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LIB TECH TRAVIS RICE
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The 09 version has some significant updates and changes. As
a disclaimer, I rode the 08 157 which has a waist width of 258. This
year I am older, wiser and digging short boards so am on a 153 with
a sensible weight watchers waist of 252.
The art work is by Mike Parillo this year versus last year's by Mr Aaron Draplin. It's not my cup of tea, but
Parillo does some sick sick stuff.
Conditions: Cold like a witch's teet, Stowe, hard pack with ice and snow
guns, drifts of natural snow, wind, lots of packs of ski school kids doing s-turns across the whole hill, firm but fun park.
Pros: Travis Rice rides it. Seriously. I usually don't buy into the
hype, but he is pretty insane. Have you watched That's It Thats All?
The things he did on that slow-ass 08 Trice are death-defying.
The 09 board is solid. The banana is not as pronounced as I thought it
would be compared to some other rockers out there. All bananas are
rockered between the bindings and flat towards tip and tail. This board
carved well, was well balanced and had (gasp) decent ollie pop. The
blunt tip and tail matched well with the banana and the short length
of this board for park, trick applications. The board's pretty lively and promotes catching air.
Carving overall was fun. With the combo of the banana and probably the MTX, i was able to make some surfy (not ski racerie) backside carves. I wasn't really sure if I liked this or not as my hands were out to my sides for some stability, total longboard in the curl style... Surf's up duuuude. I tend to like carving looking like an enlarged ape. Anyway, it held an edge well and I was able to motor over some death cookie and other crap.
Off the park jumps it was stable, solid, bomber. Landings were easy steezy. I didn't hit any rails because it was cold, and I felt like a pussy.
Cons: I'm not into MTX. I think the whole ice to powder thing is crap. If you are a good enough rider, it really doesn't matter when holding an edge. May be in pow or something it creates a "floatier" experience, but on the Ice Coast I think it's purely marketing and/or psychological. I didn't detune this board, but the MTX would catch in the most random places: off a spin on a kicker, in the middle of a long backside, high-speed carve, in the lift line skating. My plan is to detune the hell outta this board and ride it again. As I said above, the high speed arcing was fun with the BTX and MTX. The banana wasn't as pronounced as I expected it to be, which isn't really a pro or a con, just an FYI. I think an advanced rider would really be able to milk this board to its fullest capabilities, but an intermediate would probably be
just fine as well.
Tech: Kudos for Lib for introducing the Bio-plastic beans topsheet on their high-end boards. With the combination of beans and their work in trying to be an enviro-friendly factory including: low VOC resin, soy-based sidewalls, basalt fiberglass, biodiesel and recycling a ton, It's definitely a step in the right direction! The sidewalls are meaty. I can't wait to stomp some cliffs in UT, bonk a rock or land on something weird to see what happens. For more Lib Tech tech info click here.
Overall: This board has a lot of hype and has won a lot of awards, which means it's probably already sold out. The addition of banana and a fast base really up the ante on this board from my POV. The combination of being stiffer board and a slightly less pronounced rocker allows you to ollie better than some of the other rockers (which has been an issue for me with rocker boards) and stomp some landings off-kelter easier. The downside is that it means you have to do a bit more work when buttering and playing around on flatland. I think if someone is looking for an all-rounder to take from Right to Left Coast with some stops in the middle, and the specs work for you, this would be a solid addition to the quiver or a great one-board stable.
Specs (from Lib, yah for exclamation points!):
-CORRECT SANDWICH:Low spin weight!
-AXIS INVERSION FIBERGLASS SYSTEM:Mysto tech, more pop!
-H-POP CORE:Performance!
-POWER TRANSFER INTERNALSIDEWALLS:More pop!
-DOUBLE SINTERED UHMW SIDEWALLS: Tough!
-SINTERED UHMW BASE:Fast!
-MAGNA-TRACTION/BANANA TECHNOLOGY
Size Waist Stance (Min-Max) Set Back
153 BTX blunt [25.3 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
157 BTX blunt [25.8 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
161.5 BTX pointy [26.0 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
164.5 BTX pointy [26.2 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
★★★★
a disclaimer, I rode the 08 157 which has a waist width of 258. This
year I am older, wiser and digging short boards so am on a 153 with
a sensible weight watchers waist of 252.
The art work is by Mike Parillo this year versus last year's by Mr Aaron Draplin. It's not my cup of tea, but
Parillo does some sick sick stuff.
Conditions: Cold like a witch's teet, Stowe, hard pack with ice and snow
guns, drifts of natural snow, wind, lots of packs of ski school kids doing s-turns across the whole hill, firm but fun park.
Pros: Travis Rice rides it. Seriously. I usually don't buy into the
hype, but he is pretty insane. Have you watched That's It Thats All?
The things he did on that slow-ass 08 Trice are death-defying.
The 09 board is solid. The banana is not as pronounced as I thought it
would be compared to some other rockers out there. All bananas are
rockered between the bindings and flat towards tip and tail. This board
carved well, was well balanced and had (gasp) decent ollie pop. The
blunt tip and tail matched well with the banana and the short length
of this board for park, trick applications. The board's pretty lively and promotes catching air.
Carving overall was fun. With the combo of the banana and probably the MTX, i was able to make some surfy (not ski racerie) backside carves. I wasn't really sure if I liked this or not as my hands were out to my sides for some stability, total longboard in the curl style... Surf's up duuuude. I tend to like carving looking like an enlarged ape. Anyway, it held an edge well and I was able to motor over some death cookie and other crap.
Off the park jumps it was stable, solid, bomber. Landings were easy steezy. I didn't hit any rails because it was cold, and I felt like a pussy.
Cons: I'm not into MTX. I think the whole ice to powder thing is crap. If you are a good enough rider, it really doesn't matter when holding an edge. May be in pow or something it creates a "floatier" experience, but on the Ice Coast I think it's purely marketing and/or psychological. I didn't detune this board, but the MTX would catch in the most random places: off a spin on a kicker, in the middle of a long backside, high-speed carve, in the lift line skating. My plan is to detune the hell outta this board and ride it again. As I said above, the high speed arcing was fun with the BTX and MTX. The banana wasn't as pronounced as I expected it to be, which isn't really a pro or a con, just an FYI. I think an advanced rider would really be able to milk this board to its fullest capabilities, but an intermediate would probably be
just fine as well.
Tech: Kudos for Lib for introducing the Bio-plastic beans topsheet on their high-end boards. With the combination of beans and their work in trying to be an enviro-friendly factory including: low VOC resin, soy-based sidewalls, basalt fiberglass, biodiesel and recycling a ton, It's definitely a step in the right direction! The sidewalls are meaty. I can't wait to stomp some cliffs in UT, bonk a rock or land on something weird to see what happens. For more Lib Tech tech info click here.
Overall: This board has a lot of hype and has won a lot of awards, which means it's probably already sold out. The addition of banana and a fast base really up the ante on this board from my POV. The combination of being stiffer board and a slightly less pronounced rocker allows you to ollie better than some of the other rockers (which has been an issue for me with rocker boards) and stomp some landings off-kelter easier. The downside is that it means you have to do a bit more work when buttering and playing around on flatland. I think if someone is looking for an all-rounder to take from Right to Left Coast with some stops in the middle, and the specs work for you, this would be a solid addition to the quiver or a great one-board stable.
Specs (from Lib, yah for exclamation points!):
-CORRECT SANDWICH:Low spin weight!
-AXIS INVERSION FIBERGLASS SYSTEM:Mysto tech, more pop!
-H-POP CORE:Performance!
-POWER TRANSFER INTERNALSIDEWALLS:More pop!
-DOUBLE SINTERED UHMW SIDEWALLS: Tough!
-SINTERED UHMW BASE:Fast!
-MAGNA-TRACTION/BANANA TECHNOLOGY
Size Waist Stance (Min-Max) Set Back
153 BTX blunt [25.3 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
157 BTX blunt [25.8 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
161.5 BTX pointy [26.0 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
164.5 BTX pointy [26.2 cm] 19” - 24” .75”
★★★★
I got the '09 153 as well. I love it! Lots of pop, floats on the pow, btx slices through ice like swiss cheese... Fun to press, and buttery.
I have the 07/08 157 TRice
I am 5'10" and 160 lbs.
I really like this board as an all mountain board. When I first got it, I was really surprised that it was really flexy at the tip and the tail. Being that TRice rides it, and he is an all mountain killer, I thought it would be pretty stiff. It isn't a noodle by any means, but it sure doesn't fit the notion that stiffer is better for bombing down the mountain.
So why is it a good all mountain board? Well, I ride size 9's so the 157 is pretty much a mid-wide for me which makes it surprisingly good for POW days. I've ridden this in 2 plus feet and with a setback on an inch and a half I didn't have any rear leg burn. Yes I was stopping from time to time to regroup with friends but never got to that "holy crap my leg is about to cramp" threshold.
As for MTX, it is mostly good with a few negative characteristics. On hard pack, holding an edge is very easy. The best way I can describe this is that on a regular sidecut for me to hold a heelside carve at a fast pace the toeside edge is up enough for me to do an indy grab on that edge. With MTX, because effort/edge hold is so easy, the toeside edge comes up maybe and inch. I also remember that when I did the first emergency heelside stop with MTX it was super mellow. Ice into powder is obviously BS, but MTX does make ice less 'holy crap'. Typically on ice you kinda just ride through it, but with MTX you can get a SUBTLE carve if you wish to do so. Also, lets say your sliding on ice heelside, the breaking point for which your standing and falling down is much easier to manage.
Pop is really good, but not quite OMFG like my old Ride DH.
Base is plenty fast, but all Mervin boards with 'fast' base materials get super thirsty. I would say every 2-3 days it needs wax so either get comfy with an iron or get ready to shell out some $ for constant waxing.
I am 5'10" and 160 lbs.
I really like this board as an all mountain board. When I first got it, I was really surprised that it was really flexy at the tip and the tail. Being that TRice rides it, and he is an all mountain killer, I thought it would be pretty stiff. It isn't a noodle by any means, but it sure doesn't fit the notion that stiffer is better for bombing down the mountain.
So why is it a good all mountain board? Well, I ride size 9's so the 157 is pretty much a mid-wide for me which makes it surprisingly good for POW days. I've ridden this in 2 plus feet and with a setback on an inch and a half I didn't have any rear leg burn. Yes I was stopping from time to time to regroup with friends but never got to that "holy crap my leg is about to cramp" threshold.
As for MTX, it is mostly good with a few negative characteristics. On hard pack, holding an edge is very easy. The best way I can describe this is that on a regular sidecut for me to hold a heelside carve at a fast pace the toeside edge is up enough for me to do an indy grab on that edge. With MTX, because effort/edge hold is so easy, the toeside edge comes up maybe and inch. I also remember that when I did the first emergency heelside stop with MTX it was super mellow. Ice into powder is obviously BS, but MTX does make ice less 'holy crap'. Typically on ice you kinda just ride through it, but with MTX you can get a SUBTLE carve if you wish to do so. Also, lets say your sliding on ice heelside, the breaking point for which your standing and falling down is much easier to manage.
Pop is really good, but not quite OMFG like my old Ride DH.
Base is plenty fast, but all Mervin boards with 'fast' base materials get super thirsty. I would say every 2-3 days it needs wax so either get comfy with an iron or get ready to shell out some $ for constant waxing.
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