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This is the first in a series of reviews that X-WAKE will be bringing the riders of KY.  Reviews given by riders for riders.  If you've got a review you'd like to submit feel free to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Jason Neagle reviews the Byerly Monarch 56"

The past several years I have ridden the ’03 Hyperlite Premier and ’06-’07 newer Premier boards. I have also ridden the Byerly boards at times and enjoyed their extreme pop, but was less consistent on landings with inverts than the Premier. I was very excited about riding the new Byerly Monarch the tail is a bit wider than the older Byerly shapes and the rocker is very similar to the Premier, except that it has the huge flat middle of the 3 stage rocker. The biggest and best feature of the Monarch is the extreme lightweight design, you can barely feel the board behind you on Raley tricks.

   The ride: The Monarch has extreme pop, more than any board I have ridden and keeps a loose snowboard feel. The landings are much more forgiving than past Byerly models and are very similar to the Premier. The landings are soft and the board tracks out well, the lack of a center fin is not missed. Even at the 56” 142 the Monarch is easy to spin off the wake, a lot of it is contributed to the lightweight design. The Monarch is a little faster on edge than a Premier, but keeps an excellent transition to pop at the wake, unlike some faster boards that tend to cut through the wake.

1-5 scale

Jason Neagle

Boarderline Media/ Boatworks/ MasterCraft/ Fly High