2023 Ride Compact

The Ride Compact is a pretty basic board, but that means that it’s a great option for a huge range of riders. Thanks to the shape, profile, and construction, the Compact also benefits from having a phenomenal value to go along with the strong performance. It’s a wonderful blend that a lot of boards try to replicate, but Ride does a great job here with the Compact. It’s marketed towards the ladies, but is certainly a unisex option for any lighter rider looking for a simple board that doesn’t try to overcomplicate things. With the intent mainly for groomers and softer snow, the compact is a directional board with standard camber. This is to appeal to that broad audience and make a lot of riders feel comfortable and at home on the compact. It’s more mellow of a ride, so beginners and intermediates will love the accessibility and ease of use.

Starting with Ride’s Women’s Performance Core, the Compact is light and agile to begin with. They don’t add a lot of fancy materials to the mix, and that’s a good thing for emerging carvers who like to be able to twist and articulate the board to get it up on those higher edge angles. While the tip and tail width are similar, the sidecut is set back in the board to provide that directional nature. With camber underfoot to provide built-in pop and energy, the Compact also features an early rise rocker in the shovel and in the tail for that soft snow surfability. When they add biaxial glass to the mix, the energy of the camber combines quite nicely with that of the fiberglass, giving the Compact an upscale feel and character. The smooth curves of the tip and tail translate well to the shape that they’ll make on the trail, and that is of round and flowing arcs no matter the conditions or terrain.

Kayla Bates rode the 146, and she noted that it was “a tad short for me. I’d go for the longer length considering my height and weight as factors.” Regardless of the shorter length, Kayla gave the Compact top marks of 5 out of 5 for torsional stiffness and edge hold, which is a very nice thing to see due to the lack of carbon in the Compact. The camber and fiberglass seem to be doing their job. Overall impression, versatility, forgiveness, playfulness, quickness, maneuverability, stability, and flotation all got 4’s, so this is a high spread and span of marks for the seemingly simple Compact. Kayla states that: “Considering the conditions, this board is a great all-mountain board. Held edges very well, medium stiffness. Great for any rider I bet.” That’s the goal with the Compact—check as many boxes as possible in order to appeal to the broadest audience possible.

Things are not always as they seem with snowboards, or anything for that matter. What appears to be a simple and basic board actually has a whole lot going for it. The Ride Compact uses camber and fiberglass in order to maximize grip and energy. In addition, it’s a whole lot of fun.