• Price: £300 / €360
• Lengths: 147, 150, 153, 154MW, 156, 157MW, 159, 161MW
• Flex: 6
• Profile: Flat
• Shape: True Twin
• romesnowboards.com

The Rome Mechanic made its debut in the winter of 2016/17, and reaffirmed what we already knew; that Rome are just as good as catering for the developing rider as they are at getting the likes of Stale Sandbech to the moon and back.

“The Rome Mechanic makes learning easy, but it’s also got the potential to take you way past the basics”

It should go without saying that most of the top tech found further up the range is absent in the Rome Mechanic, as applying it all to a board aimed at beginners is counter-productive. In order to keep this thing solid and predictable, it has a simple biax fibreglass and an additive-free wood core.

It’s not without a few tricks up its sleeve, however. The ‘QuickRip’ sidecut features different radii that create small protrusions where they meet. This gives the Rome Mechanic more grip and control when you want to engage an edge – maybe still not as much as a traditional camber board would, but with this tech you get more grip than a regular flat-based board.

When you’re ready to make your first foray into freestyle, the flat base of the Rome Mechanic gives you plenty of options. Take on boxes, rails and piste butters with ease, then use the extra pop from the fibreglass rod in the core to get airborne.

The Rome Mechanic makes learning easy, but it’s also got the potential to take you way past the basics.