Arbor Swoon Rocker Review

Overview of the  Swoon Rocker’s Specs

Who is the Swoon Rocker Most Suited To?

The Swoon Rocker is best suited to someone looking for a one board quiver that can go anywhere and do anything and one that's pretty forgiving and easy going in terms of it's camber profile and un-catchy nature, but that is burly enough to still handle some speed and crush through crud. 

Not for a beginner, despite having a full rocker profile - it's too stiff for a beginner, but intermediate rider's should be fine with it. 

The Swoon Rocker in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-12

Stance width: 20.1″ (510mm)

Stance Setback: Centered

Width at Inserts: 251mm (9.9") 

Weight: 5lbs, 8oz (2500g) 

Weight per cm: 16.89g/cm

Average Weight per cm: 17.19 grams/cm*

*based on small sample size of women's boards that I've weighed. 

So, a little lighter than normal. On snow Jade found it to feel about normal weight on snow.

Tester: Jade

Rider Height: 5"7" (170cm)

Rider Weight: 130lbs (59kg)

Rider Boot Size: Women's US6.5 Thirty Two Exit

Bindings Used: Burton Lexa, Medium 

Powder

We had no powder to test in on the day, but based on specs and experience with other Arbor boards, the Swoon Rocker would be above average in powder. It's got plenty of rocker to help keep you afloat and a nose that's longer than it's tail. There's no taper and no setback (though you could set it back on powder days), so it's not going to be a powder queen, but it's going to be decent in pow. 

Carving & Turning

Turning: Turn initiation was easy and turned with with relatively little effort. 

Carving: For a rocker board, it actually carved quite well. Jade said she was able to dig in her edge and really commit to carves. 

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Not super agile at slower speeds. Not slow either, but not ultra good for short sharp turns.  

Skidded Turns: No catchiness and no surprise with all that rocker. There are of course easier boards to skid turns on, like softer beginner boards with a lot of rocker, but was still very much in the un-catchy category. 

Speed

Jade found the Swoon Rocker to be nice and stable at speed, she was able to open it out with confidence with minimal chatter or wobbles. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud: Jade found the Swoon Rocker smashed through and over crud really well - better than expected. 

Bumps: Required a bit of effort to get edge-to-edge quickly in tighter spots. Not like turning an ocean liner by any means, but not super agile in the tighter spots. Hugged the bumps well though, with the right technique. 

Jumps

Overall decent for jumps, but nothing overly exciting. 

Pop: Not a lot of pop. Compared to the Cadence Camber that Jade also rode that day, she found the Swoon Rocker a little lacking. It wasn't hard to extract but not super easy either, and when winding up didn't give a whole lot back. 

Approach: Nice and stable for a rocker board. 

Landing: Pretty solid on landings too without being a stomper - but had some forgiveness too for those less than perfect landings. 

Side-hits: More pop and easier maneuverability would make this board better for side hits, but it wasn't terrible either. 

Small jumps/Big jumps: Best suited to medium jumps.  

Switch

In it's centered reference stance, the Swoon Rocker is pretty similar riding in either direction. If your switch game isn't amazing and your riding pretty slow, Jade said the less than perfect maneuverability at slow speeds, can make riding switch a little more tricky. But if your switch game is solid, this is a good board for riding switch. 

Spins

Good for setting up and landing switch, but did lack some pop and liveliness that can make spins much more enjoyable. Still all round decent, but not amazing. 

Jibbing

Because of that lack of pop and generally not being super agile at slower speeds, it's not ideal for jibbing. But it's certainly doable, particularly for the more experienced jibber. 

Butters

Takes a bit of muscle to press the nose and tail. There was some pressability in there, but it wasn't super easy to butter with. The nose and tail are fairly similar, so there wasn't a noticeable difference between pressing the nose and tail, but did take some effort to lock into the press. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Overall, the Swoon Rocker is a very versatile board that can handle a variety of conditions. You can ride it anywhere and do anything on it. It's best characteristics were for speed, cruising groomers and in crud, but you can certainly take it in the park and it should be good in powder too.