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So... what's BAD about the Skate Banana?

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  sedition 
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#1 ·
I'll be getting a new board next season, and I'm really interested in the Skate Banana or one of the BTX boards. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt I'll be able to try one before I buy. We've all heard about its good points, but since nothing's perfect... What are some BAD points about the Skate Banana? What does it NOT do well? What kind of rider would it not be good for?
 
G
#2 ·
There are two things its not great for, still good btu not great. Riding at high speeds on hard pack and deep pow. Because of the banana tech and buttery flexibility it is not as stiff as all mountain boards and there can feel a little loose under your feet at extremely high speeds. Not a problem though because you will get used to it and the magnetraction on next years model will take care of most of that problem. Because it is a smaller board with an equal stance setback on either side it wont feel like a surf board in powder. Not a big deal though, any experienced rider will have no problem. Sick board and the one of the only ones i would pay full price.
 
#6 ·
I owned a banana for maybe just over month with about 12-15 days on it, and here's what i found:
- it's really soft, torsionally and longitudinally. The downside of this was that going fast on rough chopped up snow felt really sketchy. You could feel every single bump. BUT, this meant it was so easy to press.
- like all lib and gnu boards i've seen, there's no full wrap around steel edge, the nose and tail are "exposed". I'm not sure if that's what caused it (maybe could have been a weak topsheet), but a lot of little bumps and taps i got while waiting in line for the chairlift caused chips. However, another thing i noticed with this board is that if you hold it up to the sun you could see that the core starts maybe 4 inches from the tip and tail. Combine that with no metal edges near the tip and tail and that means even the hardest impacts on the tip and tail are most of the time going to be cosmetic and not cause too much structural damage to the board at all.
- for some reason i found it hard to steer when one footed skating, especially while getting off the lift.
- In terms of looks, this thing is plain but loud (get's even worse for next year). People know you're on a banana. This also made me feel very uncomfortable leaving it on the racks even if i had it locked.

Aside from the first point i mentioned (which i consider important), the rest of the complaints are very minor. I actually ended up selling the board for $130 more than i got it for on Ebay.
 
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