Board: Marhar Darkside
Size: 154
Camber Option: New age camber. Camber through the middle past the inserts, a flat section, then a little rocker before the tip kick.
Bindings: Rome Black Label
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 200lbs
Resort: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: High visibility gray skies, moderate winds, warmer temps, chop, chunder, hot pow, perfect hero snow on the corduroy, and a little ice and slush for good measure.
Flex: This is your standard run of the mill middle of the road park flex. Nothing revolutionary here with the softer tips and stiffer mid section where the camber is. The one thing to note is that flat section in the camber provides a flex point and sweet spot for pressing. The torsional flex is a perfect match up to the overall flex and while you can twist it you don’t have to worry about over powering it.
Stability: This boards damp to a point which helps it absorb chatter under foot for micro vibrations. When you start hauling ass and getting into more rutted out terrain you’ll notice that the board can get somewhat squirrely at times so keep those knees bent.
Ollies: The pop out of this board is the best I’ve seen to date. The camber section is easy to load up and it rebounds through that flat section which gives it more spring. This deck wants to get into the air off sidehits, rollers, and whatever is in front of you so go fast and pop hard.
Pop On Jumps: Unfortunately the only thing constituting a jump wasn’t open because it was more questionable than your Tinder date. So what do we do in this situation? We make our own off something else. While not the best gauge for hitting a jump I’ve ridden this enough to know that it can handle small to medium ones with ease. This board will pop off a lip without hesitation. The new flex in this board is more forgiving so bigger jumps may be a little out of the question for a weaker rider.
Butterability: This thing butters so well. That flat spot just locks in and holds the press without fail. You can get so weird on this board and never worry about it. There’s also a nice little rebound that doesn’t fight you so you can pop out of any variation you want.
Jibbing: It locks into presses and holds them easily enough that you never have to worry about it fighting you but it will pop out of the feature with ease. The torsional flex was softened up a bit since the last time I rode it and that allows it to hug the feature better and do less of a balance board act.
Carving: There’s more than enough edge hold on this board to rail a hard carve if you want to or have to, but it’s far more suited for medium mellow carves and quick set up turns. It transitions smoothly from edge to edge and lets you be laid back but when you kick your knee into the center of the camber to drive it out of the turn you feel a little bit of power.
Rider in Mind: Pop loving freestyle guy that wants a well rounded deck.
Personal Thoughts: This is the best version of the Darkside I’ve been on to date. Hands down it was that noticeably better. The new core gives it more pop, more power where you need it, but enhances the sweet spots for presses. It’s just a well balanced park board.
Comparable Boards:
Rome Agent: https://bit.ly/3VOJq70
Salomon Huck Knife: https://bit.ly/3iUjaJV
Capita DOA: https://bit.ly/3FmNK6k
Binding Recommendations:
Rome Katana: https://bit.ly/3hdp9Jp
Salomon District Team Pro: https://bit.ly/3Hro8rC
Union Strata: https://bit.ly/3uLsKkI
