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
Out of the 33 men’s all-mountain-freestyle snowboards that I rated:
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
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
154 | 250 | not available | n/a |
157 | 252 | n/a | n/a |
158X | 263 | n/a | n/a |
160X | 265 | 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 (252mm 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! 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.