The Kink has been a staple of Ride’s snowboard lineup for years and this price-point freestyle deck probably isn’t going away any time soon. It’s a full rocker freestyle board so it should be a pretty loose and playful ride.
2013 Ride Kink with Ride Revolt bindings
Size: 152
Shape: Twin rocker
Bindings: 2013 Ride Revolt
Stats: Dave 6′ 210 lbs stance at ~24″ regs, 15/-15
Conditions: hardpack, semi-firm groomers not a patch of ice to be found anywhere, well groomed boarder-x course, beginner park features about 30 degrees.
Flex:
The Kink is about a medium-soft park flex, pretty loose both torsionally and lengthwise but not overly soft like a wet noodle.
Ollie/Pop:
Although a certain Brit landed a bootgrab triple flip on one of these I wouldn’t peg it as a “jump” board, but it’s definitely got the balls to take most jumps with ease, and as Ride snowboards tend to, it has plenty of pop to get you on to almost any rail or streetstyle feature in your local terrain park.
Jibs/Playfulness:
It’s got the pop to get you there and the flex to make it easy, the Ride Kink is basically designed for jibbing and being a pretty playful board and it doesn’t disappoint in this area.
Handling:
As you’d expect from a softer, park-focused board this one is going to chatter at speed, but it was responsive and edges well for shorter and quicker carves. The Kink is plenty to get you through most of the park. Ride’s “twin rocker” is forgiving enough without being washy, thanks to minimal rocker and extended flat zones outside the inserts.
