Jumps
The Helix will appeal to those jumpers and halfpipe riders who want high performance and are willing to give up some forgivingness to get it. On jumps the asymmetrical sidecut was very noticeable and improved my frontside spins. I could stay on axis more easily because I only had to put a little pressure onto my edges to set up the spin, rather than leaning all the way over them.
This did however, make it easier to prespin a little, and a few times I felt the catchiness right before taking off.
The board’s camber profile and snappy core also make for poppy takeoffs. I even found myself going into jumps a little slower than usual to compensate for the effortless pop.
On landings, you have to be on your game as this board is not forgiving. If you don’t make it all the way around on a spin, it will not gently bring you around the last 30°, it will take you down to the ground. That said, the board has a low swing weight and was not hard to pull all the way around on spins.
Halfpipe
In the halfpipe the asymmetrical design takes some getting used to, but actually made it easier to get further out of the pipe on my heels.
After a few laps, edging became comfortable and while it’s still not as easy as getting out on the frontside wall, it was much easier to boost off the heelside edge than on a symmetrical board. It also made backside spins much easier to initiate. All in all, this board could prove to be an amazing pipe board and I hope to test it there more.
Rails / Jibbing
The Helix is not well suited for jibbing. It’s easy to pop onto a rail, but it’s also easy to catch on the rail or the landing.
Given the fact that I had not detuned the edges at all, it was especially catchy, and the hybrid camber profile did not lend itself to presses. The slight bit of rocker at the tips helped take presses a little deeper, but the medium stiffness of the board makes it hard to get big presses.
Trees
As long as you can fit through the gap, this board will bring you along. It turns on a dime and shoots you out of turns fast, while the rockered tips let you turn even tighter and release with ease thanks to the decreased healside sidecut radius.
The asymmetrical design would theoretically allow for sharper heel turns too because you wouldn’t have to lean out as far to turn, but I haven’t really noticed this yet.
Bottom Line
The Ride Helix is a responsive board that will let you jump and carve all over the mountain. I haven’t had the chance to test it in powder, but its camber means it will probably take a bit of work to keep the nose on top of the snow.
I would recommend this board to an intermediate to advanced rider ready to give up forgiveness for performance in a fun, all-mountain freestyle board that will let them have just as good of a time on hard-pack mornings as slushy afternoons. Just beware of the catchiness as the snow becomes more choppy.