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2010 Never Summer Heritage review

9K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Grasschopper 
#1 ·
I bought a 2010 NS Heritage from Justin earlier this fall. It's not strictly a "used" board since it's not used. But OK, it's last year's model. I'll leave it to owners of the 2011 to decide if they have a different experience.

So, Seymour opened last Thursday, and they've been getting a crapload of snow, and finally today was the day. Not only the first day of snowboarding season for me, but also today was the first day using my new NS Heritage and my new Ride Havoc (well, new to me). And I have to say, that was an experience. The Heritage is a very responsive board, with great edge control. But as Triple8sol has said, it's not very forgiving -- and it has some idiosyncracies. For one thing, if you hold a constant edge during a turn, the board actually goes into a tighter and tighter turn until it almost literally whips off at 90 degrees. You have to learn to ease off the edge a little earlier to avoid having the board head off at a right-angle, leaving your upper body behind. And yes, that is exactly as painful as it sounds.

The Heritage is also a relatively heavy board (I'm using my Ride Havoc for comparison) but it doesn't feel heavy when riding. In fact, I found my dynamic carving to be immediately improved. But the damping on the board and its impressive ability to cut right through rough patches make the board feel massive -- almost like you could carve right through a tree. The downside of this is that you don't necessarily have a good feel for what kind of terrain you're on. The Havoc feels much more nimble, but that's mostly because you're feeling and reacting to every bump, not necessarily because you're turning faster.

What really amazed me about the Heritage was how easy it is to go edge-to-edge, especially since you'd expect to have to fight more inertia with the heavier weight. One point that I disagree with Triple8sol about is on the subject of buttering. Now mind you, I'm coming from a Morrow Lithium which is a stiff downhill board, rather than some kind of park noodle, but I found the Heritage to be a perfectly agreeable butterstick. Granted, I can't pull the thing up to my ears, but it comes up high enough to do the job.

And lastly, I took the opportunity to try some of Snowolf's advice about using torsional edge control. Holy crap! I'd tried and kind of dismissed torsional edge control with the old boards -- it worked somewhat, but full edge pressure and shifting weight was more effective. With the Heritage you can just lightly lift your toes on one foot and your heel on the other and off you go in a new direction.

I don't want to give the impression that this board will immediately make you a better rider. Actually, I take that back. It pretty much does just that. But it can also land you on your head if you don't take it seriously. So, was it worth the money? Fuck, yeah! Do I recommend this board? Dambetcha! Are there other good, possibly better boards? Almost certainly, but this is the one I own. Get your own board.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
It's not about "being in over your head." The points I've been making are that it's not the right board for everyone, despite what some of the nuthuggers are pushing. The other point is that there are other great alternatives as well such as: Capita BSOD, Bataleon Jam, K2 Slayblade, Ride Highlife. Lib Dark Series. As far as buttering, I guess technically you can butter with it, but good luck doing any kind of manual or press.
 
#4 ·
Triple8sol's demurral aside, I can see where it is possible to get in over your head with a board the same way it's possible with a ferrari if you're not really a good driver. Just going to a sintered base means your top speed is suddenly higher. Add in improved edging if you're still unsure of your balance and yeah, I can see a really good board tossing you on your head. Fortunately for me, I'm a little more aware of my shortcomings that I would have been when I was younger. I think all you have to do is make sure you have some patience with the new board and take the time to get the feel for it.

What's nice for me in this case is that I no longer feel that my board is limiting what I can do. I suppose if I start doing a lot of park that might change, but then I've got the Havoc for a beater board.
 
#7 ·
I think I've made my opinion of the Heritage pretty clear. :laugh: I'm a little shorter than you at 5'10" but a little heavier at 190+ (varies based on pizza consumption). 2 cm is less than an inch, and if you had to try the two boards one after the other without knowing which was which, would you really be able to notice the 2cm diff? I wouldn't. Bird in the hand for $100 off is worth 2 cm IMO.
 
#8 ·
Hey don't get me wrong, it's a sick board and there's a reason why I had one last season and then upgraded to the new model too. It's gonna be my primary big mountain stick this year. My only possible regret is that I wonder if I should've gone up to a 160 instead. I got one for my buddy and side by side, it really isn't a full 2cm longer in length, plus the 158 is the same total length as my 157 Bataleon. I'd just hate to see a beginner spend $540 for this board only to find it's not very forgiving and not great to learn on. I'd steer more people to the SL than the Heritage, to be honest.
 
#10 ·
I don't know whether it is better to dig up an old thread or write a new one on the same topic...so I'm a diggin.

Just got a 10/11 NS Heritage 162 to replace my Lib Tech T.Rice 157 that was too short and got sketchy at high speeds. About me: 5'10" 220 lbs size 10.5 boot, started riding in 1987 but took a LONG hiatus for marriage and kids. Got back on a board last year with my now 9 yr old son and my wife has taken it up too. I like to freeride mostly and hit some jumps...have ventured into the park a couple of times with my son but being 37 and having had back surgery in September so I have to be careful about the slams I take. Our local mountain is really just a bump...vertical sheet of ice here on the east coast.

The OPs comments are really spot on IMO, he made some points that I'm not sure I could have put into words. Here is what I noticed about the Heritage on day one. Softer than the T.Rice by quite a bit at the tips. I'm a bit torn on this, I went 162 because the T.Rice was getting unstable at high speeds and I'm not sure I have corrected that issue but I think there is a bit of a learning curve going from the T.Rice to the Heritage. That said the conditions were less than good yesterday as we have had a lot of freezing rain in the last few days and the lighting was really bad yesterday, couldn't see anything in the terrain and I think due to the dampness of the board I wasn't feeling anything either, so I got tossed around a bit on my first couple of runs. As the day went on I got used to it a bit and really ripped some high speed runs out. For sure the Heritage is faster from edge to edge than the T.Rice...I really liked this fact. I don't ride switch much but I figured I would give it a shot and took several runs switch down our trail all switch and found it easier than the T.Rice, I think this was a combination of the softer flex and the faster edge to edge response.

So in conclusion I like the board a lot, maybe not exactly what I was looking for but I think with a little time to adjust to the flex I could really like it and it will make riding slower with my wife and son a good bit easier than a longer T.Rice would have been.
 
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