Never Summer Funslinger Review
The Never Summer Funslinger is a soft flexing, twin and asymmetrical freestyle board made to ride the the park.
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Features of the Never Summer Funslinger 2017
- Matte Topsheet
Nothing fancy, it is just matte rather than shiny. - Carbon VXR Laminate Technology
There are carbon V shapes that extend out from the inserts, to the effective edge. It is made to get good edge to edge response, and helping to make the board stiffer torsionally. There are extra V’s at the tip and tail of the board, to get the most pop when you load up the nose or tail. - Ripsaw Rocker Camber Profile
The Ripsaw profile has the same feel as the original Rocker Camber design, but has more aggressive camber sections, so you get better edge hold and more pop.
- Extended Transition Area
A larger transition area (flat section) that helps for easy turn initiation (starting a turn) and helps the float in powder. - Vario Power Grip Sidecut
There are a few different radiuses, which are combined to give the board extra contact points, so you get better edge hold. Out towards the nose and tail, there are deep radius sections, which change to shallow radius sections, then to a straight section in the middle of the board.
- Low Profile Tip/Tail
Low profile (thinner) tip and tail keep the highest amount of board touching the snow – which helps for float, pop for ollies and nollies and gives you more stability when your landings aren’t perfect, while keeping the weight down. - STS Pre-tensioned Fiberglass
This is a pre-hardened and pre-tensioned laminate that has elastomer stringers between the 0 and 90 degree glass fibers. - Bi-Lite Fiberglass
This has some of the strength features of the STS fiberglass, but is much lighter. - Boost Flex Wood Core
This core has a slimmer side profile, which is made to get a solid feel, but still keeping it very light. It has a more consistent flex down the whole length of the board. - FDS Damping System
The freestyle daming system has a thinner rubber foil, which gives a lighter snappier feel, but still gets the smooth feeling ride. - Elastomeric Underfoot Stabilizers
Under the bindings are areas that are made to absorb vibration, keep the board stable at speed and help reduce foot fatigue (by getting rid of vibrations). - Sintered P-Tex Sidewall
P-Tex sidewalls have the advantage of being able to handle colder temperatures compared to ABS sidewalls, that can crack. - Durasurf Sintered 4501 Base
It is a high density base material that is fast and durable. - Harmonic Tip/Tail Damper
These are made to try and remove small vibrations in the nose and tail, which help to keep the board stable when you are riding fast, but without removing the pop of the board.
Explanation of the features in easy to understand english
Well the Matte Topsheet is pretty self explanatory, rather than the Carbonium or carbon fiber look of a lot of the Never Summer topsheets, this one is flat and not shiny.
The Carbon VXR Laminate Technology is what they have done to add some more response to a softer board. There are V shapes of carbon that extend out from the inserts (where you mount the bindings) to the edge of the board. They help transfer energy from your bindings, out to the edge so that the board, without making the board too stiff.
The Funslinger has the RipSaw camber profile, which has some more exaggerated camber sections, to help add grip and strong edge hold. Compared to the regular Rocker Camber on other Never Summer boards, the camber sections are longer, and extend deeper.
It still isn’t like a complete camber board though, the rocker area still gives you the playfullness, and better float in powder. The Extended Transition Area is is the orange part in the graphic, as the camber area blends into the tip and the tail.
The Vario Power Grip Sidecut is made up a bunch of different radius circles, rather than just one in a normal board with a Radial Sidecut. By using multiple circle, it means that there are more contact points, which will help you grip on icy days. The combination of different points means that starting a turn is easy and smooth, just like exiting a turn.
The Funslinger is a Asymmetrical Twin board, which means that it will ride the same in both regular and switch. The heelside of the board has a shorter radius (smaller sidecut circle) than the toes, and has been designed so that turning on your heels feels as natural as it does on your toes.
The sidewalls are made of Sintered P-Tex, which is tougher and can take more of a beating than regular ABS sidewalls.
The base is sintered, which means that it is a hard material, that will keep you riding fast in all snow conditions. Sintered bases do a good job at soaking up wax.
Sizes available:
- 151cm
- 153cm
- 156cm
- 159cm
Sizes on the Funslinger X (wide versions)
- 154cm Wide
- 157cm Wide
- 160cm Wide
How the Never Summer Funslinger rides
Board: Never Summer Funslinger 153cm
Bindings: Flux TT
Boots: ThirtyTwo Tm Two
Stance: 21.5″ centered, +12° and -9°
Snow: Hardpacked on groomer runs, 10-30cm of medium to heavy powder in the trees.
Flex & Camber Profile
The RipSaw profile looks fairly aggressive, especially when you look down the edge of the board. It has a soft flex, so it doesn’t need much effort at all press and hold the board.
It is hard work in powder, but that is what you would expect from a board like this.
Shape
It’s a asymmetrical twin board, and I rode it with a centered stance. The smaller heelside radius is made to give it a more natural feel compared to the toeside. Not really a major feature, or something that you will notice too much, but it does make for a very nice and smooth feeling when you are swapping edges turning.
Edge Hold
For a hybrid camber board, the Funslinger had surprisingly good edge hold. Even on hardpacked snow, I had no fear about the board slipping out. Although a very different design, it did have a slightly similar feel to a board with Magne-Traction.
Speed
Even with the sintered base, the Funslinger wasn’t very fast, especially on flatter sections and cat tracks.
For a soft board, it felt quite stable up to medium fast speeds, after that, the soft tip and tail made it feel a bit more unpredictable, especially on chopped up snow. But, that is to be expected on a soft twin park board.
Pop
Probably the biggest weakness, there was hardly any pop. One of the tradeoffs with a hybrid board, you can put camber sections back into the tip and tail, but they are never going to push back as much as a regular camber board.
You can still ollie, but the board doesn’t make it easy, or give you much of a push.
Pros:
- Asym (nice feeling turns)
- Very easy to move/spin/butter
Cons
- Felt slow
- Not much pop
Overall
For someone who wants a soft and forgiving park board, the Funslinger is worth a ride. It has better edge hold than most reverse camber boards, and is very easy to spin.
It is hard to explain, but it has a very connected/low to the snow feeling, which is nice and direct. Turning feels great, edge to edge is smooth and it is very forgiving if you don’t get a spin all the way around.
Don’t buy it if you want to ride fast, or do big jumps. But if you want something that turns well, is fun and forgiving, the Funslinger would be a good choice.
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| Size (cm) | Waist (cm) | Edge (cm) | Sidecut (cm) (Toe/Heel) | Tip / Tail (cm) |
| 151 | 24.8 | 115 | Vario 755/676 | 29.3 |
| 153 | 25.0 | 117 | Vario 783/701 | 29.5 |
| 156 | 25.3 | 119 | Vario 818/736 | 29.8 |
| 159 | 25.5 | 123 | Vario 863/772 | 30.0 |
| 154X | 25.8 | 117 | Vario 786/703 | 30.3 |
| 157X | 26.2 | 120 | Vario 823/737 | 30.7 |
| 160X | 26.4 | 123 | Vario 863/772 | 30.9 |
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2016
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