Saturday, February 13, 2010

Rogers Bros Asym Review

I got this deck about 3 months ago, and now that I've ridden it a good fair bit, I think it deserves a review.

So lets start with some specs,

Length: 39"
Width: 9.5" (9" also available)
Wheelbase: 31"-32"
Thickness: 9 ply maple
Concave: Asymmetrical Flat-cave (More aggresive concave toeside)
Drop: 5/8" (i think)

For starters, the deck looks great, nice and beefy which inspires a lot of confidence. I know for a fact that the guys at Rbros are very tight on their QC because I was told that the decks were delayed getting into the shop because Dave held it back due to a slight imperfection, so its no surprise that everything was perfectly done from the mounting holes right down to the red satin finish at the bottom.

On its maiden run I slapped on some crails and brought it to a local hill, nothing big, just some standies and drifts, and I was surprised at how well the concave kept my foot on the board. Standies were a breeze, toeside or heelside, while the deck isn't symmetrical back to front its close enough to be not bothered while riding switch. Drifts were particularly comfortable with my front foot cemented onto the board by the concave which gave me a lot of control. Coming from riding the smoothcut, voodoo, fsm and hellcat, I have to say this board has my vote for best concave just based on just how locked in you feel.

I then raced on this deck at Newtons 09, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I basically crashed in all my practice runs (which was like 3 runs) on the first day. The Asym flipped, slid, hit bales and cement walls, and pretty much had nothing to show for it, I was very much impressed.

Taking it down my favourite >40mph runs, one of which Martin Siegrist refers to as "Maryhill on steroids" (but I've never been to Maryhill so I wouldn't know if he's telling the truth ) and this is where the board shines. Long tucks on it is so comfortable with the flatcave, unlike radial cave which would leave my feet sore at the end of the day. The cave also gives you a very good sense of where your back foot is which is very useful when you shift around while taking quick consecutive turns. And of course the asymmetrical concave is brilliant to get extra leverage when you're taking those toeside sweepers.

The little drop in the platform creates a nice little pocket between the rail and the drop so you can jam your front foot up there not worry about it slipping when you tuck, and being a small drop the deck handles more like a topmount than a dropped deck, very similar to the killswitch in both that sense. It flexes a wee bit when I jump on it (150lbs) in the middle which probably helps with dampening, something needed over here.

All in all, an awesome dh/freeride deck, really versatile, comfortable and build like a tank. I'll definitely get another if I somehow manage to trash this one to death. Special thanks to Roland (Lit) from Rbros for being such a cool guy to deal with and Ado from Cre8ive Sk8 for bringing a beast of a board only he has such rad gear.

Now some pron :D





And yes they're Munkaes, just got them and so far I'm liking how they feel but like any new truck, a 'dialing in' period is needed until they feel totally awesome under your feet, definitely a significant difference from crails which is what I'm used to , will post a review in good time.

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