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The XCaliber has an excellent reputation and a solid competition pedigree, and has been the high-performance headline in the Cabrinha range for a while. For 2018 this comp friendly twinnie is now the XCaliber Carbon, and it has been joined by a slightly friendlier and more accessible little brother: the XCailber Wood. The outline, channels, concave and tip shapes are all the same, but the construction loses most of the carbon (there is still some “strategic use of carbon for directed flex control”) so the XCaliber Wood loses the stiffness that may be great for Liam Whaley to generate that extra bit of height, but may be less nice for you and your knees… So overall the board is definitely designed more with the freerider who enjoys some freestyle, or for freestylers who want that extra forgiveness in their landings. Inserts are compatible with straps or boots so you can mix it up there too. So if you want to work on your board-off megaloops then no problem!
On the water and a session with the XCaliber Wood can be best described in two words: it’s fun! Choppy water? No problem – you glide through smoothly without getting spray into your face. Upwind performance? Solid for a freestyle twin tip thanks to Cabrinha’s ‘fast rocker’ and the channels. Then the XCaliber Wood reacts quickly to rider input and when it comes to hitting the ‘pop’ button you can edge really hard and still hold plenty of speed. Then the pop is nice and explosive giving you all that you need for your favorite freestyle moves. The spin weight is lower compared to the XCaliber carbon and the 5.2cm rocker in combination with the medium flex offers controlled (and knee-friendly) landings.
In a sentence: The XCaliber Wood takes a winning board and opens up its appeal to a much wider market – it’s a clever move from Cabrinha and on this evidence one that has definitely paid off.
