Second Board Advice

Posted: 03 October 2011 11:08 AM

Hi All,

After some advice as now starting to see some of your reviews for 2012 boards going up.

I’m an all mountain rider, spend little time in the park and want to progress my freestyle, jibbing - mainly on natural lips, kicks and so on. Been riding a Custom 08 158 for years now and love the responsiveness, stability and carving I get from it.

But looking for a 2nd board and want something that’s a bit more playful and more in tune with jibbing. I can keep the Custom for icy days and powder although seems there may be boards that can do everything I want in one board (don’t get too many powder days when you ride only two weeks a year in Europe!).

I’m 5’ 9. Around 84kgs. Size 9 feet. These are the options I’m toying with from research so far. Be good to your take on this having tried to boards yourselves:

Amplid Dopamine - 153. Rich gave this a great review last year although not seen the vid yet.
Endeavour BOD - 152 or 155 (not sure which. Have a 158 now so looking for something shorter. tested an APO Selekta 153 last year which was flat liner and really liked it.)
Never Summer Evo - 152 or 154.
Never Summer Proto CT - 152 or 154. Might be perfect for me or too much like the Custom.

Be great to get some input. I’m advanced freerider and now looking to have a bit more fun on the new ride.

Cheers,

Posted: 08 October 2011 01:57 PM

Hey GM,

there isn’t too much to add to this: With the Dopamine you put your finger on (probably) one of the best jib boards on the market right now.
The NS Evo won our King-of-Jib competition last season so you know what it is capable of!

The Proto is probably similar to your Custom, I wouldn’t take that for mainly park.
If your looking for a flat liner, check out this year’s Amplid Paradigma, it features a zero camber profile for the first time this season and Rich absolutely loved it! (I’m riding the ‘10 version with camber myself).
It’s not so much park focused compared to the Dopamine but it won’t let you down on a few smaller jumps and jibs.
Still, I think the Dopamine would be a perfect one for improving your park skills!
You might also want to have a look at the Forum Scallymag, really good park board with sick pirate graphics on it (hate it or love it!).

Hope this helped a little.
Cheers Tobi

Posted: 08 October 2011 08:31 PM

Cheers Tobi. Helps a lot. Which would you take over the Dopamine and the this years Parkstar? How do they compare? I tried the Parkstar today and really liked it. Although picked up some negative reviews on the Parkstar’s durability. Is 2012 better than 2011 do you know?

Cheers,

GM

Posted: 09 October 2011 12:51 AM

morning GM,

that’s a hard one! Both of the boards are serious park slayers. K2 is making really great boards these days, just look at the Turbodream or the Zero.. this list goes on and on. And I think if there is a problem with the durability within the guarantee period you won’t have a problem with getting your stuff repaired or exchanged. If there really was something wrong with the durability of the Parkstar, I’m pretty sure K2 tried to fix that on this year’s model; though of course I can’t tell for sure.

The Dopamine is one of Amplid’s most successfull products. I personally love Amplid for the Company they are, really focused on their products and their riders, not advertising everywhere and not just signing as many riders as possible just for the look of the ‘army’. As I already said, Rich loved the Dopamine and I read almost only good things about it. Again, if anything is wrong with your board, you couldn’t worry less with a board from Amplid. I’m sure they will help you whereever they can!

In the end it’s up to you. See where you can get the best deal on any of the boards, check which design you like best and then just go for it. Both will make you rock the park for sure!

Cheers Tobi

Posted: 09 October 2011 10:34 AM

Thanks again Tobi. Will try and demo a Dopamine when they get into UK for comparison and then pick one of Dopamine, Parkstar or Fastplant. Choosing boards makes my head hurt….be glad when I’m on the snow on the new ride! Cheers again.

GM