2011 NS SL or 2011 Rome Agent Rocker

Posted: 01 September 2010 04:48 PM

Hey guys,

I’m looking to buy either of those boards, or if people have other suggestions I’ll look into those as well.  I’m an intermediate rider looking to get a little more into park this year.  I’m 5’10, 165 pounds.  I know the SL is a great board, but I’m afraid that it’ll be too stiff as compared to the agent rocker.  I’ve pretty much read that the SL is more all-mountain based whereas the agent rocker is still all-mountain, but with more of a park oriented background.  Also, I live on the ice coast so it’s important that each would be able to handle it fine.  I’m pretty sure the SL will with its vario sidecut, but I haven’t been able to read up as much on the agent rocker.  I appreciate all the help.

Thanks
Scott

Posted: 01 September 2010 09:17 PM

Your doubts are right the SL is an all mountain beast… definitely more at home in a powder stash than on a rail… infact I wouldn’t really want to ride rails on the SL.

I’ve ridden the Rome Agent, but not the rockered version. The cambered version is one of those boards that seems to give you tons of confidence without you even noticing it. It’s definitely a freestyle board, but it can deal with piste riding too. The rockered version is going to be less aggressive, a bit more floaty in pow and more forgiving, perfect for riding park and rails, but perhaps not ideal for the ice coast.

I’d look at a board with Magnetraction. You could look at the Lib Tech Sk8 Banana or if you want something a little bit more punch, the Danny Kass. Another alternative is the Never Summer Evo, softer than the SL and 100% more park orientated. It recently won our King of Jib competition. Check out the video here - King of Jib Video

Posted: 01 September 2010 09:48 PM

Thanks Rich.  I saw that video earlier, the evo is definitely impressive.  However, I don’t think I’ll be in the park that often.  If I could break up my time spent on the mountain, probably 1/3 of my time will be in the park hitting a few rails but mostly jumps.  I looked into some of Lib Tech’s boards, mainly the T. Rice and TRS, and the magnetraction does get a lot of good reviews, but I’ve also heard that it’ll lock in too much where you can’t do long s turns, or it locks in when you don’t really want it to.  I guess what I want is a board that is stiff enough to handle groomers and speed, but also soft enough to butter around some and hit a few rails and jumps.  Maybe I’m hoping for a board that doesn’t exist yet haha.

Posted: 01 September 2010 09:58 PM

Well in this case, what about the K2 Believer or Fastplant? For 1/3 park, they seem to be a good choice, don’t they?
I wonder what Rich thinks about these suggestions..

Posted: 01 September 2010 10:14 PM

Yeah two great shouts Tobi, especially the Believer, Tom’s ridden everything from Argentinian knee deep to 60ft gap jumps on his.

I guess Magnetraction is a matter of taste, Personally I’m a fan, but there are instances when it can feel two locked in, it can be difficult sometimes to shift out of carves into slashes when it’s paired with straight reverse camber. Strangely it’s doesn’t seem to be such a problem with C2 banana or straigh camber.

I guess two boards I’d look at as well as the believer would be the Rossignol Angus, Jones Mountain Twin and Signal Omni. These boards camber between the feet for grip in turns and rocker at the nose and tail for forgiving landings and easier turn intiation.

Posted: 02 September 2010 05:11 AM

Yeah in my experience magnetraction works best with a rocker/camber hybrid like C2 Banana of Amptek…....but then again on jibbier boards with a normal rocker profile, like the Skate Banana, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Posted: 02 September 2010 02:38 PM

Would those k2 boards be able to carve through ice?  The T. rice has c2, but do you think it would be too stiff?

Posted: 02 September 2010 03:23 PM

Hey ses,
let me quote our Head of testing Tom (aka. The Real Tom Ewbank) from his review of the K2 Believer:

It floats surprisingly well in powder and carves nicely even on icy piste

As he has ridden the board on almost any terrain for quite some time, you can be sure he means what he says!

The T.Rice is an allmountain freestyle slayer! I would say you can expect it to be softer than the SL but not as flexible as the Believer..

Posted: 02 September 2010 07:55 PM

Awesome, thanks.  Yah, I didn’t know which would be more stiff because the T. Rice on Lib’s site is a 7, and the SL is a 5 on NS’s site…but I know that their scales are completely different.  I also heard that the T. Rice will soften up some as you put more days on it.  Do you know if this is true?

Posted: 02 September 2010 09:45 PM

All boards soften up with time. In my opinion the SL is stiffer than the TRice and is also quite a bit damper. For freestyle I’d opt for the Trice, I think it rides a touch better switch too.

Posted: 02 September 2010 10:14 PM

Thanks a ton guys.  As I said before I’m 5’10, 165 pounds, size 11 boot…I think the 157 blunt would statistically be the best fit, but I prefer to ride shorter boards.  Do you think the 153 would be too short? Or would the 157 really be the best fit?

Posted: 02 September 2010 10:18 PM

You’re welcome!
Regularly you can say that longer boards give you a better edgehold and provide way less chatter when going really fast.
Shorter boards are more playful but for allmountain riding I’d say you better not go with a board too short as the disadvantages outweigh the advantages in my eyes.

Posted: 02 September 2010 10:20 PM

I think you’ll find the 157 is better for everyday riding. If you want to ride shorter then I think you ought to be looking at a park specific snowboard with a wide waist like the Never Summer Revolver, you could ride this as a 155 and it would work great on the piste and in the park… yep I know another option sorry.

Posted: 03 September 2010 01:16 AM

Rich, will the revolver be able to handle all-mountain pretty well? If so, the 155 evo’s width is 25.1cm where as the 156 revolver’s width is 26.1cm…do you think the 1 cm difference is a big deal either way?

Posted: 03 September 2010 07:59 AM

Forgive me for trying to reply to your question, as well:
Given the fact that you do have size 11 boots, 25,1cm probably is too narrow and you won’t lose too much edge-to-edge quickness or anything by going with the Revolver. So it’s not really a big deal riding-wise but it will be quite a big deal concerning boot-overhang.

I’d say the Revolver is suited for the ones who love to visit the park from time to time. It can handle piste and allmountain but it’s probably not carving as well as cambered decks or other hybrid rocker boards with a stiffer flex pattern.

Posted: 03 September 2010 02:09 PM

Yeah 1cm will make a big difference… the difference between too much overhang and a good fit.

Like Tobi says, too much overhang is a sure-fire way of turning a perfectly good board into a dud. If you want to carve hard on your board then you nee the right width.

The Evo / Revolver actually makes a good all-mountain board for a park twin. Of course the TRice is a little bit more tuned for hard out-of -park shredding but the Evo/Revolver is no push over. Versatile board!