Pan Admun Republic of Western Blog

It's end of January again, and I happened to be back to Ottawa for some personal matters, R&R, and friends visiting. Like clockwork, Burton is once again doing demo at Camp Fortune. Last time when I tried their board I ended up bought a used 2005 Shaun White pre-production with no graphics, which I still like a lot after 3 reasons later.

Even I like my Shaun White a lot, but I still keep an lookout for new toys. I was toying the idea of a 149cm Custom, just so I can do more spinning type of tricks without compromising a solid and poppy ride. But as usual, the demo has nothing shorter than 150-ish. So, I just ask what they'd recommended for a stiff but short(er) deck. There is a 151cm Women Supermodel that seem fit my requirements, so I take it. After all, there is also a Men Supermodel. If I like it, I can get the Men's without being called a sissy.

Since I bought my Shaun White, one thing I complained is the fact that the board is much heavier than what I demo. This hampered my progress to learn and master some hop and spin tricks like half-cap. I know my metal Ride RX binding has a lot to do with that..... but when they handed me the feather-feel Supermodel w/ Lexa binding, that hit me that I NEED Burton binding for my next board!

This board is using ICS "The Channel" binding mechanism. It's just so incompatible with the rest of the world, but I think there is a good justification for this closed system; It allows very fine adjustment to the binding angle and stand width. I often thinks I can use a bit more fine-tuning to the stands on my Shaun White. (p.s. I am a open system kind of guy. I opts for a Google G1 rather than iPhone 3G)

After a few runs and some binding tweaks, I settled down with a good enough setting to see what I can do with this deck. The first thing I noticed is this board can turn! Even through the board is 151cm long, it feels like a 145cm board a friend of my had. The first time when it does that actually scar me a bit, the board just turn so fast and even more effortless than my Shaun White. The demo guys told me this is probably because of the Tapered shape of the board (vs Directional sidecut on the SW), which the tail is narrower than the head. The Supermodel has only a slight Tapered shape (10mm), as compared to some other boards on Burton's line-up with much narrower tail (upward to 40mm).

The Supermodel is constructed with I-beam inside, which create a stiff but yet poppy characteristics. However, this board did not feel as poppy as my Shaun White. It might because I can turn quickly with the Tapered shape, so I rely less on the reactive pop from the board to make the turn easy. For sure the solid and stiffness of the edge is still there that bite into the snow, which is another property I appreciate from my Shaun White.

The conclusion: This board is fun to ride with. Now I will get one when possible (~$440 on ebay), and this time with Burton binding!

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