Thrive Renegade Snowboard Video and Written Review Review by The Good Ride

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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: 157 and 154
Days:  6
Conditions: Hard in the morning slowly turning soft to slushy almost every day.
Riders: James
Boots: Burton Imperial, Burton Hail, Burton SLX
Bindings: Burton Cartel, Burton Genesis, Union Contact Pro, Flux DS
Set Up: Centered and about 23″ wide 15 front -15 back

So the Thrive Renegade has nothing new or original with its standard hybrid rocker profile and standard side cut design but it’s a really fun playful do anything kind of ride than I think many all-mountain freestylers will enjoy.  My only suggestion is to make sure you reference their sizing guide and get the right size board for your feet.

Approximate Weight:  Felt normal and nothing said too heavy or too light to me riding on the chair.

On Snow Feel:  One footing on and off the chair wasn’t too hard to do but it still felt a little loose.  The wider waist made a little bit of a difference.  At first, I didn’t even realize that it was a wider waist of 25.9.  It just felt a little slower than I’d expect for a hybrid rocker board. This is only really relevant to my smaller non, mid-wide feet. If you are a larger boot size closer than my size 9 it won’t feel slow edge to edge.  It will feel quick and very appropriate for your size.

Powder: No powder to speak of this year but it was easy in slush and pretty good for a true twin with a centered stance. The camber profile and nose design look like it would be pretty easy and fun in powder for those that like to ride with a centered stance.

Turn Initiation and Carving: So this was pretty slow for my size 9 feet edge to edge but it wasn’t hard to turn at all.  It was an easy edge to edge but just not quick. The carving was pretty good here and the mellow camber held when I made pretty hard carving turns and even offered a bit of spring out of the end of the turn.  For my size 9 boots, it was more of a medium to wide radius turning board where a board around 25cm with the same specs would have been really snappy and quick.

Speed: Nothing mind-blowing here but it’s fine with a little mountain speed.

Uneven Terrain: I had lot’s of bumpy terrain midday and it was fine if you slowed down a bit.

Edge Hold: I was expecting worse edge hold and I was told it’s just a standard sidecut.  Whatever they are doing is good.  I even took this on one run and then right after got on the Lib Tech TRS (amazing edge hold) the next.  I was expecting to see a huge difference between the two but the difference wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. Sure the TRS had a lot more grip but this actually borders on being pretty good in harder conditions.  It’s not an ice specialist or a board I’d want to ride every day if it was hard but it sure doesn’t slide out like some hybrid rocker boards I tried.

Flex: Seemed like it was on the border of med and med/soft and it was easy to butter and press for sure. It wasn’t the easiest but it’s very doable to the point where most will appreciate it’s balanced flex.

Switch: Perfect either way as it’s a true twin.

Jibbing: Pretty easy to jib if you are a mid/wide foot but to me, it felt less easy but still doable.

Pipe: No pipe for this demo but I think it wouldn’t be bad at all for the right boot size. I’d like something a little quicker edge to edge for the pipe but judging by the way it carved I would not be sketched entering a pipe.

Jumps: My favorite part about this board. It popped really well and had a nice snap to the air any time I wanted to ollie.  I hit a few small kickers in the park too and it was really fun here. There is a lot of easy forgiving spring going on here.

All in all the Thrive Renegade is a very good mid/wide board that really impressed me. Of the Thrive boards, I tried it was for sure the favorite and felt the most versatile. I couldn’t fault you at all for buying this and I know now why a lot of people I run into with this board in Tahoe speak so highly of it.