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The Good Ride Take

The YES Optimistic Snowboard Review by The Good Ride

Board Size 158
Riders- 2
Rider Specs- 5'10" 200lbs size 9 shoe, 5'11" 160lbs Size 10.5 shoe
Bindings Used- Burton Diodes
Boots- Burton SLX
Days- 1

If you are looking for a good all mountian all conditions ride and can only buy one board the YES Big City is a great choice and it is very very similar to the YES Optimistic that we loved last year.  

Groomers- The YES Big City is very fun on groomers of almost any type or condition.  This is about the same as the YES Optimistic.  It's fast base, hybrid camber and fun shape makes it a good ride carving regular or switch down any groomer.  If you are all about groomers then this is a fast stable board board.

Powder- The Big City has a 20mm set back and directional rocker which is pretty far for any board and expecially far back for a directional twin.  The Optimistic had more like a 30mm set back or even more.  If you like to take a freestyle approach to powder you can center the stance and ride switch very well.  However where this board shines is when you set it back ride directional and take advantage of the extra rocker in the nose. This year YES stepped it up and made an even more powder friendly board called the YES Pick Your Line which has the same set back, a bigger nose and a slightly tappered tail so if you are all about powder go for that.  If you want one board for everything but live for powder than the YES Big City will be one of the better calls out there.

Turn Initiation- The Big City is very easy to turn despite it's med/stiff flex.  If you haven't ridden hybrid camber of this style it will take a few runs to get use to but once you do it will be very easy to initiate a short radius or long radius turn.

Speed- This base is really fast.  It keeps it's momentum going even in the flats.  When you combine that with the very damp core you have a very fast board that can handle just about any speed.  It's not going to keep up with a big racing board but it's about as fast as you can get for an all mountain board.

Weight- The YES Big City runs a bit on the heavy side of things but it weighs less than the YES Optimistic from last year.

Edge Hold-  The Big City holds an edge well in most conditions the sane person likes to ride in. In eally hard or icy conditions there are better boards out there.  We'd like to se YES add ultimate traction which is a very mellow version of magnetraction.  This would make the Big City have exceptional edge hold in just about any condition sane or insane people would ride in.

Flex- Softer at the tip and tail and very stiff between the feet.

Carving- For a mostly rocker hybrid camber board the Big City is really fun to carve.  It's not as much fun as the Rome Anthem or the Capita Black Snowboard of Death but it is still good for a belly scratching turn or two if the mood strikes you.  We always try to carve out a good turn or two every run and this was really really fun once you get use to it.

Switch- The Big City is a directional twin with a 2cm set back.  If you have this board centered in stance it is very easy to ride switch.  Actually we didn't notice a difference switch or regular.

Rails/Jibbing- The YES is almost borderline rough when it comes to rails and jibbing.  If this is your thing then the YES Big City isn't your board.  It's just too stiff and will bonk you on any technical rails or jibs. The 2011 Typo or 2012 Basic will be a better option for this task.

Pipe- Just the opposite of Rails.  This holds an edge well enough to carve up any pipe and we had a lot of fun with this board through the super and super duper pipe.

Jumps- For some this board might be too stiff but for others this could be ideal.  If you are into back country booters the Big City will be one of the best choices out there.  The Big City has decent pop and can be pretty springy.  We loved generating our own air on the mountain.

All in all the YES Big City is one hell of a good aggressive all mountain board that will ride well in almost any condition. This and the Capita Black Snowboard of Death were two of our favorite aggressive all mountain snowboards to ride for 2012.  Each have their own unique qualities.  We would say that if you ride more powder then the Big City would be the call because it has some of the best powder performance out of any board in this category we have ridden.  If you mainly ride harder conditions the Black Snowboard of Death will be the call due to it's exceptional edge hold and fun carving ability.

The Good Ride Take On YES Snowboards- Yes has been around now for a few years and has established itself as one of the better hybrid camber snowboards in the US.  We are big fans of hybrid camber because it’s stable between the feet, has good edge hold and is very floaty in powder.    The guys who designed these boards are from Burton and they had Nidecker make the boards.  Nidecker has been around since 1984 and has an amazing reputation in Europe.  They just haven’t found a way to correctly market themselves in the US which is a shame because they make great boards.  YES did have some cosmetic issues with their boards but most of that is behind them now. Our biggest complaint is that we’d like to see Women’s boards and Wide boards from YES as well.   Almost every board from YES is well thought out and usually won’t disappoint.

The Good Ride Take on Hybrid Camber
For the most part there are two types of hybrid camber that we see out there these days.
1. Mostly Rocker Hybrid Camber
This type of ride, like many boards, has camber and rocker but unlike other rockered boards the center has a mini camber. This is usually 1-3mm high, sits only between the bindings and then curves up right after. From a distance this board looks like a rocker board but when you look closer you see the little camber between the feet. This is not as loose as hybrid rocker but it’s very close. It is very stable between the feet and easy to one foot or flat base in any condition out there. Mostly Rocker Hybrid Camber is very versatile. You will see this design on anything from Freestyle to Freeride style snowboards. This will work well with all ability levels and riding styles.

2 Mostly Camber Hybrid Camber
There are all types of designs but this type usually looks like a Camber board and rides much closer to an old school Camber board.  ONe thing you will notice is usually when you step on the board the tip and tail rise up a lot more than a normal camber board will.  Some are mostly camber and others have a bit more rocker but you will always notice they have camber.  This allows for a stable, fast carve friendly feeling you get with camber but also makes it more catch free and floaty in powder.  This doesn't float effortlessly like hybrid rocker, mostly rocker hybrid camber or flat to rocker but it does better than camber.  You will mainly see this on aggressive freestyle to all mountain to freeride style snowboards.

Company Information

Big City

Based on last years TWS Good Wood award winning Optimistic. The Big City floats well in the deep and charges the whole mountain.

The Board

• Directional Twin

• Twin Shape w/ set back stance.

• Med flex.

• Freeride Camrock

The Ride

• Freestyle charger with the ability to float.

The Rider

• JP Solberg

• DCP

Specs

Pictures

YES Big City 2012

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