Lago Open Road 2017 Review by The Good Ride

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The Lago Open Road is really is like it’s name and it’s a unique Freeride board. Don’t get too much into the foreplay thing.  Just get on it and point it.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size: 160
Days:   5
Conditions:   Everything from perfect groomers, to some pow, to a few feet of pow to waist deep light Sierra pow.
Riders: James, Matt
Boots: Burton Almighty, Adidas Tactical ADV, Burton Rover,
Bindings: Union Atlas, Burton Genesis X, Union T.Rice,
Set Up: Cloer to Centered and set all the way back.  Approx 58cm/22.75″ wide, 15 front and -6 back

Approximate Weight: Felt Normal

Flex: Feels medium/stiff in the shop and on the snow. It takes work to butter off the tail but it can be done. It’s not a buttery playful board.

On Snow Feel: The best way to describe it is it’s a pointer.  Point it in one direction and go. It’s a fast board that likes wide turns and picking up speed. It’s mostly a mellow camber with a little early rise rocker in the nose so it’s not a super catchy board compared to camber but it’s for a rider that knows what they are doing. I didn’t feel the taper as much as I would thought and the tail doesn’t feel washy.

Edge Hold: Not as much edge hold as we thought and it feels like it’s mainly for good snow.  Probably want to put it away when the snow get’s hard.

Turn Initiation: It’s not a board that flips quickly from edge to edge or can get super slashy. It doesn’t feel super slow and I could turn it in tight spots with some effort but compared to the Yes PYL and Burton Flight Attendant it felt slower.

Skidded Turns: It’s not the kind of board you get if you skit your turns.

Carving: Carving is really fun with the Lago Open Road and it’s a wider radius carver.  You can really lay it out and you don’t have to get too far back on the tail.

Speed: It’s a very fast board and it’s all about speed.  It had more speed than I needed and I wouldn’t like to find out how fast you would have to go to find where it starts affecting the ride.

Uneven Terrain: It’s not a board I’d like to be on in the bumps but it can power through chunder like a champ.

Powder:  So it feels a little more like an older school freeride board and there is more work off the back leg than many other boards in it’s peer group.  In 2 feet of snow it was noticeable compared to the Pick Your Line and Flight Attendant but it really became evident when it got massively deep.  That’s when I was really working off the back foot to keep my speed when it wasn’t steep. The other boards had easier float. I like the Camber off the tail so wouldn’t really like to see that go away but it would be great to have a little more rocker going on in the nose so it has a little easier float.  As it stands now you need to stay on your game in the deep stuff and keep your speed almost like you had to with camber back in the day.  It’s easier than if this was all camber but not as easy as other rides out there with more rocker.

Switch: I could do it but wouldn’t want to get the Lago Open Road if that’s what I want to do all the time.  That’s what the Double Barrel is for.

Jibbing: Nope.

Pipe: Nah…

Jumps: Like the pop off the tail and it has the potential to go big.  I’ll let someone else realize that potential as I’m past the big air phase of my life. It takes some strength to make this pop but it pops well for a mellow camber ride.

So all in all the Lago Open Road is a mean ass bomber that wants to go big.  If you are that type of rider then this could work for you.