dragoon101's Full Review: Palmer Classic Snowboard
First of all, I'd like to say that I relied upon other reviews on here when shopping for another snowboard and I'm glad I trusted the reviews. They were right on the money.
I purchased a 157cm model and took it up for the first time at Northstar at Tahoe on some pretty terrible conditions (packed powder w/manmade snow on top).
- FREERIDING
The board handled beautifully at high speeds with just the right amount of stiffness to keep the board from wobbling and allowing me to hit those edges with precision. The steel edges and capped construction definitely helped me out on these icey conditions. When i tried to carve or stop on icey patches, other boards might have slipped from underneath me, but this board dug in and grabbed the edge like a champ.
- TURNING
As someone else stated on here, don't be intimidated by the length of the board. You'll see that the effective edge is not terribly long so turning is relatively easy. The sidecut is pretty moderate and still accommodates my big size 11 boots.
- BASE
My base is predominantly blue with a white palmer logo. The base is advertised as a IS 4400 BX base which was standard among 2001 Palmer boards. New Palmer boards now utilize a 7200 base. The board came somewhat waxed (felt slippery to the touch) but it definitely wasn't enough. After two days of riding, the base was pretty rough and I could feel a significant slow down in speed. Get this sucker waxed before you go out. As far as durability, I took a couple of hits on the base and it wasn't too bad and the base held up. This base seemed strange to me though because while my previous boards had a clear base which showed underlying graphics/paint, this base is a solid color. The small chunks that got nicked in my base came out as blue pieces and looked like plastic.
- EDGES
I took some hits on the edges and even though they weren't that bad, the edges got kinda torn up. I tried using stones and files to get em out and did for the most part, but there's still some inconsistencies left. My other boards never got this chewed up. Not a big deal though since they're still sharp.
Conclusion: Awesome board for the money, extremely light, easy to ride, stable at high speeds, perfect for all-mountain riding no matter what your skill level. Don't pay full price for it though, you can get closeouts anywhere online but you'll be hard pressed to find a retailer that carries Palmer. Don't let snowboard salesmen talk down on this board, they're just saying that because they're trying to sell you a $500 Ride Timeless and never ridden a Palmer.
*UPDATE* I was reading my old review and I thought i'd give this review an update after realizing that it wasn't completely accurate. Since I've written this review, I've ridden several other boards from varying brands and sizes. In comparison, the Palmer Classic is clearly a beginner/intermediate board (more beginner than anything). While I was definitely comfortable riding the Classic, it's one of those things where you don't know what you're missing until you try it. I rode some more advanced boards and I realized that the Classic suffers from being "too buttery". I don't know if guys think that's a bad thing but what I mean by too buttery is that the board does not take swift, sharp turns at high speed and does not stop on a dime like a more advanced board would. Now that I'm more advanced, that's what I look for so my needs have changed. For beginners and intermediates who maybe have 1 season under their belt, this board will still do you good. But be mindful that you will grow out of it very quickly.
Even still, the board is fun to ride and is definitely a keeper for those days when you just don't want to try that hard. It's almost impossible to go down riding this board and had I ridden this board when I first started riding, I might have improved quicker due to the confidence it gave me. In retrospect, I probably would have gotten a 160cm for myself so if you're eyeballin this board, try to get one in a size where you are in the top end of the board's stated weight range.
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