We tested the Amplid UNW8 snowboard and deemed it worthy of a spot in this years Whitelines 100, here’s our in depth review.
This is now an elder statesman of the snowboard world, yes every new edition shows us a glimpse of the future. ‘Modern classic’ doesn’t do it justice.
“The Amplid UNW8 can satisfy the most carefree of speed demons…”
Fortune favours the brave – but when you’re hooning it down an icy piste or tricky culoir, it helps to have more than luck on your side. The Amplid UNW8 can satisfy the most carefree of speed demons, as well as those who are most at home in the pipe or the XL booter line.
Amplid’s ‘Centrifugal’ collection of snowboards is all about the art of the turn – and, thanks in part to their low-key monochrome graphics, it’s the shape you notice first. The Amplid UNW8, however, is the exception, boasting a much more conventional outline than the others. Still, look closer and its place in the line-up becomes clear. There’s that proper camber bend, for one; no flat bits or early rise, just unbeatable pop and edge hold – physics at its purest. The shape is ever-so-slightly cambered (a mere 2mm) to improve carving and powder float in your normal stance without trading off too much in the freestyle stakes.
One thing the UNW8 has in common with all the other Centrifugals is its nose, which has definitely been built to prioritise crud-busting strength and volume over any significant reduction in swing weight. The tail, on the other hand, is more substantial than those of the rest of the pack, giving you more of a platform to pop off when you encounter a tasty-looking drop, or feel like blowing off the cobwebs in the park.
There’s never enough space in these reviews to cover all of Amplid’s proprietary tech, but the obvious starting point with the UNW8 is the new laminates, featured only on this one and its fellow steeds in the Centrifugal collection. Essentially, it’s a biaxial layup that has swapped out the shorter strands of fibreglass with carbon. Edge-to-edge response is maxed out, while end-to-end bend is largely unaffected, and the weight is kept down. A bit of extra support in this area comes from basalt stringers that run from your feet right to the contact points, with extra longitudinal stiffness and lively rebound coming from a strip of carbon running down the middle.
Present and correct once again is the brand’s own proven ‘Antiphase’ vibration-killing tech, loaded into the front of the board to cancel out chatter and stabalise your ride. Now in its fourth iteration, it’s so effective that other brands have started licencing it for their own boards. The UNW8 also features a unique hollow honeycomb lattice designed to keep epoxy resin at bay. The result is a consistent weight saving that doesn’t come at the expense of strength, and won’t deteriorate over time. Top marks to the Amplid boffins then, as per.
“Our tester tried to push it to its limit, and never quite reached it – can you?”
The Amplid family are proper nerds when it comes to board design, and nowhere is that more clear than in the UNW8. Heck, it’s even named after part of the turning process – what more proof do you need? This is a real Formula One car of a snowboard, where high performance is achieved through marrying the design of the chassis to the sorcery going on under the bonnet. Our tester tried to push it to its limit, and never quite reached it – can you?
“This is a very, very solid and smooth board. It’s stiff, but not terrifyingly so. You need to know what you’re doing, but if you like stiff responsive boards this is magic. I tried to find its speed limit, but backed off before it ever chattered. It just held, down straight line after straight line. The edge hold and turn shape is breathtaking. You have to work hard at lower speeds, but it’s not impossible. You could feel confident in a banked slalom or hitting Chad’s Gap on this thing! I didn’t try it in powder; while I’m sure it would work, that’s not its remit. This is a hard-charging resort slayer.”
A reigning champion of the WL100 continues to hold its place as a weapon of all-mountain destruction.
