ippy 66 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 NeverSummer Premier F1 Review Its a long day at work with no classes so need to fill time, so heres a review of the Premier F1 based entirely on TWO RUNS on skyline (1 hour tops). Rider Info: Inutil the anarcho-syndicalist, defender of Catalan. Season 6, about just over 100 days lifetime i reckons, and 13 days this season. Can not ride park, also terrible balance. What the shtook is up with that, god? Can pin track carve groomed steeps though and happy to let a board reach its top speed without too much "oh shit! oh shit! oh shit!". I will get bounced to shit on cut up bumpy natural terrain though and still mentally blank going through tight trees. What im trying to say is i suck. About 175lbs of pure man meat. Board Info: Ahhhh... here you have me, no idea if it was the 59 or 61 i took out. Could honestly have been either, but im assuming the 159. Wasnt planning on making a review so just kinda went with it. Disclaimer: First time on a neversummer and first time on c2/r+c hybrid styles. Disclaimer 2: This review is 100% based on two runs of skyline on Nozawa. Its a straightforward ridge run with an average gradient in the mid to high 20s with some steeps, and some not so steeps (theres even a slight uphill part). It also includes one of the runs off skyline which is just seriously smashed to crap steep powder (about 35 degrees or thereabouts). Groomed run, plenty of bobbles and naughty baby moguls since the weather was kinda sunshine and its exposed with temps creeping above zero. But its supposed to be the boards element, so it'll give a sense of what its about i reckons. Demo board = no real powder riding in trees or in slackcountry (which is where i really wanted to take it - but was good and stuck to the groomers). Definitely didnt hit up park on it. Consider this a very narrow review of what i assume is the board in its element. Bindings: My trusty dialed in and part wrecked forces. Bindings were full set back and moderate duck (18,-6) REVIEW Preconceptions: I could have chosen the evo, the sl, the heritage, the cobra or the proto, but "Premier-chu! i chose you!" I aint no park rat, i like my ripping boards so time to see what vario plus r+c does. From my mates slight disappointment on his reverb rocker id written off hybrid to be honest as lacking energy, floaty, but ultimately kinda garbage. So was almost tempted to not bother with it and just go play in the trees on my sierrascope. Preconceptions were thus somewhere between "whatever" and "lets get this over with" Round 1: Skyline. Clipped in, had a wee press and was DELIGHTED to see that nose lift effortlessly. Yeah, its the R+C and not a real press, the boards pretty stiff, but i was surprised to see how high you can get the board just from a bit of pressure on the tail. Its not butter, but its not as big an effort to lift that nose up as i theorised it might well be. You score a few more inches than just the pivot rocker in the middle with minimal effort. Takes a bit more effort to load it thereafter and youre probably going to need to be going at speed to get some proper snap out of it. Unfortunately i had my tablet with me on that first run so was being kinda careful with it (only camera i had with me that day and was originally planning on taking some pics of the tanuki line before deciding to run the demo). So took it easy for the first part, just popping up some walls, bouncing around on the bumps and skidding down with some quick carves. The edge hold seemed great though, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and let it open up a little on the run in to the flat/slight uphill part. I realised my earlier caution was misplaced. This board rails pretty damn well. Had some fun on the second half, still held it back a bit, but it started to give some serious hints at wha it was capable of. It started to feel really fiesty and energetic. Turns were super poppy and the board felt really nice and responsive. Realising i needed to ditch the tablet and let it out for a proper run (and with time pressing) i bombed back up the gondola and prepared for round 2. Round 2: Skyline and the little powder run coming off it. Clipped in, and immediately started bouncing off all the side hits. This board is packing serious energy. Got past the winding bit and into the ridge line proper, picked my line (its kinda busy), and shtooking charged it. Flat basing is nothing. No chance of a catch on it. Had some super fast carves running towards the uphill bit with some serious energy in the changes. This board is ninja like. Super nimble, and with BUCKET LOADS of energy. Honestly, if theres one thing that sells this board to me its the sheer energy and response you get out of it. You aint losing your line and nothing is stopping you doing what you need to do. Had a play in some of the crud on the sides and even when it did finally get bounced off its line and back on the groomer (and i was sure id be picking mountain from my teeth), the board miraculously pulled itself back onto its line and off i went. About 3/4s of the way down i headed off the main skyline and off one of the steep ungroomed lines coming off it. Its a gnarly line. Its cut to crap and usually one of the first to show cracks on the resort after a bit of sun. Pointed the board down and flew through it. Board felt super easy to control and adjust. Had great pop when you get a bit of speed on it, and just felt super lively. Reached the flat run out at the bottom and planed it. Board floated effortlessly. Only a tiny bit of weight shift required and it murdered it. Nothing more fun than seeing the nose of your board in thigh deep without associated thigh burn. Sure, its not a pow stick, its not what its for, but its a pretty decent one for resort pow at least. Popped back up the hill, returned the board and then proceeded to chew the guys ear off about it. I kinda loved that board to be honest. Pros and cons: Cons: Two things really, one absolutely trivial and the other not so trivial but more whinging. ---- First its pretty heavy. I mean just carrying it and dangling it on lifts. You definitely feel like youre on a heavier board. -+ Second and less trivial though, the dampening which is supposed to be like the BESTEST THING EVER!!! kinda sucks compared to both the highlife and the berzerker. Its not that it isnt damp, its just a little on the wrong side of too much response from the terrain. Could be a personal thing though. i just preferred having pure stealth crud silent murder from the highlife when im charging. As for the pros: +++++ Insane energy throughout the board. Had the bindings set all the way back and it still felt super energetic. ++++ Edge hold is phenomenally good. Not bitey, nor was it loose. Just utterly solid and dependable. Vario works. +++++ Edge to edge is Mega fast. Possibly fastest edge to edge of any deck I've ridden. ++ Thanks to r/c pressing it was effortless. Of course you ain't pressing it so much, its a stiff ass plank at the end of the day, but pseudo pressing is effortless and makes it feel a little playful. ++++ Pop in turns was great, ++ at speed you could get a decent load on it, but otherwise not all that snappy. ++ Planes in powder effortlessly. Shift your weight slightly over the back insert and you're floating. +++ Good speed on it. Not the fastest board ive been on (the highlife wins that), but definitely fast enough youll know 'youre going fast'. Conclusion: Brilliant board for carving. It really rips on somewhere like skyline. Even on crud you'll stay on your line. Its also got great potential for tree riding and decent pow surrogacy. I really want to see it in the trees but obviously its a demo and its not mine to trash but it nukes the hell out of groomers. Its definitely the type of deck you just need a nice steep line to let it run and do its thing though. Its also utterly dependable. It feels like a board yve ridden a few seasons and know all the ins and outs on it immediately. Sure, not true at all, but its solid, holds its line, doesnt get bounced, is damp, quick, and amazingly energetic. The board is really really responsive. Its the big pull on this deck as far as im concerned. I mean its supposed to bomb shit, but i really didnt think it would also feel so lively on top of it. An amazingly fun deck. If i didnt have the zerker id probably have this one at the top of my list right now. Its a ripper for sure, but i just love the energy it has going on it. I honestly wasnt in love with the endless hype that neversummer gets, and was happy preparing yslf to feel non plussed with it all and declare it a decent solid dependable ride but a bit dull and one dimensional. Its not though, its fekkin aces. They definitely deserve some love... at least on this line from me. Link to post Share on other sites
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