gyrator review/first impressions

only one day on it so far but here you go.

09 gyrator 158...... as far as rocker boards go, i have the hero, horrorscope, and banana to compare to.  hororrscope is obviously a super soft short twin, so we wont really go there.

flex - pretty medium.  not stiff, not soft.  hero is softer.. banana might be a LITTLE soffter.  nose is more flexible.  feels good, i like it.

ride - took a run or two to adjust to the way it likes to turn.  felt like it slightly had a mind of its own at first, but then i got used to it and thats not the case anymore.  i would say its a solid, damp ride.  something about honeycomb dampening material in the core?  i banged some hard landings and it felt almost as if it were cushy.  anyway, dampness, or whatever you want to call it, was something i noticed.  "more damp" than my hero, maybe even my fish.  smooth turns after i adjusted.. i like it.  solid charging through/over chop.  good in pow obviously, for a twin-ish board.  rides switch less naturally than a true twin but thats not to say it was bad, just not the same as a true twin.

pop? - i seem to be able to adjust to any board and the way they pop.. this one feels springy.. all good.. whatever.. blah blah blah.

edge hold.  stiffer lengthwise than my hero, but more so torsionally.  edge hold was noticeably increased, but it still has the looser rocker feel.  i think its just right for me.  good stuff.

base - i gave it a quick hotwax last night.  rode with an 09 jussi that is waxed regularly, and a couple others.  i seemed to be fastest.  haden said at one point "k2 bases are fast."  theres one long flat spot that you have to bomb to make it through, when you go further east into the gullies we were riding all day, and i made it the furthest/fastest.  i didnt actually feel like i was going any faster than usual, but out of our group today, i was the fastest.

overall i like this more than my hero.  its definitely more directional, but i would still call it twin-ish or twin-like as far as the shape goes.  i love the shape of the nose and tail.  also, noticeably more rocker on the nose, but still rocker on the tail.. tail rocker is at least as much as capitas FK, probably just barely more, and definitely more than the hero, and more than the banana.

Hmm do you think after one day you got enough runs/time on it to say you like it more than your hero.  you raved about the hero.  I LOVE my hero but I am looking forward to trying out my fix next weekend.

also - this wasnt really to say its a better board.  because thats all subjective.. some wouldnt like it, some would.. same on the hero, or anything else.  it was really just to say what i experienced with it, but the ride also happened to be more to my liking.  its not an aggressive board, but its stiffer torsionally, and a little lengthwise, which is what i was looking for.. again, not that my hero didnt perform great for me.  and in some situations, id probably still prefer a hero.  but probably more in a non-serious way (not that snowboarding is ever REALLY serious).  id probably want the 55 for that.  soft groomers and side hits probably.  or maybe a 52 for a jibber.

not comparable.  i feel like the pow rocker term throws people off.  its really not a pow board for real.. a pow board (by my definition) is at least tapered.

but yeah.. its nothing like a fish.  but as far as a freestyle/twin-like/ish board goes, its rad.  i like it a lot.  i didnt ride any serious pow, just moderate stuff, cause it hasnt snowed a bunch for a while.  but what i did ride, it seemed to do just fine, at LEAST as good as my hero, but i would say better.  i have about half an inch, maybe 3/4 inch more nose than my hero, and theres more rocker on the nose of the gyrator than the tail.  and compared to camber, its obviously way better.  i also think this style of rocker works better in pow.. flat in the middle with the rocker starting just past the inserts, as opposed to having one rocker point in the middle.  and regardless of that, the rocker is definitely more intense than my hero.

i think my favorite new feel im getting from this is the extra stiffness, mainly torsionally.  and it feels like it powers through stuff a bit better.. i feel more comfortable on it i guess, charging fast on chopped up pow and uneven stuff, not that i felt uncomfortable on my hero.

i would say if you wanted to stay on a freestyle board AND have the best pow float, without additional setback, this would be a good one to consider.  im really stoked on it.. but im usually stoked on any board i get cause ive figured out what works best for me.

ill keep you guys updated i guess, it doesnt really seem like many people have gyrators, and those who do dont seem to be very vocal about it.

not a whole lot to elaborate on, think of it as further confirmation of my stoke on this board.

felt even better today.  id say i got used to it within the first 2-3 runs on friday, but today it was like we were best friends.

wow with the way you liked your Hero I didn't think you would like anything else more.  See how much mor you like it after a couple more days.

You're not going to buy a mullet?  Pretty hard to get a hold of one right now for me at least.

thanks Spenser good to know.... Add K2 on my next years Rocker wish list.

Good review


It seems like a pretty solid board

i think im gonna pick up a fish for pow days for mobbing through the trees and pow stashes. I was interested in the gyrator but i want max float and response in quick turns.

I might hold out for the 2010 malolo with s-rocker though or try to find a snow mullet.

wow, it sounds... overhyped worst board ever :D

Originally posted by spenser poooop, i have a chipped part on the tail on the topsheet.  thankfully theres no wood exposed.. i dont think theres even wood in the very tips, theyre so thin, its weird. epoxy coming soon.

most companies taper the cores super thin in the tip/tail so it wouldn't suprise me if a small chip didn't expose any wood.

Originally posted by spenser i know thats normal, but this is extra thin.  the sidewalls also end early, i dont get that.  neither of these things have affected performance though, its just a difference i noticed when i opened the box.

so are you saying your sidewall ends before the contact points and your tip/tail starts early?

Thanks for the review....helped alot.