One of my shifters in the I-Lock broke requiring me to service the board. It took along time... Luckily though gravel/dirt only ouccurs at the very beginning and very end of the season. For me it was the end, so it wasn't the end of the world. Monroe suspension repair

None . .

I have a had a 2002 premier 157 for 5 full seasons in Tahoe. It has seen pretty much everything, over 300 days on the board. It was everything I wanted and needed, never needed a new one. It was fast, floated in powder like magic even though it was oversized, carved hard and solid, just plain fun.
But I got a new one. A 161 Premier F1R. It has a rock camber shape to it combined with some varied edge cuts from none to deep. After 3 days on it all I can say is wow. Faster, more stable, carves better, rides switch much easier than my last one (which was a true terror to control switch).The new board is also more flexible in the middle of the board, which is a welcome change. I dont notice it on edge though.Almost no one passes me.
The rocker take a little getting used to. I rode my old board on the tail, weight back always. The new board lets you be more centered, you actually ride better leaning downhill into the chop while carving. If you go too much in the back seat on chop it gets a little wavy, but never chatters. To be honest I dont even know what chatter feels like, just seen it happen to other people. Thats what 7 years on a Premier does i guess.
For $500 you can't buy a better freeride board. I want to try other boards, just so I can appreciate mine more.

Similar Products Used:

2002 157 Premier
2001 Burton Custom
1998 Option freestyle board

Very stiff and responsive which makes for an extremely fast and stable ride. You can take a 20 foot drop onto a rock and she will beg for more.

None to speack of

This board opened my eyes to the world of performance snowboards. The premier's stiff flex and directional sidecut absolutely rip whether your riding cruisers or dodging tree's in Camera Land.

Similar Products Used:

Burton Custom

Fast, durable and fun to use.

Directional board, otherwise none

A greeat board. This season saw fantastic snow in Europe and I managed three trips to France. It is amazing - very forgiving, fast and a pleaure to use

Similar Products Used:

Burton Custom, Hammer

Durable, stable, fast, customer service

None, nada, zip, zero - oh except that you always have to pay full price since nobody needs to discount them to sell.

Never Summer boards rock like no other! This is a post just to tell you how great this company is. After hurting my baby (2001 Premier) a couple weeks ago after an unfortunate meeting with some asphalt, I blew out a rail at the seam. I was shocked-over the past 2 years I ran over rocks, trees, boards, lifts, you name it and never seemed to faze my board. Well this time it did and was definitely due to my agro moves and not an indication of the boards quality and Never Summer fixed my board for free no less. Far above the call of duty for any company. This is board and company are as close to perfect as you can get. Made in the USA baby!!! By boarders, for boarders. Way to go guys, keep it up.

Similar Products Used:

Burton, Ride, Forum

Fast, stable, quick edge-to-edge transition, strong and stiff, and good materials.

Heavy and 02-03 base's graphic is so weak. The should stick with the eclipsed sun

'02-03 model. Sick board. Extremely stable at fast speed through any conditions. Good pop and soft on the landing. Fastest wood core you can find for a board.

Similar Products Used:

none

Power, stability, ease to ride although it's billed as an "advanced board". 3 year warranty

HARD TO FIND!!!! EXPENSIVE because it's hard to find. You can't wait for a sale and hope to find it. This thing is HEAVY as hell. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. IT IS EXTREMELY heavy, BUT it is not noticeable when you ride....on the lift however.....that's another story.

Actually, I am writing a review for the 03 model. The board is super stable at speed, tears through the crud and choppy-a$$ california snow with power and stability. I have been able to ride a lot in powder this season (kinda lucky for early December!!!!) and it handles it well also. Really holds an edge. I ride the 157. I have been on a Custom for may years (156.5) and honestly, I couldn't tell too much of a difference. Both handle the same in terms of turning ease (the Custom is an AWESOME board by the way). The Premier is a lot stiffer though. So much so that I haven't decided if I like it. I definitely can't lean the nose or ride the tail as easily. But that may be why the board is a lot more comfortable at speed. I am riding faster this year, but that could be natural progression and not really the board. I would have to jump back on my custom when it's all tuned up again to give a better evaluation. Flipping around to fakie is a lot easier though on the premier. It also rides better fakie. I think it's because the nose is stiffer so you get more power out of the turn. I always felt that the Custom's nose felt soft riding fakie. The PRemier holds a better edge though, but my custom was pretty beat up and was in severe need of a tune. I really would still be on my Custom if I didn't take a chuck out of it's base. I'm still planning on riding the Custom becuase it is just a fun board. The Premier is great too, but they aren't too dissimiliar in my opinion. I would have been just as happy on another Custom but I wanted to get something different. Why have 2 Customs?? The 3 year warranty is AWESOME too!!! You know it's a solid board if they back it for 3 years. I'm going to give it a 5 for overall rating, but it's not too disimiliar to my Custom 56.5. That's not a bad thing. Either way, it just shows how good both those boards are.

Similar Products Used:

94 Custom 52, 94 Burton Twin 49, 96 Custom 56.5, Ride Timeless 55, 02 K2 Darkstar 157, 00 K2 54 Wisdom, K2 A-star 154.

This thing performs great at speed.I was more comfortable going fast than going slow - strange but true... strong-- my bro had chips in his brand new burton custom after one day of use--I had none except for a couple scrathes from my burton driver boots retractable ice cleats--highly recommend also Really liked these boots--- Won't look old in a year

seems to have some delay edge to edge-- not sure if other boards have some also or not? -- however not a big deal A little heavier than my bro's custom but can't even tell on the snow. graphics boring - but who cares -- nobody looks at graphic at the hill plus most of the time your board is covered in snow-really!!

OK I am the same reviewer as below... 03 NS premier I actually used the board for the first time this weekend. Here is my break down- I'm brand new to snowboarding so it should be a fairly unbiased review... I got to the slopes-- keep in mind I haven't ridden since one time in '93 (and that was on a board that gave terrible toe side drag so I never left the bunny hill)-- So I started off at the bunny hill this time too. I took three runs and couldn't learn much because I wasn't moving far enough to learn to carve. So I moved to a long green. I started carving on my second run. By the end of the day I was doing black diamonds(midwest). It does seem to be a little stiffer than my bro's burton custom. Not positive on that though. I just can't believe that I went from bunny hill to black diamond in one day--but then again maybe everyone does that?? Something to remeber--There were kids better than me doing 360's and 540's on lamars and other "cheaper" boards.--just a note to those of you who think you absolutely need a $450 to $500 board... I learned fast on it and know nothing else so I give it 5...

Similar Products Used:

craig kelly burton back in '93 --------

Perfect board for just about everything... Couch drops, recliner grinds, backside coffeetable-ings---you name it the premier does it.

not sure never really used it on snow.

Just got my 2003 from shredonline.com I've only boarded once-about 4 years ago and want to give it a try this year. I've had some wicked-sweet sessions in my living room with this mother. Here's what I do: I take out this blanket and lay it on the family room ground. Then I proceed to dominate the area. People that were watching TV when i started are like "damn!". I'm all grabbin mutes and yellin "word UP!" I haven't boarded on snow since that time 4 years ago. But if my family room floor is anything like a slope, I'm sure to dominate. Thanks Neversummer!

Similar Products Used:

The only other board I've ever used was a 93' craig kelly burton

stiff stiff stiff chatter, what's chatter? responsive as a doting mother quick as you can make it takes turns easy or nice and tight

dunno, but I don't think it would fare well in a pipe, then again, it's not made for that

Went out to Vail and rented a Palmer POS - would have been better off trying to carve with a wet noodle. My friend Mark swears by his Premier, and having rode it just once, I could see where he was coming from. So I paid up to demo a Premier for a week at Vail, never was happier with a decision. The sore spot was they didn't have any in my length to sell me, so I remain Premier-less. Sniff!

Similar Products Used:

Palmer, Burton