[Etienne]

French magazine snowsurf has dropped reviews for the Pintonic and Pocket Rocket 2.0! You can google translate them, but here is a crappy quick translation.
Pintonic:

Longboard freeride carving.
A new board inspired by the discontinued Puzzle, with yet again a "longboard" spirit that you feel well even in the "small" 164 size. No suprises, it's quite a powerful board with great edge hold that makes you want to play, even dance on the snow, at least the biggers guys who appreciated it more the lighter-and maybe more freestlye-testers. Its a board that enters the turn pretty centered on the two feets, must driven fast and strong and is always perfectly on tracks in the turns-Korua's trademark who never makes trade-offs on turn quality. And it's true that for precision carving, this Pintonic is quite the board! It's also a board with a great snow feel, one of those that make you smile, with a quite forgiving character-at least if you strong enough to bend it. Percfect in powder due its shape, it's a board very enjoyable board due it's nimbleness, relative torsion flex and its ability to please the rider with comfort and a sense a safety. Not the kind of the board that will let you down or surprise you, it's a longboard for long curves amateurs (even if it's quite lively in smaller ones!) who are looking for a quality freeride and carving board to do it all without limitations.

Pocket Rocket:

Snow wakeboard (no licence required)
Koriua is never shy when you it comes to challenging the norms and offer "different" shapes, but this Pocket Rocket is certainly the most crazy noes the Swiss brand has ever come up with. Ultra short, super thick, you need not be too narrow minded to accept to ride it. But all the tester who got on it where convinced! Absolutely uncommon, this UFO is heartwarming straight out of the box. A board that makes people talk, but that you soon forget under your feets, super stable and really fun. Incrédible in small turns, it can jump terrain with a lot of pop and when you start going for it more seriously it handles speed asburdly well. This board that "fits in a golf car" turns out to be pretty grippy on piste, able to lay big carves as much as "godille". It has no pop to speak of, but since you have practically nothing underfoot it's playful in freestyle. Even if it's super not balanced in this area, it's wide and stiff nose absorbs everything. The Pocket Rocker really shines in powder and play in between the trees, a real eel…

I am myself torn between a TF57 and CR59, which I'll pick and ride next week. Part of me is like "If it carves hard enough, I might as well have a bit more freestyle playfulness, specs are not that different" and part of me is like "Just go for it, you want it because it turns well don't stop halway there, it's a quiver board anyways"

 

[Etienne]

Took out the brand new Café Racer 59 for some autumn glacier. I officially "ride a Korua" now!

I hadn't ride groomers for almost two years, first time for this boots on groomers too, new positive angles and a lower back pain... Far from ideal conditions. Groomers were excellent though.

Still, took me couple hours to find how the shape works, which is both unusual for me (last two boards I needed around 5s...[emoji28]) and part of the fun. I'm still far from done here.

It's much less aggressive than I thought it would be, felt a bit dead at first, but much more forgiving and versatile too (no problem doing my usual side hit shred). Kinda eager to test it in freeride.

It's crazy how much you have to move on the board and engage your body in the turn, it's like dancing on the board. But once you get the hang of it, these are very unique, beautiful curves indeed.

Part of me still felt I would achieve the same turns with half the effort on narrower more lively board. Part of me is beginning to enjoy how you change radius smoothly by using all that tapper, while having the stability of a damp wide board. Time will tell if it's my king of thing...

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[Etienne]

I think it will grow on you @Etienne, I had similar experience on my first day. Actually my first run was 'meh what is this dead boat'. But after a few days it came to life once I started being more dynamic with my whole body and more confident to set it on edge. Now it's my favorite shape and I am looking to expand my Korua set with more.

Remember your thoughts and come back after 5-6 days on it to compare!

I definitely need more time on it for sure. At first I thought I wanted the plus version (which I can get for the price of a normal) , but at the end of the day, I realized the dampness and forgiveness allowed me to move my body around the board quite easily and in positions where a narrow board (like my blacklight or slash straight) would totally wash out.

It's definitely not the most precise or lively board, but that might not be a problem at all, quite the opposite. And with the pop out of turn it has, if you setup your next turn early enough, it can be quite quick into the next one.

I'm glad I didn't take the Otto or TF as daily freestylish driver though. This kind of dampness and inertia has its place for turning, but it's totally not my style for fun shred or more aggressive/precise riding.

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[Etienne]

Now why does this make me want to ride the most impractical board in the world, I don't know. But I want to.

Also a bit of pocket rocket footage at the end of this video. Seems like in immensly fun board:

 

[Etienne]

And back to my the reason I came here in the first place: anyone riding Koruas with Saloman highlander or hologram? I loved my hologram and I need a second pair of bindings, so I'm thinking of trading my Falcor for highlanders on the CR9. Would allow for even more movement on the board.

 

[Etienne]

My old Salamon Malamut had 200+ days, I couldn't just let them go… I was losing weight as they were losing stiffness, but this held only up until a point. I'm now on Vans Verse, they are comfy and seem to pretty good all mountain carving boots and a good fit for the Café Racer, but almost only used it from split right now. It's what I bougth it for in the first place, I'll see if I need a second pair of all-mountain.

 

[Etienne]

Yeah I love to change boards, but changing boots almost scares me. Like it's so good to have boots that fit, I don't want to take any risk… As I said 200+ days on the Malamuts 😅

 

[Etienne]

It's the knees knocking each others that got me ticking and probably causing the instability on larger radius curves. Still, very nice edit and seems like tons of fun!

 

[Etienne]

Speaking of the Café Racer, I could test mine in quite some pow this WE (as I mentionned in another thread). I can understand that it's not their most pow oriented board, but coming from all mountain/freeride board, it's absolutely amazing. Like not even the same world. It's absolutely effortless, even low grades become quite enjoyable (I like to ride powder fullspeed on steeper faces), the drive from the front foot is crazy fun. A whole another world of smoothness.

The more I ride it, the more I think getting old will be quite enjoyable with this kind of board after all…

 

[Etienne]

Some people talked about it in this thread I think. Also, there was only one size with that crazy tapper, bigger and smaller addition were more reasonable (true for other shapes too).

I don't know if I like it or not... It's probably more efficient, but is it ever why you buy Korua?

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[Etienne]

I've just had two perfect Korua days: light pow and perfect groomers in between. The café racer has been absolutely addictive in this conditions, I trashed my legs so bad. I even skipped some pow to get some more caves [emoji33]. I had to reason myself into giving some time to the asymulator. Full review dropping soon!

I'm so glad I didn't get the Otto or TF though. Even with a bit more tail and rocker, I don't want this kind of inertia on a more freestyle board (but it's crazy good for carving)

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[Etienne]

So I'll update the thread...

I'm 5'10, 170lbs, and wear a size 8 boot. I bought the Otto 157 last season and didn't get a chance to ride it then unfortunately. It's been pretty barren out east in the early season, but it is what it is...

I rode the board on groomers at Jay peak, sticking to the safe areas since a lot of the 'groomers' were more like 'yeah, yer sheets gunna get farked'. I honestly can't say exactly why but I just really did not like the board. I tried a few different binding positions, but no matter what, it felt planky and very stiff to me. I had that feeling with my 156 stealth when I first got it, but after a few laps I started to love it. I've never ridden a board that I couldn't wait to get off before.

For me, I think the stiffness of the board and the width at my boot size just led to a situation where it wasn't fun for me. The stealth is pretty stiff as well, but IMHO the huge nose and aggressive taper really helps initiate turns and makes it feel like the board is just rolling from edge to edge.

Maybe I would have had a different reaction if I had sized down a bit more so I think I'd actually love to try a 153. Realistically though, I don't really see how/why this board would really fit in my quiver. I don't need a carving board that tries to be a freestyle board.

I traded the 157 otto for a 147 orca just for sheets and giggles. I have a feeling I'll try it and sell/trade it unless my GF really likes it. We're going to steamboat soon and I think it might serve her well for the deep days there.

I traded the 156 stealth for a 156 simple pleasures. I'm not really sure about this trade, but I think the SP is going to be more accessible to me since I'll be able to ride it not at 10/10th's all the time. The stealth was my first korua and I honestly really loved it so I'm feeling a bit torn about having gone through with this but isn't trying a lot of boards part of all the fun?

I think I'm going to start the hunt for a 154 TF or 152 dart. Those are the koruas I'm going to eye next. I think that they'd be a blast and I'll be able to get the most out of them at my weight and boot size.

Till we meet again Korua!

I never tried the Otto, but I feel you there. As I said, I love my CR, but I wouldn't want this kind of plank, weight and inertia on freestylish board.

I have yet to a plus version though, which child change my mind. I think Lars pop (or is it Maurer?) is riding a lot of TF plus in the park.

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[Etienne]

And here we go, review dropped!

Korua Café Racer 159

So here it is, I feel I’ve put enough vertical on this board to give it an honest review. Is it worth the hype? Let’s find out! What kind of rider am I? Number of days : 10+ Conditions: Perfect groomers, deep heavy pow, lighter pow, shitty groomers (ice, moguls) and genuine Januapril slush...

www.snowboardingforum.com

Sorry for the wall of text

 

[Etienne]

More than halfway on the Highlander (the way you measure it on the Shadowfit is a bit different). I realized I needed different ones for my back and front foot (more on the back, with a bit of rotation) with the double positive angles and waist rotation.

 

[Etienne]

I kinda like their pricing in Europe: same in shop and on the internet, so you have no advantage buying straight online. In most case that mean it will be more convenient from your local shop, but if you don't can one you can still order online.

I guess it's the same in the US: same price whether you buy from shops or straight from them with import (there are services to do that).

And I'm totally into the fair constant price, no crazy deal. It's much more sustainable on many levels.

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[Etienne]

Damn, nice quiver!

I've been eying that dart split as my pow split, quite a lot... Seems more realistic than a sushi or split bean for Europe.

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[Etienne]

To me, the bullet train hits the point where I would rather consider an SG, Swoard or something like that, rather than a Korua (or an Amplid centrifugal, for that matter).

 

[Etienne]

Never seen that kind of thickness on the nose 😲

 

[Etienne]

So yeah - now I have a Korua, albeit only 129 cm's of Korua

A french review said "it must be some of the most expensive centimeters of board 😂 "

I'm still unsure wether this board is genius or if is the ski-board/snowblade of snowboarding.

 

[Etienne]

Since @BoardieK mentioned Allo Ski in Le Grand Bornand (lamest name ever...), here is a video of their staff trying the Café Racer plus and casually landing 540 on it [emoji44]