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Allrounders: The Breach & Conflict
The perfect blend between flex and strength: Julian Cohen’s Pro Model the Conflict. It’s a constant performer: stable yet playful due to its three-stage rocker and crossover channels. Dominik Guhrs’ pro model, the Jobe Breach, stands for traction and speed. Combined with flex in tip and tail of this board makes it the perfect blend for a champ.

Railboards: The Pitch & Concord/Armada
The Pitch, Concord, and for the shredettes: the Armada, are the real rail rippers. These boards have a wooden core to ensure maximum flex. Want extra speed and traction? Choose the Pitch. However, the Concord and Armada are the thinnest and flexiest in the range.

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What’s New

Paulownia wood core with Ghost Stringers, sculpted sidewalls, die-cut base

What It Means for You

The all-wood core with Ghost Stringers system provides a balance of flex and responsivity. The die-cut base eliminates the need for a base graphic, which reduces weight. Plus, who doesn’t want their own meme?

The Pro’s Words

Like unicorns humping. – Nick Dorsey

What’s New

Variable flex along the rocker line, Mod Pour foam core, Magic Carpet fiberglass, sintered

What It Means for You

With a thicker and stiffer belly, and thinner and flexier tips, riders are able to rock into presses with ease. Similar to the Kinetik Flexbox 2, but with a larger sweet spot and more affordable price. Nice in the park and nice for your wallet — that’s a solid combo.

The Pro’s Words

State Farm approved. – Jake Pelot

What’s New

Blended core, tip and tail flex, H.I.T. base, tri-tech flat spots

What It Means for You

Built for explosive park riding, the Breach offers a solid mix of stiffness and flexibility for all-around performance, while the strengthened base and tri-tech flat spots help lengthen the board’s lifetime.

The Pro’s Words

Breach is best. – Dominik Gührs

What’s New

New shape featuring larger sizes, triple stringer wood/polyurethane core, FlexTrack binding mount, Liquid Rails sidewall

What It Means for You

The larger sizes allow for much softer landings and bring a new dimension to hitting rails in the park. LF’s FlexTrack bends with the board, meaning more response for you. Not included: Daniel’s insane ability.

The Pro’s Words

Bigger is better. – Daniel Grant

What’s New

O’Brien’s Fusion Core, Flex Technology and Impact Base, refined flex pattern

What It Means for You

The Fusion Core and flex pattern keep it stiff in the middle for a stronger feel off the wake yet soft in the tip and tail for fun in the park. And, of course, you’re always allowed to call your board an S.O.B. …

The Pro’s Words

Durable responsive flex. – Dary Znebel

What’s New

POP 3 Core, thin profile in tip and tail, Triax layup, flat Ti base

What It Means for You

The three poplar stringers in the POP 3 Core provide the flex and snap you want in a park board, while the Ti base means you don’t have to worry about hitting rails and obstacles over and over again. Who says honey badger don’t care?!

The Pro’s Words

Honey Badger cares?!? – Daniel Powers

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As soon as I pulled the Solo out of the box, I ­realized that Slingshot and Dylan Miller had come up with a board that is definitely unique. The board I tried was a size bigger than the LF Deluxe I normally ride, but it was narrow in comparison, with the inserts placed farther toward the center of the board than what I am used to, allowing for a seriously narrow stance (the Dylan Miller signature). I also have to say that I really liked the narwhal graphic!

On the water, the board was very comfortable to ride. The narrow width made it feel like the larger size was the right-size board, just with extra tip and tail. It has a moderately soft flex throughout but is stiffer in the midsection, so it didn’t ride like a wet noodle. The flex tip is extremely soft, but because of the extra length in tip and tail, it didn’t negatively affect the way the board reacted on the water, and I was able to ollie onto even the highest rails with ease. The channels that run through the middle of the board stop before the tip and tail, so it gave traction while on the water, but it didn’t interfere on the rails at all. There is a gentle concave in the tip and tail that flexed to become flat when on a box-style feature, so it didn’t get in the way and hugged pipe rails nicely, adding extra stability. Although I am normally not a fan of any spine on a cable board, the Solo’s spine was so mellow that it didn’t negatively affect me, even on the pipe rails where it usually would. On the other hand, I also didn’t notice much benefit from the spine on the water or on landings off the kicker, and it landed only slightly better than a flat-bottomed board.

The most noticeable aspect of the Solo is definitely that it was designed to be ridden big with a slightly narrower stance, allowing for a lot of tip and tail. Board slides and lip slides were really fun because you can poke it out a lot and easily get both boots to one side of the rail. Nollies and pokes were so easy to do with just a slight bend of a knee that it was really fun to add these little maneuvers in as I rode around the park. On the other hand, I did find it hard to overcome the extra tip and tail while pressing. Getting into a press was easy, but doing a crazy press was more difficult. It was also more difficult to release for air tricks, although if you’re riding this board, chances are you’re probably not doing it for air tricks.

Overall, the Solo was a fun board to ride around the park, and I enjoyed having that extra tip and tail to play with for a couple of days. The bottom contours, flex pattern and overall design are great for the park and riding features. ­Slingshot has taken Dylan’s style and ­approach to riding and created a solid design that is a super-fun board.

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