Telos DST Snowboard Review

An Un-Biased Breakdown Of How the Telos DST Rides Review by The Good Ride

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

How The Telos DST Was Tested:

I borrowed the Telos DST for an extended demo and sent it back but I wouldn’t mind owning one.

Size: 157
Days: 2
Conditions: Good varied spring snow
Rider: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards and close to 1,000 if you count different versions of the same Model over the years.
Boots: Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse 3L Jacket, Skyline Fuse Light 3L Jacket
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant, Skyline Faze Pant
Helmet: Smith Method
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/-9, +15/-15. Close to Reference and if I rode it in pow I’d set it all the way back.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Korua Otto, Ride Algorythm, Ride Shadowban, Salomon Highpath, Yes Standard Uninc, Capita Black Snowboard Of Death, Jones Rally Cat, Cardiff Crane, Cardiff Lynx, Nitro Alternator, United Shapes Horizon, Gnu Antigravity, Lib Tech Dynamo

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Construction / Durability / Weight

Telos makes a pretty well built board and they even have a sticker like top sheet cover you can remove if you want or keep on to protect the top sheet. Just poke a little hole over the inserts and you are good to go. It also helps a touch with making the board feel a little more damp. It’s very middle ground weight wise too. (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

The 157 Telos DST felt pretty good for my specs. This would be the size I’d want to own. My size nines are a little small for this, but it worked and it was great for my weight.Telos suffers from the same problem so many brands do where they only focus on weight but have limited to no recommendations for what boot best fits the board.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size (most important), weight (second most important) and height (third most important) for how you like to ride. If it’s too wide and it’s hard to turn but too narrow and you might boot out which often slams you into the ground.

The Good Ride’s Conservative / Safe Recommendation

154: 8-9 US
157: 9-10 US
161: 10-11 US

There is often more than one size that will work for you. Size down for more control and size up for more speed/stability/carving power. Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards. If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first and then your weight a close second.

Shape / Set Back

The Telos DST is tapered and directional, but there’s a very mild five millimeter taper. It feels much more centered than it looks, especially on snow. There’s a 20 mil set back on side cut. They don’t disclose the reference stance here,so I guessed.

So with set back on board versus side cut, it’s 1.5in back from center of board at a 21.5in stance width on what I guessed to be reference. And then if you want to set it all the way back, you can get 2.5in back from center board at a 22.5in stance with which is a little wide. And that’s pretty good for an all mountain board. Not very good for a free ride board.

Camber/On Snow Feel

The Telos DST has a lot of camber but it flattens out in the middle. There is also a mellow transition before the nose and tail into early rise, but not a lot. It’s a mellow enough transition that I think a committed intermediate could handle this, but it’s really going to shine for advanced expert riders. And that’s never going to get boring across the board. It tracks really well. If one foot’s incredibly well, it’s not terrible to skid a turn. And it’s a very fun, mostly camber ride that I think a lot of people will appreciate.

Edge Hold

The Telos DST has a nice little disruption going on through the side cut. And I found that it gripped pretty well in firm snow. It’s not a full on ice specialist, but it’s very competent and comfortable when you’re in hard snow.

Flex Personality

The Telos DST has a medium ish bordering on medium stiff flex. The nose is pretty soft, but as you get down to where the camber ends, it’s a little stiffer.

The tail’s a little stiffer, especially in this region, but as you get to the part where it starts to rocker up, it’s much softer. And then between the feet is the medium stiff part. This is medium, medium soft in the tip and tail. And overall, there’s a lot of energy and pop here.

Uneven Snow

Telos has always made a damp board in uneven snow but the DST is damper than most for this flex. It’s a great balance between being poppy and being chatter resistant. So it’s good in hard, uneven snow. And it’s very good in soft, uneven snow for this flex personality.

This year they added D3O into the boards construction. And it’s helped even more with chatter reduction than past models.

Butters & Ollies

This is a lot easier board to butter than you would think in the nose and tail, and it’s just got easily accessible pop.

This Telos DST pops easy and doesn’t dissapoint. It’s an easy board to ollie with.

Switch & Park

The Telos DST was much more doable riding switch than I thought it would be. It’s the kind of board I could take into the pipe. It’s the kind of board that will track well into a kicker. And I had a lot of fun playing around with side hits. You know, those ones that are sometimes a little complicated. You might have to take a hard right and then launch off of it. This just handled that very easy and it’s a lot of fun there.

Turning/Carving

The Telow DST did a great job for my size nine boots for this width. It initiated to turn pretty quickly. And when you get this side cut committed, the spring out of the turn on the DST is just delightful.

I really enjoyed the turning experience of this board. You can front foot, center weight, back foot weight your turns, and it just sprung out of a turn and helped you set up for your next turn very well. It’s a pleasure to turn this.

It’s a 7.3m radius side cut. It’s pretty deep and pretty turny, but it doesn’t feel hokey for a 157. I could do some down the line carves as well as across the groomer to circle carves. But it’s definitely on the turny side of balanced.

Speed

But it has the dampness to point it, and I don’t think a lot of people will be that disappointed. If you want a straight line here and there, but mainly turn more than you do straight line. If you want to go fast, you can get to the Lemurian Carbon. That’s more directional, more bomber friendly than this.

Base Glide

Telos does their bases right and the DST is no exception. All black, a little name recognition on the top, but out of the way from most injuries that the base can get. So it’s easy to repair. It’s got great glide. It’s upper tier for sure.

Powder

I didn’t get this 157 DST in powder, but I got almost the same exact shape and camber profile (older 158 Split and Regular) in the past. I whish I had footage still to show you but it floated well, but not great. You can’t really think of this as a freeride board. You have to think of it more as an all mountain board, something that can do a little bit of everything, and it’s not going to be a super deep floater.

It shines a little more when the angle is a little steeper. Low angle powder, Mount Bachelor is very challenging for a board like this.

Final Thoughts

So overall I think the Telos DST is a very good one board quiver. There are some all mountain boards that I’ve tested that float better, but this new D3O makes this board even more chatter resistant while still not affecting the pop.

And I think it’s very special. Energetic, lively, fun, versatile ride. For those of you looking for a one board quiver, it was a pleasure to be on it.