Atomic Pivot - 2011
Atomic’s entry level park and rail board has a lot of features for the money. The Freestyle Pop Rocker profile and low maintenance extruded base makes it the ideal snowboard for getting to grips with rails, kickers and jibs. The perfect board to add a freestyle element to a quiver.
Manufacturer's Description:
The Pivot is a fun board suitable for every playground, no matter if you want to polish your style on the rail or in the park. The FS Pop Rocker tech and true twin shape make it a must-have board that explores the limits together with you. Let the good times roll!
Recommended for park riding.
Recommended for rail riding.
Low cost $
Rocker Construction.
Twin Shape.
Year: 2011
Available Lengths (cm):
145, 150, 153, 156, 159
Riding Style: Freestyle/Park
Specifications:
Pop Rocker Freestyle
Neutral camber
D4 SW construction
2,5° park bevel
Extruded 4400 base
True twin shape
T2 tip to tail woodcore
Flex 5/10
Similar boards: Imperium Centurion Series - 2011 Bataleon Airobic - 2011 Capita Horrorscope FK - 2011
Snowboard Review:
As Atomic’s entry level freestyle snowboard the Pivot tends to be the board that gets picked up my beginners or inexperienced riders looking for a second board to help them get to grips with rails and park transitions. Atomic have hit the nail on the head with the Pivot, it’s incredibly easy to turn, easy to pop and jib around on and most importantly its fun. The twin shape worked great on jumps and for those getting to grips with switch riding, you couldn’t ask for an easier or more progressive board to start on. On rails I felt the Pivot was much smoother and more catch free than the Axum.
So the Atomic Pivot is fun and progressive, but there a couple of characteristics that mean experienced freestylers might want to look elsewhere. For one, the Pivot’s extruded base is pretty slow compared with Atomic’s higher grade sintered bases. If you ride mostly mid-winter conditions or are committed 100% to riding rails, you probably won’t notice this lack of speed too much. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to use the same drop in point as other riders for spring time kickers, you could find yourself a good couple of meters short of the knuckle. I also thought the Pivot was a bit of a wimp when it came to heavier spring snow, being bullied by late afternoon mounds and slushy landings. To be honest this was the last thing my tired legs wanted after a solid 6 hours of riding.
The Pivot is a great board for those looking for their first rail and jib snowboard; It’s cheap, easy to ride, forgiving and predictable. However, the Pivot isn’t all things to all men; snowboarders who want a board to ride the whole mountain might find that the Pivot struggles to deliver versatility in all conditions and on different types of terrain. Atomic market the Pivot as a great entry level freestyle board, as that, it’s one of the best money can buy.
Posted by Rich Ewbank in • Atomic
User Snowboard Reviews
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on July 29, 2011 at 11:14 PM
Bought this (second hand) recently, just as a board for indoor domes and to progress my jibbing. I’ve only ridden it at indoors so I can’t really comment on it’s all-mountain capabilities.
For a ‘dome’ board the pivot is great. It has what I’d consider a medium flex with a decent amount of pop. The ‘pop rocker’ rides essentially like a camber board through the turn (grips nicely) and really does (as Atomic claims) keep the pop intact. This means you can ollie onto rails with ease (unlike some rocker boards which lack pop).
The Pivot is really smooth and catch free on rails (thanks to raised contact points when the board is weighted) which is good for trying new tricks and gives confidence to all-mountain riders (like me) who don’t often venture over the rails but who want to progress!
As stated above, the Pivot isn’t the fastest board in the world. It is especially noticable if you don’t wax for a while you’ll notice a distinct lack of speed!
Over the small kickers the Pivot is great, the medium flex gives it good stability and the true twin shapes means it spins easily. Switch landings are easy.
I’d imagine the Pivot would work well on piste due to it’s camber-like carving ability and flex. Given the shape, I don’t think it would work very well in the pow.
To sum-up, the Pivot is (IMO) a great Freestyle board for beginners starting out, who want to progress in park-orientated riding but still want to be able to ride the piste.
For the more experienced freestyler, the Pivot is probably a bit limited but would make a great 2nd board for the domes or for jibbing if you size-down from your usual all-mountain length.