snowboards

[CROWN]

well snowboarding season is coming up soon enough.

I have a 155 Lib Tech darkseries right now, have had it for 2 seasons and thinkin of getting a new board this year

Whats your guy's recommendations. Cost doesn't matter

I might look into the sims but idk I like libtech's boards....

[DustinsDuster]

look for Jay to leave a comment tomorrow, i am sure he has plenty of imput on this.

[CROWN]

yea thats what i figured. I kno theres others that board on here as well. but jay is probably the mighty one lol

[Ricky]

I have a rossignol and its ok. i already cracked the top a little. I like think my next board will be a K2. they have a lot that i like. If you buy a burton your paying 3x too much. you can get a really good board for 200 or 300 dollars. You need to do some boarding with colton and me!

[DragonUSMC]

1st I need to know how much you weight
2nd I need to know your ability
3rd I need to know what type of riding you will be doing mostly.
4th How big are your stinkin feets?



If cost doesnt matter. Then you want a Never Summer. A Never Summer SL if you are looking for an all around (park and freeride) board. The Evo if you are going to stick in the park and are of the ability to utilize that board. Once you see the price tags on those though, i'm sure cost IS going to become a factor. But if you can afford a never summer, you'll never ride another board company. They use 6 extra layers of fiberglass to strengthen their boards, thats why they are indestructable.

K2's meh... I like some of their stuff... but the factory 1 deg. base bevel is fuking worthless for any beginner (under 5 days a year) or intermeadiate rider (between 6-20) Hell i dont even use a 1 deg base bevel in the midwest and i ride more then 100 days a year. But they do have a few nice sticks... but again they are on the costly side. The cheap K2's are just that... China pressed crap.

The best bang for the buck board is going to be the Atomic Hatchet or the wide version, which is.... the...fuking a... i hate when i cant remember... ummm... the Triarc. Probably the best freaking board last season at half the price of everything else.

The lib Tech, or Mervin company, make about 4 differnt boards for companies... Gnu, Lib, couple others... they make good stuff. Kinda midrange performance decks. The Gnu riders choice is an amazing stick, but again isnt going to be as expensive as the Never Summers but still up there.

wow... actually after a quick google search for a Never Summer SL... the O8's are selling for just under $500... thats like 200 off MSRP. Still 500 is double what i get em for but thats how the game is played.

SO.

1. Never Summer
2. Atomic Hatchet
3. Go to http://www.snowboardaddicts.com and find the "Great Big Board Advice Thread" Read through there... Myself (DragonUSMC) and another buddy of mine (FearMe) (a shop owner in CO) answer these questions all the time. He'll say the same thing about Never Summers... Thats all he rides. And he actually has more boards then me, which is crazy. But he will have more suggestions once you answer those top questions for me... or just post on Snowboardaddicts.

[CROWN]

weight 200 trying to loose weight though :) lol. 5'10"". size 11 shoe size.
The 155 dark series im riding I love it it did great for park riding, and was very nice when we went to tahoe up in the mountains.

I'm kind of leaning towards the lib tech banana or DIY. More than likely the banana because i still want magna traction, which i believe works. The only park around des moines gets icy a lot and I went carving right through it with out a problem it was nice.

[Drifte]

i guess if you like the board you have keep it. Ive been riding the same deck since...holy crap i was 16. SO 5 years. Maybe time for a new one in my case, but I figure if it aint broke...it works.

[DragonUSMC]

you either like the banana or hate it... I dont mind it, but its a pretty useless stick anywhere but the park to me.

Kinda sounds like you're already set on a company. if you want to ride a few other boards I've got like 17 or so in my basement so you can try out some different companies. yeah most of them are Never Summer but there is a reason for that.

But anyway it sounds like you are focused on LibTec already so I'll tell you about their goods. You should look more at the Travis Rice board, better pop and stability then the banana, you can actually get out on this board, and hold an edge in a turn, just incase you do head out to Colorado or something with terrain where you will need control.

Like i said the banana is cool but it really it is different. If you ride every day like i do, you will notice a difference in how it rides... its almost like it takes response away from someone like me but gives response to someone without the experience needed to ride that way. And i know they say its an "every where board" But its not. yeah its a freeride board, but its geared heavily towards park riding. it does have nice pop, but i feel the camber release they used (the banana effect) makes it feel like a worn out board to me, but like i said, newbies and intermeadiate people seem to love it... its like the board has already been broken in.

So I would say get the banana or the Rice. The DIY is the low end noodle, not worth the web space they put it on. And for size wise you are good in the 154-160 for a park / freeride stick I'm about the same as you... i ride 155's for my park and freeride boards.

[DragonUSMC]

i guess if you like the board you have keep it. Ive been riding the same deck since...holy crap i was 16. SO 5 years. Maybe time for a new one in my case, but I figure if it aint broke...it works.


Rule of thumb.... a boards life span is 100 days. So as long as you havent ridden it 100 days or more you should be good... but after 5 years man i hope you've at least hit 100 days. other way to tell... put the board on a flat surface... does it camber up in the middle much? (1"ish) or just a tiny bit (<1") if its less then an inch, your board's core is shot... time to get a new stick. And you both just missed Snow Star and Chestnut's annual ski swaps.

[Ricky]

you have 17 fucking boards? if i ever need a new one would you want to part with one? i think mine may break this year...

[CROWN]

looks like they have two different' banana boards, one where its shaped different from a snowboard then this one that im lookin at.

http://www.dogfunk.com/dogfunk/LBT0063/ ... d=xQWWyppC (http://www.dogfunk.com/dogfunk/LBT0063/Lib-Technologies-Skate-Banana-Magnetraction-Snowboard.html?id=xQWWyppC)

but yea the travis looks nice

[DragonUSMC]

ah ah... ok i see where you are confused... yes its FORMED differently from other boards, but the physical shape is the same. The real difference is the strange ways they laid the wood and fiberglass to create the deck. THAT is the part i'm talking about... Camber... in the banana it has been removed. here is a pic

http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/images/snowboardanatomy2.gif

Camber allows torsional flex in a board in the middle of a turn, by having camber the board assists you in un-weighting yourself at the completion of each turn to properly edge trasfer under more stable conditions.

That is why boards have this wierd shape... so when you bend it in the middle the cambered edge is forced down, channeling its energy from the flexed wood to the outside of your tip and tail infront and behind your feet respectively. In short in that flex pattern the board becomes your turn radius. another pic

http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/images/snowboardanatomy1.gif

The banana's idea is to remove the camber and roll the base, therefore pushing the power to the edges and not the tip and the tail. Now this does one thing... it takes you away from doing Carved turns... to doing skidded turns. As there is no preload on the board to maintain the board shape at a true carved turn... so you will scrape snow away with every turn.

Like i said its not a bad thing... But for someone like me who already knows how to properly carve its a waste of time and energy, but it will allow a rider who is not as strong in their technical ability to feel like they are carving turns more then they really are.

I'm not saying dont get it. I'm just trying to explain the science behind the idea.





Oh and no i wont sell you any of my boards =P i keep them so when my friends want to go ride i always have plenty. I can possibly help you find one... but the time for me to help you get a board is NOW and not later, as in about 2 weeks all the boards i have available to me will be gone.

[CROWN]

ahh i see i see. fuck that. I'll probably go with the travis board. I can carve just fine. and I plan on going to Utah and CO this year

[DragonUSMC]

yeah in that case i would stick with the Travis... if you want to check out how an NeverSummer SL rides you can ride one of mine.

They are the best all mountain boards out there. Park, Trees, Powder, Drops, BC... Good at many, but master of none.

Rice is a good choice too... either or. i dont have any libtech boards anymore otherwise i'd let you ride one of those too =P

[CROWN]

i mite look for a 07 dark series instead of the 08. I have a 05-06 dark series and i like them. But im selling mine to a buddy becaues he really needs a new deck

[DragonUSMC]

The dark series is a great stick... a bit more all mountin then the Rice board.

I mean you are looking at quality sticks for sure so i'm not really worried... its too bad you can go out and demo them like i used to do in Colorado... little bit easier to do that kinda thing out there. But let me know... also check out http://www.backcountry.com if you are looking for last year's model... they sell ALOT of previous season extra stock for cheap cheap cheap!

[DragonUSMC]

Geeze i also forgot to mention the Rome Artifact... which is selling on Backcountry for only $349 looks like this years model too.

Also a good stick to look into.

[DragonUSMC]

oh and here is one person's review of the Banana... I'll comment after you read.

ergonomic board
Posted by Anonymous (3):
If a snowboard could ever be considered "ergonomic" this would be the one. This board makes snowboarding better. Don't be fooled, the reverse camber has as much if not more pop than any board out there! It ollies more like a skateboard, catch free for rails, rolls thru the transition of the halfpipe and floats better in powder than your snowboard. Once you get past the loose feeling of the board at high speeds, you can relax and haul butt. I don't think I will ever be able to ride camber again.

8 out of 8 people found the above review helpful: Did you?




yeah... you see i call those people park rats... they will never really know how to ride a snowboard but they can play in the park and trick all day. My favorite is where he says "one you get past the loose feeling of the board at high speeds"... lol yeah or AKA your board being a wet fukin unstable noodle...

[CROWN]

yea i was lookin into rome boards as well. I thought the banana was normal lib board with magna and it looked sweet. i liked the yellow but i'll scratch that now i kno all about it. lol.
I'll probably pick up the rome board or dark series later model.

Know anything about Sims?

[DragonUSMC]

yeah stay away from em... they are ok but they really are break price boards now adays. All the pressing happens in China now.

Just not worth the $$ when you can spend the same and get a Rome or an Atomic.

[Drifte]

did you say anything about salomon boards already? People reviews seem to be pretty much what I go with. Also looking at k2 and a coupe burton boards, they seem to be the only decent boards in my price range.

[CROWN]

burton i heard is going downhill. i mean they'll always be popular but like quality since they're being made over seas now instead of usa made. I always think of k2 as a old school brand like with inline skates and shit lol.

[DragonUSMC]

Salomon makes GREAT boards... along with K2 as long as you stay in their upper market boards.. the lower end stuff is pressed in China.



Burton... is crap. and has been for about the past 12 years... and dont look for them changing anytime soon. 7 kids on brand new Burton dominates last season... 11 broken boards... but wait 11 broken boards is more then 7... your right, thank god they have a good replacement plan because almost all of the replacement boards snapped as well. Most with under a week or being ridden.

Seriously... if you buy a Burton, dont even talk to me anymore. Or at least go to the hardware store, buy a nice 1/2" thick piece of plywood and mount your bindings to it... it 10 times better and alot cheaper then any piece of burton shit you can put on your feet.

[CROWN]

yea. i don't like burton, they arn't even designed well.

What about Ride? they shit to?

[DragonUSMC]

Ride used to be a different company. They've kinda gotten lax in their construction.

They arent bad, i still like ride, but for the same $$ you can get a lot better board.

[Drifte]

be eaazy nigga. lol, just lookin out. all i know is my old liquid mercury pile has survived years of torment, and is probably not even safe to use anymore. New bindings, new boots, so this year prolly new deck, but i gotta get my gf one too.

[DragonUSMC]

you can probably find her a nice used set for half the cost...

I dont like getting GF's new stuff unless they are already skiiers or boarders. Amber was a ski instructor so when i spent the $1000 for new skis for her I knew they were gonna be used.

Jenny, only skied a bit.... she said "a lot" but a lot to her was 4 days a season. So she got used skis... used em twice.

[Ricky]

that bitch!