How cool is a name like Salvatore Sanchez? I think I would buy the board just for its name… and if you believe that, you probably haven’t read any of Dave’s or my reviews. In which case, welcome to our humble review of the 2012 Salomon Salvatore Sanchez. Pretty straightforward freestyle stick. Let’s get to it!
Size: 154cm
Stance: 15/-15, 24″
Shape: twin
Bindings: Salomon Chief
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs
Conditions: Boyne Mountain, cold, overcast. 17 degrees not too windy. dust on crust about 1″ of natural snow but mostly hardpacked groomers. Small amounts of sidepow but nothing to write home about. Decent test conditions for a variety of boards.
Flex:
Dave says: Nice & forgiving flex that’s familiar and easy to get used to. For me I got more play out of this through the middle of the board and slightly stiffer tip/tail action. Good to butter around and on jibs, too.
Leo says: The Salvatore Sanchez is just under mid flex for me. Softer in between the feet and stiffer in the tips.
Ollie/Pop:
Dave says: Pretty decent pop on this deck but at the price they’re offering the Sanchez it’s tough to really complain. There’s certainly enough to hit rails and whatnot.
Leo says: Decent. I’m with Dave on this one… hard to really complain considering the value.
Handling:
Dave says: I preferred the more traditional sidecut on the Sanchez to the Equalizer sidecut on the Drift Rocker. The Sanchez holds a carve pretty well but definitely still belongs in the “jib stick” camp, so overall its versatility is somewhat limited. I found it quick edge to edge and stable at medium-high speeds but pushing that and you lose it a bit.
Leo says: Yea, I really disliked the Equalizer sidecut on the Drift. That sidecut has weird characteristics when you’re riding in my opinion. The Sanchez has a radial sidecut which means it is cut from a perfect circle. Sound techy? The board held it’s edge on carves, but got squirrly at higher speeds. No big shocker here though since this is a jibstick. I found edge to edge to be a little sluggish. Just a hair though.
Jibs/Playfulness:
Dave says: Like I said above the Sanchez is definitely a jib stick. No problems locking on to features and flexible enough to butter up anything that gets in your way, the Sanchez is at home in the park.
Leo says: I only hit a wide box with this thing (yea, yea, I’m a noob), but it did well either way. You can feel whats underfoot so thats great. Just general messing around on the slopes with this board was fun.
