Camber VS Rocker Snowboard Test

You should have tested a normal rocker instead of an hybrid.

I'm a 20+ year rider and have to say there is more to rocker than this. I switched from camber to a flying V and love it. It floats much better in powder and allows much quicker initialization into turns. It has a more loose feel and may be harder to control, but I find it more fun as someone who loves to spin a lot. It definitely is not as powerful in the turns, so it requires a little extra focus to stay locked. I wouldn't say either is better, just different. If you've ever been in really deep snow and struggled to keep enough weight on the back leg, you will understand why rocker is awesome. This also applies to going switch in powder which can otherwise be really difficult. Thanks for the great vids Kevin, hopefully this helps!

Good comparison; thanks for spending the time pulling this together. Something beginners will want to be aware of is that camber boards may catch an edge more easily than a non-camber board.

I suspect he is more experienced with camber and finds it more comfortable. An unintentional bias. This is a very small sample so don't draw any conclusions based on just this video.

from this video some beginner snowboarder would deduce that camber is the only true way and rocker boards are just engineers' mistakes. and you didn't even mentioned that 1) on rocker you're less likely to catch and edge 2) rocker is superb in powder and you should have tested normal rocker instead of an hybrid.

Come on man, slight advantage on butters? Rocker were designed for that type of playfulness and completely blow camber out of the water. This review is like: Car or Motorcycle, But its your first time on a motorcycle.

Neither of those boards are true rocker or true camber. The one board features the Flying V profile, which the shape he described in the video, but it's not really true rocker. The other board (green one) is a Burton Process Off-Axis, which has the "Pure Pop Camber" profile. It isn't true camber, but camber between the bindings then a flat zone then early rise, which is more catch free than true camber. So it's not really an accurate comparison between true rocker and true camber.

I actually learned on a v-rocker burton custom board, I feel it was great as a beginner but as I progressed it was hindering my performance. Jumps and ollies were shaky on the landings. And as I got faster the board would never hold an edge worth squat! Switched to camber and was amazed by how the board would lock in while I was on my runs. That 1st day with a camber board I bombed the mountain so many times and with speeds I never thought possible. Camber all the way!

I have learned a lot in this helpful tutorial and your channel for the past 2 years now and now that I'm progressing I was looking into getting the burton process and switch from a nitro rocker to the camber burton... thanks for this helpful tutorial and helping me decide on what board to get

I've been riding since 1994. I had a rocker for many years, today I now own a flying-v and a camber. I love the camber. Not a huge fan of the flying-v, and I don't really miss the rocker. I think the most important is to have a board that's the right size, comfy shoes, sharp edges, nicely set binders, then you can worry about your board shape. Overall your riding skills will make the real difference. There's no right or wrong when it comes to board preference.

My personal choice: flat camber/ zero rocker/ however you wanna call it. I used to ride a hybrid rocker for a long time which was really fun in all conditions (except for icy conditions) and all parts of the mountain. Playful, comfy powder riding, nice to learn butters and start off park riding as it is really forgiving (while you'd catch your edge pretty quickly on a camber). But as I was progressing in park riding I wanted something more stable for bigger jumps, but still playful and not too aggressive. At first I was pretty skeptic about flat cambers, but once I tried it I immediately fell in love. I'll keep my rocker hybrid board for those hard and long powder days, but I won't switch to another shape in all-day-riding.

Great vid. It makes sense why the first snowboard I ever rode allowed me to hit and land jumps at only only my 2-3rd day ever snowboarding. Ever since then I’ve been riding rockered boards, that felt unstable after coming down from a jump.

I just switched to a lib tech trs c2 power , and although I have no camber experience to speak of, I am absolutely amazed with this board (my 5th board). Very stable flat basing, edge hold is phenomenal, pop is great, great in pow, great on hard pow, great on icy days, buttering brilliant, landings very good, one footing easy. I am in love with this board and have progressed more in 4 days using this board than in two seasons on my last board (rome agent rocker).

one thing that people don't really get is that rocker and magna traction are designed to work together. Lib tech is the only company with the proper technology to make rocker work well (sorry, but it's true). also, to carve well using rocker, you use the board differently, you work the middle of the board. if your used to riding a camber board and you just use rocker like a camber board, it's not gonna feel right. but when you recognize that you can really put a lot more power into the middle of the board, it opens up a whole new world of carving power, you can really adjust your arc, you can power carve through chunky and funky snow (the rocker absorbs bumps better when on edge). from what ive heard, NS makes really good carving boards with their camber/rocker combo, and Lib Tech's Banana Magic and Cygnus X-1 (and others) are superb. to review; you need a correct board, most rocker boards are for jib/buttery action. the right cam/rock combo along with "serrated edges" can give you supreme carving power, better powder performance, quicker turning ability, and improved performance in variable conditions (ice, chunks, not smooth snow) having ridden since 1986, these new flex shapes are a game changer, I would not go back to a camber board for all around riding!

I grew up skateboarding and when I switched to Rocker/Camber from straight camber...it was like getting back on a skateboard which I loved. Easy turns, not catching your edge...that looser feel is awesome...like having trucks. Not only that but at speed I personally feel more stable. Notice in his review being on flat and narrow..he talks about riding edge to edge and feeling 'more' in control. That's actually a statement that he's not really familiar with rocker style boards. You don't need to ride edge to edge on the flats and narrows...just relax and let you board go... you can still go edge to edge to slow if you need to ....raise your hand if you've caught and edge in the flat on shitty hard pack on a camber board... Anyways, I'm on a rocker/camber and have zero interest in going back to full camber.

Thank you very much, the first on any snowboard gear review videos I've watched actually informative.

Thanks for doing this test, I need a new board for this season and had no idea what differences there were.

It all depends on your terrain prefs. I have a big swooping rocker board which floats extremely well in powder. For groomers and kickers I use a twin camber board. Both perfectly fit my needs when used in the proper terrain, but would perform worse in the other situation. If I ever get into boxes or park more, I would buy a short rocker board, so that I catch an edge less easily. Also, rocker boards are more fogiving in turns and landings, but give you less response if you're going for big, fast slalom style. And then there is the whole other issue of board stiffness...The best board for you is the board that best fits your riding style.

I feel like this is a bit biased because you've been using your camber board alot more recently

I switched from camber to rocker last year, I was not 100% sure before trying but the first ride with the new board was awesome. Maybe it is because my old board was actually pretty old, but I loved the new one from the beginning. The main difference I saw was when going in powder: maybe you could have made it a little bit more fair by adding this test, but in general the results of the tests you make made sense. And I agree with some of the comments down here, I would always recommend a camber board for beginners: I feel comfortable with the rocker in pretty much everything I do, but I think it is something you appreciate when you have a better control on the board (especially when carving and going "flat")