The Rome Reverb Rocker is one of those boards that we have liked for a long time and it offers up a really solid hybrid rocker freestyle ride at a good price point.

For 2011 Rome created the Rome Graft Rocker to add to the Rome’s line. In 2012 the Rome Graft Camber and Rocker was removed and the Reverb Rocker and Reverb Camber was introduced in it’s place. The shape and sizes are exactly the same but the flex is a little softer. So this is basically a softer version of the Graft Rocker. It’s good to see that the Graft Rocker is still alive. The Reverb Rocker kept making minor tweaks to the board in 2013 and 2014 and for the price this is a really fun freestyle board.

**So one thing to do when you get this board is de-tune the edges a bit. They are super sharp to the point where they cut my hands. That is outstanding but it’s a little catchy so it’s one of the only hybrid rocker boards that I strongly recommend de-tuning the major contact points a bit before riding. If you don’t it can be a little catchy.

Size 157 & 154

Days: 15+
Conditions: Everything from a little powder to hard bordering on icy snow.
Riders: James, Peter, Jimbo
Boots: Burton Ion, Burton Imperial, Nike Kaiju, Burton Hail
Bindings: Burton Genesis, Burton Malavita, Flux DS, Flux TT, Union Contact Pro
Set Up: 24″ wide (actually felt good that wide) 23″ wide 15 front -15 back centered.
** So generally I like 23″ wide for almost any board I ride but for some reason 24″ feels like 23″ with the Reverb Rocker. I feel like I’m at 22″ when I’m at 23″. Maybe it’s the massive rocker between the feet that makes the bindings/boots feel closer together but I’m not sure. Regardless it’s much better for me at 24″ wide.

On Snow Feel: The Rome Reverb Rocker is about taking a mellow playful freestyle approach to mountain. You can also carve, jib and carve but if you pick up speed then look to other boards. The board is pretty loose between the feet but that is what gives it it’s good pop.

Powder: The rocker between the feet is pretty curved up so this twin will float pretty easy for a twin. It’s still no powder board but it’s better than the camber Reverb.

Turn Initiation and Carving- The side cut they call “quick rip” is very unique and so far it’s pretty interesting to ride. There is one side cut that goes a bit beyond the binding mounts. Then there is another one that is after that and it makes it look like there are two mini snowboards in one side cut. First off we noticed that there is extra edge hold but that is not their sole intention. When we initiated short or mellow turns it felt like most easy turning rocker or hybrid rocker snowboards. When you really lean in to carve there is this quick almost startling change at first like your board just changed under your feet. It took a bit of getting use to but after a few runs it became a really fun sensation. The more you ride it the more you like this sensation. You could make short or long radius turns and when you really layed in a carve it felt like a more aggressive all mountain board. Pretty interesting. The more time we have on this board the more we like it. We will say we liked carving a little bit more on the Graft Rocker because it was a little more stiff. Here is a nice little illustration that helps describe the Quick Rip sidecut. Its from the Agent Rocker but it’s just the same.

Speed: The Reverb Rocker has a nice fast base but it is not made for speed. It’s predesesor the Graft Rocker wasn’t good here either so a softer version isn’t going to be any better. We found this to be wobbly and chattery but so is every board like this. No surprise here.

Uneven Terrain: What is chattery at high speeds is great when it comes to slowing down and dealing with crappy bumpy snow. It moves over bumps like water over rocks which is great at slow speed but not fun at medium to fast speeds.

Approximate Weight– Not a feather weight but not a heavy board either. It’s a nice balance between durability and weight.

Edge Hold: For a soft hybrid rocker board this holds a very good edge. The Side cut that we described in the Turn Initiation category does a good job at gripping the snow. We like this and feel it’s border line excellent. We had no problem going through icy patches and keeping our edge on harder snow.

Flex: The Reverb Rocker is pretty soft. It’s not a noodle but it’s closer to the noodle side then it is to the medium side of things.

Switch: Perfect to ride switch. It’s a true twin with a centered stance so of course it does.

Jibbing– The Reverb Rocker is a very easy board to press, jib and butter around. It’s even better than the Graft that it replaced.

Pipe: The edge hold is there but it feels a bit loose in the pipe compared to many other boards we tried.

Jumps: The Reverb Rocker is a great jump board and although we didn’t go big it was fun anywhere in the park. It is very easy to generate your own air as well if you are looking to ollie anything.

All in all we liked the Reverb Rocker and feel its a great park board that can do pretty well if you want to carve at slower speeds as well.