Korua Shapes Pin Tonic Review
The Korua Shapes Pin Tonic is a big, floaty and stable board, that rides a lot smaller than you would imagine.
Features of the Korua Shapes Pin tonic
Float Camber
Biaxial Fiberglass
UV Lacquer Topsheet
Poplar Light Wood Core
Perlatec Base
Sizes available:
- 164
- 172
How it Rides
Board size: 164cm
Boots: Salomon Launch Boa 27.5
Bindings: Union Strata
I am 6 foot tall and weigh 155lbs – or 183cm tall and 70kg.
Camber Profile
The float camber profile has benefits of camber – which are stability at speed, good pop and edge hold, while the rocker nose helps make the entry to turns nice and smooth, while also giving better float in powder.
Flex and Pop
Although I wouldn’t say it is anything crazy, overall the flex is quite solid. For my weight there is plenty of stability, so it does feel like you can just plow through chopped up snow without getting thrown around.
I noticed that it wasn’t hard to flex the board torsionally (twisting) which I guess helps make the big and wide board much easier to ride and make quicker turns.
Edge Hold
The edge hold on the Korua boards I have ridden have all been good, and there is no change with the Pin Tonic.
Turns
Although this is a big board, especially for me, it doesn’t always ride like one. When you need to make quick turns, it isn’t anywhere near as slow as you would think.
I had just spent a few days on the narrower and much quicker turning Café Racer, so I expected a big step down in how easy this board would be to move around.
I still feel like it was nicer on medium to long turns, where I could slowly get my weight over and not have it force a tight carve.
Groomed runs with soft enough snow to get good grip without having to work for it a very fun, and looking back up the hill it’s nice to see some clean-ish tracks.
Float
In powder the Pin Tonic really shines. Just from looking at the board you can imagine that it would do well – long length, big nose, wide width and tons of taper are everything you would want.
No effort at all is needed to keep it afloat, which makes sense for a board this big. Although it is narrower, the pin tail doesn’t seem (it might in real life though) to sink, so to me it gives the feeling of the snow being deeper than it is, as even when the snow is light with a hard or icy layer not far below, it wants to sit on top.
It has a very surfy, relaxed and slow feeling, and I can see why Korua recommend that it is a good choice for low angle riding.
Speed
This is one of the few boards that I felt I could ride at my top speed, but with the added benefit that I didn’t feel like I had to constantly concentrate on sitting on one edge or swapping quickly. There are a few stiff (but shorter) full camber boards that are as solid at high speed, but I remember always feeling that if I do something slightly wrong I’ll be going down.
Overall
Overall the Pin Tonic was a bit of a surprise, especially with how well it did with tighter turns.
Stable at high speed, good edge hold and great float in powder.
For all kinds of riding, but especially in powder if feels like it slows or tones everything down, and naturally wants to make big, wide and surfy turns. If I didn’t have my Tranny Finder, and wanted a specific powder board that still turns well on groomers, this would be my choice.
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Korua Shapes Pin Tonic Technical Specs
| Length (cm) | Effective Edge (mm) | Setback (mm) | Waist Width (mm) | Sidecut (m) | Taper (mm) |
| 164 | 1200 | 20 | 269 | 8.2 | 31 |
| 172 | 1260 | 20 | 276 | 8.6 | 28 |
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