Bataleon Thunder Bolt Review

Who is the Thunder Bolt Most Suited To?

The Thunder Bolt is a great option for someone who wants a one-board quiver that is fully capable of handling anything on the mountain.

The Thunder Bolt has the unique capability of being both almost both playful and aggressive a the same time. It can be ridden aggressive and fast, carving up the mountain with ease or you can slow it down and play around or be thrown into the park and utilize its pop on jumps or rails. It really lives up to the do-it-all, all-mountain title.

It isn't afraid of the powder either as the 3BT technology really helps give it the kind of float that most full camber boards are missing.

With all that being said, I wouldn't call the Thunderbolt a beginner friendly board but if you're an experienced intermediate-expert rider, the Thunder bolt is a really fun, capable board.

Bindings angles: +12/-9

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Setback 0.4" (10mm)

Width at Front Insert: 262mm (10.31")

Width at Back Insert: 263mm (10.35")

Rider Height: 6'1"

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical Lexicon ADV

Bindings Used: Fix Yale: M 

Weight: 2940grams (6lbs 8oz)

Weight per cm: 18.85 grams/cm

Average Weight per cm: 18.59 grams/cm*

*based on a sample size of around 200 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023 models. So pretty close to average weight - and felt that way on snow too. 

Powder

While we did have a few centimeters of fresh snow the majority of it fell 48 hours prior to us testing so it was pretty tracked out but I was still able to get a pretty good feel for it regardless.

Spec wise the Thunderbolt is a full camber board which isn't ideal for powder but it does have a directional shape. It also has a small setback stance helping sink the tail in powder. On top of that Bataleon's 3BT (turned up edges) help give it more of a floaty feel in powder.

The backseat inserts also allow you to setback quite far, making it even better for powder float for powder days. 

Carving

Certainly capable of laying out a decent carve. It held an edge really well carving at any speed.

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: For a full camber board I found it turned fairly easy as you could release the tail and initiate a turn or slash with a normal amount of effort, which usually isn't the case with full camber. I imagine this is due, at least in part, to the 3BT technology.

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and quick edge-to-edge at slow speeds, allowing you to have good maneuverability. 

Skidded Turns: Never catchy whatsoever. I believe the raised edges play a big part in this as well.

Speed

I didn't find it extremely fast or anything but it isn't slow either. Its not going to bomb a hill as well as some other full camber boards but it is nice and stable. I never felt it getting wobbly or chattery on me, when riding with some speed.

Uneven Terrain

Crud: I found the raised edges and slightly larger nose allowed you to smash through crud pretty effortlessly. I never really got bucked around in it and even if I did, it's relatively easy maneuverability would allow it to correct fairly easily. 

Bumps: With it being so quick edge-to-edge, I found it pretty easy to maneuver around or between bumps when required to. It was also quite capable of handling up and down terrain in the trees.

Jumps

Had quite a enjoyable time hitting jumps/side hits on this board.

Pop: Felt like it had a good amount of pop. With that being said it took a bit of effort to access it. I found you needed to wind it up a bit.

Approach: Held an edge nicely on approach while also being quick enough edge-to-edge to allow those last second adjustments when needed.  

Landing: Overall pretty smooth and forgiving as I found you had some wiggle room to land somewhat off and still ride away from it. And when you nailed it, it felt really solid.

Side-hits: Probably my favorite thing to do on this board as the maneuverability and pop really allow you to attack any side hit at any speed and with confidence.   

Small jumps/Big jumps: Both as I liked it on any size jump.

Switch

It's quite directional in shape, but there's no taper and it's not setback a long way - so it actually felt pretty similar in both directions. And had no catchiness when initiating switch transitions either. 

Spins

Felt good for landing/setting up switch and the solid amount of pop was noticeable and nice. Spun quite nicely once in the air making it enjoyable overall.

Jibbing

Really capable on almost anything you want to jib, particularly if you're an experience jibber. The raised edges make it feel smaller underfoot while also eliminating some catchiness you might get with jibbing a full camber board. The solid amount of pop made it good for popping onto features as well. Though more easy access pop would have made it a little easier. Overall, capable for any intermediate-advanced jibbers.

Butters

Requires some effort to press the nose and tail but not too much. The flex throughout feels consistent allowing you to really lock in your butters, once you do get the weight behind it. 

Overall, for the right rider the Thunder Bolt is a versatile board that can take you anywhere and do anything.

It's fun for jumps, spins, and slashing around on while still being capable of being ridden around aggressively laying out deep carves at high speeds when desired. In general, it has no real weaknesses making it super fun to ride anywhere. 

A high quality board, but you do pay for it, that's for sure. Not the cheapest going around.