Stranda Bowlrider 2.0 Snowboard Review with Davey & James

An In Depth Breakdown of the Stranda Bowlrider 2.0 Rides Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How It Was Tested:

We liked it so much we asked to keep these.

Size: 165 & 165w
Days: 15+ for Davey and 3 For James. Davey tested his in the 24/25 season, where James tested his in the 25/26 season.
Conditions:  and some early morning Slackountry pow time with Drift Boards & Union Rovers
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Boots: Nitro Team BOA, Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Force, Union Atlas Step On
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline Fase 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’s Set Up: 21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3, +24/+6. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.
Davey’s Set Up: 23” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Stranda Tree Surfer, Korua Pencil, Amplid Surfari, Jones Hovercraft, Korua Transition Finder, Cardiff Powgoda, Jones Mind Expander, YES PYL Uninc, Stone Farther

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How it Fits Us

Davey’s Take On Sizing

When it comes to sizing, this 165-wide was a good fit for me. I definitely would have been fine going up to a 170, maybe even in length, with this board. The board handles my weight well, I think you definitely could be 15 to 20 pounds heavier than me, and I have no issue with this board. Overall, great size and great board. Felt really good underfoot, was easy to turn, didn’t feel slow edge to edge, and I had no issues booting out with my size twelves.

James’s Take On Sizing

Looking at the specs online, I would have gone for the 59 with this, but I am so glad I went. 165. This just turns small and floats big in all the right ways.

So when I need quick turn initiation in all conditions from the beginning to the end of the day, this works for me with my specs. And then when I’m in powder, this has 165 float. Maybe even better because it’s an incredible floater with a long nose and a short tail.

So if you’re my specs, don’t ask me. Just size up. This is so easy to turn and control. It feels like a much smaller board in most situations when you need this to turn, and it floats like its size or bigger in powder.

How To Size The Bowlrider For You

Sizing is very subjective and personal. Never assume your way is the right way, and there is no right answer. Just make sure it’s not too wide to turn, or too narrow to boot out. I rarely use “all caps to emphasize something, but this is really important. NEVER TRUST ANYONE who doesn’t ask or reference boot size, weight, and height.

Boots

You should always start with your boot size first. If your board is too wide, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. This is the most important part of sizing a board. That’s why so many models come in various widths, such as Narrow, Normal, Mid-Wide, Wide, and Ultra-Wide.

Most brands don’t include a recommended boot size because it’s very complicated and time-consuming. Some do but are very liberal with their recommendations, here are some ideal US boot sizes for the Stranda Bowlrider that will allow you to have good turn initiation and not boot out. You can go wider or narrower depending on stance angles and riding preference.

159: 8 -10
165: 9-11
165w: 11-12

Weight

Your weight primarily determines how the board flexes underfoot. Give you more or less pop, speed, etc. It can help a little with turn initiation, too, but far less than boot size.

Check Stranda’s suggested weight range for each board. Then try to find a balance between what size best fits your boot size and weight.

Height

Next, check the length in relation to what you want from this board. The length of the board determines the swing weight/control, or a longer, more locked-in feel, depending on what you want from a board.

Boots and Bindings Response

Next, factor in your boot and binding’s responsiveness, which determines how well you can turn and control a board.

Personal Preference

Lastly, you need to factor in how you like to ride. Some prefer control, so matching the boot size first for easiest turn initiation is the priority, with weight second. Others prefer dampness over control, want to charge, and like to size up in width and length. Others like to ride wider boards with very responsive boots/bindings to carve harder.

Construction / Durability

For the construction, it’s mostly ashwood with some poplar. And there’s a lot of polyurethane in the sidewalls and potentially other dampening agents under the hood. They allow this board to be incredibly damp and, surprisingly, damp for how big and rocker this nose is, this word blasts through chunder.

The gloss topsheet of the Stranda Bowlrider 2.0 is prone to scratching and scuffing and can chip a little more easily than some boards, but it’s mainly cosmetic. Everything else about the board is very well built.

Shape & Setback

The Stranda Bowlrider has a good bit of taper but is also pretty setback and directional. It’s not as much of a setback as the Tree Surfer, which is more of a snowsurf type of ride. But it’s more setback on board than most Freeride boards. This is why we call this Alt Freeride.

Camber/On Snow Feel

For the camber profile, you get a healthy bow of camber between the feet that ends a little bit past the front insert. And you can see it bows out into a healthy amount of rocker in this big old nose. And the rocker is a little less pronounced in the tail.

This board felt stable at speeds. It wasn’t very catchy, even though it’s a pretty good amount of camber. I had no problem turning this thing and tight trees, and laid a nice big carve against one wide groomer. Skidded turns pretty easily. And for the ability level, I would say intermediate on up to expert can handle this as long as you have the right specs. This board might be just a little much to learn on. If you’re brand new to snowboarding.

Edge Hold

And for edge hold. There’s no major disruption in this side cut, but it definitely has a good grip. It held the edge well in firm snow. I wouldn’t call this an ice specialist.

So if you’re someone on the East Coast who sees a lot of ice, you might want something with a little more disruption in the edge. But for me at Mount Bachelor, I never had an issue with this edge washing out or not feeling like it could hold through a turn.

Uneven Snow

I never got that clown-shoe effect you can get with some other boards that are set back. And a really big nose. This thing stayed damp. It stayed on an edge, carving through uneven snow as well.

And, you know, sometimes riding around, especially on a place like Mount Bachelor, that’s windy. You’ll get a gully with the real deep pockets, snow that bounces you out into something that’s more wind-scoured and a little rougher. And this board handled that variable condition really well.

Sometimes, more dedicated powder boards lack that damping, and they feel very unstable. If you hit a shallower hard patch, this board had no issue with that. Stayed damp throughout top-to-bottom runs. Very little chatter, very little feedback. Really exceptional build and construction.

Buttering / Air

The board is actually decently easy to butter off the tail. The nose, my buttering skills aren’t quite there to be doing big powdered butters, and off this big nose. But if you’re a better rider than me, you definitely could, on this board.

Good pop on Ollies. This thing was really good at catching air. I didn’t really take it to the park, but there are quite a few natural side hits. And wind lips on Mount Bachelor that I was jumping off of, especially on powder days, this board had a great landing gear, landed in soft snow, really well tail didn’t feel like it was going to wash out overall dampness in the construction played into your ability to land and absorb impact on this board and not get a lot of, like, shocking chatter back through your joints. If you land a little flat.

Base Glide

The Stranda Bowlrider 2.0 had an exceptional base slide. This is an incredibly fast base. It retains wax really well, and it’s the very top of the tier when it comes to base glide, the base does have a good amount of structure though, so you’re going to want to make sure it stays well waxed to prevent that structure from grabbing in the snow.

Really lay it on thick your first time. Like some gravy on a damp biscuit. And this is what the base looks like with a ton of wax on it. I waxed it while I was moving and couldn’t find my kit, so I didn’t have a scraper on me. I took it out. I thought the snow would take the wax off a little better on its own, but it didn’t.

But let me tell you, even with this much extra wax on this board, I had no issues with the base glide. It didn’t feel like it slowed down at all. Still rode perfectly well. I was gonna scrape it off. But it’s summertime now, so this is just going to stay on and probably get an even thicker coat of storage wax.

Powder

When it comes to powder. Oh, this board is nice. The big old rocker nose is almost impossible to sink. This nice, short, stiff tail allows you to set the board back and get a lot of float, which sinks really well.

The playful flex allows this board to feel easy turning and responsive in powder, still being a big enough board to really feel stable and to give you that planing ability, if you have to hit any flat sections, any run outs, or something where you could get stuck, this board stays up. Very little back leg burn.

The taper, the early rise, and the setback on board all come together to make this board amazing in powder.

Davey’s Final Thoughts

Final thoughts. Like I’ve already said a couple of times in this review, I love this board. One of the closest things to a quiver killer you can find. Great Turner on hard pack handles, tracked out end of the day, snow like a boss.

Exceptional float for the deepest powder. Days of the year, poppy and stable enough to go out on some shallower powder. Days where you’re riding around and popping off of everything. This thing is an all-around fun board to ride. I didn’t find any weaknesses. This is definitely a board I would love to have in my quiver.

Biesty’s Take

Hey gang, Davies is involved so much as a reviewer that he did the whole review this time. I’m chiming in at the end, and I’m just going to give you my take.

Flex Personality

Let’s talk Bowl Rider flex here. This is a 65. It’s a big board with a pretty stiff flex. Overall, I’d say it’s on the stiff side of medium stiff. And there’s not a lot of give, especially down at the tail.

But here’s the thing. There’s a lot of rocker before this tail. So it’s easy to leverage that rocker and butter a lot better than you would think for a board this stiff. Now the nose is a little more powder-friendly, but it’s not the kind of nose that’s going to fold over either. It’s very easy to butter. But it still holds pretty well.

And overall, this has a decent amount of pop. It’s not a ton. But if you give it a lot of energy, it does give back to you. Even though it’s so big and so damp.

Doing a quick comparison against the Tree Surfer, which shares a lot of characteristics, and it’s very similar in terms of flex. This is the 62, the equivalent of the 65. And the one area I feel a difference is that there seems to be a slightly softer flex in the nose, but that’s not 100% certain because each board’s flex is a little different, and they’re very close overall.

They both have a very damp flex that pops much better than you would think, given how stiff and damp they are.

James’ Breakdown

And to give you my take on this, I love this Stranda Bowlrider 2.0. This has a lot of similarities, shape-wise, from the nose all the way down through the side cut to the Stranda Tree Surfer, but then has a different tail.

You can see the stance. Location is a little more centered on the board and not a setback towards the tail. But this still floats incredibly well. It turned and slashed so easily in a little bit of powder. I had it carved and turned so well in the groomers I had.

It’s not a full-on carver, and it’s not a full-on powder board, but it’s a great balance of both. The base is incredibly fast and has a super-easy glide. It’s the kind of base where you want to go first on the traverse, because you’re going to be passing everybody. If you don’t.

Tree Surfer vs. Bowlrider 2.0

I would say go with Tree Surfer if you want a slightly better float in powder and you like a more setback feel.

I would say go Bowlrider if you like a little more centered feel and almost the same float, but more landing gear in the tail for getting air. This is going to be a better board.

In soft, messy, uneven snow, it didn’t buck and bounce me around. It’s also incredibly chatter-resistant on hard, micro-bumpy snow. So it’s a great uneven snow ride.

There is a lot of overlap with this. And the Tree Surfer 162 that I have and love, but I like this turn initiation a little better on the Bowlrider. It seems to turn faster than my 162 Tree Surfer, which is surprising. Both carved equally well.

James’ Final Thoughts

I think this is a great solution for anybody who loves to turn and loves powder. They want a longer, floatier board that still turns very easily in the trees and in tight spots. And they love picking up a little speed, but they also love going across the groomer carvings. This can do it all.

I really had a blast with this, and I don’t want to give it back. It’s a very special ride.