Rome CrossRocket 2015 - 2013 Review by The Good Ride

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The Rome CrossRocket at first felt very aggressive, hard to throw around and not super poppy.  To us, it was a very aggressive twin like ride. After a few days on the board, you start to understand it and it warms up to you. This is not for everyone and we personally didn’t like it but for some, you might like this aggressive all mountain twin. Pretty much the same board from 2013 to 2014. I was hoping for the reincarnation of the very light snappy fun aggressive Rome Design that they use to have in their line a few years back but it didn’t really feel anything like it.  It would have been better to see a hybrid Camber Rome Design.

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: 156

Days 3
Conditions: Some light powder blown all over the place with nasty winds and some really hard snow beneath.  Another day was hard with some almost icy spots and another was practically perfect groomers in the morning with softer messy snow in the afternoon.
Riders: James, Peter, Kyle and some friends at P3 in Mammoth
Bindings: Rome 390 Boss
Boots: Burton SLX and Burton Ion
Stance- 23 inches wide ducked at 12 -12

So the Cross Rocket is one of those acquired tastes and it’s very aggressive for a board of this shape.  We rode it as well as a few friends of mine in the industry.  At first almost all of us didn’t like the board and wanted to get off it after the first turns.  However after a reluctant couple of days on it the board it starts to warm up a little.  This is the kind of ride that isn’t for everyone.  If you are a really strong hard charging all mountain freestyle rider who is very accomplished this could be a good board.  This is pretty much a camber board with the tip/tail turned up.

On Snow Feel This is a great high-speed aggressive groomer board for those that like a semi-directional aggressive skateboard feel when riding the mountain. It’s damp and stable so picking up speed on groomers isn’t bad. The board is easy to one foot and flat base while still being very aggressive but the unresponsive flex held us back from saying it was great here.

Powder: Not the best powder board in the aggressive twin class but it’s a little better than most camber twins.  What saves is from being worse is the turned up sides of the nose so it kind of neutralizes the camber part that points down so it has about the same float as a flat camber twin. for those that are very accomplished in powder, you won’t have issues planing with this board and it has a very skate like feel edge to edge.

Turn Initiation and Carving: Not terribly easy edge to edge and despite the turned up sides of the nose/tail it still has the feel of a technical riding camber twin. Short radius turns take a little more work than many hybrid shapes but the aggressive rider will appreciate that.  Wider radius turns to carving are a little more fun. You can feel the Quick Rip Sidecut engage and it makes a harder turn feel more like a true camber board carve instead of like a board with the traditional contact points turned up.  It’s missing an easy spring out of the turn that makes it Great but for those who have really strong legs, you will be happy.

Speed: This is a pretty fast board with a decent base. It’s got a little glide for the flats that keeps the board moving pretty well if its waxed well. Something is missing from it to make it a super bomber board like the Rome Anthem but it’s pretty damn fast for a twin at this price point.

Uneven Terrain: When the conditions get a little rough it’s not the best board in its class for absorbing bumpy snow. It feels like it’s damp shield at high-speed assaults on perfect groomers disappears when you have to slow down and deal with hard bumpy snow.  It’s not a board I want to be on at the end of the day.

Approximate Weight– Feels a little on the heavier side of the scale but also feels pretty sturdy.

Edge Hold: Quick Rip is just right for all conditions riding. It grips well in just about any snow you want to ride in.  It’s not an ice specialist but it holds well in snowment and doesn’t feel grippy in soft snow. It’s also not grippy when the snow is super soft, thick or slushy.

Flex: This isn’t a soft board by any means.  The flex might seem softer when you flex it but it feels really aggressive when you try to turn it on the mountain.  It’s ok for a butter or press but it takes the average rider like us a lot of work.  It requires some strength to get it to bend it laterally like a mostly camber board.

Switch: This is pretty easy switch like the Rome Agent.

Jibbing- This is a very sturdy board that can take a beating in the jib park. It’s not very catchy for camber but it’s too stiff for our taste. Still, there are better boards for dedicated jibbing but it’s not bad for a board of this flex.

Pipe: Not a bad pipe board but far from our first choice. It has enough edge hold and a good drive from wall to wall.

Jumps: It’s not super springy but someone who is strong can make this board ollie rather well.  When approaching jumps it’s pretty stable and doesn’t feel like you need to be spinning off it unless you want to.  Many boards with the side’s of the nose/tail turned up can feel weird being slightly on edge approaching a jump but this isn’t that bad.  I think it’s because of the second little sidecut between the feet in the quick rip side cut or because the nose/tail aren’t turned up as much as other boards with this design.

All in all this is an interesting board that could work for a really strong all mountain freestyle rider but it didn’t appeal to us as a do everything ride.  One friend I have that rides really strong and aggressive liked this board but the rest of us average riders didn’t have the best time on this.