Hello and welcome to this YES Rival snowboard review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Rival as a freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Rival a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other women's freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: YES Rival
Price: $529
Style: Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium (6/10)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5/10)
Rating Score: 89.7/100
Compared to other Women’s Freestyle Boards
Out of the 21 women’s freestyle snowboards that I rated:
Overview of the Rival’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Rival’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | Freestyle |
Price: | $529 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: | |
Flex: | |
Feel: | |
Smooth or Snappy: | |
Dampness: | |
Playful/Aggressive: | |
Edge-hold: | |
Camber Profile: | |
Shape: | |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered (YES' "Sintered True") |
Weight: | On the slightly heavier side of normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
---|---|---|---|
140 | 230 | 90-120 | 40-54 |
144 | 233 | 100-130 | 45-59 |
149 | 236 | 100-150 | 45-68 |
152 | 240 | 120-160 | 54-72 |
Who is the Rival Best Suited To?
The Rival is best suited to someone with a freestyle first mentality but still wants to be able to ride fairly quickly and carve well.
In terms of park, this is a board you can go big with, so if you like bigger jumps/tricks it's got you covered. But it does just as well on smaller jumps/features. It's got a little bit of playfulness to it, but it's not one of those park boards that's super soft/playful but if jumps are your thing, then this board has it all.
It's not great for powder but for a camber twin, it's pretty good.
You could quite easily call this an all-mountain freestyle board and you wouldn't be wrong, but it's so good for freestyle, that it just had to be in this category.
It's not a super challenging ride, but still not for beginners. You'll want to be at least intermediate to get this board.
The Rival in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Rival is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: YES Rival 2022, 149cm (236mm waist width)
Date: March 3, 2022
Conditions
Cloudy with some patches of blue at times. Really high cloud so visibility was all good.
Temperature was -2°C (28°F) degrees. No wind.
24hr snow: 4cm (1.5")
48hr snow: 23cm (9")
7 day snow: 64cm (25")
On groomer: Some icier sections in places but for the most part medium firmness with some softer areas. Fair bit of crud with not all that much groomed but some well groomed areas as well.
Off groomer: Some left over freshies! Untracked in places even. Mostly tracked but some nice untouched spots to explore.
Set Up
Bindings angles: +15/-12
Stance width: 520mm (20.5″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 251mm (9.88")
Weight: 2700g (5lbs, 15oz)
Weight per cm: 18.12g/cm
Average Weight per cm: 17.29 grams/cm*
*based on a small sample size of around 30 women's boards that I've weighed in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 models. The Rival is a heavier than normal on the scales. On snow felt a little heavier than normal but pretty close to normal.
Tester: Jade
Rider Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Rider Weight: 145lbs (66kg)
Rider Boot Size: Women's US6.5 Thirty Two Exit
Bindings Used: Burton Lexa, Medium
Powder
Not bad in powder for a twin. Jade was pleasantly surprised with how well it kept afloat in the powder we had.
Still never going to be the boss in powder - it is a true twin, cambered board after all, but probably the best twin camber you'll ride in powder.
Carving
Jade felt that the Rival was an excellent board to carve with. She said she was able to really dig in and lean in to an edge.
Turning
Ease of Turns/Slashing: Pretty easy to in initiate turns on and quite effortless.
Maneuverability at Slow Speeds: Really decently quick edge-to-edge.
Skidded Turns: Able to execute skidded turns without too much fear of catching edge. Surprisingly good for a full camber board.
Speed
Given how well suited this board is to freestyle/park riding, it felt fast and capable of handling a really good amount of speed and remaining stable.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It was able to smash through crud pretty well. Even when it did get a little bucked around, it was pretty easy to correct.
Bumps/Trees: Heaps of fun in trees. Has the maneuverability and not overly stiff so you can hug the bumps well.
Let's Break this Text up with a video
Jumps
This board was unsurprisingly fun on jumps! It felt very stable on the landings and had a little bit of pop and a bit of a playful feel.
Pop: This board was so fun with it's poppy playful feel! You could really feel it on side hits and jumps. Super fun!
Approach: Great on the approach. It was easy to adjust you speed coming into the jump and to maintain control. But at the same time, when you need to bomb it on a faster approach it can handle that well too.
Landings: Landings were quite damp with this board. They felt really solid. It felt like it would be difficult to shake a landing with this board. But even though you could really stomp a landing on it, it wasn't unforgiving when you got it wrong.
Side hits: This board was super fun on side hits! I had a lot of fun with it. Easy to maneuver on the approach, good pop and great on uneven landings.
Small jumps/Big Jumps: Handles all types of jumps really well!
Switch
It's very comfortable riding switch on this board. It's got the specs for it - and it felt easy transitioning into switch and never felt like catching an edge.
Spins
It has all the ingredients as a good spinning board and shouldn't disappoint. The only thing stopping it from being perfect is that it's a little heavier than normal - but otherwise, it's pretty much ideal: Good setting up/taking off switch, good pop etc.
Jibbing
Whilst it's not as good down the jib line as it is down the jump line, it's still something that can tackle boxes/rails etc well, particularly if you're experienced on them.
Butters
It's easier to butter on that you'd think at first. It's something that you've got to put a bit of weight/effort into, but when you do, it bends quite nicely.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
---|---|---|
JUMPS | 5.0 | 20/20 |
JIBBING | 3.5 | 14/20 |
SPINS | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
SWITCH | 4.5 | 9/10 |
BUTTERING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
UNEVEN TERRAIN | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 3.0 | 3/5 |
SPEED | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
CARVING | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 4/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 89.7/100 |
The Rival is a really versatile freestyle board - and you wouldn't be wrong labelling it all-mountain-freestyle with the way it can handle speed and lay down a carve.
In the park it's a beast for jumps of all sizes. If jumps and spins are your thing, the Rival won't disappoint. It can hold its own down the jib line as well.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Rival, 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 the Rival to other women's freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Jo says
Thanks again Nate for taking the time to answer my further questions!
Nate says
You’re very welcome Jo.
Jo says
Hi Nate, Thank you so much for the detailed analysis and looking into the specs of the two boards. Really really appreciate it. I’m going ahead with your suggestion. Jo
J says
What size would you recommend for a 95lb, 5’4”, US Woman Size 7 Boot? Would the 140 size waist width of 230mm be too narrow for a size 7 boot?
Thank you.
Nate says
Hi J
Thanks for your message.
For your height/weight specs, I would go 140. Anything else would be too big, IMO. Definitely not going to be too narrow, IMO. While a 230mm waist width could be borderline for 7s in some cases, in this case, the width at inserts is quite wide compared to the waist width. Assuming you were to ride on the reference stance width of 19″, you would be looking at around 24.2/24.3cm at the inserts, which is well wide enough for 7s, IMO.
Hope this helps
Jo says
Hi Nate,
This site is amazing helpful. Thank you for creating a site like this. I’m looking at a board that suits me and wonder if you can help.
I’m 5’4″ , 105lbs and wears US6.5 boots. I’m in between level 4 and 5 (advanced beginner to intermediate). I’ve been riding the Hel Yes 146 and I felt the board is too fast, turning is not as responsive but the grip is really good and stable. I used to ride the GNU Ladies Choice 145.5 and that felt sketchy under my feet and I’m more prone to catching an edge.
I think I’m riding a board beyond my ability and weight. I’m wanting a mellower board that is as stable and grips well like Hel Yes that I can ride on various conditions (icy, uneven bumpy and some pow). Yes Hello seems like a good choice but they only have 146 as well. I’m not into park or high speed and want to progress to comfortably turning on steeper terrain.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Nate says
Hi Jo
Thanks for your message.
I would put your “typical all-mountain length” at around 141, so yeah, I think sizing down is a good idea. For your specs, I would go 140. Given you’re used to longer boards, the 144 is an option, for sure, but I think the 140 is best suited to your height/weight/boot size. But just to note that it will feel considerably more mellow than the Hel Yes 146 in that size. But overall would be, IMO, better suited to your level and your specs. Not going to be amazing in pow, but for a twin it’s pretty good. Really good for icy conditions.
I keep wishing they would introduce smaller sizes for the Hello (and Hel Yes) but they haven’t yet.
Hope this helps with your decision
Jo says
Thank you Nate for your advice. Much appreciated.
Nate says
You’re very welcome Jo. Hope you have a great season!
Jo says
Hi Nate,
Can I ask for your further advice… There’s 2 ex-demo boards for sale: 144 Yes Rival and 142 Nitro Optisym. My goal is to progress to level 5 (riding steeps confidently, side banks, switch riding). Which board would you suggest I get.
Nate says
Hey Jo
We haven’t tested the Optisym, but size-wise, I think it’s a much better size for you. On paper I think it would be a good bet. Having not tested it, can’t say for sure, but that’s what I would go with for you, based on paper.
Even though 2cm doesn’t sound like much when you say 144 vs 142, but when you look at other factors, there’s a bigger difference in size here than you’d think. Firstly, the Rival 144 is wider – while the waist widths are very similar, the Rival is wider at the inserts (almost certainly, but we haven’t measured the Optisym, so couldn’t say 100%) and is wider tip/tail. Secondly, the Rival has a larger contact length to overall length ratio. The Rival has a 103cm contact length vs the 96cm contact length on the Optisym. Note that Nitro doesn’t publish effective edge (which I wish they would!), so we can’t compare that, but it’s highly unlikely that the effective edge would be anywhere near the 108cm effective edge of the Rival – and with the contact length already 7cm shorter on the Optisym, the Optisym is likely to feel quite a bit smaller than the Rival.
IMO, the Rival is a little big for you, especially when taking into account length and width.
Jo says
Hi Nate,
Just when I’m about to get the Nitro, I found out there’s a Jones Twin Sister 140 on sale. The price is slightly more. Is the 140 Twin Sister better suited? Will the long effective edge makes it more stable? Can I use this board for a bit of Japan pow at this length?
Nate says
Hi Jo.
Yeah, I think the Twin Sister would be a good bet for you – and the 140 a good size. I’d be leaning towards that – and yes, it is decent in powder (better than the Optisym and Rival).