[Vittorio]

Hey boarders,

I have a dilemma about what board I should upgrade to for the upcoming season and I would like to hear your opinion.
About me: I am an advanced rider, spent 4 season riding on my old 2007 Lib Tech Dark Series 164cm (wide) with MTX (no C2BTX technology), Burton Custom bindings - I am 6'3", 178lbs, boot size 10.5.
I love my board but I am looking for something more playful yet still fast, stable with great performance.
I came across T.Rice 161.5cm and I am wondering if this is the board I should consider: Travis Rice Pro – Lib Tech
I doubt that I need wide board for my boot size. I think Burton Cartel would work well with the board.
Have you ridden any (or both) of the boards? I would appreciate if you share your opinion.

Thank you,

Vik

 

[hktrdr]

Caveat: Have not ridden such an old Dark Series.

Your current board being a wide might be partially responsible for it not being playful (although the Dark is definitely not playful to begin with).

T. Rice is widely discussed on this forum (hint: use the search function). It is not a particularly playful board, but still more so than the Dark (especially a wide one). Whether it is the right board for you depends on your riding style and conditions/location.

And you are correct that you do not need a wide board - in fact at the appropriate length for your weight you might not even need a mid-wide (like the T. Rice).

 

[Vittorio]

Caveat: Have not ridden such an old Dark Series.

Your current board being a wide might be partially responsible for it not being playful (although the Dark is definitely not playful to begin with).

T. Rice is widely discussed on this forum (hint: use the search function). It is not a particularly playful board, but still more so than the Dark (especially a wide one). Whether it is the right board for you depends on your riding style and conditions/location.

And you are correct that you do not need a wide board - in fact at the appropriate length for your weight you might not even need a mid-wide (like the T. Rice).

Yea, I think we both agree that wide board isn't really the way to go when looking for something more agile.
Today, I went to a ski shop and the guy was soooo against T.Rice and Lib Tech in general - he said that Never Summer Raptor or Premier F1 are much better boards ... so I guess I am gonna keep looking a asking people around what they think. He wasn't selling any Lib Tech boards in his store ... maybe that's why .

Thanks again!

 

[bseracka]

Are you planning to buy locally? If so what do you have available? Being wide and length and full camber I'm going to guess your dark rode like a plank. The newer ones are less plank like, but still need to be charged. If you liked yours and want to stay with lib/gnu the lando/phoenix, ag, bg and ab might be options to look at.

 

[Vittorio]

I am gonna buy it online as it's always cheaper. I think I am looking for something just a little bit less stiff, more playful but still fast. BG and TRC Pro sounds like a match although the graphics are so not my style (NS Raptor is). Any take on any of these or NS Raptor, Premier F1, Custom X and alike? And you're right my old board rides like a plank and honestly I have no clue what it feels like to ride with C2BTX or any other new technologies.

I am open to any brand, style ... really any board that can support my riding style which is mostly fast riding - resorts in Tahoe are my playgrounds.

 

[freshy]

Haha sounds almost exactly like me. I also am going from a 07 dark series in a 61w to a new darker series 61. For me the the choice was pretty easy because I love the board and I think in non wide it will be perfect for me. But I think I would have gotten the gnu billy goat as my second choice. Mostly because those boards have the c3 camber dominant rocker shape. I like to ride fast so I prefer camber...We'll see how this new one is.

 

[SinkHole]

"Playful" is not an adjective that I would use to describe any T.Rice board. Having one, I have battled this board constantly to make it do things it's not designed too do.

The TRS is a great board for what you describe you are looking for. It's just on the more narrow side I would say.

 

[Vittorio]

... the old Dark Series is a very stiff and unforgiving so that any other board feels playful ). I managed to ride 4 seasons in any kind of conditions including moguls (on my old 164cm Wide) but oh boy - what a rough and painful ride it was. Obviously the board wasn't built for that. I guess TRC won't be a bad choice at all, I just have no idea what it feels like to ride with a "banana" between my feet vs. other technologies available on the market from Burton, Never Summer, Ride, GNU BG etc.
I am totally fine with forcing the board to make things that is designed for. As a matter of fact that's what I've been doing with my Dark series ... well, except the moguls .

So the questions is, what does it feel like to ride TRC vs. GNU Billy Goat vs. Custom X vs. NS Premier F1 vs. any other high performance board that is out there?