has terrific pop. And thanks to its light weight i felt like i could ollie to the moon and punch mars off of the smallest kickers :laugh: .
My old Lib Tech was stiff as a steel plank so i never got the chance to get butters down. Also with my light weight i've always struggled to butter on such a stiff board. But this board can butter but is still just stiff enough to keep stable on the whole mountain and off larger kickers.
Off jumps is where i fell in love with tbt. The board is ridiculously stable on landings whether spinning or just going for huge air. This board will help you just stick landings. You seriously have to be either totally sideways on the landing or have the base of the board upside-down to not land clean. There were quite a few times i was just trying 3's off of whatever and would have definitely ate it on a normal board where on this i just slide around clean .
I didn't really get a chance to hit any rails because i just wasn't feeling it since i went solo, i didn't want to risk busting my ass to bad. Some people said that skating to the lift is squirrely but i had no trouble. It didn't feel any different.
Overall i am extremely happy with the board and will never go back to flat again.
Clif Notes review...
Pop: Feel like i can ollie to the moon
Butters: It can do it but ain't no noodle
Flex: Moderate flex, wheelies, butters, will not run over a small child but won't fold under speed
Speed: Not mach 3 but tbt is fast flat based
Carving: Superb and fun
Stability of Jumps: Sticks them period
Stability down runs: Very stable, but will not plow through the extremely rough stuff
Hope you enjoyed my review and i'll post some pics later .
My stats are...
Height: 6 feet tall
Weight: 147ish
Boot: 9
Equipment is...
Board: 09 Bataleon Evil Twin 155cm
Bindings: 08 Burton Cartels set at 18/-15
Boots: 08 DC Super Park
First thing a noticed when i pulled this thing out of the box was how incredibly light it is. This board really does not weight much at all. Next i looked for the tbt, and in poor lighting or just at a quick glance, it is hard to even notice.
After admiring the lightness of the board a quickly threw on a quick hot wax to the base. Some people have complained about the waxing/scraping process on tbt but it really didn't change the process nor add a noticeable amount of time.
Now my location is basically the Poconos here on the ice coast and tested out the board yesterday 2/10/2009. I went up to Blue Mountain and was expecting a slush fest considering it was around 40 degrees. To my surprise there was virtually no ice and the snow was very soft and a bit on the wet side.
With lift ticket purchased i walked to the run and strapped in. Luckily at Blue Mt you walk right onto a green trail that leads to either a more boring green or short black. So after a quick run down the green, my first impression was that it really didn't feel any different. So i continued on down and bombed the black. Here is where i noticed some differences from my other board.
For general freeriding, the first thing that stood out was that it is an extruded base, but definitely not a slow one. It is not a fast as my old Lib Tech with its sintered base, but because of tbt is faster on flats and connector trails. You really can just book down the mountain flat based without a care in the world on this board. This alone practically makes tbt worth it.
Second was carving, it is a blast. The up-swept edges of the board lock into the snow and hold great. Plus tbt allows switching from edge to edge to be even more fun. The board seems to just roll from one edge to the other smooth as silk.
Now for the freestyle aspects of the board. The board has terrific pop. And thanks to its light weight i felt like i could ollie to the moon and punch mars off of the smallest kickers :laugh: .
My old Lib Tech was stiff as a steel plank so i never got the chance to get butters down. Also with my light weight i've always struggled to butter on such a stiff board. But this board can butter but is still just stiff enough to keep stable on the whole mountain and off larger kickers.
Off jumps is where i fell in love with tbt. The board is ridiculously stable on landings whether spinning or just going for huge air. This board will help you just stick landings. You seriously have to be either totally sideways on the landing or have the base of the board upside-down to not land clean. There were quite a few times i was just trying 3's off of whatever and would have definitely ate it on a normal board where on this i just slide around clean .
I didn't really get a chance to hit any rails because i just wasn't feeling it since i went solo, i didn't want to risk busting my ass to bad. Some people said that skating to the lift is squirrely but i had no trouble. It didn't feel any different.
Overall i am extremely happy with the board and will never go back to flat again.
Clif Notes review...
Pop: Feel like i can ollie to the moon
Butters: It can do it but ain't no noodle
Flex: Moderate flex, wheelies, butters, will not run over a small child but won't fold under speed
Speed: Not mach 3 but tbt is fast flat based
Carving: Superb and fun
Stability of Jumps: Sticks them period
Stability down runs: Very stable, but will not plow through the extremely rough stuff
Hope you enjoyed my review and i'll post some pics later .