06-07 161 Recon Riser. This board is fast rail to rail and handles a lot of speed. Great for steeps, back country, trees, x course, moguls or any where tight precise turns are needed. Board is good in pow however I wouldn’t pick it as my first choice due to the nose and tail transitions being a bit flat and short. Some have said that this is a stiff board but I’ve found it to be very spongy, great for landing big jumps, pipe, kickers, etc. however not a great park board. The RR has great buttery flex but weak slow pop making it hard to load the tail for quick or large tricks. It’s hard to ride technical switch on as well but it’s not a twin tip. Hey there really isn’t “the 1” perfect board for everything but this is a pretty good jack of all trades. I’ve had this board for almost 2 seasons, it’s seen 60 – 70 days of every kind of terrain that Mammoth and Tahoe offers and even though I switch to a 158 Sapient for the parks I’m buying another Recon Riser for next season because it’s fast, maneuverable and reliable! Even my skier friends that pride themselves on being good mogul riders were bummed when I whooped em down their favorite course on this board.

Customer Service

Board is done for. Nothing customer service can do for me now.

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Sapient
Osin
Palmer
Burton

Very flexible and forgiving. Good at holding an edge, even when it's chopped up.

A little to much flex for high speeds. Feels a little sketchy at times. Front binding mount could be a little closer to the front of the board. Makes it hard to if you ride switch.

I bought this board because of the price. I wasn't sure what it was going to feel like. At first it made me feel like a beginner again. It is very sensitive to input and I was all over the place. After a few runs I got my bindings set up right and it was great. I already feel better on this board than I ever have before. It has a lot of flex, but can still haul ass. I started landing jumps I never thought I could. This board is very forgiving. I remember times I felt like I expected to crash, but instead it pulled through. I really like this board and I can't wait to ride some more!

1. Holds a sick edge 2. Lightweight - great for powder days 3. Stable and smooth at high speeds 4. Great for jumps, drops and various terrain 5. Good flex - not too much, not too little

Just an observation - Top sheet is super-slick (To keep the snow from sticking to it) so it's a bit sketchy when getting off the lift. Buckle in on the chair or buy a stomp pad.

02 Recon 161 - I've been very impressed with this board. I've used it five times this season, and it has exceeded my expectations by far. I've used it mostly on powder days - this is where the Recon out performs any board I've ridden. It FLOATS on powder! (if you know how to ride it) I feel like a pro when carving with this board - it holds a tight edge. High speeds? Not a problem - groomed or backcountry - gives you the confidence to go fast and carve without feeling sketchy. This may not be a beginner board, since you have to be confident on it, but if you want to bring your level up all over the mountain, I would recommend the Recon.

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Burton Seven MLY Essential

FAST! Carves a perfect line. Speedy base. High speed stability.

I can't go boarding every day.

FAST! I was a little worried about durability, because this board is actually the replacement K2 sent me after I broke my Electra. But this board seems tough. I've nicked up the topsheet. Who cares? Maybe it's held up because I haven't been flinging myself off things. The board is fast in every way. Mine is long enough (165) that it zips through the powder as fast as I want, even the flatter stuff. I go by tons of people sitting on their asses in powder. Even with that, it still transitions really quickly. On groomers it can really carve. When I want to I can leave the same sort of line that the euro-carver losers do. (And I don't even have to wear neon pants) Any board can do well in powder, but this does well on suckier stuff too. The flex and all that make it so that I can just plow through crud. You have to go fast though, if you try and pick your way through it will suck as much as crud usually does.

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K2 Electra.

Rider confidence. Lateral stifness. Speed. Cool stealth looks.

Pricey...bit you pay for perfection!

I love this board. I feel this board was made for me. I ride a very poweful yet percise style and this board never disappoints. The harder I ride, the more I am impressed. riding in The Northeast, you have to have a board with good edge hold. Man this thing holds an edge. Turn initiation is insane. It just rails. Hit a roller or a kicker and prepare for take off. The board has a lot of spring, with good absorption for landings. Probably the best attribute this board has is cofidence. You never feel like there is a situation where the board is going to fail. If you are a strong powerful rider, who wants a stiff board that holds a tight line look no further. I got the 165 model, and it rides alittle smaller, keep that in mind.

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Gnu choice. Burton Custom. Burton supermodel. Ride Timeless.

None

I bought the recon in the 165 to replace an Electra 164, and was a bit disappointed because the super-confident (read cocky) salesgirl told me that is would carve harder, hold an edge better, and chatter less than the Electra. It was, after all, a hybrid slantwall board, with a harder over-all flex and a tuned mid-flex. I got it out on the groomed and ungroomed on 4-6 inches of fresh, and it did none of the above things better than the Electra, which rails through turns like it is on a rail. I like to ride a surfy, power-style, and the Recon just didn''t quite suit me as well as the Electra; particularly on carvy, driving heelside turns (the bread and butter of freeriding, IMHO) it washed out and left me sliding on my back significantly before the Electra would have. So the "boardier than thou" was wrong about the boards virtues. This sounds negative so far, but I don''t have bad feelings about the Recon, because it did a lot of things well. It is one of those boards that you don''t have to learn -- it felt natural and confidence inspiring on the first turn (outside of having to recalibrate my stand-straight-and-lean-heelside-ometer). I was hauling b@lls down familiar runs faster than on my old board w/ total confidence. It gets from edge to edge with little effort and not the least bit of sketchiness at any speed. It is stable like a big stiff board but maneuvers like a small softboard, which doesn''t seem right or fair but I''m not complaining. It rode pow well and jumped solidly. It reminded me of some of the softer backcountry boards out there as far as maneuverability and dampeness goes, but it is not a soft board. Maybe is just not fair to have started by comparing it to one of the all-time driviest feeling boards every made, because I would rather be on this board in nearly all situation and regardless of how it felt it clear got me down the hill faster and more confidently. I rode a Burton Balance a few years back and the qualities of this board strike me as being somewhat similar. I heard from someone who rode the Recon Riser and the regular Recon that the Riser pressured the edges a lot better in carvy turns. They actually slapped Palmer risers on the Recon and it held an edge better in hard carves like the recon riser. hmmmm.

Customer Service

So I say it is one a hell of a good board and I can see having a long friendship with it. Probably the next 5 reviews will say "dude, you''re crazy, it carves like a hot knife through pea soup," but

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I''ve ridden dozens of high-end snowboards in the past five years, and been riding for a lot longer.