Board: Ride Manic

Size: 157

Camber Option: Directional Hybrid Rocker. A little more rocker in the nose than the tail with camber through the middle.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200

Resort: Copper Mountain

Conditions: Puking snow, overcast skies, high winds, chopped out wind loaded snow, powder corduroy, and basic storm day conditions.

Flex: By Rides standards this is soft, by most peoples standards this is more middle of the road. It’s stiffer flexing than I thought it would be but it also has carbon and impact plates. This adds to the stiffness. The torsional flex is there so you can twist the board when you need to but it takes a little more effort. Obviously you get more play in the nose than the tail just due to the rocker being more abundant there.

Stability: Surprisingly or maybe unsurprisingly this board was more stable than I thought. It pushed through heavier snow and chopped out terrain with relative ease. You do feel a little bit of chatter outside the feet from the rocker but it’s not so much you’re getting fatigued at the end of the day. For what it is this board is surprisingly damp.

Ollies: The pop is there and you feel the rebound out of the camber/rocker zone. It’s relatively easy to load up and pop with. Is it the snappiest thing out there, no, but it gets the job done.

Pop On Jumps: I didn’t hit anything too crazy with this but the few little peace park features I boosted it snaps off the lip easily enough and gets you to the landing zone. Is it a board that’s meant to hit jumps with all day, no, but it’ll get the job done.

Butterability: You have a little more rocker in the nose than the tail so that’s obviously going to be the better spot to get your weight out over. With the camber section there’s always a little fight right at the sweet spot where it meets the rocker, so be aware of that. Basically if you know how to butter awesome, if you don’t, well time to learn because this is forgiving enough to start on but it will have rebound out of it.

Jibbing: A little speed goes a long way with this to get it to lock in. You want to make sure you’re putting your weight into the rocker to press it and prepare yourself for that camber section to want to snap out of it. When going sideways the camber section locks in and holds well on the feature without clapping out.

Carving: The roll from edge to edge is consistent which means you aren’t fighting to get it on edge, but it’s not a fluid smooth motion it takes a little more work. When you push into the center of the board to drive the tail you can feel that carbon take effect and give some added oomph. Can you rail a turn? Yeah but it has limitations and you’ll find the carve a bit more drawn out than tight. It’s those medium carves on open terrain that really let this board shine.

Rider in Mind: Progressing low level intermediate all mountain rider.

Personal Thoughts: This feels like a downgraded Smokescreen. It doesn’t have the power behind it and that’s fine for what it is. As I mentioned I was surprised at how much stiffer this was for whom this is catered to. Which isn’t a bad thing as it will make those progressing learn how to muscle a board quicker. Overall it’s not a bad board but when it comes to this category there’s others that stand out to me as decks I would rather recommend.

Comparable Boards: Rome Warden, Yes Basic, Capita Outerspace Living

Binding Recommendations: Ride A-6, Rome DOD, Nitro Zero