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Head e-Pulse LYT 2022-2023 Snowboard Review

Tested and selected for our top 100 snowboard products of the year: the Head e-Pulse LYT

  • Price: £520 / €600 / $659
  • Category: Freeride + Powder
  • Sizes: 146, 155, 161, 168
  • Flex: 8/10
  • Shape: Directional
  • Profile: Setback Camber
  • 3D: No
  • Base: Sintered

Why We Chose The Head e-Pulse LYT: Unashamedly nerdy tech, put to the best possible use.

Head has a long history of experimenting with electronic chips in snowboards. As far back as the mid-2000s it was offering versions of the KERS system (a name familiar to motorsports fans), and it’s still at it today with what it’s calling EMC (Energy Management Circuit) Technology. The Head e-Pulse LYT aims to harness this technology to deliver a smoother ride from lighter materials, but it’s far from a one-trick pony.

“If you like your board tech to come with a dollop of complicated physics, you’re laughing”

Who Is The Head e-Pulse LYT For?

This one is for those keen on carving, charging and dropping the odd cliff here and there. Spinners and flippers need not apply. If you also like your board tech to come with a dollop of complicated physics, you’re laughing.

MORE INFO:
HEADSNOWBOARDS.COM

 

Shape, Profile and Sidecut

With its short, squared-off tail and long, imposing nose, the Head e-Pulse LYT looks like it can smash through a wall – even without all the technical trickery. The outline is the same as another Head board called the Powerhouse, which gives you a clue as to its character, especially as the flex of this one is a good degree stiffer.

It’s from Head’s ‘Cruiser’ range, though, so if you want to lay out some swooping carves on a mellow motorway piste at first lifts, the sidecut will see you right, especially as the board is not quite as stiff through the waist as it is from end to end. The profile is primarily flat with camber sections at each end, giving you a pretty close approximation of the classic bend. Naturally the whole thing is set back, so that nose is easy to keep up in the deep stuff.

“With its short, squared-off tail and long, imposing nose, the Head e-Pulse LYT looks like it can smash through a wall”

Construction and Materials

OK, here goes; the EMC system is there to improve dampening, a service usually carried out by the addition of materials such as urethane, Kevlar and cork. By going down the electronic route, which uses a built-in conductor to absorb the kinetic energy resulting from the board’s movement, there’s no need to weigh the board down with additives. An additional benefit is that the EMC system works harder the faster you ride.

Also making this board lighter than Priti Patel’s stocking on Christmas morning is the hexagonal construction present in targeted areas of the board, which boast plenty of strength with less of the heft. The use of ultra-thin graphene rather than carbon is a factor too – as is the no-brainer decision to use the lightest wood possible without compromising on longevity.

We can’t get through a Head review without mentioning the base. Seriously, if you haven’t experienced Head’s top-end sintered base, you really must; it’s mind-bogglingly quick.

“The EMC system works harder the faster you ride”

Roundup

If you’re sceptical about the electric tech, we don’t blame you; it’s hard to get your head around. As with all such things, though, the proof is in the pudding, and the way the Head e-Pulse LYT rides will turn the non-believers into converts before long.

It’s been applied to exactly the right board: a proper no-holes-barred charger that proves you can have the best day of your riding life without ever touching powder or leaving the ground.

Pros:

  • A solution to the trade-off between weight savings and dampenings. Who says you can’t have it all?
  • Eye-wateringly fast snowboarding has rarely felt more stable and secure

Cons:

  • We can’t help but wonder if a more classic setback camber bend would make this better still
  • Experts only; this thing is a beast!
SHOP ALL SNOWBOARDS ON

 

Tester’s Verdict 2022/23

Coming soon…

Trade Secrets

Coming soon…

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