Madd TT158 Review

[lonerider]

Posting this to several forums, so if you've read it once... you've seen it all.

A few days of riding it in several types of terrain and snow conditions I have to say I'm liking my Madd TT board more than more. My very first thought is the race base is *extremely* fast, I was already blazing on blues and it took me a few runs to get use to the added speed on the steeps although this was a super nice feature in the park and pipe as you could get more speed and air without having to think about it.

In the morning morning I hiked (http://tinyurl.com/fjf9a) up to the peak (http://tinyurl.com/fkojm) of my home mountain. The TT floated easily in the heavier Sierra powder (http://tinyurl.com/kkdlq) without much setback (1") for lighter, deeper powder (was only 2 feet deep) and in the trees I would probably move my bindings farther back. Clearly this is not as good as a dedicated powder board such as a Burton Fish, Original Sin 4807, or Rad Air Tanker (which I've all had the pleasure of riding) but for a regular board it holds its own.

After that it was the groomed runs and again the board is very *fast* with a good wax job. The extra speed made me a bit of a wuss on the steeps at first, but I learned to relax as I noticed that board was holding it's edge without a problem, and still very smooth and damp even when I rode through some of the ungroomed chop at high speeds. I was particular impressed that I could ride out some really bumpy stuff after doing some small cornice drops and just having way too much speed to turn or stop immediately. I like the springy nose/tail sections - it allows for an smooth carve entry while the stiffer mid-section holds you in the carve extremely well (very similar feel to the alpine board), and then the springy tail will really give you some pop for mid-air edge changes. Here are some photos of me riding that day Some photos of me:

http://tinyurl.com/hm2z9
http://tinyurl.com/f96pd
http://tinyurl.com/fnq6u

Finally, we hit the park and pipe. Despite being a 158 and I'm used to
154-155cm, the board didn't feel that hard to spin (overall the board
is light).I suspect the carbon fiber tip/tail keeps the swing weight down. It has a lot of spring in the tail for ollies and is very stable on landings. While the board is medium stiff, the springy nose/tail lets me do do tailpresses and switch noserolls, although I was never good at nosepresses (http://tinyurl.com/fkojm) or butters and the board is decently stiff so you are not going to get super flexy action going with it.

The superpipe had icy wall with a soft middle with very "firm" walls... and the Madd just rode it with confidence. It was fast, it was solid, it was awesome. I highly recommend the TT for anyone who likes to freeride/freestyle in about a 50/50 split. For more freeride oriented people they have a freeride model as well, for super carve oriented people they have a BX model and of course their alpine models (search "Madd Snowboards" for their website). Still if anyone likes to carve and also do some real freestyle ridingand not just taking a lap through the park... the TT is where it's at.

[gdboytyler]

Originally Posted by lonerider

I was particular impressed that I could ride out some really bumpy stuff after doing some small cornice drops and just having way too much speed to turn or stop immediately.

I saw the videos you posted on Freecarve.com. Is that the cornice you dropped with the Madd TT? Did you drop the cornice twice or is the second video that shows you riding away just editing magic?

Nice airs in the pipe.

[lonerider]

Originally Posted by gdboytyler

I saw the videos you posted on Freecarve.com. Is that the cornice you dropped with the Madd TT? Did you drop the cornice twice or is the second video that shows you riding away just editing magic?
Nice airs in the pipe.

Yes, that is one of the cornices I dropped with the Madd TT. I dropped that cornice about five times and while the second video is editing magic (as it is clearly lablled), it is only because my friend didn't start the video quick enough and only captured me riding away from the drop. I hit the same part of the cornice with roughly the same speed and landed about as far down... the only difference was that time I went for an indy grab instead of going for the Lindsey J. style.