Gentemstick Giant Mantaray 2024 - 2015 Review by The Good Ride

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Welcome to a pretty old but still relevant review of the Gentemstick Giant Mantaray from an average rider with extensive gear knowledge.

The Gentemstick Giant Mantaray is basically a larger Mantaray154/ Mantaray 156 for those with bigger feet or for those who just want a bigger/wider Mantaray that is still easy to turn.

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Size: 159
Days: 3
Conditions: Spring Snow. Hard snow in the morning, medium snow midday, and soft to slushy in the afternoon.  Every day was like this.
Riders: James
Boots: Burton Fiend LTD
Bindings:  Burton Diode, Flux SF, Union Factory
Set Up: 15 front 0 back, approx 22-23″ wide

Approximate Weight

The Gentemstick Giant Mantaray felt normal, bordering on being light.

Shape

The Gentemstick Giant Mantaray is pretty much a softer/larger version of the Mantaray and Mantaray 156 and 154. You just have a softer and larger build. There is a good amount of taper, and it’s pretty directional, but it’s not as tapered/directional/set back as some of their snowsurf designs. You aren’t riding near the tail like many snosurfers.

Camber/On Snow Feel

There is a pretty mellow camber from the front foot to near the tail, but you feel it on snow, and it’s very stable. You have a forgiving ride that one foots easy and flat bases easy as well.

Flex

Really soft for a board of this shape and style. Very easy to butter and press. I think production is a little more on par with the other Mantarays and that this demo I received has had a lot of city miles and probably lost a lot of its original flex. Gentemstick markets this as a scaled-up Mantaray, and they don’t mention it is softer, so I think the ultra-soft model is not like what you will get out of the wrapper.

Edge Hold

The Gentemstick Giant Mantaray doesn’t have any disruption in the sidecut, but man does it grip well. They really make their Mantaray’s grip well.

Powder

No powder, but based on my experience with the Mantaray 156 in powder, this will be a competent floater. It’s not a Barracuda, but it’s very competent for being this good on groomers. I don’t have the setback on board, but it’s probably very similar to the 156 Mantaray at -4.625″ back, which is pretty far back for an alt freeride board. I think if you are like me and better fit the 156 but want more float in pow, the 159 would be a nice bump. But if you are spec’d properly for the Giant Mantaray, it will float just like my 156 did for me.

Turn Initiation

I found the turn initiation easy for its width, but obviously, I’m not the right size for this board with size 9 US boots. If you have bigger boots this will turn just like the the 156 Mantaray turned for me.

Turning Experience

What I like about the Mantaray and pretty much all of the Independent lines except the XY’s is they are pretty stance angle agnostic. With the XY’s, if you don’t set it up posi, the tail will wash. With all the Mantarays, including the Giant Mantaray, you can set it up any way you like and ease yourself into posi stance angle riding. That being said, it lights up the best when set up posi, and it definitely lives on the more turny side.

Carving

The Gentemstick Mantaray has way more spring out of the snow than you would think for this little camber. It’s such a satisfying board to make hard carves.

Speed

You don’t get the Giant Mantaray to bomb, but now that they have ABS (for many years now), it’s much better to point it when you need to.

Base Glide

I have not had a faster base than Gentemstick and the base glide is special. If you ride mountains that have long traverses, I suggest you go first. This almost all-black base is super easy to repair as well.

Uneven Terrain

This is where the Mantaray Shines.  It’s one of those great after-lunch kind of boards that can hang in uneven to bumpy snow really well.  The medium, playful flex makes sloppy seconds much more fun. Hard or soft, uneven snow is handled very well. Especially with the ABS sidewall models that have been around for many years now.

Final Thoughts

So overall, I think the Giant Mantaray is right there with the rest of the Mantaray line. It’s inspired many other boards from other brands over the years, and it’s a very special ride.