Bataleon Beyond Medals Snowboard Review

An Un-Paid, Un-Biased Breakdown Of How the Bataleon Beyond Medals Rides Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
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How The Bataleon Beyond Medals Was Tested

I borrowed the Bataleon Beyond Medals for an extended demo and I’ve been trying to set it back but Bataleon hasn’t responded.

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Size: 159
Days: 4
Conditions: Varied late spring snow with even a decent late spring pow day.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards
Boots: Ride Deadbolt, Bataleon Acid BOA
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force, Union Atlas, Union Ultra, Union Strata, Union Falcor, Rome Katana, Rome Vice, Rome Black Label, Salomon Quantum, Salomon Highlander, Salomon Hologram, Salomon District, Nitro Team Pro, Nitro Team, Nitro Phantom Carver,
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket,
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Skyline Faze Pant,
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/-9. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):
United Shapes Cadet, Korua Otto, K2 Manifest, Yes Typo, Jones Frontier, Ride Algorythm, Ride Shadowban, Salomon Highpath, Yes Standard Uninc, Yes Basic Uninc, Capita Black Snowboard Of Death, Jones Rally Cat, Cardiff Crane, Cardiff Lynx, Nitro Alternator,

Sizing

The Bataleon Beyond Medals 159 handled my weight really well and it was not hard to turn for my boot size either. It’s a good all around fit. However, the 156 seems like it might be a good fit too because it better matches my stance width so I’d love to give that a try as well to see how it handles my weight.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size and your weight for how you like to ride. If your boot is too wide, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. Your weight is a close second to boot size because it determines how the board will feel under your foot.  Height comes in a distant 3^rd. Some prefer control, so matching the boot size is the priority. Others prefer dampness over control and like to size up.

Bataleon is pretty fair with recommended weight but excessively liberal with recommended boot sizing.  Here is our take on their recommended sizing.

If it comes down to weight vs. boot size its generally best to choose boot size if you want more control. If you are ok with a board that doesn’t initiate a turn easy but is more stable go with what best suits your weight.

Shape

When it comes to shape, the Beyond Medals has a very centered feel for how directional it looks.

Camber Profile

The Bataleon Beyond Medals has a good bit of camber with lifted sides going well down into the effective edge and stops just a little before the inserts. TBT Camber Profile, even in what they call “Low” is very lifted on the sides and when layed down on the table it looks like it’s floating. When you weight down, there’s a little more contact. It’s incredibly forgiving and super easy to skid a turn. This works for begenners all the way up to experts.

It’s not as stable as most hybrid camber boards though. In came day comparisons with the, Cadet, it was much more stable one-footing and flat basing. The Beyond Medals can feel edgeless and washy in medium to firm snow and the personality underfoot changes when you aren’t in easy to ride soft clean snow.

Edge Hold

All this lifted tech is very challenging to get this board to grip in hard, icy snow. Even doing my best to engage my feet and really twist this board and bend this edge in and really press down between the feet didn’t get this to grip well. When I got on the Cadet (not a super grippy board) I had a lot more grip and confidence in hard snow. I would strongly suggest not getting this if you see lots of hard snow days.

Flex

The Bataleon Beyond Medals has a pretty medium overall flex from tip to tail. It feels a little softer than the Goliath + but a little stiffer than the Goliath.

All that Urethane in the sidewalls and maybe in other places under the hood combined with the 70/30 Palonia/Poplar core make this flex seem very rubbery like it could bend in half. What is great though is this has a super lively pop to it. They put these carbon tubes into the core as well as carbon inlays on the top to work with this decent size camber running from tip to tail to make this board pop super hard. When it comes to pop, Bataleon is on another level and they make boards really easy to ollie.

Buttering

What I really like about TBT is the flat section in the nose/tail that makes it much easier to hold a butter vs. most other brands with a spoon like nose/tail.

Uneven Snow

While it doesn’t grip that well in hard snow, it handles hard, uneven snow well, without much chatter. The urethane sidewalls seem to really do their job.

In soft uneven snow this poppy nature just bucks and bounces you around. I really felt uncomfortable and it was really hard to keep my line even at moderate speeds.

If I was in a tight tree line in moderate to pretty uneven snow, I wouldn’t feel confident there. Every time I got in the trees, I slowed way down because I didn’t want to get bucked out of my line and hit a tree.

Speed

When it comes to speed, the sidecut doesn’t fight you going straight but it’s not straight liner. It’s good for moderate to medium straight lines but not in uneven snow.

Base Glide

The base is pretty good. Not the best of the best but most won’t complain about this at all and it retains wax pretty well too.

Turning and Carving

The Bataleon Beyond Medals initiates a turn pretty quickly but I could only center weight a turn. More committed front foot and back foot weighted turns washed out

And when you get this on edge and commit to a harder turn/carve it felt very balanced to maybe a touch on the turny side. It could cross the groomer carve very well and it’s pretty good on a circle carve too. Not super amazing, but very good. Medium radius and down the line turns were pretty doable and fun too.

What I really liked about this board in good conditions is how well it pops you out of the turn. There’s just such a dynamic feel with all this carbon and camber from tip to tail, without it being technical and unforgiving. It’s a special feeling but this feeling falls apart in mid-day tracked up snow.

Speed

As you pick up speed and make those narrow S-turn kind of carves the Bataleon Beyond Medals did well as long as the conditions were clean.

Powder

I love these setback inserts and they turn the Bataleon Beyond Medals into a freeride like board if you use them on a pow day.  I chose to ride my Union Force instead of the Bataleon bindings I had when I was in powder because my Union Force have a full-size disc with lots of room to slide where you can’t slide at all with Bataleon bindings.

There is good set back on board.  With a 22.75-inch stance width on these setback inserts, you can get -3.25” inches back from center of board versus setback on sidecut. Its not quite with the United Shapes Horizion at -4.75” at a 22” stance width (one of the best all mtn set backs)but it’s still better than most all mountain boards out there. There is very easy directional float with a good bit of landing gear for those that like to get air.

It also has a very cool, smooth turning experience that rolls easier edge to edge.

Usually I ride a lot more back-foot weighted in powder to get a little more surfy because I come from a surfing background, but this one I felt more comfortable riding more centered when making harder slasy turns but at least I didn’t feel the nose diving. If I tried to lean into the tail on a hard pow turn it felt washy

Switch

Despite this board’s directional look, you can ride this switch very well for what it is. That’s a common trait with all Bataleon boards.

Final Thoughts

So TBT is a mixed bag for me and might be for you as well. On one hand you have amazing pop, easy float and a very forgiving ride. On the other hand it’s got very limited edge hold, really bucks/bounces a lot in soft uneven snow and only likes center weighted turns. Some can live with these issues and others, like me, cant so it’s up to you to decide what kind of rider you are. If you mainly ride in good conditions it might be worth a try.