Location: Loveland, CO
Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy conditions on the mountain.
Setup: I rode the Ride Machete with Ride Sigma Movement bindings and Bonfire Geo boots.
Size: 158cm.
First Impression: Finally getting to ride the machete, I heard this board can cut down trees.
Weight: Lighter than average
Flex: Overall it isn’t a soft board, as a park board it’s on the stiffer side and I think the majority of stiffness felt that way from the carbon array 3 they use in the board. The machete felt stiffer underfoot and out to the tip and tail with a softer torsional flex between the bindings. That helps give it a more stable feeling when riding and you still have a easy board to torsionally turn and it’s not too difficult to press/butter on the nose and tail. The Ride machete has lowrize rocker which is a flat between the bindings and then rockers out to lift the contact points. The best thing about lowrize is the rocker isn’t insane, it’s very mellow and no adjustment to ride.
Turning: The lowrize sidecut really makes for a smooth predictable turn and that’s what I like best about Ride, there’s no worries on how the board will make the ride on the mountain. It really handled long and short radius turns with ease, no catching on edge and the addition of carbon array to the board made it more stable in turns than I was expecting.
Stable: I took it down the typical run that every board during demos received and throughout the entire time felt solid on how it handled when I picked up speed and went through choppy/bumped areas. I didn’t feel any vibrations or chatter when riding the board.
Pop: Even though I was riding the 158cm for the machete which is on the bigger size for freestyle for me, I was still able to get some butter action in and ride park with some boxes where it didn’t catch at all. It was easy to play with on the dance box and had a really poppy nose/tail that made it fun to ollie on. When it came time to chop down trees, the lighter swing weight on the machete helped do some tree bonking.
Switch: Rides like a twin board with no change in switch riding and the sidecut is radial so stays the same for switch riding.
Overall Impression: I really like that Ride’s rocker is insane to adjust to, it’s a smooth transition to their lowrize rocker and every board that I’ve ridden from them requires no adjustment…you just get it and ride. The machete handled the entire mountain from carving to easy turns, park and just playing around.
Shay’s Honesty Box: The machete was middle of the road for me, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it. Definitely overall it was a solid ride but not sure I would ride it all the time as my own preference. It was stiffer than the Ride Crush I had ridden and definitely an all mountain freestyle board that could be ridden everywhere.
Ready to buy? Head over to evo for the 2011 version of the Ride Machete or shop their full line of Ride snowboards
On Snow Photo
[singlepic id=7432 w=400 h=300 float=]
Ride Machete description
Review Disclosure: I rode this board at a demo day.
ph1l
January 13, 2010 at 9:02 amhey shay…
what were your dislikes with the board? when i read the single sections it seems like a board you loved but at the end your honesty box is a bummer.
could you recommend me a better board for all-mountain riding with a focus on playing around/park?
greetings
Shay
January 13, 2010 at 9:17 amI definititely think the machete is the all mountain board with the park focus, it’s one of the more popular boards this year. It’s a safe choice because it’s not much of an adjustment.
Bummer you got that from my honesty box, I just meant to say that for me personally it was just another snowboard…it didn’t win me over that I’d go out and buy it but I didn’t hate it either. Just middle of the road. I’m not a fan of ride slimewalls and I think ride would benefit from MTX. Overall the machete was a safe ride, it was predictable and easy…sometimes I want more than that, I want to be pushed as a rider.
ph1l
January 13, 2010 at 9:41 amand what do you think would be better for only park riding?
wakeboardSTL
January 13, 2010 at 10:57 amI appreciate the reviews and honesty that Shay provides with each review. No BS, no one else has this quality of reviews and I love it.
Based on my findings from shayboarder.com, I recommend Capitahhhhhhhh! Indoor Survival or Green Machine with FK. Get some!
Mike
January 13, 2010 at 6:05 pmShay,
I had narrowed my next all mountain freestyle purchase, down to the Indoor survival FK, the Unity Reverse and the Ride Machete. All three boards have similar descriptions in your review and seem to be aimed at the same crowd. Can you give me a short shake down and comparison between these boards?
Mike
DylanBee
January 14, 2010 at 1:38 amHey Mike, if you like the look of the Indoor than it’s a great all-mountain board, but if it’s about the performance, (I’ve tried the Indoor, Charlie, Mid-Life, and ride the Horrorscope) than i suggest the Mid-Life, TJ’s pro model. its a camber board but super poppy and if you’re just hittin little hips on the side of the runs and havin fun than the mid-life’s great. Nonetheless the Indoor’s a fun, stiffer zero camber board so it rips from park to pow. Hope that helps, if not Shay will clear it up.
Keep it classy!
Tweets that mention Snowboard Review: 09-10 Ride Machete – Shayboarder.com -- Topsy.com
January 14, 2010 at 1:59 am[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by shayboarder, shredunion.com and Johnny C.Lopez, Girls Learn To Ride. Girls Learn To Ride said: Snowboard Review: 09-10 Ride Machete: Location: Loveland, CO Snow Conditions: Hardpacked to icy conditions on t.. http://bit.ly/78OfIg […]
Karim
January 14, 2010 at 5:22 amHey
I rode the machete for a month, great predictable ride, but found it a bit to stiff between the bindings. This is not the best board if you like parkjibbing and buttering.
If you are looking for a fun board that can handle big jumps and does great all-mountain than this might be your board.
I sold this stick and got me a 2010 horrorscope that gives me smiles every time i strap in 🙂
Shay
January 14, 2010 at 6:53 amPh1, depends what kind of park riding? More jumps or more jibbing?
Wake, thanks!
Mike, really depends on your riding style. Unity is built tough, more charging mountain board, stiffer than indoor and machete in my opinion. Indoor to me is perfect balance of all mountain freestyle, softer in the nose and tail so still easy to play with and stiffer between the bindings so you can charge with it and machete is kind of middle of the road between both of those boards. They are similiar boards but really depends on what you as the rider want more, whats your riding style, where do you ride?
Dylan, awesome input. I haven’t rode tj’s board since it’s a midwide so great to hear it’s one to consider as well.
Karim, great to hear your input on the machete as well! Definitely for super jibbing action, the machete isn’t as soft as the horrorscope which makes it super easy to play around on. Awesome you like your horrorscope and it works for you!
Mike
January 14, 2010 at 8:47 amI’m just an intermediate all mountain kind of guy. Snow fall being so meager this season, you gotta take what the mountain has to offer, and where you can find it. I ride the whole mountain. I jump, rail, switch, carve moggle and tree bash equally. I am getting older, so am content with 50/50 and board slides on smaller boxes and rails. I’m hitting the small to medium sized jumps straight for now and just starting to work on 180s. I’m on an older, cambered Indoor now. It really lands jumps well, carves well and jibs well enough for me, but found that it doesn’t get it done in pow more than 6″ deep. Choppy moggly runs, I really struggle on the board too. Just a little more turnability between the bindings would go far to making it a true quiver killer. I prefer camber boards, but thought that maybe a mild reverse camber would be just versitile enough for pow, crud and moggles without giving up too much in stability. Demoed an Evo, but found it too soft. The Unity Reverse road well but it lacked edge hold in hard pack and ice. I havn’t demoed any Ride boards or any of the Flat kick line up either. I’ll give the Mid Life a look per Dylan’s suggestion.
Matty A
January 14, 2010 at 6:03 pmmike, also check out Yes Snowboards, the 156 in particular. just got one and it kills it all over and it at a great price point.
Tara
January 17, 2010 at 1:38 pmShay, nice review of the Machete. I was wondering what you were going to think about it. I tried it and thought it was a nice board, excellent for plowing through choppy conditions and charging big jumps. I found it a little stiff for a “park board” and a tad heavy. I think it’s best for running the whole mountain, going fast and launching big. Little jibby park rats will probably not enjoy the ride so much!
Shay
January 18, 2010 at 6:42 amMike, definitely understand that on the snow this year. Since it sounds like you have access to demo’s, definitely try to get on the FK to see how you feel about it or like Matty said, the Yes 56. I’d also look into the GNU DK C2 or Lib Dark C2 since you want good edgehold, carves well and something playful. I’d see if you can demo them to consider. Ride boards in my opinion don’t have the best edgehold.
Matt, awesome to hear you like your YES board!
Tara, Definitely good points! It’s on the stiffer end of park and great to get your input on it as well!
NONSTOPsnowboard
January 18, 2010 at 3:09 pmThis is a super fun board that is excellent for jibbing. It still has lots of pop and has a soft (contrary to Shays review) and playful feel. It also handles well at fairly high speeds on groomers. It’s not too shabby in the pow too. A pretty good all round fun board that handles most terrain.
Mike
March 28, 2010 at 6:27 amJack of all traits, master of none! I had low expectations of this board as I am still a camber guy but after demoeing this board all day yesterday it changed my mind. I hit jumps, rails, moguls, ice, pipe, trees and even found a little powder here and there. The board wasn’t perfect for any of these conditions, but it was pretty darn good every where I took it. You can charge it, carve it, short turn it, press it, power it and even just relax and have fun on it. Stable jump landings, and adaquate edge hold made the board OK for average joe in the pipe. Very intuitive transition from camber to the low rise rocker. Good pop, predictable handling. I’ve been demoeing boards every chance I get. This is the closest thing I’ve found to a truelly all mountain stick.
Ride Machete / Smokin’ Big Wig Review « BurritoAndSnow's Blah Blah Blahg
April 2, 2010 at 6:50 pm[…] Shayboarder […]
Mike
January 13, 2011 at 7:53 amI’ve been riding this board all season and I’m beginning to understand Shay’s review. All of my boards in the past have had a personality, were some how animate with a connection to the rider and value beyond the sticker price. The Machete does everything I ask of it and does it well, with the exception of being a little dead on the pop. It turns great, handles jump landings fine, is intuitive on boxes and slays it in the powder. I don’t have any reason to not be blown away, except I’m not. This is my first board which is some how inanimate to me and I find myself just wanting to beat the heck out of it just to see how much it will take. I’ll bludgeon this board untill its dead and then move on. Maybe an Indoor, or an Evo, or an SL or maybe give one of the newer Libs a try. The eventual passing will ultimately go quietly and without concern, like the passing of a distant relative you rarely see or hear from.