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Stats:

200 lbs
6'3
Age 22


Setup:
Ride Hi-phy boots 11
2009 Union Forces
157 Proto CT

A little history:
When I heard all the hype about this board, I wanted to throw my face into a wall. Last time I bought into the hype was a Skate banana and that thing is a piece of shit. 480 bucks for a board that can't even carve properly? When I did a little digging I said sure, it has some camber, lets blow half a paycheck on this thing just so I can prove the kiddies wrong. P.S. College sucks, I know I'm poor.

Pop: Thing had nice pop. Only board that probably outpopped this that I've tried was the Ride DH2.5. Granted, it may be that I am on a 157. But seriously, shit can pop. Ollies were pretty decent too. But I attribute any lack of's in this department to the piece of shit Unions I was one. More hype. I'm sure the bindings got lighter/better over time since they were 09's, but seriously, the thing weighs like 7 pounds for both. When you put that in terms of ollies with a snowboard, it's like wearing sandbags on your ankles. So yes people, how light a binder is, kind of actually does matter. I'm getting Cartels Restricted. I'll use my Unions as a dog toy after I get a puppy.


Carving: Handled groomers just fine. It felt a little catch-free, but it did have that bite as well. Loose feeling, but not too loose. Like a broken in vagina. Yum. I definitely got the 157 for the deeper side cut, and it handled small radius turns perfectly. Big ones felt a little washy. Let me just refer you back to the broken in vagina metaphor.


Butters: I'm not the best at butters, but it made it a hell of a lot easier than some other boards I've tried. Hell, maybe I'll even start buttering because of this board.


Turning/Control: No issues here. If you want to pretend the board is a imported Russian wife, you'd be wearing the wife beater for sure. The wife bends how you want it to bend, to do what you want it to do. I mean't board. Whoops.


Flex: It rides like a 5/10, but it can bend like a 4/10. It's weird. It may be because I'm a bigger guy on a smaller board, but shit, I plan on losing weight anyways. Plus a 157 is easier to resell than a 160. Actually no, it's not because I'm bigger. It's because the board is a freestyle deck and that's what it's suppose to do. I would be careful with what bindings to match up with this board. Find a binding that suites the needs of Ms. Proto CT. Otherwise she'll cheat on you.


POW: Nothing to say here yet. Groomers just opened up here so yeah, this is a 'groomed' review. Har har.

Weight of Board: Light. Not a feather, but light. Forces made this thing feel like a damn brick, which is why I'm getting off of them.

Kickers/Jumps: This incorps alot of the features mentioned above. This board is electric for jumps. Not T.Rice jumps and shit, but in terms of landing, swing weight, and pop, this board will have the 12 year olds on the sidelines at the park go "WOAHHHHH DUDE" because this board definitely made this area hell of a lot easier to do things.

Speed: Its decent. It's got a fast base, but it does get washy when you pick up speed. Not super washy, but you can definitely feel what's under your feet. At least on groomers. It's like having sex without a condom, you can feel it, but sometimes, as a result of that, you can cum way too quickly.

Who knows how it handles on POW, POW is what I cream my panties over at night. God bless snow porn and the east coast.

Jibs: Fuck that shit. I want to keep my teeth.

Overall Impressions: Hypes there for a reason this time. I wouldn't say it's the best thing ever, but it's a good board. Solid USA made, and actually does what it's suppose to. It's good at everything, but not ZE BEST. It's definitely a trick stick, and if you want it to be used all over the mountain, size up. If you want it to be park oriented (including jibs, honestly I'm too pussy to jib little thin rails) size down.

But if you want to rail around, get an Evo. These boards are hard enough to find as is since there sold out almost everywhere (at least in 157). I mean I actually had to drive around to like 6 different shops to find this thing.

Leo

LoL. Glad you liked it. I called the Skate Banana out on the hype as well as Unions. Needless to say, I made some enemies haha.

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www.aGNARchy.com Reviews and David Z's rants

Beschatten

I bought them both in 09, apparently it was the "perfect set up", an all mtn destroying set up. Only thing I ended up destroying was my left ankle for 3 months.

Mervin can suck my nut. For 480 bucks you can get so much more.

East§ide

how does this compare to the evo? just out of curiosity? the evo is just a little softer?

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Never Summer Evo 153/Restricted ReFlex Cartel
Gnu Danny Kass 156 BTX

Beschatten

I haven't ridden the evo. But I thought the Proto was pretty flexy, it had great torsional flex and I feel like it's a great board for beginners all the way up to advanced riders. I'm guessing the evo is even softer. I thought the proto was noodley, so my guess is the evo is a total noodle.

rdot84

Where were you riding at Beschatten? I just took my 154 Proto to an ice skating rink. (i mean big boulder). I thought it handled well in the horrid conditions. Once i had confidence in the ride it actually held a very strong edge. (unlike my friend who washed out on his toe edge, smacked his face and slid halfway down the hill, err mountain.)

Only thing i had to get used to was the dampening. Im coming from riding a Rossi Retox where you feel everything. The proto felt a little numb to me.

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-Its not how fast you ride...Its how you ride fast

Beschatten

I went over to Snowshoe, WV. was yoru friend on a proto ct? that sucks to hear hope hes alright.

dampening isnt too bad for me, guess im just heavier tho.

rdot84

My friend is ok. Just a bruised ego. A lot of accidents up at boulder that night. Safety patrol was kept busy. He was riding a Rossi Premier 159.

Back to the board. Im 5'7 and i dont look like it but I actually weigh 190. The dampening is something i just need to get used to i guess. I also felt like it was a tad catchy. Not a very quick edge to edge. This could be because of the conditions tho. Im using 2010/11 Union Forces by the way.

__________________
-Its not how fast you ride...Its how you ride fast

Beschatten

Wow really? edge-to-edge was okay for me. that's strange tho, you're 190 on a 154, which has deep sidecuts. should've been more responsive. might be that you're too heavy for the board?

jdang307

I think it depends on which size and weight. I'm 145 on a 152 evo and it is soft but not a noodle for sure. I was expecting it to be a noodle but it wasn't. No rails for me either so I sized up just a bit. Maybe a box but mostly i want to butter and goof around