Cardiff Goat Enduro Review

The Cardiff Goat wowed our test team with its ride quality and overall capable nature. Our favorite aspect of the board is the flex pattern, which feels plush, lively, and dynamic without sacrificing performance. Every respectable brand produces a capable board, but not everyone achieves this balance. The balance of fun and function is one of the hardest combos to maintain, and all the Cardiff shapes we have tried have done this quite well. The Goat is a great daily all-mountain board for high-level intermediates to experts who want a capable yet softer flexing and fun board.

Edging

The edging experience of your snowboard makes a dramatic difference in the quality of your day, no matter whether it's slush, hard snow, or crisp corduroy. It's one of the most important metrics. We rode this board over multiple days in various conditions, making tight turns and long radius turns to put this board to the test. The Cardiff Goat is a fun, fluid, and high-performance edging machine that we thoroughly enjoyed our time on.

Cardiff Goat might keep you out riding longer than expected. It provides a great on-edge experience due to its awesome in-turn feel that is predictable, engaging, and dynamic. The feel is largely due to the poplar and paulownia core. The fluid and progressive character is coupled with a strong, nearly centered carving stance that allows you to feel where the energy is in the core; making it easier to have that explosive turning style. Its long 10-meter sidecut likes to make arching, drawn-out turns at high speed. As with most boards with longer sidecuts the board takes more effort and muscle to make short radius carving turns. That said, it was significantly easier to unlock this style than stiffer boards of the same sidecut.

The traditional camber profile with an early rise tip provides plenty of edge hold, and we had a fun day making arching turns in firm spring snow. The early rise in the tip helps you finish your turn on time and promotes a more catch-free ride. The tail of the board is easy to slash around for speed control and to channel your inner surfer. Overall, The Goat will keep riders pushing their limits on edge while having an enjoyable and reliable ride.

Float in Powder

Our favorite days have been spent making powder turns with our friends, and the performance of our board played a big role in making these days a success. We got this board out as much as possible to ride in fresh powder and see how it stacked up to the rest. The Cardiff Goat has all the markings of a great all-mountain powder board, and its performance met our expectations.

The amount of float from the Cardiff Goat will surely surprise you. We glided over powder fields of all angles but found it to perform best when we could maintain some speed. The generally traditional mountain board outline has 11mm of taper and does surprisingly well to keep you on top. While it's not the floatest board in our review, it will help keep you smiling on top as you ride those special days at your hometown resort.

Stability at Speed

Going fast is part of the fun of riding, and doing that on a stable board increases your safety while pushing your limits. We straightened groomers, made fast swooping turns, and cruised through different snow surfaces to assess this rig's reliability. Despite having a medium flex, the Cardiff Goat is a reliable all-mountain companion.

We found ourselves making long swooping turns on the 10-meter sidecut. As we drew big arching lines in the snow, we felt stable and supported by the board. The medium flex pattern allowed us to control speed easily as we could influence our turn radius more easily. Due to the camber profile and long sidecut, the Goat tracked straight-lining down groomers well. The base is of great quality; when maintained, it holds wax and glides with some of the best. to help you make it across that traverse. When you get off-piste, the semi-damp ride of the Goat helps mute micro chatter and uneven snow. It dampens larger and softer bumps as the board can handle bumpy runouts of chutes and cliffs. The stability offered by this board is great for jumpers, carvers, and straighteners alike.

Playfulness

An essential component of any daily driver is the ability to have fun all over the mountain and in any condition. We rode this board in various conditions and terrains to butter, slash, and spin to decide how fun and playful this board is. The Cardiff Goat provides an overall playful and fun ride despite having a longer sidecut that is rarely associated with this metric.

The medium fluid flex pattern is the ticket here. It allows you to press and butter around the mountain with relatively easy press initiation and hold for a traditional camber board. Buttering on the Goat has a generally wide margin and user-friendly balance point. We had fun making turns of different shapes and buttering down runs behind our friends. The main challenge in this metric was the added effort it took to make tight radius turns. While it may take a little more effort to do tighter turns, we applaud this model's playful nature to all types of riding.

Pop and Jumping

Have you ever gone off a jump or side hit and felt like something was lacking? It may have been a lack of the board's pop or a technical shortcoming. We were popping ollies over slow signs and hitting jumps to see how it stacked up to the others. The Cardiff Goat provides plenty of pop in a user-friendly package, while its traditional all-mountain shape is a solid piece of landing gear.

While generally stiffer boards have more pop, the medium flex pattern of the Goat offered plenty of return because it was easy to load and pop. We found that very stiff models require an expert-level technique to pop and benefit from the stiffness, whereas advanced to intermediate riders will get more pop from well-designed boards from a medium flex pattern. Despite the softer flex, you can feel confident as you approach, knowing the long sidecut and camber profile tracks well, and the high-quality base is fast and stacks up with the best of them. The slight setback stance generally feels quite center over the board for a balanced takeoff and landing. The Goat has plenty of tails in the back to help you stomp those landings so you can ride away clean rather than wheeling out to your back.

Should You Buy the Cardiff Goat?

The Goat proved to be one of the best boards in our testing process. It stands out for its flex pattern, providing a fun feel across the mountain. It has a playful character that still delivers top-tier performance. Consider this model if you want a fun all-mountain charger with a medium flex pattern and little compromise.

What Other Snowboard Should You Consider?

Expert riders who can manage the stiff flex patterns and desire an all-mountain freeride board should consider the Burton High Fidelity. Its stiff flex pattern and unique shape provide incredible flotation, stability, and response. The main drawback of this board is that most riders will get some toe and heel drag when ripping turns on groomers. If making short radius carving turns is your jam, then look at the Yes Standard Uninc DC. Its wider platform and tight side cut make for a great carving board with serious float.