Board: Rome Gangplank
Size: 152
Camber Option: Contact Rocker. Flat to rocker.
Bindings: K2 Indy
Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy
Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10
My Weight: 195lbs
Resort: Arapahoe Basin
Conditions: Sunny blue skies with some clouds, zero wind, warm temps, snow that was mashed potatoes, lumpy, sometimes icy, and a little firm in the shade.
Flex: This board comes in with a middle of the road park flex. You have softer tips for playing around, stiffer under foot, and then softer again between the feet. There’s also a lot of torsional flex.
Stability: This board is stable for a park board. Which means you’ll feel some chatter and in really rutted out terrain it will get bounced around. It’s a very lively board.
Ollies: This board has skate style pop which means you don’t have to load the board up to engage it. This is nice for anyone that likes to pop last minute. The Hot Rods in the tips give a lot of snap out of the rocker zone.
Pop On Jumps: While there really aren’t any medium or bigger jumps at the Basin right now I’d say this board could easily hand a 30 foot jump. Anything smaller than that will be ideal. This board pops off the lip with ease.
Butterability: Those tips are butter machines. You have rocker and a softer flex so of course it’s easy to press into them. You can get weird with this board. The nice thing is that there is snap out of the tips due to the Hot Rods but you only feel this come into play when you release the press you’re in, it never tries to fight you.
Jibbing: This board is easy to engage in a press. You can pretty much lean into it and it will lock in. There is some pop out of it but it never fights you. When you go sideways through a feature it doesn’t hug it as much as other boards but there’s enough grip that it feels solid. Basically if you like to jib this board has you covered.
Carving: This board is quick and nimble. You’ll notice how fast it transitions from toe to heel. While you can rip a hard carve on this board there are limitations and you will over power it at some point. Be prepared for this. It’s best for quick set up turns and mildly aggressive carves.
Rider in Mind: Jib guy that likes a little snap.
Personal Thoughts: This board doesn’t disappoint for what it’s marketed as. It’s playful where you want it yet still has pop which makes it a bit more versatile. In my opinion it’s just a rockered version of the Buckshot.
Check out the past reviews of the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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9 Comments
Missed the live chat (annual national motorcycling day over here), but just finished watching like +6hrs of your three podcasts, so: tremendous job Avran!!!
Questions:
Last year you said this rode similar to the Sims Juice… so does this still apply (meaning I could get an discount Juice, and get the same type of board)?
Also, who f–kin’ owns Sims now, and do you think they will disapear again for 2021 (some more meat here, please, if you have it)?
Again, thanks for all the great work!
Yes. Never Summer had a licensing agreement with Hilary Sims, who is Toms wife. I know in Japan someone else has the licensing agreement. Pretty sure there’s no agreement for over in Europe. Basically the brand is franchised out.
After going in store I was recommended a Lobster Lucas Beaufort Artist Edition. I am an intermediate rider getting into park but want to be able to go all-mountain, butter etc. After not finding any reviews on the board I bought, do you think this board would be good? Other options were the Rome Gangplank and Salomon Villain, maybe the Gnu Finest. But open to suggestions! Cheers!
You bought it, time to go ride it.
Took my RK1 Gangplank out for a ride for the first time yesterday, and it was a blast! I was little worried it’d be too soft for me at 190 lbs, but it was absolutely perfect. Was really able to stomp some small jumps with ease, and learning to tail press was a whole lot easier than trying to flex my 162 Arbor Guch camber. As always, your recs are spot on.
How does the gang plank compare to the horrorscope?
I normally ride a helix so im after something more playful.
Gangplank is stiffer than the Horrorscope, has more snap, and generally feels more stable. Coming from a Helix the Gangplank would be the better option.
Getting a 2022 gangplank, what size for 165lbs size 9 boot? Park laps jibbing and small medium jumps, and will take this board around the entire mountain buttering and hitting side hits etc. Can’t decide on 153 or 156
I’d go 53.