I know the roam was designed for sliders and such, but I think it looks like a really fun wake riding board. I saw a couple people riding them over at OWC and just the way they slide arround so easily on the water.. I dunno it looked sooo fun. Has anyone ridden it yet? Either way what do you think of it?

the roam is the sickest board out there. the most fun board ive ever ridden. you can do all your normal tricks, jus gotta cut a little harder cuz the board will flex alot. and it taps into a whole new side to wakeboarding comparable to the wakeskate revolution. think snowboarding in the sicckest powder ever, behind the boat though.

sweet! I can't wait to ride it! How are the landings? Is it harder becuase there are no fins or is it just like landing on a wakeskate?

also would you recomend the 144 or the 139? I know I want it big for softer landings but I don't know if the 144 is too big.

Yhea Josh KILLED it on that thing. I got a stack of pics headed to the mag right now. Video came out INSANE.

thats sweet! Can you post some more pics? if you don't mind, I can't wait till I can ride again, that board has me wanting to ride more than ever. Pics and video are holdng me over till January... I've been trying to find some video of people riding the roam but I haven't found anything.

When does the o5 stuff come out?

I think you can buy some of the 05 stuff now on buywake.com

brennan, most local shops have all the 05 stuff by now, check out Sports Ltd in Woodland Hills, pretty close to you and they've got most of it by now.

I normally ride a 136 board. I actually found the 139 a little on the small side for me when I demo'd it, if I were to get one I'd go for the 144. It was a great board to ride though.

Arun took some of my pictures and claimed them as is own too. I could tell they were mine because they were all blurry. You gotta keep an eye on that guy. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/biggrin.gif" border=0> <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> <BR>

Jason,or anyone that's ridden one, can you elaborate a little more on how the board rides? <BR> <BR>I don't like the looks of the shape for wake riding, so I'm just curious what makes it so fun.

Yeah the roam is sick. I treat it like i treat wakeskating. Just a whole new sport. Hey blabelmooch this board is for sure a must have on the boat. It rides pretty much like a snowboard. When your on edge the board flexes/flattens out so the whole edge sits in the water so its edges plenty hard enough. When you hit the wake you gotta ride the tail alittle more and snap off the tail like a snowboard/ or ollie on a skateboard. On a normal wakeboard when you press out if your riding finless the board is slow especially if you tweak it to the side. When you tail or nose press this board it slides just as fast as your normal wakeboard. If you on your toe edge or heel edge you can even nosepress while riding forward without the nose dipping under. It seems that everyone whos tried mine prefers the 144 cuz it has a longer tip and tail for nose/tail presses. Also instead of jumping the wake when you cut at it, now you can use it like a fun box; pop into it and press something out then pop out off the other side. One thing i really liked about this board is once you learn how to snap off the tail, you can get more air w2w than you normal would on any other wakeboard. That tail can act like a spring. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by cdubs on October 12, 2004)

Whoa that's sounds crazy. Get some video up guys!

Just mess'n with you Arun. 'Sall good

Buffalow, I know <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>. <BR>JRod, hahaha..... hahaha you crazy mofo <BR>

This board looks remarkably like a Cordial wakeboard. From what I have read to its a wooden board also. The shape is exactly the same as my cordial which I bought 10 years ago. <BR> <BR>Mmmmmmm.... I wonder what Chief would say about this?

James do you have any pics of your board.

I know, I have a picture of grant gettens on my comp and the roam looks EXACTLY like one! Granted, the hyper core is probably is more refined than grant's decks...but these pics make me happy, only because it makes me realize how far ahead grant was with those designs. I want one of those so bad! FREAKING AWESOME! <BR> <BR>Bess, if you have retrospect you can see shaun do a "bluntslide." It's hard to describe the footage...he kind of 90's into a tweaked tailside on the water, if that makes sense. Hopefully that will give you an idea as to what the cordials were like. They also used baseless snowboard bindings, and you wore shoes with them.

I don't have a digital picture, but I will try and take one and put it on here. Those old bindings, I still get nightmares about them. Yeah they gave you the best feeling on the board of any binding, but given that board is so easy to catch an edge, my ankles quake when I look at them.

Were the edges on your cordial sharp? Or was it easy to catch an edge because the board was thin? I guess I pictured it to be like a wakeskate, and the wooden decks have mellow rails. So they're pretty forgiving and they give you some room for error. <BR> <BR>Anyway, those things were awesome. I should say, these pics also make me kind of sad because grant really isn't able to benefit from this. But whatever, right?

Yep the edges were mellow. I kept catching them for two reasons, I kep trying backside tail and nose slides because I would watch Grant ride and try the stuff he was doing, and the other factor was at this stage I was still a beginner. <BR> <BR>Yeah it is a shame for Grant, but knowing him, he would be stoked that he has had some sort of influence on wakeboarding after all the battles he used to have. ie people telling him he was making big trick skis, that the boards weren't legal to use in comps.

I see...that sounds cool. It's awesome that you were actually "there" when this was all going down...seeing grant ride these new boards and actually participating yourself. <BR> <BR>And it's interesting that people put up a fuss about the boards, like they were big trick skis and such. There's always a story to be told, I guess. <BR> <BR>I kind of wonder if shaun murray wasn't inspired by that cordial, and then kind of based his fluid shape (from 98) on that board. Originally, his 1998 board was going to be the same shape as his 1997 (ie very traditional) and then they switched it up to that smooth, curved jobby. And as I said, he also had a cordial too. But who knows, double up had a smooth board like that too. You know, it's just something I thought about. Anyway, I love the asthetic boards like that bring to one's riding...greg nelson and shaun both looked so dope when they rode their boards.

What's wrong with trick skis? The ROAM is just one more bit of proof that trick skiing is on its way back in.

Hey electricsnow, It would not surprise me at all if Shaun's board was influenced by the Cordial. In '97 Shaun and Dean Lavelle came out for a hyperlite tour which was a few comps and demos around the place. I remember at that comp, they hanging out with the Hacko crew and Dean was really impressed with the Cordial and the way Chief rode. From memory he tried to swap Grant one of his boards for a Cordial (but Grant wasn't interested). <BR> <BR>So if the '98 was more towards that shape, it wouldn't surprise me at all (considering that was just after he would have first seen the board). <BR> <BR>Struggling to get a photo of my board, as my computer at home is busted. I'll have to take it to my parents place this weekend to sought it out. One thing that you will be angry with me for is that at one stage I drilled a couple of holes and put fins in it in a vain attempt to start landing w2w 180's consistantly. But the holes are small (I have sealed them up) and the fins are long gone. <BR> <BR>My mates a carpenter and he has been bugging me to have a go making one. Seeing the Roam I might give it a go.

Yeah! I have a newspaper clipping from the associated press...were they there in late 1996 or early 1997? Anyway, there was a picture in our local newspaper (and this was when I was the only person I knew who wakeboarded) of shaun and dean...I think dean was doing a raley or a hoochie glide over shaun. Anyway, it said they were down in australia for something. I seriously thought about that, but I didn't want to mention it because It's not like I have proof, or an accurate time line. It's just speculation... <BR> <BR>That's actually funny that grant wasn't interested in dean's stuff...it just amuses me. I know that when bill mccaffray was down there at some point he was able to get (purchase?) a cordial...it was yellow and black. <BR> <BR>I hope you can get a pic of yours up! Like bess, I would actually love to see it. <BR> <BR>Aj, don't get your hopes up. People were probably saying this stuff about grant's boards in 1996-1997. Although, maybe parks will try re-invent the body-over by taking it to butter<IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0> hahaha...

My board is red and white, its quite short 128cm as at the time my thinking was I would be able to move it around quicker. <BR> <BR>It is unfortunate that Chief didn't get cordial up and running full on at that stage. At the time there was a lot of interest in the boards, but not that many people wanted to put their money where their mouth was. People loved the boards, but as before, wanted to swap him for their board or give them one to ride, but Grant wasn't in a position where he could do that. Also I think he might have had other things on his mind for the future (that is Canada). <BR> <BR>Oh well, if we shout hard enough, maybe he will here and I am sure I could get into his Dad's shed and find the old press.

the not so naked chef, that reminded me of the body-overs Byerly was doing in Gravity Sucks. I remember trying those after I saw Byerly do it. Good times!

What happened to the picture of the guy riding the Roam? That was a sweet shot.

yea, I'd like to see more pics of people riding the roam, so if you have any, post 'em! Even if you're not doing anything in the pic, any pics of this board in action would be awesome! <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>

I agree. It is a shame that he couldn't keep that company going. This is slightly off topic, but I feel the same way about jason messer. <BR> <BR>I have this article from WBM (1997) and it talked a bit about cordial, and how it was started up by reece and grant, and that grant had made his first board in 1993. It also mentioned that dean and shaun bought boards from him, and shaun was pretty psyched on those things. Somewhere else, he was saying how it made riding feel so much like snowboarding that it would start a different branch of wakeboarding. Well, it looks like shaun got it, and like I said, I really feel like grant was ahead of his time with those boards. <BR> <BR>I'd love to buy one, just to keep (if I couldn't ride it). Maybe grant will see this...or maybe not (hahahaha). But someday...I'd like one to have. <BR> <BR>Bird! I can't remember the BO's (you know what i mean) from byerly in GS, but the body overs he did in "how to ride a wakeboard" are burned in my mind. It's pretty funny that he was able to make a trick-ski maneuver look so good...like with mellon grabs and a backside spin...so nice! <BR> <BR>Finally, here are a couple of pics of grant from wakeboarding magazine (the may issue from 1997). One has grant trying to poke your eye out (because it's not as funny to say he's boning your eye out), and the other one has grant getting jibatronic. HOLLA! <BR> <BR>And if it's not too much trouble james, at some point could you still post a pic or two of your board? It would still be cool to see if it's not a hassle. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/195573.jpg" alt="grant getting jibatronic"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/195574.jpg" alt="boning it for the crowd...">

Electric snow, I remember those photos. Yeah I took my board around to my parents to take a few photos of the board to post, but had a technical hitch (Dad wasn't there and neither was his digital camera). But I will sought it out as soon as I can. I will try to get into contact with Grant to get his opinion on it all, if not I will try to speak to Reece. <BR> <BR>I love that slider pick of grant. That is another thing that he was doing before everyone else.

anyone know where I can get some hype. Roam video online? I really wanna see this puppy in action! <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/smile.gif" border=0>

Sounds cool james! And if you can repeat it, I'd love to hear what grant or reece have to say! later

Still working on the photos, will get back to you all on it.