Hello and welcome to my Endeavor Ranger review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Ranger as a freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Ranger a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Endeavor Ranger
Price: $449
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium-Soft
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium-Soft (4/10)
Rating Score: 83.0/100
Compared to other Men’s Freestyle Boards
Out of the 37 men’s freestyle snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Ranger’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Ranger’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $449 |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Camber Endeavor's Multi-Camber |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered |
Weight: | Heavier than Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
141 | 242 | 70-100 | 32-45 |
144 | 246 | 80-110 | 36-50 |
147 | 249 | 100-155 | 45-68 |
150 | 252 | 110-160 | 50-72 |
152 | 254 | 120-170 | 54-77 |
154 | 255 | 140-190 | 65-85 |
155W | 261 | 170-220 | 77-100 |
156 | 256 | 150-200 | 68-90 |
157W | 262 | 180-230 | 81-104 |
158 | 257 | 160-210 | 72-95 |
Endeavor doesn't do women's specific models but do unisex models, with a large range in sizes.
Who is the Ranger Most Suited To?
The Ranger is best suited to those looking for a ride just on the softer side of medium in terms of flex, predominantly to ride freestyle with - but want something that will still be able to handle the rest of the mountain OK (without being a super carver/bomber).
Great for spins, small to medium jumps & sidehits. And can jib pretty well too.
Beginner friendly enough too. I'm not sure I'd say beginner ideal, but easy to skid turns on and easy to initiate turns on.
The Ranger in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Ranger is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Endeavor Ranger 2020, 156cm (256mm waist width)
Date: March 6, 2019
Conditions: Fairly cold wind, and quite cold all round. Cloudy with sunny patches. Visibility not perfect but decent.
Snow quite firm mostly, without being too hard, though some hard and even icy patches in places.
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 560mm (22″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 265mm (10.43")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 185lbs
Rider Boot Size: US10 Vans Aura
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 3160grams (6lb 15oz)
Weight per cm: 20.26 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.45 grams/cm*
*based on a small sample size of 51 boards that I've weighed in 2019 and 2020 models. This was one of the heavier boards that I weighed - but didn't feel heavy on snow at all. The actual weigh of a board and feel on snow is often different.
Powder
No powder to test in on the day, but given that it's a true twin with a centered stance, it's never going to be great in powder. It does have a little rocker tip and tail, which does help, but overall average for powder.
Carving & Turning
Not a hard carver as such, but turns quite nicely. Easy/forgving for skidded turns and S turns are fine. Did wash out on the heel edge getting into a more aggressive carve - and in general didn't feel like an elbows deep carving board - which didn't surprise me, given the specs.
Speed
Surprised me a little speed-wise. Better than I though it would be but still average at speed and did get a little squirelly at higher speeds.
Uneven Terrain
Absorbed/hugged bumps nicely and was nimble enough to navigate between bumpy spots too. Was OK in crud too - didn't crush it as such, but was good for navigating it.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
Overall a really fun board for smaller jumps and side hits.
Pop: Good pop and really easily accessible too.
Approach: Nice and nimble for those trickier side hit approaches, and stable feeling for approaches to medium and small jumps.
Landing: Pretty solid landing platform. Could be a little better for larger jumps, but awesome for smaller jumps.
Side-hits: With easily accessible pop, being nice and nimble and great for spins and for landing and taking off switch, this was a really fun board on sidehits.
Small jumps: Awesome and fun on small to medium jumps.
Big jumps: Could be more solid for larger jumps - prefers small to medium.
Switch
Almost perfect.
Spins
Even though this board is on the heavier side on the scales, it's not on snow. It feels light and easy to spin around - and that easily accessible pop really helps for those spins where you're having to get around without much air time or on a tricky approach. And landing and taking off switch is great.
For really big tricks it maybe doesn't have the solidness required to be great, but that's the only thing I'd take off in terms of spins.
Jibbing
Nice to jib on too. So definitely a good one if you like to ride the jump line and the jib line.
Butters
Easy to butter, but not super-easy.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | SCORE WEIGHTING | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.0 | 16/20 |
JIBBING | 3.5 | 14/20 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
BUTTERING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SPINS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
UNEVEN TERRAIN | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
CARVING/TURNS | 3.0 | 3/5 |
SPEED | 3.0 | 3/5 |
PIPE | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 83.0/100 |
Overall the Ranger is a great board for the park, for both hitting the jump line and jib line. It's best for small to medium jumps and is a great little spinner too.
It can handle riding the mountain too - it's certainly not a bomber but for casual groomer runs it's all good - and it's great for finding side-hits too.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Ranger, 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 freestyle snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Ranger compares to other freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi Nate, I’ve convinced myself to buy one of these Rangers but have a sizing question before I buy. I have got 10.5 K2 ender boots which have a cm rating of 28.5. As I’m often size 11 but those were good for me in the K2 brand. I’m tossing up whether I need the wide board or not. They do a 155w or 157w or a normal 156. I like a board that maneuvers well and am worried I won’t be able so much if I get the wide. It’s my first purchased snowboard so this is all new to me.
I’m 6 feet tall and weigh around 76kg.
Thanks for your time.
Hi Simon
Thanks for your message.
With 10.5s it does put you in that grey zone between regular and wide, but in this particular case I think you can ride the regular width. The Ranger 156 is 265mm at the inserts, which is a wide enough for 10.5s in my opinion, and since you like that maneuverability, I think that’s your best bet in this case (the 156 is the right length for you too, IMO).
The Ender aren’t the lowest profile boots, so just to mention a couple of things just in case.
1. If you ride with a really straight back foot (i.e. if you’re binding angles were something like +15/0 or something like that) – then that might be pushing it in terms of being too narrow, depending on 2. below
2. If you ride quite aggressively – as in you get really deep on your carves (think euro carving) then you might want to go wide
But my instinct, based on what you’re describing and your specs, is that the 156 is your best bet.
Hope this helps
Hey Nate, thanks very much for your reply. I probably should have looked at getting boots with a lower profile seeing i’m right in that grey area. I’ve learnt for next time. I just bought the 156, I’m not a big carver yet though so don’t think this should be a problem. I’m not 100% sure of my binding style but i think i usually have a pretty straight back foot. Anyway i’m happy i was able to pick up some pretty good discounts on the gear.
Thanks again
You’re very welcome Simon. I hope the board goes well for you. And yeah, I think you should be fine on the 156. If you think of it at the time, let me know how you get on, once you’ve had a chance to ride it.
Just another quick question mate. My ranger arrived 👍. My boots hang off the edge around an inch and a bit on the front and the back. They give me a couple of weeks to return it for a different size if I want to. You think that’ll still be ok?
Hi Simon
I try to stay an inch or under in terms of overhang. But in saying that I’ve ridden with more overhang than that and not had issues, so it’s hard to say for sure. One question: is that overhang measured against the base or the top sheet? I always measure compared to the base. So if you’re measuring to the top sheet, then you’ve got a bit more leeway.
The other thing to consider is if, for example, you have 2 1/4″ of total overhang let’s say, but you can setup your bindings to give you a little more heel overhang – like say 1 1/4″ on the heel and 1″ at the toe, then that would help too. Much harder to get boot drag on the heel. You want to get relatively close to centering your boots, but a little bit of extra overhang on the heel vs the toe is all good, IMO.
Hey again Nate, i did flip the board over and measured my foot up again. On the angle it would have been around 2.75cm on toe and heel but straight on its around 3 – 3.5cm on toe and heel. Without the shoe on it overhangs 2cm.
The waist width of the 156 board is 256mm and the waist width of the 155W board is 261mm. According to that the extra 5cm would eliminate most of the overhang, wouldn’t this be better? Would the board still the nice and manoeuvrable? I want the board to last me quite a while so that i can keep improving on it.
Thanks again for your help mate, if i do want to return it i’ll need to soon.
Hi Simon
Thanks for the extra details.
With those measurements, I think ideally you’d want to go a little wider. You might be fine for now, but if you start railing your turns more as you progress, there is the possibility of drag issues. I definitely think you’d be fine right now, but if it’s something you want to keep for a good while, then it could end up limiting your carving in the future. That said, it could still be fine, it’s really in a grey area, it’s a fine line. But if you wanted to be on the safe side, in terms of it being a longer term option, particularly if you see yourself carving quite hard in the future, then going to the 155W might be prudent.
In terms of keeping that maneuverability, I have found that wider boards tend to be less maneuverable. However, for the most part that’s down to the fact that the board is too wide for your feet. With the 155W not being that much wider, and based on those measurements the 155W sounds like it would be just right for your feet. I have found that it’s width at inserts for the most part that contributes to that maneuverability, that ease of turn. There is some element of waist width too – i.e. a narrower waist, with equal width at inserts, e.g. comparing a 255mm waist with 270mm insert width vs a 260mm waist with 270mm, the 255mm waist width would be subtly more maneuverable. But the biggest thing, IMO, is if the width at inserts is too wide for your feet (i.e. your toes and heels end up being too far away from the edges), is what contributes mostly to a board being slower/more work to turn.
Long story short, I think the 155W would be the more prudent option long term and any maneuverability you sacrifice should be fairly subtle, given that it sounds like your feet will be right to the edges of the board.
Hope that all makes sense/helps
Hi Nate,
Thanks for the review, some good info.
I have been looking at the ranger for my wife as I think it’s a great board (I owned one myself at one stage) and I’ve found it at a great price.
However I wanted a size recommendation, I’ve found a 144 but can’t find a 147.
Would 144 be ok for her considering that she is size 8 boot, 116lbs and 5’5”
She’s beginner-intermediate. But I think it would be a good board for her to progress on.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi Nelson
Thanks for your message.
I think the 144 would be the better size for your wife. For her specs, I would actually be debating between the 141 and 144, rather than between the 144 and 147. I know the weight recommendations are up to 110lbs on the 144, but that is really quite a low maximum for that size, IMO, so I wouldn’t pay too much heed on those weight recommendations. Funny too, having a closer look at the weight recs that the up to 200lbs on the 156 is quite a high max for a 156. So it goes quite low in the smaller sizes, but not the larger sizes.
But yeah, in any case, I wouldn’t go as long as 147 for her personally. I would almost be leaning towards 141, given she is a beginner-intermediate. But 144 would certainly work. I agree that it’s a good board for ability level to progress on.
Hope this helps
Great!
Thanks so much for your help!
You’re very welcome Nelson. Thanks for visiting the site and hope you have an awesome one next season!
Hello Nat
I read your review every year, they are great. Please, could you compare Ranger to Capita Mercury. I go to Mercury but I think it is too strong for me, I have to be careful all the time .At Mercury, I like that it’s fast, stable and holds the edges securely. I don’t like that it requires a lot of strength, you have to be very careful when driving slowly. Does it make sense to buy a Ranger. Thank you and best regards
Hi Paul
Thanks for your message.
The Mercury and Range are quite different boards in a number of ways.
Firstly the ranger is more freestyle oriented and noticeably softer flexing.
It does have edge hold pretty much as good as the Mercury, I would say, but it’s not as stable at high speeds. It’s certainly easier to ride at slower speed though. It’s easy to initiate turns on and doesn’t require the same amount of effort as something like the Mercury. But not going to carve as hard either.
So yeah, certainly a more easy going kind of ride, that’s decent at speed and carving, but not as good as the Mercury, but it’s easier to ride and more freestyle focused, IMO.
Hope this gives you more to go off for your decision
Hi Nat
Thank you for the comparison. Could you recommend a board close to Mercury but not so demanding and easier to ride and equally fast.
Thank you and best regards. You are doing a great job with your tests.
Hi Paul
Typically, when it comes to getting that stability at speed, you generally have a board that isn’t necessarily that “easy to ride”. Stiffer boards are typically harder to ride and offer more stability at speed and also camber is typically easier to ride but helps with stability at speed. That said, I would say the following would be easier to ride, with similar or same speed qualities, and are otherwise quite similar boards:
– Jones Mountain Twin
– YES Standard
– Rossignol One LF