Bataleon Cameleon Snowboard Review With Davey

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

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

An In Depth Breakdown of the Bataleon Cameleon For Average Riders

How The Was Tested:

I borrowed the Bataleon Cameleon for an extended demo and tried to sent it back but Bataleon hasn’t responded after several attempt’s to get it back to them…don’t know what to do with these boards.

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Size: 161
Days: 4 For me and 2 For Davey
Conditions: Late spring wet pow to funky but fun firm to soft/messy spring groomers.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots:Ride Deadbolt, Bataleon Acid BOA (James),Burton Ion (Davey)
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket,
Pant:  Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant
Helmet: Smith Method
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/+3, +24/+6. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Davey’s Set Up:

23” Wide. Stance Angles+18/+3, +24/+6. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Gentemstick Mantaray 156, Jones Hovercraft, Lib Tech Orca, Gnu Gremlin, Korua Transition Finder, Rome Stale Fish, Amplid Surfari, Cardiff Powgoda, Jones Mind Expander

Approximate Weight

The Bataleon Cameleon felt pretty normal weight wise for this width and length. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

I found the 161 a bit too hard to turn and manage for my size 9 boots and while it was ok for my weight it wsn’t ideal. I’d love to try the 157 as the specs seem a lot easier for me to manage with what my mom & dad gave me specs wise.

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.

Most brands, including Bataleon, are very conservative on recommended weight and very liberal with recommended boot sizing. So we think it’s ok to go a little over the max weight and to stay well below the max and minimum boot size with the Cameleon.

So if it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first, your weight a close second and height a distant third.

Design (What Matters To Most)

Shape

The Bataleon Cameleon has 15mm of taper which is a lot but it feels like there is a lot less because even set all the way back you still feel pretty centered on board.

Sidecut

The Sidecut radius of 6.95 is very turny for a 161 and while the depth isn’t published it seems medium. There is no disruption and most of it is lifted.

Construction

There is a 70/30 Palonia/Poplar wood core with carbon stringers but also with a lot of Urethane in the sidewalls and a little in the tail. Then there are carbon tubes embeded in the core in the shape of the sidecut as well as carbon stringers that really seem to make this board pop. There is a good bit of Urethane in sidewalls and it seems to have other dampening properties in other places in the board or the glass on the topsheet helps as well.

Base

The Bataleon Cameleon has a pretty fast easy gliding, easy to repair black base.

Flex

There is a very rubbery but also super poppy medium flex throughout most of the Bataleon Cameleon. It has this flexy feel to it loading up but soo much spring when it pops.

Camber

The Bataleon Cameleon has a ton of camber and then a medium TBT, wich is massive compared to every other brand when it comes to having lifted tech from the nose well into the effective edge and stops at about the inserts. It gives the appearance that it’s hovering on the table.

How It Rides

On Snow Feel

In soft to medium/soft snow the Bataleon Cameleon as a pretty stable almost camber feel that’s super forgiving. It actually takes a lot of work to catch an edge. However, when you get this in medium to hard snow it can feel a little washy and pretty edgeless.

Edge Hold

Other than a soft edge snowboard, the Bataleon Cameleon feels very limited and sketcy in hard to icy snow. On a hard but edgeble spring morning test with a few other boards that handled really well in these conditions, the Cameleon was hands down the worst and really sketchy. This is one of the last boards I want to be on in hard to icy snow and it really sapped my confidence.

Uneven Snow

In micro bumps the Bataleon Cameleon did well and you can feel all that urethane in the construction reducing chatter. Uneven snoft thick snow is another story and I was bounced and bucked around like a cowboy on a bull with a tight strap around his balls. It kept bucking me out of my line and it was very unsetteling. I don’t want too ride this in tracked up tree line for fear of it bucking me out of my line and making me hit a tree.

Butters/Ollies/Air/Switch/Park

I really liked how the flat in the middle of the TBT tech in the nose/tail allowed me to hold a butter and I wish other spoon tech offered that as well. Riding switch was way esier than I thought it would be for having this much taper and I found myself riding switch more than I thought I would.

Ollie power on this poppy super camber ride is insane. I never ollied this high all year and wish I had better footage/pics of how it popped but it didn’t happen. In good conditions, when riding perfectly centered on board the, Bataleon Cameleon tracks very well into, pops super hard off, and lands well on the little side hits I found around the mountain but it could go massively bigger.

I’ll pass on pipe riding due to the lack of edge hold but I don’t think it would be terrible in the jib park if you hit it on ocassion.

Turning

In good conditions and with a center weighted turn the Bataleon Cameleon is very fun to turn. If sized correctly, I think it would turn medium edge to edge and never be too hard to initiate a turn in tight spots. This doesn’t like front or back foot weighted turns though. It really likes a center weighted turn and washes out on anything elese with the way Davey and I ride. Circle carves, across the groomer carves and medium radius turns are super fun.

Speed

So if you make narrower longer drawn out higher speed turns I was impressed with how little the 6.95m sidecut didn’t fight it but the conditionos need to be smooth. The Bataleon Cameleon trackcs very well for having such a turny sidecut but it’s no bomber though.

Pow

There is very good float for hahving this much camberr and a pretty centered ride on board for this much taper. I really had to slow down in the trees when it was uneven though.

Final Thoughts

So there were a lot of highs and lows with the Bataleon Cameleon and for me the lows (limited edge hold and buckiness) are deal breakers for me. That being said, those that see good conditions and want exceptional pop but also want a floaty forgiving ride might enjoy the Cameleon. TBT also has a learning curve if you are used to just about any other camber profile from 1/2 a day to several days to take that into consideration when choosing Bataleon or Lobster/YES snowboards.

Davey’s Big Guy’s Perspective

I thought the board was very unique. It wasn’t for me, but I think if I took more time getting used to the edgeless feel, I could’ve liked it more. As it stands, though, I didn’t like the on-snow feel of this board. It reminded me of getting on a skateboard with too loose of trucks. It felt too washy in hard to medium firm snow to want to ride it at higher speeds. I did have a couple of really enjoyable turns in a few inches of powder when the snow was able to fill in and push back into the edge and make it engage a little more.