Pantheon – 2020 Seed

Get to know the Seed
Heard good things about our previous Seed deck? Yea, I bet you did. An extremely functional board with an ultra-modern concave and next level construction, the Seed sets itself apart from the competition in every conceivable way. Expect to see it on the podiums.

The Seed is designed for high speed downhill, gripping hard corners, and pumping in HS or GS slalom. The world has caught on with the slalom downhill board craze, and the race podiums of the 2019 downhill race season made it clear that smaller wheelbases and skinnier trucks were capable of hitting lines that other setups just weren’t. While slalom setups have been dominating grip’n’rip downhill courses like Maryhill Festival of Speed for years, only in the most recent year or two have they started showing up at other, more technical races–and winning.

The bottom line is that this type of setup is a ton of fun. Enhanced control and grip have the ability to be maximized on such a setup, and the razor thin edge of control on a board like this is exhilarating to ride!

What Changed on the 2020 Seed
After over a year of team riders and others riding the original Seed, we can say that we finally had enough experience to formulate some some opinions about what we liked vs what we felt like we could improve upon. We used those opinions to develop the Summit Series Seed–our first attempts at full-length carbon layups with soft-wood cores. What popped out of that project was the best feeling slalom-downhill board anybody rode all year–and if you have a different opinion, it’s probably because you didn’t get the chance to try one. For those who know, you know what I’m talking about.

Following a year of producing these carbon decks in super small batches, we had to step away from the passion project and find a construction that we could actually produce at a profit with a manufacturer that could make them more consistently. Truthfully, we were losing money on downhill boards because of all the blemished carbon boards and the lack of profit built into the project. That said, that year offered incredible experience on this new design, and we spent most of the year trying to secure a new manufacturing process which could create a more durable board and offer more value. And we found it!

The new 2020 Seeds are an entirely new construction process. They are a bit heavier than the old carbon decks, but significantly more durable and also less expensive! The bonds are tighter, the core material is harder and tougher, the urethane rail wraps all the way around the deck, and the composite layers are way stronger. Overall, the deck feels stiffer and heavier than the carbon, and it does a hell of a lot better job at sucking up road vibration.

The Shape
First thing you’ll notice is the spoon nose. The Seed has a tapered, surf-style nose. This is not only aesthetically appealing, but it also feeds your foot into a proper downhill stance. An angled front foot helps open up the hips and puts less strain on your joints, allowing you to put your body into a more aerodynamic tuck, more ergonomically. This open stance favors the heel-side of the deck, and will naturally put your front foot a little more heel-side on the board. To compensate leverage for this, because slalom decks are so front truck dominant, we spoon the nose to increase leverage at the toe side of the deck near the front. Balancing the toe and heel-side of the board improves control, and an added side benefit of greater wheel clearance is also achieved as well as allowing opportunity for cleaner looking lines, benefitting the aesthetic appeal.

The tail is designed so that the ball of the foot fits right at the base of the tail crease, just like you’re putting a foam wedge on the deck. If you still feel inclined to put a wedge on it, do it! But our goal is to make a perfect skate deck right out of the box. We expect riders will adjust the front truck placement according to their stance, based on the rear foot sitting right in that position. Additional rear mounting options help refine the wheelbase and offer further freedom for adjusting your rear foot’s leverage over the trucks. The new wedge makes the Seed feel much more like a classic slalom deck!

Finally, there is a W bubble leading into the tail that peaks right at the base of the tail crease. This is a feature that literally no other board shape has replicated, and we are leaving this comment here until someone figures it out and does it! What this does it is automatically aligns your rear foot so that you don’t have to look down, and it places the ball of your foot in a gentle, 3-sided pocket between the rail, the tail wedge, and the W concave. You’ve got all the leverage in the world in this position, and the W concave vanishes into the tail as the wedge lifts up, just like it was never there. You won’t feel the W on your heel, but it is right on the inside of the ball of your foot where you need it. Riders will notice little to zero shifting between heel and toeside turns and slides with this feature, and it is subtle enough to still feel very ready to take on cones!

Full Length Composite Construction
In order to produce the most functional and durable construction, we revised the construction of the new Seed to a fiberglass composite with a snowboard style top and bottom sheet. The core of the board is made from machined solid maple. The entire board is wrapped with a urethane bumper. The Seed is fully waterproof. This board is more resistant to the elements than any production board we’ve ever made. Don’t use it as a wakeboard (we have not tested its flotation qualities), but feel free to shred this thing in any and all conditions.

Setup Guide
This board should really only be purchased by someone who is willing to set it up properly. It is definitely a specialty design and needs to be coupled with a specialty setup, with trucks likely somewhere in the 115-150mm range and wheels to match the trucks which will set the outer lip near the max width of the deck, which is 9.3125 inches. I set mine up with 115mm on Valkyrie DH Slalom trucks and Venom Magnums and have also found great success with 124mm DontTrip Slalocybins. Randal 125mm will work for a lower cost cast truck, but you should find yourself one of those old-school 35 degree baseplates and dewedge the back a bit. You can also run up to a 150mm truck with a centerset slide wheel, and you’ll still be rail matching! A lot of people are setting this up with Rogue Downhill Slalom. All are great choices and none really leave anything to be desired. The important part is that you recognize the following:

Note: A 7 degree dewedged Khiro wedge will essentially bring this board to flat.

Specs:
Length – 32.5″
Width – 9.3125″
Wheelbase – 20.25-22.75″
Tail Angle – 7.5 degrees