Deciding between Madrid "the dream" and Never Summer "heist". help?

[elephant]

I haven't been longboarding too long, but I've got a p.o.s. board and looking to upgrade. Both my roommates have dervishes, and I've been browsing around boards for about 2 months. It's pretty much come down to these two boards:

Madrid "The Dream" with a drop through mod
or Never Summer "Heist" (power flex, I weigh 155ish)

I'm probably going to put randal trucks with 75mm retro lemons on whatever I get. I'm pretty familiar with woodwork so I don't think the drop through mod would be too difficult (even got my own plunge router). I'm a pretty casual longboarder, mostly cruising around campus and skating hills and garages when I find em. I want something with a little less flex than the dervish, that's just a bit much for my taste. I guess what I'm mostly after is a somewhat all around board, one that can I can use whenever on whatever (mostly on what I said though).

Any comments/advice on what I've got so far? If you have either of these boards, please let me know a little. I read the thread that reviewed the dream, and all I got from it was "it has a little flex."

[Wolfin]

Well, the Dervish has different flex ratings, for one.

The Dream as you have read, has a "little" flex. By "little" I think this would mean a lot less than the Dervish. Also, dropping it through would lower the ride height, and might lower the amount of flex you get out of it by a little bit, too. All speculation, though!

The Heist is likely closer to the Dervish in flex. I have got to head out to Freeride Boardshop and see/stand on one of these things. Never Summer started out doing snowboards, you can be sure they've got the structure right.

Sorry that I haven't ridden any of the boards you're talking about, but hopefully I helped a little.

[wardlarson]

neversummer flex feels awesome compared to loaded's and plus they run uhmp rail protectors pressed into their boards, aka, if your board hits a curb it wont splinter. also neversummers have a topsheet style graphic like a snowboard, so going off curbs wont scratch your #### up as easy.

haven't ridden the madrid but i've seen one. a good third choice for you would be a rayne hustler, which i would probably choose first.

[thegears]

I've got a dream and have been riding it for 2 months. It's set up with purple durians, sabres, and hybrid 215s. It really is a great board. The only other board I can really compare it to is a FSM because I'm pretty new to the longboarding scene.

It slides like a "dream". I've been working on my standups with the dream and feel very confident with the board. The mild W concave gives a nice hold for your feet when sliding.

With the mild W concave and relatively stiff flex, it's possible that you could reach mid 30's or possibly mid 40's downhill. I would say that it's a Flex 1 1/4 on a Loaded scale. As for me, I only weigh about 135 lb; the board only bends if I choose to jump on it simultaneously. My 235 lb sensei has almost been able to bottom it out though.

The board is very responsive to carving and dancing. No problems with it whatsoever when it comes to using people as slalom cones. There is very little nose and tail to manual and shove it with. I feel like I have to put a lot more weight than necessary to lift the board. You could probably change that when you do the drop mod.

I probably put 2 hours of boarding on it everyday. Great freeride board for the price. I'd recommend it. Hope this helps.