Rad Air Tanker Snowboard Review

Rad Air Snowboard Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews and this is our unfiltered opinion. 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.

Rad Air Tanker Review- How it rides and who it is for

How This Review Happened:

Borrowed this for an extended demo and sent it back.
Size: 201 for James and 186w for Davey
Days: 4
Conditions: Some clean but flat lit and hard to ride groomers and some pretty good pow days ranging from knee high to thigh high pow.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-190lbs), Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Burton Kendo
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Force
Jacket: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Tusk Jacket, Burton Gore-Tex 3L Treeline Jacket, Burton AK Helitak Gore-Tex Jacket
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Burton Gore-Tex Ballast Pant
Helmet: Smith Maze
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Drop Tahoma Mitt,

Similar Boards (but not the same): Not many. Barely the Lib Tech Dough Boy Shredder, Nitro Quiver Canon 203 and 173.

James’s Set Up: 21.5” Wide. Sance Angles +18/-3. Close to Reference and Set all the way back.
Davey’s Set Up: 23” Wide. Sance Angles +18/-3. Set all the way back.

Approximate Weight

The Rad Air Tankers are light for a 201 and 186 but heavy compared to all other boards in a normal size.

(We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores there is no consistency in a boards weight)

Sizing

The Rad Air Tanker 201 worked for me but it was really big on groomers but was easier to control in powder. It would be easier to handle a 181 or 171 and that would be fun to try. Davey loved his 186.

Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. You can of course go bigger or smaller depending on your riding style and boot’s footprint, but these work best for not turning the board slower than it should be and not having the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag.
186: 11-12
201: 9-10

I don’t think weight is too much of an issue given the size of these boards but I would differ to Rad Air vs. what we say on weight.

Shape/Camber/On Snow Feel/Ability Level

The Rad Air Tankers are tapered and directional but soo big it’s hard to really feel the 16mm of taper. Especially since you are mainly riding the center/flat part of the board on groomers. In powder you feel the taper a little bit but not as much as many boards that are shorter and this tapered.

The Flat to rocker camber profile of the Rad Air Tanker is stable and forgiving…for a 201. It’s still a 201 so skidding a turn in narrow groomers or cat tracks could take out other riders like in an old school comedy. It takes some work too but we were pleasantly surprised on how easy it was to skid a turn when we got off our game.

Flex Personality

Pretty big and stiff. Neither of us could butter it or lean back into the tail and wheelie it up easy but we also never needed to with how easy it floated. There is some pop to it but it’s hard to access and get air. That didn’t seem like what this board was really about. It’s a big easy cruising board.

Uneven Terrain

So this was a mixed bag. If you want to plow though chopped up snow the Rad Air Tanker kills it. If you are working your way through super tracked up snow with emerging moguls to get to some better pow it’s not very easy at this length.

Edge Hold

Gripped very well in the conditions we had.

Speed

The Rad Air Tankers can bomb. The base is fast and the board is damp. It picked up speed soo quickly I constantly had to check my speed.

Turning Experience/Carving

So flat to rocker boards like the Rad Air Tankers aren’t usually that exciting but despite the poorly lit conditions it turned pretty well.

Powder

The Rad Air Tankers had effortless float and while it wasn’t super set back on board it really doesn’t matter in these lengths. They float soo well.

Conclusion

This was fun. It’s definitely not a typical ride but we both had a great time in low angle pow we mainly have at Mt. Bachelor. If you have room in your quiver it might be worth it. It was the kind of board that didn’t make me want to slash or get air or make a hard carving turn. I got enamored with the feel of how this big ass board just cruised around the mountain and that feel was just as fun.

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