This Roxy Sugar Banana Snowboard Review will rate the Sugar Banana as a freestyle snowboard.
This review was last updated for the 2016 model
The Sugar Banana (SB) will be assessed on a number of difference performance categories and be given a score out of 100 that represents the SB’s ability as a womens freestyle snowboard.
Overall Rating
Board: Roxy Sugar Banana
Price: $349 (USD recommended retail)
Style: Freestyle
Flex: Soft (2/10)
Rating Score: 76.1/100
Compared to other Women’s Freestyle Boards
Of the 19 women’s freestyle boards I looked at overall:
- The average score was 79.9
- The highest score was 94.4
- The lowest score was 69.4
- The Sugar Banana ranked 15th out of 19
Of the 7 women’s freestyle snowboards that cost less then $350 that I looked at:
- The average score was 75.6
- The highest score was 78.3
- The lowest score was 69.4
- The Sugar Banana ranked 4th out of 7
Overview of the Sugar Banana’s Specs
Check out the specs and available sizes for the SB in the tables below.
Specs
| Style | Freestyle | Flex | Soft (2 out of 10) |
| Ability Level | Beginner to Intermediate | Feel | Loose |
| Weight | Normal | Turn Initiation | Very Easy |
| Camber Profile | flat/rocker/flat | Shape | True Twin |
| Stance Setback | Centered | Edge-hold | Medium-to-soft snow |
| Price | $349(USD) | Base | Extruded |
Sizing
| Size (Length) | 138 | 142 | 146 | 149 | 152 |
| Waist Width (mm) | 225 | 232 | 235 | 237 | 238 |
| Weight Range (kgs) | 23 – 59 | 27 – 68 | 32 – 77 | 34 – 77 | 36 – 82 |
| Weight Range (lbs) | 50 – 130 | 60 – 150 | 70 – 170 | 75 – 170 | 80 – 180 |
Who is the Sugar Banana Most Suited to?
The SB is best suited to women who ride freestyle, mostly in the park and who like a soft flexing board. It’s suited to small tricks and would be best suited to the freestyler who likes to ride in small parks or who is just starting out with freestyle riding.
The SB would also be a good option for those who are just starting out riding, though I think there are better boards for beginners at a similar price.
The Sugar Banana in More Detail
O.k. let’s get in to some of the details and then we’ll take a look at the breakdown of the final score.
Powder, Carving & Speed
This isn’t what the SB is made for so I wasn’t expecting too much here.
It does have some rocker in the profile which helps somewhat in powder but the centered stance means it won’t float that well.
The soft flex (amongst other things) prevents it from being a great carver and the extruded base and soft flex means it will never be a super-fast board.
Switch
This board has a true twin shape and will feel the same going either way down the mountain (depending on your binding angle setup).
Jumps
The SB is really good at landing those small jumps where it gives you plenty of forgiveness on the landing. However, I wouldn’t be so confident trying anything too large.
Great for small jumps in the park and small natural hits but not the best for large jumps.
Jibbing
The SB holds its own pretty well on the jibs. It’s not spectacular but that soft flex and the rocker in the middle of the board make it pretty easy to jib with. It lacks a bit of pop when it comes to ollying onto anything but otherwise its pretty good on boxes, rails etc.
Pipe
It’s too soft for the pipe really and too slow. Not really made for the pipe and there are definitely better decks for pipe riding.
The Final Verdict and Score Breakdown
Check out he score breakdown and my verdict on the SB as a freestyle deck.
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
| Powder: | 3.0 | 3/5 |
| Carving: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
| Speed: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
| Uneven Terrain: | 5.0 | 10/10 |
| Switch: | 4.5 | 22.5/25 |
| Jumps: | 3.0 | 15/25 |
| Jibbing: | 3.0 | 12/20 |
| Pipe: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 76.1/100 |
Overall the Sugar Banana isn’t a bad freestyle deck for it’s price. As far as anything less than $350 goes it holds its own but overall there are much better decks for riding freestyle and for beginners, in my opinion.
Check out the two posts below for some other freestyle and beginner options.
I just took this board out yesterday for the first time and your review is spot-on. I took a few slope runs and then headed straight for the glades. It did great there in about 2-3 inches of powder. Cut turns very quickly, and I was able to stick some very tight landings on small jumps/features (which made for some awesome pictures!). I also found it to be extremely easy to ride switch compared to my past boards. I didn’t try any half pipe, but then again that’s not really my thing! I actually found it to be pretty quick, unlike your review, but that could be more of a user opinion (I may ride slow?). I had no issues gliding through some 5 inch deep powder, but I’m pretty small/light so that may help.
Anyhow–your review is on point! Agree 100%.
Hi Sarah
Thanks for your message. Always great to hear other people’s views on snowboards. Hope you enjoy the rest of your season!
Hi I am a total beginner snowboarder, who struggles getting off the chairlift 🙁 everytime I fall due to not being balanced.
I am thinking if I get my own snowboard I can put a stud pad to help me from slipping.
However what is the BEST snowboard for me a Roxy Banana or a Burton Genie?
Please help! lol..
Hi Katrina
A stomp pad will definitely help and having your own board will definitely help with your progression.
I have written a post on this exact topic you can check it out at the link below.
How to Choose a Beginners Snowboard
You can also check out my top 5 beginner snowboards for women or my catalogue of the top snowboards for beginners (for the women’s boards scroll down on that page).
Out of the Roxy Sugar Banana and the Burton Genie I would go for the Burton Genie as it will feel more stable underfoot. The sugar banana will likely feel a bit too loose to be ideal for a beginner. It has a ‘continuous rocker’ camber profile which is not ideal for beginners in my opinion – even if the board is classified as an entry level board. Sometimes the board shows ‘beginner’ but it really means that it’s a beginner for someone trying freetyle riding for the first time (but can already ride). – I have updated the review to make this clearer.
I wouldn’t necessarily go for the Genie either but I would go for that over the Sugar Banana. Check out some of the beginner boards I recommend on the links above and if you still want either the Genie or the Sugar Banana then go with the Genie. Keep in mind that the Genie uses Burton’s Channel System (which isn’t a bad system but it’s not compatible with other snowboard company’s bindings) which means you will need Burton’s EST bindings.
Hope this was helpful and if you have any more questions I am more than happy to answer them.
Very impressive and comprehensive review on the two boards here. I don’t snowboard myself but it’s something on my bucket list and I will be sure to check back. I’m a person who likes to really research into what I’m buying before I buy and it’s reviews like this that help make that task a lot easier. Thanks for the great post 🙂
Hey Erica – thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked the post. Hope you can get on a snowboard soon – you won’t regret it!
Hey great review. I have a 5 year old daughter and I’d like to introduce her to boarding, do you recommend this board “sugar banana” for someone so young, do you think she’s too young?
Hi Dan – 5 definitely isn’t too young. Much younger and it might be but I’m not an expert on the best time for kids to start. But I’ve definitely seen plenty of kids that look like they’re around that age on the slopes.
However, I wouldn’t go with the Sugar Banana. For starters there won’t be one in a small enough size. The smallest Sugar B board is 138cm in length which would be way too big for a 5 year old. They actually make specialist kids and youths boards. I’m not sure of what the range of boards there is for that age but as far as I know there are some. But I don’t really know to much about kids boards yet.
From the quick search I just did a 5 year old is usually around 42 inches tall (106cm) and 40 weight around 40lbs (18kgs). This would mean a rough board length of around 95-96cms and I definitely wouldn’t want to go over 100cms. This would change depending on your daughters actual height/weight.
Hope that’s helpful. Definitely not an expert on kid’s boards though.
This is a good comprehensive review. I have not snowboarded but it looks like fun. I didn’t even know they made/designed boards based upon gender. This sport sure has come a long way.
Yeah – a lot of women’s specific snowboards these days. Not quite as well catered to as men’s boards in terms of the number of options but definitely a big market nowadays.
Hi, I didn’t realise how technical a snowboard can be. Great post, lots of images and graphs that make a complete novice like me able to understand. Cheers. Ian.
Hi Ian – glad it helped your understanding. Yeah there are a lot of technical things involved in snowboards but generally you don’t need to know most of them. You just need to know what you like and how you like to ride really.