The Salomon Super 8 is a really nice, do-it-all, high-speed snowboard designed for riders seeking a classic all-mountain experience. If you're looking for a good-riding, well-designed stick from a trusted brand, this board is a nice option.
Salomon has updated the Super 8 since our test period, so keep that in mind while reading this review. Here's a detailed breakdown of its features and performance:
Key Features and Technologies
- Backseat Camber: Camber under the back foot for explosive turning capabilities, and flat segments under the front foot for freedom on pow days.
- Popster Core Profile: Maximize the natural snap and powerful pop of wood with Popster's shaped core profiles.
- Quadratic Sidecut: Featuring a blend of elliptic curves, enhances the board's carving performance.
- All Mountain Edge Bevel: All Mountain Edge Bevel detunes the tip and tail to a 1° edge, holding tune throughout the key parts of the sidecut, back to a 2° bevel between the feet.
Inspired by legendary rider Josh Dirksen's mastery of edge control, this board is built to tackle any terrain you throw at it. The Super 8's unique design combines power, carving prowess, and exceptional float.
Riding Experience
Although the Super Eight boasts a tapered tail and base profile unique amongst other boards we tested, it simply felt like a regular (but good) ride. Now, understanding that these properties should certainly help with these things, our testers didn't feel that it rode any differently than a traditionally cambered, non-tapered, board. We're not trying to diss the board though, because it still rips.
The skinnier tail and camber under the rear foot is intended to make it snap in and out of turns faster, and the flat profile under the front foot supposedly helps with floating in powder. Perhaps if you're really looking for it you could find it, but we couldn't.
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The Salomon Super Eight held its edge well throughout turns, made fairly quick transitions from toe to heel and floated in powder like any modern all-mountain snowboard should. The rear camber and stiff flex kept it popping off jumps better than banana'd boards, and its fairly large sidecut radius makes it ride much better at higher speeds than at slower speeds, the latter making it a bit less playful too.
The flat base profile under the front foot is supposed to help this board float in powder better than if it were fully cambered. This tester could not feel a difference though and concluded that it floated very well, but not considerably better than other cambered, traditionally shaped boards. The noticeably better float can be found in boards with long surfboard-like noses, farther set-back stances, or fully rockered base profiles.
Performance Across Different Conditions
Shred the entire mountain with confidence and precision on the Super 8 snowboard. The Quadratic Sidecut, featuring a blend of elliptic curves, enhances the board's carving performance. This innovative design allows for smooth turn initiation and effortless edge-to-edge transitions, making quick maneuvers and navigating technical terrain a breeze. Flat sections under the front foot provide all the float you need to navigate fresh snow with ease, making it a versatile all-mountain companion that belongs in every quiver.
The Super Eight's wide width, classic edges, and flex make it very stable at speeds much like the Jones Explorer and the T. Rice Pro Pointy. It tracked well while riding straight, it stayed smoothly locked into turns while releasing from them easily, and it mashed through crud.
The Salomon Super Eight pops well because camber and stiff flex help boards pop - it's as simple as that. It's when boards are too soft, or if they're not cambered (at least by the rear foot like this model) that they lose the responsiveness you're looking for when you try and get in the air.
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Pros and Cons
Reasons to Buy
- Inexpensive
- Classic all-mountain style
- Wide without being considered a “wide” board
- Well designed
- Very reasonably priced
Reasons to Avoid
- Distinct design characteristics fall short
- Basic looks
Who is this board for?
Smaller riders may not have as much fun on this board as bigger ones. Once again, boards with longer radius sidecuts just don't respond fast enough to make them awesome at all speeds, unfortunately. As you'll find with other boards we tested with similar sidecut radius, the Super Eight isn't the most nimble and playful snowboard out there. It's built to rail longer arching turns at higher rates of speed and hammer through crud all thanks to it's flex.
2023 Salomon Super 8 Snowboard Review (2024 Same Tech; Different Graphic) | Curated
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