Rome Artifact Rocker with 390 Bosses My Take

It’s easy to make a rockered jibstick and have it just be good at that, but making a rockered jib park destroyer well that’s a bit more of a challenge. The Artifact Rocker is exactly that a jib park destroyer that turns the mountain into a skate park. Here’s my look at a board and binding combo that is going to slay it for next season.

Board: Rome Artifact Rocker

Size: 153

Camber Option: Reverse Jib Rocker, your standard three stage rocker with it being flat between the fit and lifted from the end of the inserts to the contact points.

Bindings: Rome 390 Boss

Stance: 22.5

Angles: 18 negative 15 goofy

Boots: K2 T1 DB size 10

My Weight: 165

Resort: Winter Park

Conditions: Sunny blue skies with firm snow pack.

Preconceived Notions: I was told this board had been redesigned to optimize itself even more in the park but still be solid at jibbing.

Flex: It felt like that well broken in park deck that you know you can handle anything with and not have to worry about a sudden change in what’s going on. I’d put it somewhere just below middle of the road but above limp wet noodle.

Stability: Well I wouldn’t charge through chopped out mogul runs or crap ass pow but pointing into a jump and landing in bomb holes it did its job really well.

Ollies/Pop: This thing could ollie up on to anything without any problems. Off jumps boosting wasn’t an issue either.

Butterability: Well it’s rockered and a jib weapon so what do you think this board did? It pressed the fuck out of shit and got its butter on like nobodies business but with enough stability to not fold in half.

Cruising: The new QuickGrip sidecut locked into turns but still gave it that playful feel you would want out of a jib deck. Turn initiation was solid and had that easy underfoot control you would expect from a rockered deck.

Jibbing: Now here’s the strong suit for this deck. Presses, slides, slappers, bonks whatever you want to do it could handle with ease. The rocker in the tip let you get into presses while the flex locked you in instead of bucking you from being too soft.

Rider in Mind: The jib junky that demands his board be able to send a jump or ollie over small woodland animals like Caribou or Snow Wookies.

Personal Thoughts: I am getting this deck with these bindings in this size. No, ifs, ands, or buts this deck was so solid for slaying the park and handling laps to and from with ease. The edge control was so much better than the old Artifact 85 that I could lay turns the way I wanted without any issues. This board rode like a skateboard and in my opinion that’s how the mountain should be ridden. Telling you know this is going to be the hot ticket set up for this season.

What They Say: For the pure pleasure of pressing 5-0′s and blunts, LNP, Eiki, and Lazz all mount up the true-twin Artifact Rocker when they ride handrails, ledges, and boxes. The Reverse-Jib camberline is flat under foot for balance on rails, while the reverse camber in the nose and tail makes press tricks so easy that it’s almost cheating. Glass Reverse-V  Stringer Technology ups the ollie and nollie height.

Binding Compatibility: Like loose trucks on a skateboard of destruction these bindings gave this deck the control it needed to ride the way I wanted.

Binding Adjustability: Setting up the cant bed did take a bit more time to dial in and the 390′s aren’t exactly a binding you take out of the box and slap on a deck if you want it dialed in anyways.

Straps: The straps low profile and gel really contoured well to my boot and helped give that solid locked in feel. In the last few years I’ve felt the strap was a little lackluster in its performance but now it seems to have been dialed in perfectly for what I want out of a binding.

Highbacks: The new highback is money in the bank. It’s more anatomically correct and milled out to reduce weight but doesn’t sacrifice in the flex department.

Binding Flex: Middle of the road all mountain freestyle flex that’s designed to give optimal performance from a rockered deck.

Ratchets: Smooth and buttery no slippage here and easy to load and unload. Releasing was catch free as well.

Rider in Mind: Someone that’s going from pow lines to park lappers and demands a solid performing binding.

Personal Thoughts: Not a doubt in my mind this will be the binding I’m rocking next season. Cant options, non-freezing gel in the heel strap, asymetrical highback. Oh shit it’s game on for this binding to be the dominator of choice for this upcoming season.

What They Say: Armed with the full array of new 390’s weaponry-the V-Rod Baseplate and Asym Highback-the 390 Boss straps in freestyle flexibility with classic UnderWrap power. Bone out tricks old-school style or get over your tail on a press, and still have the direct connection necessary for exploding the tops of a pillow line. The Boss edition ups the level with the added customization of the Yes, I cant InBase padding system. Run the cant pads for added power on Rocker boards, or run the flat pads for a traditional stance.