I’ve been riding the Never Summer Evo since late last season and it has been my main board this season.  I loved it then and love it more each time I ride it.  But it was time for Dave to hop on this and he finally did so here’s our take:

2012 Never Summer Evo

First Impressions:

Leo: When I first laid eyes on this board, the awesome zombie graphics stood out.  I mean, who doesn’t like zombies?  The Evo felt light and the rocker camber profile was noticeable.

Dave: I own an old NS Legacy from like 2005 and it was indestructible. I also enjoyed riding the Proto CT last spring and this is supposed to be a little more playful than that, so I’ve got high hopes to see what this deck will do.

Conditions: everything but the pow.

Size: 157
Shape: Never Summer’s patented Rocker+Camber hybrid, so, camber starts just outside the inserts rocker in the middle and tips.
Bindings: Dave rode Ride Deltas and Leo rode with Rome 390 Boss
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs 25″ stance at 15/-15
Leo’s stats: 5’9″, 180 lbs, 23.5″ stance at 18/-12

Flex

Leo: The Evo is Never Summer’s freestyle focused snowboard.  Originally, I gave it a 4.5/10 flex rating.  The board has since broken in nicely and sits at around a 4.  Torsionally flexy and stiffer in the tips.

Dave: Felt fairly soft by NS standards but this board definitely isn’t a noodle. Good amount of mid flex with slightly stiffer tips to plow the chunder as needed. Torsionally soft enough to get pretty much whatever you want out of the board. Overall definitely agree with Leo it’s a 4 out of 10.

Ollie/Pop

Leo:  Carbon stringers in the tips… what do you think?  Nice and satisfying pop on the Evo.  Ollie or nollie, choose your weapon.

Dave: Pretty damn snappy and never had any trouble with ollies or boosting over hay bales or whatever random obstacles were around.

Jibs/Playfulness

Leo: The Evo shines in this department.  It feels lively underfoot which was great on log and box jibs as you feel everything that’s going on underfoot.  The soft flex makes for easy presses and butterability.

Dave: For what it’s worth I tried to bust it up on some tree bonks but the sidewalls came away unscathed. Only had a few jibs set up when I rode this board and one was really grabby that day so didn’t have the best experience in this department but I blame it on the features not the board. The Evo was good for general jibalicious buttering, stalls, stump bonks and that sort of thing hopefully I can update this if I can ride it for some park laps.

Handling

Leo: Last season, I did a lot of tree runs with the Evo.  Loved it as the soft torsional flex lent to effortless edge to edge.  I was able to turn on a dime.  This season, I’ve taken it through some steeper terrain and was actually pleasantly surprised.  Although not damp by any means, it handled well.  Just don’t lay on an edge too long as it the Evo does experience chatter if you do this on steeper runs.  Even on a 157, the Evo’s swing weight is a non-issue.  Thank the blunted tips for that.  Never Summer’s RC profile feels like a rocker until you engage an edge then the camber section takes over.

Dave: alt-camber R+C tech does a good job holding an edge even on the icy banks of the trick tube the Evo handled pretty well but it meets its match on the blue/bulletproof ice common in the midwest and northeast. As a softer board it’s not super damp, there is a lively ride to the Evo and it doesn’t favor those longer drawn-out carves and not superb at higher speeds, but no problem with quick short radius turns. Twin shape & flex so it’s your fault if you can’t ride it switch.

Pricing: $499.99 is not a shocking price in terms of Never Summer snowboards.  They are American made and have a 3 year warranty which is one of the best in the industry.  If you have the dough, I say it’s worth it.

Summing it up

Leo: I love the Evo for my freestyle/tree shenanigans.  It’s a nice flexy, playful board that handles decently outside the realm of freestyle.  But that’s not what you’re really looking for is it?  You want a badass freestyle stick and the Evo is just that.  I’m going to say that beginners should look away.  Normally, a park board doubles as a great beginner setup.  However, I can see the NS RC being a little tricky for noobs.  Intermediate and above freestyle riders shred it!  Works for all-mountain freestyle too with more focus on the freestyle side of the spectrum.

Dave: Despite all the hype over the Proto CT I actually preferred the Evo, something about the more traditional flex was more comfortable for me. The Evo is squarely a freestyle oriented board and although it doesn’t have to be simply a jib stick. Backed by NS’s bombproof construction it’s a serviceable all-mountain freestyle deck, too, as long as you don’t ask too much out of it. I’d also say not really for the beginners but for the intermediate+ riders who will spend a lot of time in the park but still bounces around all over the mountain.

Conditions: 30ish degrees mix manmade & natural snow, corduroy, hardpack, sun-softened snow, fast, bluebird early-season fortunately no ice.

Board shape: 157cm twin, reverse camber

Stance: Dave rides 25″ 15/-15 regs, Leo at 24″ 18/-12.

Stats: Dave 6′ 210 lbs, Leo 5’9″ 180 lbs

First impressions 

Dave: I’ve heard about this company before building boards with no retail markup and no graphics to keep their costs down, it will be interesting to see how it stacks up. By the eyeball test it’s a pretty mellow reverse camber. No nonsense black on black colorway makes it look like you’re in between sponsors but leaves you plenty of creative freedom to sticker it up.

Leo: I knew about blank through SbF from a few years back.  I’ve always been interested in this brand and liked the fact that they came completely, well… blank.  From the limited reviews I’ve read, I was looking forward to a decent ride.  At first glance, the Blank felt light and sturdy with a mellow rocker.

Flex

Dave: The Blank reverse was somewhere around a 7 for me, so a bit stiffer than middle-of-the-road, due to the 4 carbon beams running lengthwise.  Torsionally this board was also on the stiffer side, the sort of feel you expect from an all-mountain deck.

Leo: Above mid flex and slightly below mid-stiff.  As Dave stated, torsionally stiffer, but not Custom X stiffer.

Jibs/Playfulness

Dave: A little stiffer than what I would really consider “playful”, and triax ain’t the best for this application but it’s still a full reverse camber so you butter it around or press this board but it seems better suited for all-mountain riding.

Leo: Not a butter board, that much I’ll say.  The rocker helps, but it wasn’t the best board to press on.  Was alright with the 50/50 on boxes, but not as lively as I would like underfoot for that.

Ollie/Pop

Dave: Reverse camber boards always feel like they’re a little lacking in this department for me but the carbon and triax gave it decent snap for boosting rollers and natural terrain. This board seemed well-suited for jumping, and even though we had only a few small side hits and tranny to play around on (such is the curse of early-season riding…) it felt stable on the landings even if you landed a little tail-heavy.

Leo: Ollies felt decent on this board.  I feel that they can definitely improve in this department.  Unfortunately, no jumps were to be had yet at that point in the season.  Popping off trannies and side hits felt pretty good.  As with most rockers, it allowed for some slop landings in which case, I’ll take all the help I can get.

Handling

Dave: I felt like I got a little more response from the board at medium to high speed, short-radius turns (think glades) especially felt better when I was really pushing it than at lower speeds but for the most part  you could hold longer carves without issue. With its twin shape and flex, this board was as well-suited to riding switch as it was regular.Dampeningwas pretty solid and I felt comfortable even at high speeds without losing stability or getting that squirrely feeling even through rough, choppy snow.

Leo: Handling on this board was good!  I was carving/making turns on the Blank just fine.  Not super quick edge to edge, but not at all sluggish.  As I said earlier, this board isn’t the liveliest which means it was damp.  Didn’t experience a ton of chatter, although the icier spots got a little sketchy.

Pricing

$199 is a tough price to beat without venturing in to some Big Box wasteland and really sacrificing quality.

Where to buy: Blank Snowboards are available direct from BlankSnowboards.com.

Summing it up

Dave: For me the flex pattern on this board seemed to favor all-mountain riding even though its extruded base is not the fastest (they will be adding an optional sintered base in the future). Some may gripe that Blank is not really breaking any ground in terms of innovation or groundbreaking tech and that’s true, but you have to take it for what it is. Seemed like a no nonsense boards at a no nonsense price point. Especially if you’re on a budget and looking for a cruiser or even something that will do a some all-mountain freestyle Blank is an option that can save you some cash without breaking your bank.

Leo: I’d also place this pretty squarely in the realm of all-mountain riding.  You can play on it, but it’s not its strong suit.  What surprised me the most is the performance-to-price ratio.  If this Blank had graphics, I would fully expect to pay around $300 for a board like this.  Although I wouldn’t really place a straight up beginner on this board, it won’t be a bad choice overall.  It’s not stupid fast or stiff and the light-weight lends itself to reduced swing-weight.  I would confidently recommend this to an all-mountain rider on a budget.

First impressions: It’s a 152 and I’m probably too big for it but let’s see what it can do.

Homewood Snowboards: Mix Tape (left) and Industry (right) and I am riding gaper style with old lift tickets still attached.

Conditions: 30 degrees mix manmade & natural snow, soft, fast, bluebird early-season felt like spring conditions almost, no ice.

Size: 152cm
Shape: Twin, Hybrid – mellow rocker in the middle, camber zones beneath the inserts, exaggerated rise on tip/tail.
Bindings: Ride Delta Mvmt
Stance: 24.5″ at 15/-15 regs.
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs

Flex: A pretty consistent medium flex from nose to tail with fair amount of torsional give. I felt like it was a bit softer underfoot as opposed to center of the board or in the tips, I think this is partly because of my size and wider stance on a shorter board.

Handling:   Center reverse with some camber underfoot the ride was really forgiving. Camber engaged when you wanted it to but didn’t “bite” when you weren’t expecting it.  Handled OK under the heavier snow or where the trails had gotten moguled out. Softer torsionally so it wasn’t super snappy edge-to-edge for the real technical short-radius carves, but I don’t think that’s what this board was designed for anyways. At higher speeds it definitely felt livelier under foot but it was damp enough to absorb some chatter at the more moderate speeds.  Medium radius turns at moderate speeds felt most comfortable real hard carves at higher speeds not really what this board was meant to do and the longer carves will wash a bit. Switch stance, no surprises it’s a true twin and handles consistently either way you point it.

Ollie/Pop: quick pops or load it up, I didn’t have any trouble getting good pop out of this board on a consistent basis, it was there whenever I asked for it. The Industry was stable when landing medium-sized rollers, drops and natural side hits/tranny.

Jibs/Playfulness: Early season no features on the hill yet but I would definitely take this board to the park and feel comfortable doing it. It was soft enough torsionally you could put it wherever you wanted it, the center reverse added to a super hook-free ride.  This board had an exaggerated rise on the nose/tail which added a really skate-like feel but made it a little more difficult (like a skateboard manual) to find that sweet spot when laying in to presses but overall this board was buttery fun on the flats and should be at home in the park as well.

Pricing: $325 is the price.

Where to get them: Currently Homewood snowboards are only available factory-direct. You can contact them via the internet or all of their email info & mailing address is available here.

Summing it up: When they asked if I’d check out the 152 I said I’d do my best but at that size I might not be able to really get a good evaluation, but this board surprised me to say the least. After a run or two this board was just all around comfortable. Good pop, stable landings, and handled well for me pretty much everywhere on the hill.  As with the Mix Tape, a word of caution for beginners, the sintered base is pretty fast.  The Industry felt like a pretty versatile board that a beginner could use, but would be better underfoot of a more advanced rider.

Homewood Mix Tape (left) and Industry (right) snowboards

Conditions: Varying spring-like conditions 30ish degrees mostly man-made, groomed snow early season conditions, varying bluebird to overcast to firmer snow during twilight runs.

Size: 156cm
Shape: Twin, reverse camber
Bindings: Dave used Ride Deltas and Leo used Rome 390s
Stance: Dave rides about 26″ at 15/-15 and Leo rides about 24″ at 18/-12
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs

First impressions

Dave: I previously rode the Homewood Industry (review forthcoming) and thoroughly enjoyed it. This board is more my size so I am looking forward to it.

Leo: Although I think cassette tape graphics are badass, the topsheet had some ripples in it and kind of looked cheap.  Reminded me of a snowboard that you would come across in a Big Box store.  The board was also a tad bit on the heavy side

Flex

Dave: Not too soft, not too stiff, on the softer side of medium in my opinion. Firm enough through the tips not to fold on you but soft enough to let you spread the butter with minimal effort. Torsionally there was a fair amount of give so also, so somewhere in the medium-ish range.

Leo: I agree with Dave on this.  Hair below mid flex.  The tips were stiffer and it had a good amount of torsional flex.

Jibs/Playfulness

Dave: Overall this was a pretty playful board due to its forgiving flex so if you’re in to just cruising around and making the entire mountain your own personal skate park this will do the trick.  When you overrotate and that 360 becomes an accidental 450 the reverse camber will save your ass.  Butters were easy without being effortless like you’re riding a noodle, ollies, nollies and just messing around on the side hits and natural tranny was a lot of fun. Ride longer for a playful all-mountain deck or downsize for a park deck.

Leo: Unfortunately, there weren’t any features for me to try this on.  Pressing this board was easy as it had more give in the middle enabling me to lift the nose/tail up.  I did not really like the swing weight on this board.  It could use some reduction there.  Dave is bigger (read stronger) than I am so obviously he was able to make this board his bitch in terms of spins.

Ollie/Pop

Dave: I generally expect no more than “average” pop from reverse camber boards, but the Mix Tap performed a little better than that for me. It was not an insane amount of pop, but a good amount and consistent, too.

Leo: This board was plenty poppy for me.  The day that I rode it on, there were surprisingly lots of rollers to ollie off of.  I had a good amount of fun with this.  Less like “wow” and more like “didn’t expect that”.

Handling

Dave: The sintered base was pretty fast and could get you up to any speed you wanted no problem. It’s not very damp so you will feel the terrain underfoot, that said it isn’t a park-specific board and is still pretty comfortable all around the mountain just be prepared for that “lively” feeling.  With the torsional give it performed better at low- to medium-speed and on shorter carves. True twin shape, no surprises when riding switch.

Leo: Felt everything underfoot.  I’m guessing this is going to be a pretty decent jibstick.  The Mix Tape caught me off guard in terms of speed.  I rode it on surprisingly good conditions.  Almost, almost spring like conditions.  Just the right amount of sun hitting the man-made.  Snow was fast and this board’s base was fast.  The combo meant I was sent flying.  I was very pleased with this.  This tells me that they have a good base.  Although I didn’t get to take it down a steep, it handled other runs fine.  Things did get sketchy on longer drawn out carves at speed though.  And keep in mind that you feel what’s going on underfoot.  Edge to edge power was decent though tighter turns were a bit on the sluggish side.

Pricing: $325 is the price.

Where to get them: Currently Homewood snowboards are only available factory-direct. You can contact them via the internet or all of their email info & mailing address is available here.

Summing it up

Dave: This is either a park board that handles all-mountain riding or it’s an all-mountain board that is at home in the park, really up to you how you want to ride it. At the price it’s a good value, recommended more for intermediate- to advanced riders, sintered base being awful fast for most beginners but the more advanced riders will dig the hook-free shape when stepping up their freestyle game or just hitting natural terrain and flatland tricks.

Leo: Pleasantly surprised with the Mix Tape!  The topsheet really does this board an injustice.  I’m going to chalk it up to a pre-production/demo fault as the other Homewood that we were sent looked fine.  I do dig the graphics as well, but I’m a bit biased as I grew up on cassette tapes.  I wouldn’t argue if someone considered the graphics to be on the cheesy side.  I like that this board was poppy and had a fast base.  The speed I obtained on the Mix Tape gave me wood.  How appropriate is that?  Heh heh, HomeWOOD.  Hopefully the topsheet issue will be all but gone on the production models.  Mix Tape… I’m gonna say for the strong intermediate all-mountain freestyle rider.  Too fast for a beginner.

Conditions: Everything from bluebird to graybird to twilight.

Fit & Helmet Compatibility:

Dave says: With the oversized trend and spherical lenses one issue that some people have is helmet compatibility. That said, I am using a Smith Maze helmet and these goggles fit fine with or without it. There were no funny pressure points across the bridge of my nose and the straps adjusted easily enough to get a nice tight fit even with gloves on.

Leo says: I use the Smith Variant helmet without a brim.  The Platoons fit perfectly with ample room for the strap.  This is saying a lot because I have a huge head and my helmet is Large as well.  I can still loosen the straps if I wanted to.  A huuuuuuuge plus for me is that the Platoons fit me!  Let’s face it, Asians do have flat faces.  This doesn’t translate well to goggle fitment as most models leave a gaping gap at the nose.  Some companies like Oakley make Asian fit, but then it increases the padding around the nose making the goggle protrude out further.

Lens/View:

Dave says: Spy says they “collaborated with world-renowned Optics by Carl Zeiss Vision, who is the best in class when it comes to optical expertise” to make the Platoon. I don’t know what that means, but the view was great and I had full peripheral view without noticing any sort of distortion. The stock photos of the Platoon don’t do it justice but make no mistake this is a spherical lens similar to the Anon Hawkeye, Electric EG2/EG2.5s, etc.

The Platoon came with two lenses which is an upgrade of many goggles on the market. The two included were a reflective Fire/Iridium that works great on when the sun is shining on those bluebird days. The Fire/Iridium lenses are useless for night/twilight riding but if you’re a late-night park rat the persimmon should do the trick. I swapped out to the persimmon lens for flat-light conditions in overcast weather.  Definitely having the two different lenses was a plus in my book.

Leo says: Superb FOV with the Spy Platoons.  In fact, after using them for a full day, it was hard to go back to my previous fave, Oakley Splice goggles.  The reason is, Platoons have minimal padding and frame material so they don’t protrude out from my face as much.  No distortion whatsoever.

Styling:

Dave says: You can’t go wrong with the black metal-inspired graphics on the Danny Larsen pro model.

Leo says: Mine are just plain white with chrome tabs on the bottom.  Looks great to me

Pricing: $140+ is pretty much industry standard for new-fangled spherical lens. Take it or leave it.

Summing it up:

Dave says: They fit well, they’re comfotable, and the view is a noticeable improvement over both my old pair of goggles (Anon, Spy). If you’re in the market for spherical goggles like the Electric EG2, Oakley Crowbar or Anon Hawkeye, I’d add these to the list of shades to consider. Goggles fit everyone a little differently so what works for me might not work for you so try them on in your local shop & see what feels best.

Leo says: I love the Spy Platoons.  I’ve always wanted a bigger set of goggles, but the Smith I/O and Electric EG2 both fit my Asian face poorly.  I have 0 issues with the Platoons.  This is likely going to cause me to buy more sets

Burton Custom - meh.

Burton Joystick - fun like video games, everything I wanted in the Custom

Burton Ration - plain jane camber freestyle for cheap

Burton Hate - buttery goodness on a budget

Forum Scallywag - fun, no nonsense freestyle

Gnu Carbon Credit - all-mountain on a budget

Lamar Click - freestyle deck that can tackle the whole mountain

Lib Tech Skate Banana - full rocker all mountain deck

Lib Tech Banana Magic - aggressive all-mountain/freeride

Marhar Throwdown - all mountain with park flex

Never Summer proto - one board quiver

Ride Dh2 - legendary pop, aggressive all mountain freestyle

Rome Agent Rocker - jumps, natural features & glades, all mountain killer

Rome factory rocker - budget all-mountain freestyle

Salomon drift rocker - skate-influenced freestyle

Salomon Salvatore Sanchez - ‘nother freestyleish deck from Salomon

Agent Rocker with Targas

Size: 157
Stance: Dave: 24ish, 15/-15 regs Leo: 23.5″, 18/-12
Shape: Almost twin, MtnPop rocker/camber
Bindings: Rome Targas
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs

Conditions: Boyne Mountain, cold, overcast. 17 degrees not too windy. dust on crust about 1″ of natural snow but mostly hardpacked groomers. Small amounts of sidepow but nothing to write home about. Decent test conditions for a variety of boards.

Flex:

Dave says: I’d rate this somewhere around a 7. Maybe a shade less than that in terms of overall flex. Definitely an all-mountain board at this stiffness.

Leo says: Overall I gave it a 6.5 in terms of flex.  Definitely agree with David that this is an all-mountain board.

Ollie/Pop:

Dave says: Pop on this board was superb and consistent. No complaints in this department from me, whatsoever.

Leo says: Awesome.  Rome’s boards do not have a problem in the pop department.  The rep told me that he saw a dude using the same setup that we were and he did a major ollie while maching down the steepest run.  I wanted to try that as well.  I wouldn’t say mine was a “major” ollie, but I did quite enjoy it ha.

Handling:

Dave says: The rocker profile was nice and playful but the Agent held an edge even on the Boyne hardpack without too much effort. Superb handling event at high speeds this board liked to charge hard but it didn’t feel super aggressive or too unforgiving at lower speeds either.

In the hands of the right rider the Agent Rocker should handle pretty much anything you could throw in its way.

Leo says: Loved it.  Rome’s camber section seemed longer than other hybrid boards.  Not as in a deeper camber, just longer.  I didn’t compare it next to another brand’s board though, so it was from my perception.  Riding it was a sort of confirmation for me as the Agent Rocker definitely had bite when locking into those turns.  The Rome Agent Rocker coupled with the Targas was made me happy in my pants while maching down a Michigan steep.  I’m very confident that this setup would kill it on a big boy’s mountain as well.  Stable and quick on the edges (I’m for sure going to attribute some of that responsiveness to the Targas though) when engaged.  The rocker section is mellow so it’s not loose at all.  Just gives you that little bit of hook-free feel.

Jibs/Playfulness:

Dave says: You could jib this deck, but I don’t know why you’d want to. Because it’s on the stiffer side your butters/presses are going to take some more effort than they would on a softer deck. With the rocker profile there is a little playfulness that comes through but jibbing is not this board’s strong suit.

Leo says: Yes!  I don’t know why, but that is my favorite Dave one-liner hahaha.  I tried pressing this thing… not this board’s strong suit, but that’s expected due to the flex.  I didn’t even bother trying to butter around.

Pricing:

Dave Says: $500. Pretty standard price for a solid all-mountain ripper.

Summing it up:

Dave’s Take: I definitely dig the Agent Rocker for crusing groomers, jumps, natural features & glades. In other words, “all mountain”. I’d recommend it for the upper-intermediate, to more advanced all-mountain guy who stays away from rails and likes to go balls to the walls fast whether on corduroy grooms or in between the aspens.

Leo’s Take: Me likey.  I have an itch to get this board especially since I recently picked up the Targas.  This pairing is like two butch lesbos fighting over who gets top in a 69.  Super responsive setup making the combo an aggressive all-mountain rider’s dream.  Recommended that beginners stay away.  Intermediate for those pairing it with a more forgiving binding.  Advanced Intermediate and above if you want to go the Targa route.  All-mountain or all-mountain freestyler that doesn’t jib or butter much.

Size: 154cm
Stance: 15/-15, 24″
Shape: twin
Bindings: Salomon Chief
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs

Conditions: Boyne Mountain, cold, overcast. 17 degrees not too windy. dust on crust about 1″ of natural snow but mostly hardpacked groomers. Small amounts of sidepow but nothing to write home about. Decent test conditions for a variety of boards.

Flex:

Dave says: Nice & forgiving flex that’s familiar and easy to get used to. For me I got more play out of this through the middle of the board and slightly stiffer tip/tail action.  Good to butter around and on jibs, too.

Leo says: The Salvatore Sanchez is just under mid flex for me.  Softer in between the feet and stiffer in the tips.

Ollie/Pop:

Dave says: Pretty decent pop on this deck but at the price they’re offering the Sanchez it’s tough to really complain. There’s certainly enough to hit rails and whatnot.

Leo says: Decent.  I’m with Dave on this one… hard to really complain considering the value.

Handling:

Dave says: I preferred the more traditional sidecut on the Sanchez to the Equalizer sidecut on the Drift Rocker. The Sanchez holds a carve pretty well but definitely still belongs in the “jib stick” camp, so overall its versatility is somewhat limited. I found it quick edge to edge and stable at medium-high speeds but pushing that and you lose it a bit.

Leo says: Yea, I really disliked the Equalizer sidecut on the Drift.  That sidecut has weird characteristics when you’re riding in my opinion.  The Sanchez has a radial sidecut which means it is cut from a perfect circle.  Sound techy?  The board held it’s edge on carves, but got squirrly at higher speeds.  No big shocker here though since this is a jibstick.  I found edge to edge to be a little sluggish.  Just a hair though.

Jibs/Playfulness:

Dave says: Like I said above the Sanchez is definitely a jib stick. No problems locking on to features and flexible enough to butter up anything that gets in your way, the Sanchez is at home in the park.

Leo says: I only hit a wide box with this thing (yea, yea, I’m a noob), but it did well either way.  You can feel whats underfoot so thats great.  Just general messing around on the slopes with this board was fun.

Pricing:

Low- to mid- $300s this is a pretty low price point so it definitely won’t break the bank.

Summing it up:

Dave’s Take: Overall a pretty fun board to ride. Was it the best? No, but it’s a great value for the money. Recommended for anyone who plans on spending the majority of the time in the park or on the streets.

Leo’s Take: Pretty average ride for me.  Just keep in mind that I’m an all-mountain freestyle rider and not a parkrat.  I am confident that a jibber on the budget will appreciate this board a lot more than me.  Recommended for the jibster or beginner-intermediate rider.  Advanced Intermediate all-mountain riders and up might want to look elsewhere.

2012 Forum Scallywag

Size: 155
Stance: 23.5″ regs 18/-12
Shape: True Twin, ChillyDog w/ Pop
Bindings: ’12 Forum Shakas
Dave’s stats: 5′9, 180 lbs

Dave chose to hang out on the hot sands of Miami rather than take this trip so I be Captain Bailey Seaturd and this be my ship.  I know, I know… and he calls himself a snowboarder.  Pfft!

Conditions: Crystal Mountain, MI. Slightly overcast with dust on a lot of crust.

Flex: Softish, right below mid flex in the middle and a little stiffer outside the bindings thanks to the carbon stringers.  Pressing the Scallywag was not a concern though.  Torsionally forgiving.

Ollie/Pop: Well, with carbon stringers outside the bindings… yea, this thing had pop and plenty of it.

Handling: For a softer board, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled all-mountain.  On groomers, it held an edge well-enough.  Edge to edge was quick and short to medium carves were stable.  Things got a little sketchy at speed and on longer drawn out carves.  That’s not a shocker though as that’s not what the Scallywag is for.  The 2012 Forum Scallywag features their Swinger’s Club tips.  The tips are shaved to reduce swing weight.  Works good!  Again, I just have to mention that I felt very comfortable on this board from the very first run.  I didn’t have to make any adjustments to my riding like I do when I step on something with crazy tech like the Forum Holy Moly.

Jibs/Playfulness: Fun.  That about sums it up.  I was jibbin me some logs.  Felt what I needed to feel underfoot and that’s always a good thing when it comes to jib games.  The mellow continuous Chillydog rocker profile is great.  Not too loose at all.  Just messing around on the mountain with the Scallywag was a blast as well.  Butter it up broski.

Pricing: $349.95

Summing it up: Awesome deck especially for the price.  The Forum reps held a challenge for us and the winner had a pick of any board in the lineup.  Needless to say, I wasn’t about to down a questionable cup of boiled everything.  Let’s just say peanuts, eggs, and beer (with the can no less) were just some of the ingredients.  Anyway, my point is that the Scallywag would have been my choice had I taken that challenge.  And this is out of their entire 2012 lineup.  The Scallywag is just a fun, no nonsense freestyle deck that’s actually not half bad all-mountain.  Beginners and up are welcome here.  More aggressive all-mountain riders need not apply.

By the way, special thanks to Steve Wikner and Andrew Pettis for a helluva demo weekend.  Natty Light, hot dogs, and little wings will make anyone smile.

Burton Custom Flying-V 2012

Size: 156cm
Stance: 18/-12 23.5″ regs
Shape: Flying-V rocker
Bindings: Burton Malavita restricted EST
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs

Conditions: Boyne Mountain, cold, overcast. 17 degrees not too windy. dust on crust about 1″ of natural snow but mostly hardpacked groomers. Small amounts of sidepow but nothing to write home about. Decent test conditions for a variety of boards.

Flex:

Dave says: a bit stiffer than middle-of-the-road, somewhere in the 6ish out of 10, but it was still somewhat playful.

Leo says: Yup.  More than mid-flex, less than mid-stiff.  Think less morning wood and more mid-day stiffy.

Ollie/Pop:

Dave says: The Custom was just average but it’ll get the job done. In fairness I am on the large side for this sized board and this is an issue that I had with a few other boards at Test Fest, too. Leo’s take is probably more representative of the Custom Flying-V’s overall pop.

Leo says: I think Dave’s big ass on a 156 had something to do with poppiness.  It was above average for me and the twin flex means it will pop equally well on the nose.  Well, if you’re good at nollies or switch ollies that is.

Handling:

Dave says: The Custom was really pretty stable at high speeds. The Flying-V rocker can be a little sketchy on ice/hardpack, I think it just has too much rocker. Overall the Custom had pretty good edgehold when laying carves but not enough to really blow me away; medium to large carves were the most at ease, short-radius carves not so much.

Leo says: There’s two consistent aspects of Burton boards that I enjoy.  The first is pop and the second is fast bases.  Their sintered bases rock.  The CFV held a great edge even at speed.  It was a little sluggish on tighter/shorter turns, otherwise the edge response was good.  One aspect of the CFV that I don’t like so much is the rocker in the middle.  For some reason, Burton puts a more pronounced rocker on the Flying-V profile for the Custom; the rep  confirmed this and others have pointed it out in the past, too.  I did not like the CFV this year as much as I liked it last year.  I can’t put my finger on why though.  I do know the only real difference between the two is squeezebox (unless you got that late release ’11 Custom Flying-V).  On real icy conditions, the CFV gets a little sketch.  Just like I said about the 2011 model though, it wasn’t enough to make me eat it.

Jibs/Playfulness:

Dave says: This is an all-mountain freesytle deck that can do a little bit of jibbery but it’s not the board’s strong suit. Still you shouldn’t have trouble messing around in the park, presses, butters, etc., just don’t expect to be doing Masters of the Ground sort of stuff.

Leo says: My favorite Dave quote, “You can jib with it, but I don’t know why you would want to”.  Haha, sums it up nicely I think.

Pricing:

Dave Says: $529is pretty much the standard for flagship pricing out of the big brands.

Leo says: I don’t suppose you expect a different answer out of me on pricing right?  Unless you want to know my pro-form price for it.  But then again, Jake Burton might hunt me down if I told you.

Summing it up:

Dave’s Take: The Burton Custom Flying-V has some good qualities like good edge-hold and high-speed carving that suggest it’s a better board than my experience. Even though I wasn’t blown away by this deck, it was a few cm shorter than I would prefer to ride all-mountain so take my experience with a grain of salt.

Overall I don’t have any reservations about saying the CFV is a pretty good all-mountain deck for intermediate and above riders who spends most of their time cruising corduroy.

Leo’s Take: The Custom Flying-V is definitely a good board.  There’s no doubt about that in my mind.  What makes this board a hard sell is the pricing.  This pricepoint has some heavy competition.  But keep in mind that this is Burton’s flagship snowboard which means they definitely do not skimp you on the tech.  If you’re a loyal Burton fan, it’s definitely a good choice for all-mountain freestyle.  However, if you are a rider that suffers from brand blindness, you might want to feel out the competition.  Beginners need not apply for the Custom Flying-V.  Intermediate and up, all-mountain freestyle shredders can take a look.