Bataleon The Jam Review 2016
Bataleon The Jam is a medium stiff board, with extra kevlar and carbon and the Freestyle 3BT.
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The Jam has the Freestyle 3BT base shape, which has a little bit thinner center base section than the park 3BT.
If you haven’t looked into Bataleon boards before, they all have a unique design. They have a camber profile, but the corners of the board (white sections in the graphic below) are slightly raised, so that the contact points are out of the snow when you are riding with a flat base.
In general with camber boards you get great pop, edge hold and stability, but the tradeoff is they have a “catchy” feel and you can’t be lazy riding them. On the other side you have rocker boards, which are very easy to turn, easy to ride and are very forgiving for beginners. The downside is they have much less pop, stability and edge hold.
Bataleon try to get around this by making their 3BT. The ides is that when you are riding them with a flat base (just riding on a flat groomed run not turning), the contact points won’t be touching snow, so you will get the same loose and fun ride as you get from a rocker board.
As soon as you start to turn though, the whole edge will grip, just like on a camber board, so you get the strong edge hold and stability back.
The Reactor Core is made of Poplar Wood, with strips of beech running along the edges to add some extra strength.
There are Carbon and Kevlar stringers that run from the tip to the tail of the board to help add pop and stiffness.
There are three layers of fiberglass (Triax) which combined with the reactor core, carbon and kevlar stringers give The Jam a flex rating of 7/10.
It is an almost twin shape, the only difference is that the nose is 1cm longer than the tail.
Features of the Bataleon The Jam
- Freestyle 3BT
- Reactor Core
- Almost Twin Shape
- Sintered Base
- Triax Laminates
- Carbon Enhanced
- Kevlar Enhanced
Sizes Available:
- 156cm
- 159cm
- 161cm Wide
- 162cm
How the Bataleon The Jam rides
Board: Bataleon The Jam 156cm
Bindings: Flux RK
Boots: ThirtyTwo Tm Two
Stance: 22.5″, +12° and -9°
Snow: Fresh powder (10-40cm) and soft to packed groomed runs
Flex & Camber Profile
The Jam has the Freestyle 3BT profile, which means that it has a fairly thin center base, but still with the regular camber profile. Being a more aggressive board, it has a bit more camber than other Bataleon models. The edges life quite early, and it had quite a different feel to other Bataleon boards that I have ridden.
Shape
It’s it called an Almost Twin, which means there is a 1cm longer nose than the tail. I didn’t notice a huge difference riding switch, it felt as stable and smooth as it did riding regular.
It was very nice through powder, had better float than other (similar sized) Bataleon boards and was still quick to turn in the trees. I am guessing this is because of the slightly longer nose, and maybe a little more surface area from the 3BT. Either way, it was fun, very smooth and not tiring like it can be on some snowboards.
Edge Hold
Like you would expect from a board with a camber profile, the edge hold is very good on the jam. You can really put your weight into the turns and not have to worry about the board slipping out.
Speed
The stiffish flex and sintered base make the Jam very fast. When you are on an edge it has no problem smashing through chopped up snow. When riding it flat based, it has a very loose feel, you can easily swivel the board while moving without the edges coming close to catching. I was a big fan of the Evil Twin, but this version of 3BT was too loose for me.
Pop
Being a medium stiff camber board, there is plenty of pop in the Jam. It doesn’t take too much effort to get big ollies and have a solid landing. I can see why Tor Lundstrom can use The Jam on such big jumps.
Overall
The Jam is going to be a good board for intermediate to advanced riders, who spend a lot of time carving, riding fast and searching for powder.
Pros:
- Good in powder
- Good at speed
Cons
- Very loose feel when riding flat based
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| Size (cm) | 156 | 159 | 161W | 162 |
| Contact length (cm) | 117 | 119 | 121 | 122 |
| Waist width (mm) | 251 | 254 | 265 | 257 |
| Setback (mm) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sidecut radius (m) | 8.05 | 8.20 | 8.25 | 8.35 |
| Inserts | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 |
| Stance width (mm) | 500-620 | 515-635 | 520-640 | 525-645 |
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