Spruce Mountain Skiboards - 115 CM Crossbow Longboards

[ysb33r]

I love how these Crossbows just edge without effort.

[Bill]

The postman delivered a new pair of Crossbows late last week and I had a chance to give them a whirl the other day. Our local spot is usually icy, but it was warm so the ice was slushy and melting. It doesn’t really matter what the conditions are, I can usually tell if I’m going to like a board or not after a few runs. No question I like this board.

These were ridden right out of the box with no detuning or base/edge work, center, and with softboots. First ride with a new board, it might have been smarter to use hard boots, but I was hot to try out a redesigned kit. It didn’t matter. The Crossbows have exactly zero bad habits. As with the classic 120---a long-time favorite of mine and something of a benchmark--- there’s no “learning curve” or idiosyncrasies to figure out whatsoever, they feel natural and easy from the get-go.

Edge hold is sure but not grabby or “hooky”, and they’re quick and maneuver like a shorter board. Turning is effortless, engagement and release are totally predictable. The extended-rise tips and tails ride over clumps and piles easily. I suspect these will perform fine on both ice and deeper snow just fine. There’s no squirrely behavior at certain speeds or in certain circumstances. They seem to be fast and stable at speed, although I’m not the sort who generally goes all that fast. Macrophotog and Sempai would be better qualified to comment on this aspect.

One thing I noticed about the Crossbows compared to some of the zero-camber rides is the ride quality. On hardpack, boards like the Osprey, LE, or Blunt XL (all of which I like a lot) can be a little unforgiving. The Crossbows are silky smooth, not unlike 120’s which are the gold standard for this.

It’s a small thing, but one feature I always appreciate on Spruce boards are the solid black bases. It’s so much easier to see exactly what you’re doing when waxing these or doing any other base work. It’s nice to see function trump cosmetics once in a while.

All the Crossbow reviews coming is so far seem to be positive. Wookie makes a good point, folks shouldn't be afraid to ride these straight out of the box with no modifications. I don’t think anyone who gives them a try will be disappointed.

[Fun Machine]

One thing I noticed about the Crossbows compared to some of the zero-camber rides is the ride quality. On hardpack, boards like the Osprey, LE, or Blunt XL (all of which I like a lot) can be a little unforgiving. The Crossbows are silky smooth, not unlike 120’s which are the gold standard for this.

Well pretty much any good cambered board rockered or not should have a smoother ride on hard pack than zero camber full rocker boards especially when flat. But I think the Crossbows are even silkier than SIIs which may be a fairer comparison. I'll have to compare the ride against the 120's. If I have anything to complain about these Crossbows it's that they've so far relegated my other boards to sit and collect dust...

[Bill]

Well pretty much any good cambered board rockered or not should have a smoother ride on hard pack than zero camber full rocker boards especially when flat. But I think the Crossbows are even silkier than SIIs which may be a fairer comparison. I'll have to compare the ride against the 120's. If I have anything to complain about these Crossbows it's that they've so far relegated my other boards to sit and collect dust...

No doubt the Crossbows are a smoother ride than the SII's---which do ride nicely and I'm a fan of. I've certainly ridden many cambered skiboards and long skis that don't ride anywhere near smoothly as the Crossbows, but you're right---comparing them to zero-cambered boards isn't totally fair.

[valmorel]

Thanks Bill. If you love them, so would I. [emoji6]

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[macrophotog]

They truly are a wonderful ride with very few bad habits.

I rode these again for two days while at Westfest - riding them into the tight trees and through all kinds of powder. These easily can be a quiver of one as Jack pointed out. I think these really are a very versatile board with many huge advantages!

[wjeong]

If it's working for you it's all good. For the Crossbows I would only suggest that anyone new to them ride them with the "stock" set up first and then decide afterwards if then need to be detuned. It's easier to have a stone in your pocket and detune the tips or tails on the hill than it is to "retune" the whole edge.
-is.

I did that with my GF's Sticky's. I saw her catch a tip and get slammed. That's when I put up the recent post about detuning.

[Bill]

Thanks Bill. If you love them, so would I. [emoji6]

It would shock me if you didn't like these big time, Dave. They're responsive and nuanced, but at the same time not overly sensitive. In my mind, they're what an on-spec DS110 could have been, the difference is they actually exist! Jeff has hit it out of the ball park here.

[ysb33r]

We had snow throughout the night. This morning anything not groomed was probably above skiboot deep.

I rode them center-mounted all the way and they bubbled to the top as long as I sat back.

In this kind of conditions the 120s are no longer a match for the Crossbows. No powder burn in the legs lime with the 120s.

If I had to ride powder 90% of the day I might set them back, but for continual swapping between piste and side-piste, center-mount is more than adequate.

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[Fun Machine]

If I had to ride powder 90% of the day I might set them back, but for continual swapping between piste and side-piste, center-mount is more than adequate.

The Spruce riser has several mounting points in ~17mm increments for the bindings. If yours are not attached to the rear-most holes, you can shift the mounted position of the binding to riser so that you effectively get a set back that is between the center of the board and the setback position on the board. One of my riser sets is mounted this way. Standard warnings about violating your warranty, damaging your bindings and risers, etc apply.

[wjeong]

Rode them setback today at Beaver Creek in a foot of powder. There were a lot of big steep soft moguls at the end of the day. They handled everything. A lot of power in a very compact package. I love them.

[wjeong]

Really tested the Crossbow edges today. JJue and I rode them down Golden Eagle at Beaver Creek. We would have been in deep dodoo if the edges didn't hold. I don't need to ever do this run again.

[ysb33r]

Really tested the Crossbow edges today. JJue and I rode them down Golden Eagle at Beaver Creek. We would have been in deep dodoo if the edges didn't hold. I don't need to ever do this run again.

What's special/unique about Golden Eagle run?

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[macrophotog]

Really tested the Crossbow edges today. JJue and I rode them down Golden Eagle at Beaver Creek. We would have been in deep dodoo if the edges didn't hold. I don't need to ever do this run again.

Since you were able to write about it, the edges must have held well?


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[sempai]

What's special/unique about Golden Eagle run?

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Golden Eagle: a signature section of the men’s World Cup and World downhill course—after it’s been groomed will make anyone feel like a race pro. Get to it by taking a right at the top of Birds of Prey Express Lift and experience pitches so steep they might make you dizzy if you stare down them too long. It’s best to just dig in your edges and commit to the thrill ride, claiming your EpicMix Birds of Prey badge in the process.