Hello and welcome to my Never Summer Easy Rider review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Easy Rider as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Easy Rider a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Never Summer Easy Rider
Price: $669
Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium (5/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (6/10)
Rating Score: 88.2/100
Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards
Of the 33 current model all-mountain freestyle snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Easy Rider ranked 5th out of 33
Overview of the Easy Rider's Specs
Check out the tables for the Easy Rider's specs and available sizes.
Specs
STYLE:
ALL-MOUNTAIN-FREESTYLE
PRICE:
$669 - BUYING OPTIONS
$669 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
HYBRID ROCKER
HybrId rocker - But with an extra camber section in the middle (so not quite like the image above). Never Summer's "Triple Camber"
SHAPE:
setback stance:
Centered
BASE:
Sintered | Never Summer's "Durasurf XT Sintered 5501"
weight:
Felt normal
Camber Height:
5mm - but harder to measure on a hybrid rocker board
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
148 | 244 | not available | n/a |
154 | 251 | not available | n/a |
157 | 253 | n/a | n/a |
158X | 264 | n/a | n/a |
160X | 266 | n/a | n/a |
Who is the Easy Rider Best Suited To?
The Easy Rider is most suited to anyone who wants a versatile mid-flexing board that can do a bit of everything well. Particularly well suited to those who incorporate freestyle into their riding, but can work for a predominantly groomer rider too.
Not great for powder, but doable, and for everything else, it doesn't show any real weaknesses, IMO.
Not for a beginner, but suitable for anyone from intermediate to expert levels, if it's the type of board that suits their riding style or fits in their quiver.
The Easy Rider in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Easy Rider is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Never Summer Easy Rider 2024, 157cm (253mm waist width)
Date: April 20, 2023
Conditions
Overcast to start with, but not snowing. Slight flurries later in the day.
Temperature was around -3°C (27°F) - and -7°C (19°F) with wind chill, according to forecast but didn't feel that cold (but still quite cold for mid-April) - except up the top which felt even colder because of super strong winds. Winds further down the mountain weren't high though - just 10kph ( mph) both morning and afternoon.
24 hour snow: 0" (0cm)
48 hour snow: 3.5" (9cm)
7 day snow: 21" (54cm)
On groomer: Hard in places but not icy (except one patch). Some soft on top. Not heaps though. Pretty well groomed in a lot of areas but some rougher areas too.
Off groomer: Some good freshies. Mostly tracker but still some really decent untouched spots. Even the tracked areas were decent.
Set up
Bindings angles: +15/-15
Stance width: 21.5" (545mm)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 264mm (10.4")
Rider Height: 6'0"
Rider Weight: 180lbs
Rider Boot Size: US9.5 Adidas Response ADV
Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M
Weight: 6lbs 8oz (2960 grams)
Weight per cm: 18.85 grams/cm
Average Weight per cm: 18.71 grams/cm*
*based on a sample size of around 250 models that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 models. So the Never Summer was very close to average - and felt that way when testing.
Powder
Was a little better than I though it'd be in powder. I had some good areas, especially higher on the mountain to hit some powder, and I was a little surprised. Still not epic in powder or anything - and never going to be as a twin, centered board, but doable with some back leg burn.
Carving & Turning
Carving: Found that it held carves nicely at moderately fast speeds, without washing out. Was better on a carve than I expected.
Ease of Turning/Slashing: To start with I felt it wasn't as easy as I was expecting to initiate turns and slash, but as I got used to it, it got easier. Was certainly easier in softer snow. Not quite as easy as my control board still though (Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker)
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Again, to begin with found it not amazing in terms of quick turns at slower speeds, but as I got used to it and got a feel for how it liked to turn it ended up being really decent.
Catchiness: Apart from one area where the tail felt catchy when I was trying to do quick, short, sharp turns at slow speeds, it wasn't too catchy. Very very subtly had that feeling of wanting to pull you to flat when on edge, if you weren't putting enough weight/pressure over the edges, but it was very subtle.
Speed
More stable at speed than my control board, and generally stable at speed. Not an out and out bomber, but decent enough.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: Handled it well. It's not a crusher or anything, but has a reasonable amount of dampness and doesn't get bucked around too easily.
Bumps: Felt good to maneuver in trees. Not lightning quick edge-to-edge but decent enough. Felt at it's best in trees when the snow was softer.
Jumps
Pop: Was relatively easy to access the Easy Rider's pop - it was a little harder than on my control board but not by match. It wasn't effortless to extract, but not super hard or anything either. In terms of total pop, it was decent, a touch more total pop than my control board, when winding it up.
Approach: A good mix of stable enough for faster approaches and maneuverable enough for when you have to make adjustments.
Landing: Could stomp landings on this thing. But if you didn't stomp it, it wasn't going to destroy you either - good amount of forgiveness when you don't get it quite right.
Side-hits: I enjoyed it for side-hits. Not like top tier of boards I've tried, I'd prefer a little more easy maneuverability and easy access pop but good nonetheless.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Medium jumps are its sweet spot, but can handle bigger jumps and small jumps fine too.
Switch
Really good for riding switch, which was no surprise given it's a centered twin. Had to concentrate a little when transitioning, but all round really good for riding switch.
Spins
Naturally good for spins given it's shape and how it sets up and lands switch.
Jibbing
Not perfect but I felt pretty confident on it and I'm not a strong jibber.
Butters
You've got to put a little weight/force to get the tail/nose to press, but not that much - and then it locks in nicely, once you've put in that little bit of effort to get it pressing.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.5 | 18/20 |
CARVING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 9/10 |
SPEED | 3.5 | 7/10 |
SPINS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
BUTTERS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
JIBBING | 3.0 | 3/5 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
TREES/BUMPS | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
POWDER | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 88.2/100 |
The Easy Rider is a super versatile and fun board that can take you anywhere on the mountain and ride any style when you get there. Powder is it's weakest point, IMO, but still doable with some effort.
It feels at it's best when you ride it a little more aggressively, but it responds to more casual input too - as in, you don't have to ride it aggressively all the time, you can get casual and playful on it too. Holds up well in icy conditions too.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Easy Rider, 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 all-mountain-freestyle snowboard options, or if you want to compare how the Easy Rider compares to other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi Nate! Great review. I’m “cursed” with a 10.5 size boot – right smack dab in between M and L bindings and regular and wide boards. Unfortunately, Never Summer Easy Rider either has a 157 in 25.3 width or 158X in 26.4 or 160X in 26.6. So either below the threshold for 10.5 boots and a short board, or above the width threshold and simply too much board to handle.
Any recommendations on which size I should go with? I’m 6′ 0″ 185LBs and ride a 160 Proto Type 2 as my daily driver.
Thanks so much!
Hi Brock
Thanks for your message. Yeah, can definitely borderline between wide and regular width with 10.5s. But in a lot of cases you should be able to get on regular width boards, depending on a few things. Not all boards are equal at the inserts vs the waist of the board, so looking purely at the waist is not always accurate.
The 157 Easy Rider is around 26.4cm at the inserts (assuming a 21.5″ (545mm) stance width), which is often OK for 10.5s, but will depend on a few things. But looking at example, let’s assume your boots have an outer sole that’s 3cm longer than the mondopoint of that boot. In this case you’d be looking at around a total overhang of 5.1cm (or 2.55cm per edge). If you carve decently deep, then this is probably too much overhang. However, if you were riding at binding angles of +15/-15, then you’d shave off around 1cm of total overhang. Now with around 4.1cm of total overhang (2.05cm per edge) I would be perfectly comfortable personally with that level of overhang. You might have lower profile boots or bulkier boots, different bindings angles, etc. So, if you could let me know the following, I can give a more accurate prediction of what the likely overhang.
– boot brand/model
– binding angles
– stance width
– how deep you like to carve
Note also that I would predict the PT2 160 to be around 263mm at the inserts, assuming the same 21.5″ (545mm) stance width. So, if you’ve not had issues on that, then I don’t think you’d have any issues on the 157 Easy Rider, width-wise.
Length-wise, I would put your “typical all-mountain length” at around 160/161, so it would be sizing down going to the 157. If you were going to be using it a lot for freestyle, then the 157 works though, IMO. You’re similar specs to me (6’0″, 180lbs, size 9.5 boots) and I really like the 157. But it would feel smaller than your 160 PT2, so if you didn’t feel like you wanted to size down from that, then it might feel a bit too small.
Hope this gives you more to go off
Hi Nate, how ist the Pop and easyness to access it compared to the Proto Synthesis and the Proto Ultra? I have both boards and while I love the ultra and the triple camber for carving and pow it is hard for me to get it to pop while the Proto Synthesis pops really easy. Is it best of both worlds?
BR
Richard
Hey Richard
Thanks for your message.
Easier to pop than the Ultra – not by a mile, but noticeably so. I would say marginally harder to access the pop vs the Proto Synthesis, it’s closer to the Proto Synthesis than the Proto Ultra, when it comes to accessing the pop. At least that was my experience with it.
Note that the latest models we tested were in sizes 157 (Easy Rider), 158 (Proto Synthesis) and 154 (Proto Ultra), so the Proto Ultra in a 157 would have been a little harder again, to extract the pop – longer boards tend to be harder to extract pop from.
Hope this helps
Thanx Nate, keep up the great work!
You’re very welcome Richard. Hope you have a great season!
Nate, wondering how is this board compared to Proto Synthesis? What distinguished the two on choices?
I had your rec on NS Swift for my quiver under the “Yes Greats” review, though NS Pro offer is currently out of stock for 158 Swift.
I am leaning towards just getting NS Proto Synthesis for now as a one board to my quiver, gonna sell Superpig, Rasman, and only keep Yes PYL 160W (for powder/all mtn), Yes Greats 156 (all mtn freestyle), and NS Proto Synthesis for ski-board trip (carrying a pair of ski in the same bag). Not sure what length for Proto Synthesis I should choose? (currently only 155 or 161 or 159DF left).
Hey Richie
The Easy Rider and Proto Synthesis are more similar than they are different, but there are some differences. On paper, there are a few, with the main one being the camber profile. The Easy Rider is supposed to be softer flexing and not quite as damp – and I would say that’s true but not a massive difference there. A few other differences and if you wanted you can check them out, by comparing the two boards on the Never Summer website – or I could highlight them if you’re interested to know the actual spec differences in more detail.
But the main things performance wise for me was that the Easy Rider felt a bit better in powder – so I think the Triple Camber must be a little better in powder, because I can’t think of any other reason that might be the case. The Easy Rider I also found to be a little easier to slash/turn. The Proto Synthesis (PS) I found was a little more stable at speed. Otherwise quite similar performance-wise.
Size-wise, I’d be debating between the 158 and 161 (if you had the option of the 158). I think the 159 DF will be too wide and overall too big and the 155 a bit too small for being your one-board-quiver for your trips. If you’re likely to hit powder on these trips and won’t have your PYL with you, then would definitely be an advantage having the 161 for that, particularly with the PS not being great in powder. That would help it be better in that area. And it’s not a size that you couldn’t handle in that board on the groomers or anything. So, from those sizes the 161 would be the best option, IMO. And even if you had the 158 available, it’d be a close call between the two, IMO.
Hi Nate, thanks for the review!
I’m 5’10, 190lbs, size 11 Boots. Stance is roughly +5 & -5.
Looking for your opinion on size of board. I was thinking the 158w.
Hey Fred
Thanks for your message. I would also say 158W is your best bet. I would put your “typical all-mountain length” at around 159/160. With the 158X being on the wider end of a good range for you (not too wide for your feet or anything, but on the wider end of a good range), I think it would work to shave off a little length, compared going with the 160X. Also if you’re using this for all-mountain-freestyle, then doesn’t hurt to have it a touch shorter than that all-mountain length.
Hope this helps with your decision
Hi Nate! Are you gonna do a 2024 Never Summer Boards overview? Curious to see how are you going to categorize the new boards. Did you have a chance to ride the Cougar? Looks very intriguing.
Finally – did you notice any difference with this triple camber profile or is it basically a rocker in the middle with different flavor?
Excited for next season!
Hi Luis
Thanks for your message.
I have a 2024 NS overview in the works. I didn’t get on the Cougar, unfortunately.
The Triple camber does feel different to their other profiles. You still notice the rocker in the middle (even though it’s technically camber right in the middle) but it feels pretty subtle, particularly when you’re riding it more aggressively. It never feels like traditional camber, though, you still know you’ve got that rocker there. I would say the rocker feeling is more subtle than their Shock Wave camber though – so in that sense, it’s close to a traditional camber, but it’s not without that rocker feeling. So, you could say in some ways, it’s rocker in the middle with a different flavor – less rockery overall, if that makes sense.