Burton Super Hero 2014 - 2013 Review by The Good Ride

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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 151

Days: 2
Conditions: Both times hardpack with a little loose snow.
Riders: James, Peter
Boots: Burton Ion, Nike Kaiju,
Bindings: Burton Malavita EST with hinge tech.
Set Up: Centered 15 front -15 back 23″ wide

About the length: It looks like your standard park sizing but if you are a size 9 boot the 148 and 151 are sizes appropriately.  The 157 is more sized for bigger boots like a size 11 US. Now, this is not super nugged out like the Nug but the sizing is pretty small compared to the average board.

On Snow Feel: This felt stable but not totally stable.  There was a weird feeling to it like it’s almost a flat to rocker feel but with a bit of continuous rocker to it.  It felt sturdier underfoot than most Burton boards we tried. It also didn’t have that magic flex that many Boards have from tip to tail.  It didn’t feel like a small 151 but instead felt more like a semi-lifeless 157.

Powder: I don’t think the Super Hero would be that super in powder. It has more float than you would think for a board this small but we’d rather be riding in powder on the old hero or something else.

Turn Initiation and Carving– We couldn’t really get anything more than controlled sliding with this board.  No real turning of any kind was going on here.  Now when it comes to carving this is a loss because the almost non-existent edge hold and flat to rocker tech prevent this from performing well.  So neither of us could even make a carve because the board just slid out from under our feet.

Speed: This is no bomber but the flat to rocker profile as well as the shorter length reduces the chatter that you normally get with Burton V-Rocker or Flying V Rocker boards.  It’s on the average side of good.  Let’s just say the Super Hero rides faster than you would think it would and controls chatter a lot better than expected for its size.

Uneven Terrain: Almost all Burton freestyle boards are great here but this wasn’t in the same league as the other Burton boards we tried.  It felt a little on the harder side underfoot but it is small and if the edge hold isn’t is as bad as it was on our board it could negotiate you through the end of the day groomers without too many issues. If the edges are really this bad I’d knock it down a peg or two because there would be no control.

Approximate Weight- This is hard to rate because of the small sizing. Pound for Pound it feels light for its size but it’s probably lighter than most boards out there.

Edge Hold: The Super Hero we rode was on the scary side.  I don’t know if the edges were filed down or not but the thing couldn’t keep an edge for anything.  It took much longer to stop and I didn’t have enough control to even comfortably approach a Jib let alone turn.  I felt like I was sliding down the mountain instead of riding and so did Peter.  We couldn’t wait to get off this board.  Turns out the edges were de-tuned a little too much so it’s not as terrible as we thought but its a board I’d never take a file to if I owned it. We rode a few other boards the same day and this had by far the worst edge hold.

Flex: The Super Hero deviated from the typical softness of Burton’s typically softer flexing line.  It felt pretty firm for such a small board and wasn’t terribly easy to butter or press.

Switch: Super easy switch. as all true twins are.  The only board that might be better is the Parkitect with its asymmetrical flex.

Jibbing: Neither of us particularly enjoyed this board in the jib park but it might work for those that like a stiffer feeling board in there.

Pipe: No fucking way.  Well, that is my opinion but I bet if Jimbo (much better rider than me) would have no problem here.  He can ride any board and look pretty good while doing it.

Jumps: We didn’t feel this had the pop and all around springiness of many other boards out there.  If you are going to go for this board it’s best to pair this with the Malivita EST because the hinge tech will help the board ollie better. Even with them, there are many Burton boards that would be much poppier even without hinge tech bindings.

All in all the lack of edge hold kind of took away all confidence for both Peter and I.  I’m crossing my fingers that the Super Hero is going to have sharper edges in the production models than the de-tuned demo we rode. Then this might be another story.  It might be more of a fun board for those that like a smaller flatter semi-stable feel for taking on the whole mountain.