Pathron Draft 2014 Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

The Pathron Draft is a board I never heard of until I had some requests to review Pathron. I emailed them, they responded and sent some boards for me to review for a week or 2.  This was huge of them because I’m in Lake Tahoe and they are in Poland. I wish more European companies sent gear for The Good Ride for an extended demo. So let us get to the review.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 161 (I think) there was no size on the board.
Days: 2
Conditions: Good groomed fresh packed powder and firm but not hard snow with some softer snow.
Riders: James
Boots: Burton Imperial, Nike Lunarendore
Bindings: Flux S, Burton Diode
Set Up: set back -20mm 15 front -15 back 23″ wide.

So 2 things to mention about this board that took me a bit by surprise. 

1. There is only 0.25mm of camber in this board. To me, 1/4 millimeter isn’t really camber.  Often times you find flat to rocker boards with a shade of camber so we are classifying this as flat to rocker.  Most hybrid camber boards we see have anywhere from a few millimeters to almost a centimeter.

2. The stance width is a bit off.  The 2 innermost inserts matchup at 23″ so I can only ride this board with one setting. With most boards, the stance width is more narrow so you can move the bindings up and down the board.  With this I can’t ride centered without moving my stance to about 24 inches and that’s to wide for me. Maybe this was a factory defect.

Approximate Weight: Feels sturdy and middle ground. Not too light and not too heavy.

On Snow Feel: The Pathron Draft felt stable between the feet and secure. It has that flat to rocker feel that offers up flat to very mild camber past the bindings and then rockers up. It makes for an easy board to get on and off the chair as well as flat base along a long cat track. It’s got a bit of a

Powder: I had no powder and I’m not sure I will by the time I send them back but there is a -20mm set back with almost flat to rocker making for pretty good directional float.

Turn Initiation and Carving:  The Draft was moderately quick edge to edge and makes for a pretty fun board to make medium turns. Short turns aren’t super quick but you can get somewhere if you need to quickly with a little more work. It was fun making wide turns and carving turns weren’t bad either.  The board didn’t wash out on a really hard carve that took the board back uphill so that flat to a little bit of camber past the bindings held pretty well. It didn’t spring out of the turn and I’d like to see a few more millimeters of camber going on here to give it a little more pop out of the turn.

Speed: Pretty fast and stable.  I had no problem straight lining a small hill and it held fine at any speed I could achieve.  The base wasn’t waxed and was pretty dry but with a good coat of wax, I’m sure it would do really well keeping its speed in long flat sections. It did pretty well without any wax.

Uneven Terrain: Pretty good at dealing with bumpy snow and felt pretty damp underfoot.  It’s not the best for dealing with bigger bumps at slower speeds but it handled tracked up groomers very well going right over them.

Edge Hold: Pretty good edge hold. I hit some harder patches here and there and it didn’t slide as some boards can.  It didn’t feel like I could lay into the edge and make a hard turn but it held. It felt like it could handle hard snow but not excel in it like other boards with more going on in the sidecut could.

Flex: Pretty stiff in the middle but despite that the rocker in the tip tail made it ok to butter and press.

Switch: Even with the board set back and no way for me to center it I had no problem riding switch and it felt pretty natural.

Jibbing: I didn’t take this jibbing but it feels like it could handle a wider box or mellow jib fine enough. It’s not something I would feel comfortable in the jib park with though.

Pipe: No Pipe up now but I wouldn’t mind taking a lap or two with this in the pipe.

Jumps: The Draft has some pretty good snap to hit and the flat to mild camber past the bindings makes for a pretty easy board to ollie.  It takes a little more work than some boards but I had no problem springing into the air with this on an ollie.

All in all this is a pretty fun board and not a bad choice for someone riding in Europe on a budget.