Salomon is another ski company that’s been in the snowboard game for a long time but you don’t really hear much about them. But Leo & I had a few Salomon decks on our test cards so on day 2 of Test Fest we headed over to their tent and got set up with a Drift Rocker and a Salvatore Sanchez. Here is what we thought of the Drift Rocker.
Size:154cm
Stance: 24″ regs 15/-15
Shape: full rocker, “Equalizer” sidecut
Bindings: Salomon, Either the Relay or Relay Pro. We don’t remember exactly.
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs
Conditions: Boyne Mountain (Boyne Falls, MI). Hardpack & icy, super cold a little sun but mostly clouds.
Flex:
Dave says: This board was pretty soft from nose to tail with some torsional give, I would rate it a 4 out of 10
Leo says: Salomon uses a 5 scale which I personally don’t like. They rate it a 2/5. This board is around mid flex for me so 5/10 on my own scale. This board was torsionally on the softer side.
Ollie/Pop:
Dave says: Definitely below-average in the pop department, it just felt kind of dead to me.
Leo says: David took the words right out of my mouth. Nothing special. Bland even.
Handling:
Dave says: Salomon’s “Equalizer” sidecut, rather than being a radial sidecut or blended radii, is three straight cuts that intersect and approximate the curved sidecut you’re familiar with. According to the rep this was basically Salomon’s answer to Magnetraction. Unfortunately it didn’t work. A soft full rocker deck I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised though. The Drift Rocker was unstable at speed and had trouble holding an edge, tending rather to wash on terrain even remotely challenging
Leo says: I hate the Equalizer. I was complaining to David about it quite a few times. The weird sidecut just made the Drift Rocker feel very washy. This is on top of the rocker profile of the board. The rep told us that Equalizer enables the board to hold a good edge on cruddy conditions. I looked around on Salomon’s site and they say the straight edges increase the effective edge. Supposedly, Equalizer causes the edges to be in contact with the snow through tip and tail rather than just between the feet. Salomon themselves also said that the rider should dull the edges on them. Why recommend it rather than producing it that way if that’s how you feel your customers should be riding your boards? At any rate, I wasn’t a fan at all and found it to be unstable on even mellow terrain. Not just the Equalizer, the combination of the flex and rocker profile as well. One place this board did shine was edge to edge response. I think this is one of those boards that you have to get used to. I’d definitely like to spend more time with this one rather than a few runs demo.
Jibs/Playfulness:
Dave says: The Drift Rocker was fairly playful on account of its soft flex and reverse camberness. As mentioned above the weak pop left something to be desired, but in general terms for jibbing and buttering around the flats this board would be OK.
Leo says: Very loose feel… I guess some might call it skatey? Presses were easy to do on this board due to reasons that David already gave.
Pricing:
Dave Says: This deck retails in the mid/high-$300s which is a lower price point so you can’t expect all the bells and whistles and you can’t expect top-of-the-line performance. The less-expensive Salvatore Sanchez (we’ll review this one, soon) was a better board for less money in my opinion.
Leo says: The Drift Rocker was $359 last year so it’s safe to assume it’ll be around that for 2012. Like I said, I want some more time on this board. I feel like Equalizer is just one of those things you have to get used to. As of now, I hate it, but with an open mind.
Summing it up:
Dave’s Take: This board’s undoing is the fact that there is plenty of competition in the snowboard industry and as a result there are other boards at this price point which perform better. Overall the Drift Rocker was just averageish among the 15 decks that we tested. It would be best-suited for a begintermediate (someone who already knows the fundamentals of snowboarding) on a limited budget who plans on spending most of his time jibbing the terrain park. If you are a more advanced rider looking to get more out of your shred stick then the Drift Rocker is not for you.
Leo’s Take: I have nothing against Salomon. Their boards are well-built and quality certainly has never been an issue for me. The problem is the “eh” factor. Meaning, there’s nothing special about them other than the entertaining Mexican Mustache monikers that they use to describe their rockers. I wish I demoed this board last year so I could have more experience with Equalizer. I know, I know… I said that like 50 times already. I’m actually in disagreement with David on the rider recommendation. The Equalizer feels completely different than any other board. I recommend it for the intermediate and above. However, I HIGHLY recommend that you demo it first.
