Compare Prices & Buyer Reviews

AltrecOutlet.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard... $729.95 Check Availability ProBoardShop.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 160 - Men's... $510.95 Check Availability ProBoardShop.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 164 - Men's... $510.95 Check Availability ProBoardShop.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 156 - Men's... $510.95 Check Availability TightBoards.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 156... $510.95 Check Availability TightBoards.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 160... $510.95 Check Availability TightBoards.com Burton Supermodel X Snowboard 164... $510.95 Check Availability

The Good Ride Take

The Burton Supermodel X Snowboard Review by The Good Ride

Board Used -160
Day's On This Board- 5
Bindings Used- Cartel EST's

There are 4 major boards in this small category of cambered slightly tapered freeride boards that all compete directly against each other.  They are the Salomon Burner, The Burton Supermodel,  The Burton Supermodel X and The Nidecker Legend.  Well when you hear soo much about a board from everyone in all of the US you feel like you have to try it.  So often times low expectations lead to a big surprise.  In this case it wasn't a big surprise but the ride-ability of this board was at least what we expected from a board this price.   The channel system although proprietary it is really well done and the Cartel EST bindings are definitely more responsive than the old Cartels.  Is it better than the Nidecker Legend or Salomon Burner?  We have to say that it's a very tough call.  Each board has it's own unique qualities so it's really hard to say that this board is better.   We know thousand's of people who have only ridden the Supermodel X would say yes but we might be one of the only sites to ride them all.    So to the breakdown. 

Groomers & Speed-  Other than powder that is what this board is made for Maching down groomers at high speeds or making nipple scratching euro carve turns.  The board is light and responsive with good edge hold that allows for you to ride in most situations.   It's fun to have a slightly tapered board on groomers because it really is a fun way to turn.  We would of had more fun on a 164 instead of a 160 which is better suited to our weight and riding style but it did pretty well with.  It would be nice to see similar sizing to the Supermodel that has something bigger than a 164.   This doesn't have the blinding fast base of the Salomon Burner but it is equally damp.  You can have a lot of fun bombing hills on this board and it will never give you any problems. 

Powder- The slightly tapered shape, narrow waist and decent size makes this board very fun and slashable in trees.   It's weird how a tapered stiff board like this becomes soo much more responsive in powder than it is on the groomers.  Even though it is slashable it will give you a very comfortable feeling if you want to straight line a 1,000 foot peak.   Not that we did that but on our smaller straight lines it was incredibly stable. 

Edge Hold- We did have one very hard pack day with a thin layer of soft stuff created by scraping skis and boards. The wind would then blow it away in some places to leave rock hard cement.  Not a great day to be out but a hell of a good day to test Burton's pressure edge distribution tech that is on the Supermodel X.  Burton extends the edge about 1/2 millimeter at about where each binding is mounted to give a little extra edge hold.  It will definitely hold an edge but to make a hard carve is asking too much in snowment for just about any board.  We felt the edge hold comparable to the Salomon Burner's Quadratic Side Cut .  The only one that could do well there is the Nidecker Legend with Ultimate Grip.  When the edges are new ultimate grip bits into hard pack and ice like a chain saw. 

Lightweight- Very Light!  This 160 is lighter than a lot of 154's.   It's right up there in the upper tier with the Custom X and Rome Design. 

Stiffness-  It has a flex on the stiff side of Medium just like the Custom X.   Its definitely more aggressive than the Supermodel. 

Jibbing- You won't buy this board to jib.

Switch- It's not for riding fakie all the time but you can deal without too much hassle. 

Rails & Boxes-  Why would you want to ruin these perfect freeride edges. 

Pipe- Not bad in the pipe for a big board but it's not ideal.

Jumps-  It will do fine out of the park on almost any jump  you can find.  You can even land switch.  When getting into technical park tricks this will be a big disappointment.  This board is best launching off natural terrain.

The Good Ride Take on Burton

Burton is huge. They have developed or acquired most of the technology that we use today. Burton is one of the only companies that can provide you with everything you need to snowboard from boards to beanies.  Burton even owns arguably the best surfboard company Channel Islands because Jake likes to surf.  They are like the Yankees of snowboarding because they can always outspend their competition to win.

The positives- Burton provides more products for each gear/clothing/accessory category than any other company.  Burton has possibly the best customer service in the snowboarding industry.  Burton continuously spends more money than almost any company to develop new tech or just make what they have better.   Burton sponsors more pro’s and get’s more high level user feed back than any other company.  They have some of the best boots, bindings and boards in the industry.  They also have great clothing.

The Negatives- Because Burton spends so much money on sponsorship and tech they have to pass this cost along to the products they sell.   They relentlessly continue to jack up the prices every year.  You are almost always going to get a good product from Burton’s higher end line but some mid to low level products don’t stack up to the competition in the same price range.  Burton always tries to make proprietary tech like the channel tech and 3 hole binding tech so you can only ride Burton Gear which sucks! We wish they wouldn’t act like the Microsoft of snowboarding.

The bottom line is Burton is the 800lb patriarch of our industry that makes good stuff and backs it up with good customer service.  The snowboarding world owes soo much to them but at the same time they can be very frustrating when it comes to price and proprietary technology.

Company Information

SUPERMODEL X

Freeride of the highest grade.

For those who ride any day, all day, and can appreciate a deck that digs the same, the Supermodel X™ awaits. Open it up on the morning cord, pinball down a pillowy face, or slither through a crystalline tree line—one run and you’ll realize why we just had to have an even lighter and faster version of this legendary ATV.

SHAPE: Tapered [10mm]

FLEX: Twin

CORE: Powder Fly III™ Core with Dualzone™ EGD™ and Negative Profile

FIBERGLASS: Carbon Vaporskin™ with Triax™ Response Fiberglass and Carbon I-Beam™

BASE: Sintered N₂O WFO

EDGES: Stainless Steel Pressure Distribution Edges with Grip and Rip™ Tune

SIDEWALLS: Pro:45™

EXTRAS: Pro-Tip™ and Infinite Ride™

Sizes:

156cm (249 WW)

160cm (252 WW)

164cm (255 WW)

Feel: 7

Specs

Burton Super Model X 2010 Specs
BOARD SIZE	156cm	160cm	164cm
RUNNING LENGTH	1165mm	1200mm	1240mm
WAIST WIDTH	249mm	252mm	255mm
SIDECUT DEPTH	21.75mm	22.4mm	23.15mm
SIDECUT RADIUS	7.81mm	8.05mm	8.31mm
STANCE WIDTH	530mm	560mm	560mm
NOSE WIDTH	297.5mm	301.8mm	306.3mm
TAIL WIDTH	287.5mm	291.8mm	296.3mm
EFFECTIVE EDGE	1212.5mm	1247.5mm	1287.5mm
STANCE LOCATION	25	25	25
WEIGHT RANGE	125-175 lbs. / 56-79 kg.	145-195 lbs. / 65-88 kg.	155-205 lbs. / 70-92 kg.
BINDING SIZES	Medium / Large	Medium / Large	Large

Pictures

Other Reviews