K2 Manifest Review

Overview of the Manifest’s Specs

* the 144, 147 and 150 are all new sizes for the 2024 model

Who is the Manifest Most Suited To?

The Manifest is best suited to anyone looking for a board to do a bit of everything, but wants it to be on the aggressive side. 

I felt it was quite a technical ride, so I would say advanced and up, but a solid intermediate rider who is quite strong/athletic would probably be fine too. 

Definitely not for beginners though. 

The Manifest in More Detail

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: 19mm (0.75")

Width at Front Insert: 262mm (10.31")

Width at Back Insert: 264mm (10.39")

Rider Height: 6'0"

Rider Weight: 185lbs

Rider Boot Size: US10 Vans Aura

Bindings Used: K2 Formula L*

* for all other brands I use my test bindings to test boards. Unfortunately with K2 and Ride they don't allow other bindings to test with. This makes it difficult to really tell what is giving the feel. Whilst the snowboard is typically the bigger difference maker, bindings can certainly alter the feel of board. Please take this into consideration for this review, as some of the feel may have come from or at least been influenced from the bindings. I try each year to see if they can let me test on my own bindings, but haven't worn them down yet! I am exploring other avenues for testing K2/Ride in the future, so that I can test them more accurately.

Powder

Overall it's OK for powder. I found it to be a little grabby in powder at times though. 

Carving & Turning

Carving: Good on a carve but you have to really lay into it. Once you're really committed it's good, but I found that if you went too mellow it wanted to roll back off the edge and go flat. Got bucked a couple of times getting too casual on it.

Maneuverability at slow speeds: Didn't find it very maneuverable at slower speeds and didn't enjoy it in the trees. Definitely a board that I preferred to have speed on. 

Skidded Turns:  Not easy to skid turns on. Quite catchy feeling. When I got off my game a little I found it punished me.  

Speed

Felt good at speed. Felt stable. I felt the best on this board when riding it at speed. 

Uneven Terrain

It was pretty good in crud, but I didn't like it for bumps. Not maneuverable enough to really weave through. Not a board I had much fun on in the trees. 

Jumps

The overall feel of the ride made this board less enjoyable for jumps than what it could've been, I think. 

Pop: There's some pop there but it doesn't come easy. You've got to really work to extract it.

Approach: Stable but not overly nimble

Landing: solid landings but landing off spins felt a little sketchy, just with that catchiness. 

Side-hits: Not my favorite board for side-hits - particularly those with tricky approaches. 

Small jumps/Big Jumps: Best for medium but OK for small and large too.   

Switch

OK riding switch. 

Spins

Didn't feel like the spin was too difficult to get around, but not super easy either. But the overall feeling of the board I didn't hugely like the feel for landings or setup for spins. 

Jibbing

Not really a great jib board, IMO. 

Butters

Felt quite dead tip and tail to me. Not a lot of flex or spring. 

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Overall, I wasn't a big fan of the Manifest. I got a bit of catchy/grabby feel from it. 

That said, when getting speed on it, it felt stable and it felt nice on a carve, when you really commit to it. But I didn't feel like I could really relax and ride the board - felt like I was fighting it a lot of the time - like when your wheel alignment is off and you're constantly having to work the steering wheel to stay on the road, if that makes sense!