2014 Arbor Relapse Snowboard Used and Reviewed
One of the things I’ve personally always liked about Arbor is they’ve never gotten away from making a cambered snowboard. For every one they offer with The System they make a counterpart in camber. The Relapse is that cambered brother to the Blacklist. Here’s how the 2014 model of it rode.
Board: Arbor Relapse
Size: 155
Camber Option: Traditional Camber.
Bindings: Rome 390 Boss
Stance: 22.5 Wide 18 Negative 15 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 170lbs
Resort: Breckenridge
Conditions: Sunny skies, high winds, and cold temps.
Flex: Just a hair above mid flex. The tips have a little bit more give as it stiffens up between the feet. The torsional give takes a bit more twisting to get it to initiate. This lends itself to being stiffer between the feet.
Stability: This deck is super stable in all kinds of terrain from tight trees to rutted out landings on jumps.
Ollies: The beauty of traditional camber when it’s brand new is how it wants to snap back into shape. This gives the Relapse an insane amount of pop. You can load the tail when going into an ollie and just expect to boost.
Pop On Jumps: Much like ollies this board is meant to pop. So going into a jump knowing your going to boost you can be a bit more relaxed.
Butterability: Traditional camber makes you work for your butters which I think is important when progressing as a rider. This board can butter you just have to be prepared for it to fight back, knowing that though bending, flexing, and spreading margarine all over the slopes is so much fun.
Jibbing: The tips lock in well for nose and tail presses. I will say the thing about traditional camber I love is how it locks into board slides better than reverse. Even though this board is stiffer it still gets the job done.
Carving: Camber just locks in better for real hard carves. This board just wanted to be on edge on groomers and would let me just rail deep hard turns as well as mellow carves.
Rider in Mind: The traditional camber loving bigger footed rider that wants a stable smooth ride that can handle the whole mountain.
Personal Thoughts: It’s always fun to get on camber to remind yourself of what it does differently than reverse camber. Hard carves and extreme pop were awesome to witness, but at the end of the day my knees felt the differences. This board as a mid wide is a dream to ride and can handle varying terrain with no issues.
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Disclaimer: This board was loaned to us for product review from Arbor Snowboards marketing department.
Note: This board was built at the Elan factory production has been moved to Dubai.
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A quick question, this or the Del Rey? Have some bigger feet but like jibbing. I am also from Ohio so no all-mountain riding from me. Thanks
Get this if your feet are bigger for sure. The added surface area will be nice on jibs.
Hi
I was first thinking about the blacklist but it was hard to get here in sweden. Then i found some two used 155 Relapse and by the look of it kind of the same boards =)
I am 200 and the weight range on this board only goes up to 184. You rode it at 170lbs, do you think i will find it flimsy on the groomers?
Btw, the girlsfriend loved the gypsy we bought the other day after reading the review!
It’s not the same board. Relapse is Camber Blacklist is Reverse Camber. Changes a lot of how they ride. You can ride the 55 at 184lbs and I doubt it will be “too flimsy” just won’t be as stiff as say the 158.