Freeride/Powder Slasher for experienced rider… Flagship? Legend? Pick Your Line? Too many choices!

Posted: 05 October 2011 09:04 PM

Hey everyone.

I am a fairly experienced rider… I’ve been riding for about 8 years. Have been riding cambered boards only, but in the last 2 years have transitioned from mostly park riding to mostly bombing groomers and shredding powder and tree lines. I’m looking into some new tech for this season… something that’s stable at high speeds and floats over the powder. I’m a very aggressive rider, I like hitting really quick turns just for the hell of it, but love high speed slow turns (would require lots of traction?). Anyways, I’m a ~160-180 pound male, 6’2, with size 12us feet. Some of the options I’ve looked at:

Jones flagship: Looks like a very strong contender for what I’m looking for. Not sure about problems with water absorbing into top sheet? Also weight?

Nidecker Legend: Weight is better… haven’t seen a lot of reviews from this one.

YES Pick Your Line: Looks like another very strong contender. A little bit lighter than the Flagship.

Rossignal Experience: Pretty much the same as the Pick Your Line?

Just looking for some help. There’s no way I’m aware of that I can test any of the boards, so I’ve been trying to do some research. Any ideas?

Posted: 07 October 2011 09:50 AM

Hey Kieth,

Lots of love going towards Nidecker in your post, but to be fair they’re putting a lot of good freeride decks out onto the market. Here are my thoughts:

The YES Pick Your Own Line is essentially the same as the Nidecker Legacy… not let me refrase that, apart from the odd material selection it is the same board, it has the same geometry, profile etc etc. This is an all-mountain / freeride board. It’s not too directional and stiff that you can’t hit jumps but at the same time it’s not a pedigree freeride board. On top of this, the PYL is more expensive than the Legacy… so perhaps check out the Legacy.

Rossi Experience & Jones Flagship: It’s these two boards that are extremely similar. Jeremy Jones and Xavier De Le Rue developed the Experience shape when Jeremy was on Rossignol. Wehn he left Rossignol to start Jones he took his learnings from the Experience and designed the Flagship… they’re near identical. However, the Experience is stiffer for sure. It uses Torsion Box construction which makes for very torsionally and longitudinally stiff boards, add carbon stringers and you have a beast. The only reason it isn’t an ironing board is because of the rocker in the tips. The Flagship is a little toned down, it’s a bit softer in teh tail and a little big more easy going. The mag on the edges is also less aggressive. Both boards rip, both boards are very high spec. Personally I’m more of a fan of the Experience because of the more durable finish (no wood topsheet) but both are great boards. You’ve probably seen my review of the Flagship… there is a review of the Experience here

The Legend I’m afraid I know very little about other than it was the board that Jeremy Jones was riding whilst he was in limbo between launching Jones and leaving Rossi. I gather it’s the stiffest board in the line and the out-and-out gun in the line. It’s definitely a board I would love to try… but I think I’d try and buy an older one with traditional camber instead of Camrock… the shape is quite directional and looks like it’s designed for camber.

I hope that helps.

Rich

Posted: 07 October 2011 07:40 PM

Thanks for the detailed help. I’m really looking a bit closer at the Rossignol Experience. I haven’t found a negative review for the Experience, and it looks like a really aggressive board. Is there a big difference between the 2011 and 2012 model? To be honest, I prefer the graphics on the 2011, and I found it on Evo for $324.90 which is a pretty awesome price.