which 08/09 magnetraction board?

[DuncanShea]

So I am looking to next season for a new board after my first season. Any advice is very much appreciated.

I bought my first board on clearance--for the new board, I want to buy at retail from my local shop. So I am passing on all the great clearance deals now (most painfully, the Gnu Altered Genetics at Sierra). The local shop is great and this is one of the best ways I know how to support it.

I mostly ride a small local hill with artificial snow and (usually) icy conditions. So I am sold on Magnetraction.

I am 6'1" and 175 lbs. My current board, which I love, is a Palmer Pulse 162, set up with Flow NXT-FS bindings. I also have a pair of Rome Targas (currently on the Palmer while the NXT-FS are repaired).

For the new board, I want to go smaller (perhaps 155) with Magnetraction, so as to supplement and not replace my current board. The new shorter board will probably get the freestyle Flow NXT-FS bindings, with the Palmer paired with the Targas.

So for Lib-Tech, I am trying to decide among various freestyle/AM models with MTX (further suggestions welcome):

Skate Banana
Dark Series
Travis Rice
TRS w/ MTX

Regarding size, is 155 too short for me?

Regarding Banana technology: is it suitable for icy conditions or is it more for powder and rails? If it is suitable for ice, then I would love to take a chance on it. I do a little wakeboarding and wakesurfing so the looser feel of the Bananna is appealing.

I am not as familiar with Gnu boards.

Thanks in advance for any/all advice.

[Zee]

I really like the Riders Choice, and once this one is done, I'll buy another. It is abit stiffer than other FS boards though, but I cut my teeth on a Fastback, so prefer stiffer baords.

I'm hearing next years RC will have banana tech.

[junglecat1971]

Originally Posted by DuncanShea

Regarding Banana technology: is it suitable for icy conditions or is it more for powder and rails? If it is suitable for ice, then I would love to take a chance on it. I do a little wakeboarding and wakesurfing so the looser feel of the Bananna is appealing.

I just got the Skate Banana last weekend. There isn't much ice right now at Stratton where I ride but on one particular spot where there was, it held perfectly. It's not really the banana tech that aided this, it's the magna traction, so goes the propoganda.

Originally Posted by Zee

I really like the Riders Choice, and once this one is done, I'll buy another. It is abit stiffer than other FS boards though, but I cut my teeth on a Fastback, so prefer stiffer baords.

I'm hearing next years RC will have banana tech.

What he said. The 09 GNU riders choice will have magnatraction and banana tech.

[DuncanShea]

Thanks for the feedback above

From those with banana tech boards, does the lack of camber (ie, addition of rocker) make it harder to handle on ice? In other words, does banana tech decrease the effectiveness of magnetraction or complement it? Given the BTX push, I would guess complement.

I am leaning towards a Lib-Tech Dark Series BTX 155 (for responsiveness).

Any opinions as to the relative ride of the Skate Banana, Total Ripper Series, or Jamie Lynn Phoenix BTX? I think the Ripper has an extruded base though--if so, it would be out.

The 08/09 boards look great (see link, Skate is wrong). I wish I could see the Gnu RC deck though.

.: Lib Tech 2008 2009 Preview

[junglecat1971]

Originally Posted by DuncanShea

Thanks for the feedback above

From those with banana tech boards, does the lack of camber (ie, addition of rocker) make it harder to handle on ice? In other words, does banana tech decrease the effectiveness of magnetraction or complement it? Given the BTX push, I would guess complement.


The 08/09 boards look great (see link, Skate is wrong).

I should be able to confirm/deny that in a few weeks when I compare mine to a non-rocker MTX board (the TRS).

Also, on 08/09 boards, I was out in Jackson Hole during the Natural Selection. Quicksilver was selling next year's Skate Banana and quite a few people had em. The designs were different than the link you posted - they had more of a target/bullseye graphic. Keep an eye on eBay, I already saw one on sale there a week before I left JH.