Summary
The Bataleon Evil Twin doesn’t ride like most hybrid shapes and it took us many days to get to know it. When we did we had an ultra-forgiving, poppy, super easy buttering ride.Where To Buy
No obligation, but these links support the site.
Blauer Board Shop
Favorite Storeevo
Backcountry
Stoked Board Shop
BlueTomato Belgium
BlueTomato France
BlueTomato Sweden
BlueTomato Denmark
PRFO Sports Canada
Riding Style | All Mountain Freestyle |
Riding Level | Beginner - Expert |
Fits Boot size (US) | 8-10 |
Manufactured in | Dubai by SWS |
Shape | True Twin |
Camber Profile | Hybrid Camber |
Stance | Centered |
Approx. Weight | Feels Normal |
Split | No |
On Snow Feel | |
Turn Initiation | |
Skidded Turns |
Flex | |
Buttering | |
Edge Hold |
Where To Buy
No obligation, but these links support the site.
Blauer Board Shop
Favorite Storeevo
Backcountry
Stoked Board Shop
BlueTomato Belgium
BlueTomato France
BlueTomato Sweden
BlueTomato Denmark
BlueTomato Finland
BlueTomato Italy
BlueTomato UK
BlueTomato Netherlands
BlueTomato Austria
BlueTomato Spain
SnowCountry
PRFO Sports Canada
Bataleon Evil Twin 2020 Review by The Good Ride
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.
How This Review Happened: We borrowed this for an extended demo and then returned it.
Size: 157
Days: 5
Conditions: Very mixed spring conditions with freezing rain, straight-up rain, and sunny spring conditions.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Jimbo (Size 11, 5’11” 160lbs),
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles, Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Union Contact Pro, Union Superpro,
Similar Boards (but not the same): Rossignol Jibsaw, Lib Tech Box Knife, Yes Jackpot, Never Summer Funslinger, Ride TwinPig,
Set-Up: 22” Wide. 15 front -15 back. Centered.
Approximate Weight: Feels light.
Sizing: The 157 fit perfect for my specs. Jimbo’s size 11’s were a little too big. He needed a wide.
Flex/Buttering: The Bataleon Evil Twin has this rubbery buttery flex that just loves to play around. It wasn’t lacking any pop either though and it was really easy to ollie.
On Snow Feel/Ability Level/Skidded Turns: The Bataleon Evil Twin isn’t like other boards we have ridden. The bent up effective edge doesn’t track like most hybrid shapes out there. At first, it feels so catch-free that it’s like you are on an edgeless mess. I couldn’t do more than just skid and spin around the mountain. After day 2, I started to learn how to put more pressure towards the middle of the board and it started to track a little better on a turn. By day 3, I was starting to get the hang of it and that’s when the fun began. It takes some time in all conditions to learn what it is going to do.
Edge Hold: As long as you put some pressure between the feet down into that edge it holds well enough. It’s not what we want when conditions are really hard but it was better than we thought it would be. It’s best as a good condition ride.
Turn Initiation: The Bataleon Evil Twin was not easy for us to turn at first and it felt pretty washy. After a few days, I found that squeezing your legs together and driving that pressure down to the center of the board made it turn better. It was the opposite of how we ride a lot of hybrid rocker boards. Once I got that down then it started to become fun to turn.
Turning Experience/Carving: I couldn’t get a really satisfying carve going.
Powder: No powder but just the way it powered through slush on some days we could see that this can be an easy floater for a twin.
Speed: The Bataleon Evil Twin was not a real strong mountain bomber. There was some chatter as it picked up speed but it’s not a mess out of the park.
Uneven Terrain: The Bataleon Evil Twin is a great all-day resort rider. This rubbery feel underfoot didn’t pass up the chatter into your joints. We felt this shield us over bumps of all kinds at slow to moderate speeds. It’s best for turning around bumps but just not powering over them at higher speeds.
Switch: Very doable either way.
Getting Air/Park: The Bataleon Evil Twin seems really at home in the park. It had me buttering on soft spring pipe walls. That’s just not something I normally wouldn’t even consider but it was just so forgiving. It doesn’t seem ideal for those that hit big kickers but it shines for most of us small to medium guys. We didn’t have any time in the Jib park but this is the kind of board I’d like to go jibbing with. It just feels forgiving for people of all ability levels.
So the Bataleon Evil Twin has a learning curve could be a deal-breaker. However, if you are willing to put in the time it could be a deal maker. Especially if you want a very forgiving buttery, poppy ride.
Bataleon Evil Twin Specs
Bataleon Evil Twin Images
Bataleon Evil Twin User Reviews
Evil twin. I'm impressed
Well today I couldn't wait anymore so I picked up an Evil twin and went to my local hill with my 2020 Endeavor pioneer to compare.
I quite like the Pioneer and use it for my current daily driver. So as long as the ET has similar edge hold, then I'm sure I might be able to enjoy the catch-free tendencies of 3BT.
I set both boards up with 2020 Union stratas and off I went.
I was hoping for traditional super hard pack that I am used to at the local in town hill, but was actually unpleasantly surprised that the snow was decent.
First run took a bit of getting used to. Then by the 3rd run I was having a lot of fun. Mostly just trying to test the edge hold and stability. It wasn't bad at all. I was impressed with the amount of hold.
Run 5-6 I switched to my Pioneer just to see what I can tell between the 2. I was immediatly missing my Evil Twin. Also, the ET 100% had more edge hold and I now realized that the conditions were more firm than I originally thought. The Caveat is that the Pioneer has about 20 days on it VS a brand new Evil twin with new sharp edges. Stil impressive to me as I feared the ET was going to completely be shit for edge hold.
Run 7-10 were back on the ET and I was have a blast. Carving, buttering, popping small sidehit spins. All super fun and didnt' have any issues with 3BT at all.
My last observation was that I could flatbase on this thing without even thinking about my edges. It tracked perfectly straight and I loved that. The slight "delay" that some people talk about when engaging edges (which I didn't notice) may have been what was giving me the extra slack that was welcomed when flat basing.
After one day I'm pretty sold on this board. Can't wait to get it into the park or in some variable terrain. Today was super smoother firm groomers.
Fun ride
Bought this board in a 157 to down size from my 162 Angus. Really fun board to center up the stance and ride switch. TBT is fun but caught me off guard when I first started riding it. The Evil Twin feels loose while you flat base but when you lean into a turn and the whole edge is engaged it really holds nicely. That made it very easy to spring out of your turns. I find this board a bit on the slow side on groomers but that is to be expected with this size and style of board compared to a stiffer more aggressive hybrid camber board. Also it is only ok in powder but that's not really why I bought this board either.
Overall a good playful board that really gives you a taste of what a forgiving camber board can be. For someone who is riding pow or wants to rocket down groomers I'd consider something else.
This year Bataleon added an asymmetrical Evil Twin to their line up.
Where To Buy
No obligation, but these links support the site.