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Salomon Assassin 153

18K views 41 replies 17 participants last post by  Elektropow 
#1 ·
Full day on it. Here's the deal:
Flow Five SE's
Flow Hylites Size 9

So with everyone's glowing reviews of the Villain happening and whatnot, this one's easy.

The Assassin is seriously just a stiffer Villain. Everything everyone is saying about the Villain, me included, goes for the Assassin but with just with a little bit stiffer overall feel. It is still totally pressable and jibbable but where the Villain kind of has that feeling that when you're locked in you could still press past that, the Assassin doesn't. The way the tips feel it is going to be a monster in pow. The Villain was damn good in deep snow and the slightly stiffer feel overall, especially between the feet, is going to make it just a bit more powerful.

If you were thinking about getting a Villain and were scared off just cause you were worried it was a little to soft, get an Assassin.
 
#2 ·
I have a 155 Villain and want to replace my TRice HP 161.5 with something a little smaller (158-159) and narrower. I'm thinking either the Assassin or a Hot Knife. I love the Villain, but worried the Assassin will not be stiff enough to replace the TRice. I want something a little more aggressive and all-mountain, something that can handle a bit of powder, but still be stable at high speed, and can hold an edge when the snow gets shitty. What's your take on the Assassin? Too soft for what I want? Too similar to the Villain?
 
#3 ·
Great timing on your review Nivek, thanks for posting it. Recently started looking at this board as my best option for upgrade next month, but really just the Angrysnowboarder review available at the moment.
I kind of had it in my head it was just a stiffer Villain, so good to see you're confirmation on that. Villain gets great write ups and multiple time good wood winner for what its worth.
A couple of questions on the riding you did with it, it sounds like you hit some boxes/rails, hit any kickers? Save angry snowboarders one single jump that he did I have no idea on the pop on this board. Assuming it should be pretty decent, but the info available makes it sound like Villain has Carbon stringers but the Assassin not? Any experience on this board with kickers and pop?
I'm guessing it holds an edge well, how about dampness at speed, and chatter, feel solid?
It seems like it should be an awesome all mountain freestyle board, but not that much info about on it yet.
Oh have you checked the Salomon website recently, they have the team killing it on backcountry booters on this thing, so pretty confident on its pow handling :) but keen for any input you may have on the above aspects.

thanks,
 
#5 ·
Torpedo:
I think it'd be too soft for what you're looking for. I would look at the Mans Board to replace your Rice. Just playful enough in the tips to make it fun but super stable and snappy.

NZ:
From what I was able to hit, Breck's early line, it did fine. Snap wasn't anything crazy and honestly felt pretty on par with the Villain. If you already have a Villain the Assassin is a terrible compliment, it's a great replacement though. True, no carbon. The Villain has Popster Booster, the Assassin has Popster Eco Booster. Bamboo instead of carbon. That alone would make the Assassin less energetic, but stiffer between the feet makes up for the bamboo's slight lack in return compared to carbon.

Goyo:
Different boards for different purposes.
 
#11 · (Edited)
thanks for this Nivek!

Torpedo:
I think it'd be too soft for what you're looking for. I would look at the Mans Board to replace your Rice. Just playful enough in the tips to make it fun but super stable and snappy.
How about for replacing my Proto? I'm looking for something that will slay pow and be all mountain, a hair stiffer than the Proto. I'm totally off park it seems but I really like a centered stance twin that can float and butter yet be stable.

Is it damp at all? It doesn't need to be NS deaddamp but I enjoy some cushion for my older joints, don't like the bucked feeling.

point of reference: I would buy another Proto if they were the price of most other boards, but I'm just not in the market for a $600 deck that I'm going to destroy in 2 seasons.

I've avoided making my own thread for this until I'm actually ready to pull the trigger, but since I read this review, would love your thoughts.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Salomon Assassin 158

Hi goyo, I just bought the assassin 158 with burton mission bindings and thirty two lashed boots:) and it is the best board I have ever been on:yahoo:and I have been boarding since the last century!
I disagree with Nz, and think the "ABC greenroll" which is the advanced bamboo consruction make this even snappier than the villian it is a lighter board aswell, the assassin also has basalt in it aswell as cork below the bindings which definitely give you a SUPERNATURAL experience.
I had read alot of reviews about this board and watched reviews on youtube before buying it and it really is the only board you will want to take with you, read the reviews on backcountry website:).
This is a more advanced villian that can handle the whole mountain even better. If this board was a woman you would marry her and have an extra marital affair with her its just so much fun:yahoo:
P S this is a beautiful board to look at and yes I am in love with it:3tens:
 
#8 ·
Hello all fellow snow spooners, a pow noobie here.

Felt this subject was the push for me to join in on the fun.

Been skateboarding for 15 years (sponsored at one point), but have been snowboarding for even longer, disregarding a 10 year break. So got back to basics 4 years ago and after a trip to the alps two weeks ago I am now totally hooked.

Experience with the 155 Villain in the pow: not so good. A great stick for doing almost anything else though.
Premise: A group of three pow virgins in waist deep pow. A fun sight you could imagine. My girlfriend had a Roxy Banana Smoothie and my brother a very old classic camber board, but being quite wide with high tips.
They both floated without problems. I'm 5'11 and about 155-160 pounds (180cm and 70kg in european) in weight and of course learned the hard way to set the stance furthest back and even though I like quite a wide stance, needed to narrow it as well. Basically if I wanted to stay afloat, I needed to be at full speed with all of my weight on the back foot. Stop to wait for friends and I'd sink in deep with no hopes of continuing my descent without unstrapping and building a stable launch ramp. Ah, the leg burn...

All in all, I'm sure it's a combination of inexperience and bad gear for such deep snow specs.

Still I read that the Villain and especially the Assassin are pretty good in powder as well. It felt that the camber with the really low nose tip just forced all the snow on my board if I made the slightest error in balancing.

At the end of the week I was able to carve through the trees off tracks in deep snow, but at such a huge effort and a sour back leg afterwards..

What kind of style of riding or setups are you people using on the Villain/Assassin to fly through pow?

Anyway, I got so excited and went the other direction and bought a Jones Hovercraft to start building a "quiver". I hope to stay with only two for now and a Villain vs. the Jones are different enough.

Good rides to everyone!
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I guess it's all relative. But when one is said to be good in pow, I expect they mean in relatively deep pow, without much felt support from the bottom snow layer. I imagine any board, pow specific or the opposite, would charge through just 10 inches of light powder without any trouble.

Then again, I haven't ridden in many conditions and that was my first real experience of pow riding. And even though it was tiring, it was also worth every second of it. Hopefully I'll get to bounce the Hovercraft around soon enough to know the difference, in practice, of a real pow specific board.
 
#12 ·
You're really better off with soething like the Happy Hour or Greats if you want a true twin in that camber profile and want to stay around the Proto's stiffness. The Assassin is a good bit softer in the tips and a little but softer between the feet compared to the Proto.
 
#14 ·
You may want to take a lap or two on my DBX. Not sure it presses like you'll want though.

It's pressable, but it takes work. A lot different than NS's rocker camber. With the camber between the bindings, it takes more work, but with the rocker in the tips I think it actually locks in better once you're there.

Anyway, at the very least it would give you a chance to try out that camber profile.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the reply Nivek. I was referring to the 157 as I'm looking for a replacement for last years DBX where they only had the one size. I was told the two would be comparable, but it threw me off when you said that the Assassin was softer than the Proto, which I found to be quite a bit softer than the DBX. My experience is with last years model of both boards though, so maybe things have changed a bit this year.

Anyway right now I'm torn between the Assassin, Time Machine, and Flow Quantum for an aggressive all mountain freestyle ride. Looking for something that will do well in the jump line without sacrificing the ability to rip the rest of the mountain. If you have a suggestion I'd appreciate your input, thanks again!
 
#22 ·
Hi everyone,

Im another noob attracted by this particular post.. I've been hanging around for a while but decided to join up and start contributing.

I've been snowboarding for about 12 years, and for the vast majority of that time have been based in the UK so only make it out once a year really.. sometimes twice..

I have been riding a salomon fastback 163 for some time (I'm 6" tall and about 190lbs) but am finding it way too stiff to get anything more than a mini-Ollie out of it and don't feel like I am progressing.

I reckon the assassin would be a good replacement for me as it should give me a bit more flex for some jumping about, but still give me a good all-terrain board for those powder days and corduroy morning pistes..

What would you say?
 
#31 · (Edited)
To pair with a Villain and sticking with Salomon the Mans Board. Its just soft enough in the tips to be playful and as long as you dont have low angle terrain or dont ride too slow it'll float just fine in pow.

I totally missed that dudes post from March about an apparent lack of float in waist deep. Honestly, experience. I rode that in a 53 on my birthday at Steamboat for a sled trip, I weighed 160. It was waist deep and never really THAT steep. I did just fine. But ive been riding smallish park decks as everything boards for years. Hell I rode pow at Copper for SIA one year on a 151 Signal OG. Its mostly a speed thing and being able to keep the deck just above sinking to minimize the amount of effort spent to keep the nose up/tail down. If you and your friends were faster riders you wouldnt notice it as much. It'll come with time. But that said, if you're not spinning switch off pillows then the Assassin isnt ever going to be your best option in deep snow. Its twin. Something directionaly shaped will always be better.
 
#32 · (Edited)
Yes, obviously riding style makes a difference and you can adjust to anything. Riding fast it wasn't really a problem, but after a 8 mile descent just tiring with the board needing more attention to stance and movements in pow.

Though if it's steep, you know how to handle a board and you're going fast, I imagine any deck would do. Therefore any board out there would, disregarding subjective elements, pass for the "good in pow" medal. Forget the few extreme cases..

Therefore for some people it would actually be more useful to hear comments from inexperienced riders doing comparisons than from those who know how to adjust. Too many of those "dood I'm so psyched for this brand, the riders, graphics and all the shit so I'm going to say this board fucking does it all!". You probably know what I mean. Not directed at anyone in particular, but just wanted to comment on the difficulties of getting an understanding from forum reading and not being able to try stuff yourself.

Anyway, going to spend 5 weeks in the alps this coming season. Will get to know the dynamics of the fluffy stuff even better... Maybe get those switch landings locked down!
 
#33 ·
Just wanted to continue on my rant.

After a year of waiting I got to ride some pow for a few days in Cervinia, luckily. My friend was with me to whom I'd sold the Villain.

I had a mid wide 157 full camber Nitro Blacklight. That thing was really fast and surprisingly effortless in the powder. Might be the surface area being bigger and the slightly bigger set back. My friend complained about the Villain the same as I did though that it was a chore to do long lines on it. On the steeps there weren't any problems, but generally it was tiring.

For the sake of relativity and continued discussion, if the Villain is decent/good in pow, what kind of a board is so terrible that it couldn't be countered with almost any technique?

:blahblah:
 
#36 · (Edited)
Because it's a stiff midwide board with a set back. This thing is built for Big Mountain, even if it lacks rocker. People rode camber in powder for decades priot to the rocker revolution.

The Salomon is a park board, that has rocker in the tips that make it a plus performer. You can set the bindings back all you want, but the board and sidecut were made to be centered. It's also soft, so the board will flex. That doesn't mean that someone conditioned to ride a soft centered board won't find it easy to ride in powder. You just aren't used to riding a softer twin board

Stiffer boards will also naturally want to ride faster, so it's easier to plane up with effort from your back foot
 
#38 ·
Yeah. I'm beginning to think it's the stiffer tail that makes it easier to stomp down the backfoot where as the villain would give away... But that's been too long.

I guess we still seem to be missing the point. "Good in powder", relatively speaking, therefore applies to basically every board. What I was going after.
 
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