Hello and welcome to my Arbor Single snowboard review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Single as a mellow freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Single a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other mellow freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Arbor Single
Price: $575
Style: Mellow Freeride
Flex Rating: Medium (6/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5/10)
Rating Score: 86.5/100
Compared to other Men’s Mellow Freeride Boards.
Out of the 33 men’s mellow freeride snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Single’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Single's specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Mellow Freeride |
Price: | $575 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Traditional Camber But not quite - Arbor's System Camber |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Setback 1.2" (30mm) |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
152 | 268 | 118-198 | 54-90 |
156 | 270 | 128-208 | 58-94 |
Who is the Single Most Suited To?
The Single best suited to someone looking for a short wide board to add to their quiver mostly as a powder/tree board, but one that can still carve on groomers pretty well too.
Not what I would call a one-board quiver, but a great addition to the quiver.
It's not a super hard board to ride or anything. It's pretty easy going but still not for a beginner - someone solid intermediate and up.
The Single in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Single is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Arbor Single 2022, 152cm (268mm waist width)
Date: April 6, 2021 & April 8, 2021
April 6 Conditions:
Sunny again! Minimal clouds. 0°C (32°F) and -1°C (30°F) with wind chill factor. Hand out of glove a little cold to start but warm enough
24 snow: 0cm
7 day snow: 2cm
On groomer: Crunchy, with some icy chunder for the most part. Some softer patches. Hard but not bullet proof.
Off groomer: Crunchy/icy for the most part.
April 8 Conditions:
Sunny to start with and perfect vis, but then clouded over and starting snowing a bit. Visibility got really poor in patches.
Temperature was around -4°C (25°F) - and -7°C (19°F) with wind chill, so quite cold for April. When the sun was out, it felt much warmer than that though. Also wind was like 5kph (3mph), so don't think there was a lot of wind for that wind chill factor!
24 snow: 10cm
7 day snow: 12cm
On groomer: Really nice. Medium soft and nice and smooth. Very few bumps/crud. Almost felt like a mid winter day (apart from the heat that's in the sun - best of both worlds?)
Off groomer: Mr incredible, incredible. Catching the bad guys - pow! Pow! Pow! Some ice under the layer on particularly steep faces but the rest was great. And actually decent pow too. Feels like mid winter snow.
Bindings angles: +15/-15 & +18/-3
Stance width: 540mm (21.3″)
Stance Setback: Setback 30mm (1.2")
Width at Inserts: 287mm (11.3") at front insert and 283mm (11.1") at back insert
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 175lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Tactical ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Control Board for Control Laps: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker
Weight: 2900grams (6lbs 6oz)
Weight per cm: 19.08 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.43 grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 100 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021 *& 2022 models. The Single is a little heavier than normal. That said, if you take into account the overall surface area, it's probably closer to a regular width 158-159 in surface area, so it's pretty much normal. On snow it felt normal.
Damp or Chattery?
Right in the middle of the scale. That big ole nose shakes around a lot, but you don't feel it hugely underfoot.
Smooth or Snappy?
Again right in the middle. There's a bit of snap to the board, but it's also fairly smooth riding.
Powder
The first day I took the Single out I didn't have any fresh snow to test it in, but I could tell from riding it that it would be great in pow.
Then it snowed the next day it snowed overnight and I still had the board, so I took it out again at the same time as a similar style of board - the GNU Gremlin.
And I am glad I did. This board was so much fun in powder. It was effortless and surfed nicely.
Not too surprising given the taper, the surface area (particularly in the nose) and how directional this board is. Plus it has "pow fenders" which is an uprise around the contact points in the nose of the board, which also helps with float. It doesn't have any rocker as such in the profile, but you wouldn't know it with the way this thing floats.
Carving & Turning
Carving: Really fun for slower speed carves. Not quite as good when really opening it out, but still does OK. Too much taper and not stiff enough to be a carving machine, but can carve on groomers and better than you'd think for how powder focused this thing is.
Turning: Easy to turn and good spring.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Quite nimble but not super nimble. As with any super wide board, I find they're never ultra nimble, but for how wide it is, it's pretty agile (that shorter length of course helps). I didn't find it like physically hard to change edges (which I find with some other wide boards) - you could change edges with very little effort, which was nice - but just with those quick short turns it felt a little delayed.
Skidded Turns: Felt forgiving of skidded turns. Not catchy at all. I wonder if those uprise fenders help there. Arbor's System camber does tend to be less catchy than traditional camber anyway - so that plus the uprise fenders probably makes the difference there.
Speed
It can handle a bit of speed on groomers, but not a bomber. The nose flaps around quite a lot, and whilst you don't feel it that much underfoot, there's still not an ultra feeling of stability at speed. For how short it is, it's pretty good for speed though.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It doesn't smash through it as such, but it floats over nicely. And when it does get a little bucked around, it's easy to make corrections, but also you can just keep floating over it, as that nose just allows you to sail on top.
Bumps: It's not super quick edge-to-edge (but not slow either) but it's also not an effort. It takes time but not effort, if that makes sense. You can initiate that turn nice and easily, but it just takes a little time for the board to catch up to what you're doing.
But it's certainly not slow and with that little tail, you can just whip it around in tighter spots and makes it easier to avoid catching the tail on a tree trunk.
When going over bumps you can hug them nicely with this board.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
It's not really a jumping board, but it's actually decent for straight airs.
Pop: The pop is easy to extract. It's not super poppy overall, but what's there is really easy to access.
Approach: Nimble enough and stable enough, but not ultra at either.
Landing: Not a stomper, but solid enough. And forgiving enough at the same time for those bad landings.
Side-hits: Had fun hitting side hits with this board. It's not ideal of course and best if you're not looking to spin off anything.
Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for medium.
Switch
Nah! It's got a tiny tail and huge nose, a big setback, etc etc. This board is made to ride in one direction and it feels weird riding it the other way.
Spins
Nice and easy to get spin around (probably part due to it's shorter length) and pop isn't hard to access but landing and setting up switch isn't fun.
Butters
There's some flex in the there for pressing. More so in the nose. But the nose is a little awkward to press, probably because of how big it is - and the tail is a bit stiffer and also a little awkward but probably because of how small - and the feel off the tail and nose is completely different. So yeah, not really suited for butters - but definitely not designed for that type of riding either, so no surprise there.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
POWDER | 4.5 | 27/30 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 12/15 |
CARVING | 3.5 | 7/10 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.0 | 12/15 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SPEED | 3.0 | 6/10 |
JUMPS | 3.0 | 3/5 |
SWITCH | 2.0 | 2/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 86.5/100 |
Overall, the Single is a really fun ride, particularly in powder. It's not the kind of board you get if you never see powder - but it can hold it's own no groomers and in icy patches and other harder places you might need to go through to get to that powder stash.
Even in hard trees, when I rode it on the first day it was still fun, then when I got pow, the trees got even more fun (naturally!)
Certainly not a one board quiver, but a great option if you're looking for a short wide to bring out on powder days.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Single, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other mellow freeride snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Single compares to other mellow freeride snowboards, then check out the next link.
1.) Hi, why did you set it up with +15/-15 if you did not ride it switch?
2.) How would you set it up in real deep powder
A. +18/+3?
B. with standard (factory) position or 1 or 2 inches back?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Tony
Thanks for your message.
I did ride it switch – I ride every board switch to get a feel for it, even if it’s not a board that would typically be ridden switch. However, that’s not the reason I rode it +15/-15. I rode it that way to keep all variables even. I try to stick to +15/-15 when I’m testing as that’s the way I have my control board setup and that’s the way I test every board – just keeps that variable the same and makes for a more controlled test.
However, if I was to buy this board and ride it outside of testing, I would set it up in more of a forward stance. Maybe even something +21/+3. But which stance you go for will depend no what feels good for you. We’re all anatomically different in subtle ways, so what feels good for me might be different to what feels good for you. So, that’s why I say to always experiment. But if you don’t plan on riding this board switch at all, then a more forward (as opposed to duck) stance makes most sense – if it feels good for your body.
In powder, if it was really deep, I might set it back a bit further. But it is already setback 30mm on effective edge in its reference stance – and on the overall length of the board it’s setback even more, with it’s long nose – it’s more like 85mm setback on overall length of board, so I might make the effort to set it back a little further on really deep days. But for moderate powder days, I probably wouldn’t go to the effort, given how much it’s already setback.
Hope this helps
Hi Nate,
Love the idea of a surfy freeride board! Been looking at your mellow top10, and think the Single and the new Mind Expander fit the bill.
How would you choose one over another? (Haha sorry, It’s a tough question!)
Do you recall them riding a lot differently?
I’m 6’1, 205, 10.5 boots.
Mainly ride SoCal. Have a Yes PYL 162 for the bigger mountains, so looking for a mellower board to pair for the small/mid slushy mountains too.
Hey Kenny
Thanks for your message.
A tough call between them. Both definitely suitable for what you’re describing. Size is sometimes a good tie breaker.
I would put your “standard all-mountain length” at around 162/163 – but with wider boards like this you’ll want to size down a bit. Less so with the Mind Expander which isn’t actually that wide. But I’d say size down a bit anyway for this board, given it’s your more mellow, smaller mountain option and a smaller size will be a better compliment to your 162 PYL.
For the Mind Expander, the 158 would be a good bet, IMO. It’s small for your size, particularly given that the back insert is actual just right for 10.5s, IMO. The front insert, waist width and overall width is wider than typical though, so sizing down a little bit still makes sense – and given your quiver and everything else, I like the 158 for you.
For the Single, it would be the 156, I would say. This board is particularly wide, so you want to size down quite a bit. Going to 156 isn’t a huge size down, considering the width, but I think the 152 would be a bit too small for your specs.
Overall, I like the 158 in the ME as the best sizing option, so that’s what I’d be leaning towards. But the 156 Single certainly wouldn’t be wrong.
Hope this helps with your decision
I have a bunch of different bindings and am curious as to what you think matches up best with this board:
Arbor Hemlock & Cypress, Now Drive, Union Atlas, Union Falcor, NX2 GT and I might pick up this years Union Ultra.
I have a lot of bindings because I find they make a huge difference ion how a board feels and whether or not I’ll like riding it. I want the best feel and response out of any binding I put on a board and the match-ups are different across my quiver.
I kinda have a pow quiver – aimed at fun more than collecting different boards. Driving off the back foot I love because of other board-sports in my background. So I am looking for both response and surfy feel with the bindings for this board.
Hi Cyndy
Thanks for your message.
The only binding I haven’t ridden there is the NX2 GT, but from what I know of it, it’s likely the stiffest in your quiver there and probably too stiff for the Single and for what you’re looking for. The Drive, Atlas, Falcor and Cypress are all what I’d rate as around 7/10 flex. So they’re within range for the Single, IMO, but on the stiffer end of that range. The Hemlock is also in range, but on the softer end of that range (what I felt as a 4/10 flex). Your flex feel may differ for some of those bindings, but that’s what I felt them at. I would say there’s a range of 4/10 to 7/10 flex for the Single that can work with it.
The Ultra is what I felt as a 5/10 flex, so I think I’d be tempted to put that on the Single, if you ended up getting them. Thought they’re more of a freestyle binding, they are a good flex match for the single and still have decent response and would give you a surfier feel than any of the stiffer bindings in your quiver, IMO.
Otherwise, I’d probably experiment with what you have, but I’d start out trying the Hemlock, then the Falcor. And if those don’t quite give you what you’re looking for, I’d give the Cypress and then the Atlas and Drive a go.
Hope this helps