Summary

The Arbor Element CX is the old school camber ride that is going to have a more aggressive less forgiving ride compared to the RX model. The areas where the Arbor Element CX Shines is groomers and carving which is mainly where people who have all mountain board want to go. Over the last few years, the design hasn't changed much but it still provides a good old school ride for those that still want camber.

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Riding Style All Mountain
Riding Level Advanced - Expert
Fits Boot size (US) 8-10
Manufactured in Austria by Elan
Shape Directional
Camber Profile Traditional Camber
Stance Setback -20mm
Approx. Weight Feels Normal
Split No
Powder Average
Base Glide Good
Carving Excellent
Speed Great
Uneven Terrain Average
Switch Good
Jumps Good
Jibbing Average
Pipe Good
On Snow Feel

Locked In

Turn Initiation

Medium

Skidded Turns

Hard

Flex

Medium

Buttering

Hard

Edge Hold

Medium Snow

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Arbor Element CX 2013 - 2010 Review by The Good Ride

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective. 
How This Review Happened:  
We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.

Days:6

Conditions: Hard Pack to Snowment, Soft playful groomed runs and a little light 6-inch dusting of powder.
Riders: Jimbo, James
Boots: Burton SLX and Burton Ions
Bindings: Flux SF45, Union SL
Stance Width: 23″ Set Back
Stance Angle-  18 front -6 back

The Arbor Element CX is very old school but still very fun.  This is right there with great camber boards like the Rome Anthem and Custom X in terms of ride feel but has a bit of it’s own feel and a completely different look as well. It’s one of those boards for those that love the stability, traditional pop and carving power that directional camber boards of this nature offer.  Like many aggressive all mountain boards you have to be on your game at almost all times but it did feel a little more forgiving than the Anthem and Custom X.

On Snow Feel:  This locked in feel is for the advanced to expert rider that wants to spend most of their time making good turns on their board.  It’s great flat basing and one footing if you know what you are doing.  Most of our time these days is spent riding boards with some rocker in there so it’s always refreshing to get back on a camber board for groomer riding. It’s not a very playful board and it’s all about going from edge to edge.

Powder: There is a setback stance with a nice directional shape that makes it easier than many camber boards but it’s still a camber board that points down instead of up.  I’d love to see this go hybrid camber.  I’m not saying I want rocker or anything but I’d like to see this be mostly camber but add a little bit of rocker in the nose to help it stay up easier.  It would make this a lot easier in powder while still providing the kind of pop old schoolers like when launching off wind lips or natural terrain.

Turn Initiation and Carving: This is borderline challenging and for this board that is preferred for most advanced to expert riders.  Short radius turns require a little more of a technical or strong rider to really get this board to snap from edge to edge quickly.  Medium radius turns are really fun and you begin to feel that fun camber spring halfway through the turn. The Arbor Element CX Lives to carve and we had a lot of fun on it.  It’s one of the best qualities of this board.  A directional camber board of this shape and excellent build is can lead you to tear off your nipple due to excessive carving. The only board we liked more in Arbors line for carving is of course the A-Frame.

Speed: Very fast and stable. The only board faster in Arbor’s line is the A-Frame.  So I guess you could say it’s on the low end of excellent like an A-.  It can hang with boards like the Burton Custom X, Rome Anthem and Capita Black Snowboard of Death no problem.

Uneven Terrain: What makes this very fast and stable also contributes to it’s the inability to slow down and deal with bumps like let’s say the Coda.  It can handle tracked up thick powder and absorb some harder snow at medium to high speeds but it’s not something you want to take on super rutted up snow that starts to look like a mogul patch.

Approx Weight– The Arbor Element CX well built and very beautiful but it’s not the lightest. They did what they could to make it light enough not to bother most people on the chair.

Edge Hold: Edge hold is to us was a touch less than the Arbor Element RX.  The Grip Tech Really does grab better in the right places where the Camber holds well but still feels less grippy.  It makes us wonder what a mellow grip tech would be like on their camber line?  Probably won’t ever happen but it’s got enough grip for good to moderate condition carving. In the harder conditions, we experienced the edges didn’t hold as much as we would like them to but it wasn’t like it was washing out.  It was just like we didn’t feel really comfortable leaning too much into a turn.

Flex: It’s a borderline aggressive flex that is perfect for how you want to ride this.  It’s not easy to butter or press but it’s got a snappy feel to it.

Switch: Definitely different switch but you can get use to it with a little riding. If we had centered this it would of been better but it’s still going to be close to how we rode it set back.

Rails/Jibs– The flex is too stiff for this shit.

Pipe: Pipe has a lot of necessary elements to make it a great pipe board.  The first is edge hold which the Arbor Element CX is good at but not great. The second is a good drive that gets you from wall to wall well and the Arbor Element CX sure has that. The third is getting back down ok and the Arbor Element CX is not that forgiving here. This is a great board for the old school technical directional pipe rider but the more novice rider might want to consider the RX instead.

Jumps: There is good pop when it comes to this board and it is great for directional jumps on natural terrain and popping up on an Ollie.

 
Arbor Element CX Specs

 
Arbor Element CX Images

We try to get as many images of the Arbor Element CX, but forgive us if they're not all there.

2013

2012

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Arbor Element CX User Reviews

Arbor Element CX Review And Buying Advice SKU UPC Model

A tank

Jun 11, 2013 by Rob
Ability Level: Int • 
Riding Style: All Mountain Freeride • 
Days You Ride A Year: 20-30 

I bought the 2012 model because I was in need of a serious speed stick akin to the Custom X but without the hefty price tag. James personally recommended a few models to me and I happened upon a good deal for the Element.

So here we are - one season of riding the board and I can say it does the trick. My home mountain is on the East Coast and the board handles the ice and garbage really well. It certainly takes some effort to throw it around but that's what I love. If you want something purely maneuverable, flexy, and effortless to turn this is not the board but if you love leaning in and really working for your lines, this board is so much fun. It can be ridden nice and hard like an old school straight camber board should.

It feels really stable at speed and pretty damp in crappy conditions. When the real snow starts to fall and the conditions improve I have other boards I use that are more adept in any amount of powder. There is no magnetraction or fancy edge tech so it holds edge like the camber boards of yore. However, Arbor does a nice job of constructing their boards so it does have current construction tech. And the topsheet is tasty. I get compliments.


4.0 4.0 1 1 I bought the 2012 model because I was in need of a serious speed stick akin to the Custom X but without the hefty price tag. James personally recommended a few models to me and I Arbor Element CX Review And Buying Advice

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