2016 Niche Theme Review

--Product Information--
Product Name: Theme
Product Brand: Niche
Best Use: All-Mountain Freestyle
Sizes Available / Specs: 148, 151, 154, 157

--Test Information--
Location of Test: Mt Bachelor On Snow Demo
Duration: One of many boards tested over the course of 2 days.

Full Review: Good big boy park board (that wants to ride All-Mountain terrain). If a board doesn't have pop, I'm just not into it, and this board has a lot. If you want a board that you barely have to lean forward to do a nose press on, this board isn't your board.

The Theme gave solid presses. If a board is so soft it just folds into a press, I don't feel like the press is locked in. The Theme has plenty of flex to press, but its a steady, locked-in press. I dig it. We took some park laps, hit some jumps, and then I went and bombed some chundered-out groomers, hit some rollers, and did some big carves. After that, I would actually title this board an All-Mountain Freestyle board.

It has a slightly larger side cut radius than the Knew, and a full camber profile. I think this gave it that extra stability at full run-bombing speeds that I wanted. I wouldn't say either board is better or worse, just designed for a slightly different rider. My only wish is that this board had a sintered base. If so, I think it would be perfect. Either way, its solid and I'd ride it for the whole season.

The 2015 Niche Theme