2013 Echelon Franken Says Relax Used and Reviewed

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Companies come and companies go often without any notice. When Omatic packed it in a piece of me died inside because I knew I wasn’t going to be riding anything with BS Tech anymore in the future. Fast forward to the present and Echelon has scooped up their tech along with their designer Jason Kanes. Now with the 3D base you can ride this tech again. Here’s what a review of a board I’ve dubbed the old friend rides like.

Board: Franken Says Relax

Size: 154

Camber Option: Flat-rise. Flat between the feet into a rocker in the tips. It also has the 3D base which raises the base 1 cm in from the edge.

Bindings: Raiden Phantoms

Stance: 22.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy

Boots: K2 UFO Size 10

My Weight: 165

Resort: Breckenridge

Conditions: Sunny bluebird spring laps with gusts of wind that could blow you over and hidden patches of sheet ice.

Flex: Middle of the road. It’s got a slightly stiffer center with ever so slightly tips. Torsionally it’s a bit stiff and twist flexing it through turns does take a bit more effort.

Stability: It’s stable through chop, chunder, giant ruts that might destroy you at any given time. You know all the fun stuff associated with spring mashed potato snow.

Ollies: This board can snap. While it is alternative camber it pops like traditional. You can load the tips up and boost.

Pop On Jumps: This deck can handle a jump that’s for sure. With the freedom of the Flat-Rise you get a more skatey styled pop when boosting off the lip.

Butterability: The tips do have carbon that add pop to them so lazy butters aren’t this decks forte but you can spread some margarine love all over the place.

Jibbing: The tips have a sweet spot that is fairly big and lets you just lock and load. Over all it’s not a true jib stick but it does get the job done.

Carving: I love that 3D base for rolling over on edge. This gives better leverage for railing hard turns.

Rider in Mind: The all around all-mountain freestylist.

Personal Thoughts: If you’ve ever ridden the Omatic Extr series then you’ll feel at home on this board. I own an Extr-Eco and this board rode exactly how that did the first day. It was predictable, pressed well enough by my standards, did solid on the jumps, had good speed, blah blah blah. Basically it’s super solid and fun and that’s what a snowboard should be.

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