# Help me decide between: Banana Magic, Attack Banana or Rome Mod Rocker



## vwbrian (Apr 16, 2011)

I have a 158W banana magic and it has very deep sidecut 7M and carves very tight turns. The edge is really agressive so it take some getting used to. I would recommend the 158 over the 157 with your boot size. It is really good for advanced riders who can react quickly as it demands attention when riding due to the grip and sidecut. Once you get used to it and if you like to Carve alot it's a very fun snowboard.
I have not tried the Attack banana but the sidecut 8.3M for 156 8.4M for 159 is not as deep as the magic.


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## danimaltron (Sep 29, 2011)

vwbrian said:


> I have a 158W banana magic and it has very deep sidecut 7M and carves very tight turns. The edge is really agressive so it take some getting used to. I would recommend the 158 over the 157 with your boot size. It is really good for advanced riders who can react quickly as it demands attention when riding due to the grip and sidecut. Once you get used to it and if you like to Carve alot it's a very fun snowboard.
> I have not tried the Attack banana but the sidecut 8.3M for 156 8.4M for 159 is not as deep as the magic.


Thanks! Do you find the board is easy to just mess around with at slow speeds as well? Or does it only want to go fast and gets grumpy if you try and maneuver it around without giving it lots of speed? Is it a board that you can also just have fun on and relax, occasionally, without having to micro manage it too much just to get down the hill?


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## danimaltron (Sep 29, 2011)

vwbrian said:


> I have a 158W banana magic and it has very deep sidecut 7M and carves very tight turns. The edge is really agressive so it take some getting used to. I would recommend the 158 over the 157 with your boot size. It is really good for advanced riders who can react quickly as it demands attention when riding due to the grip and sidecut. Once you get used to it and if you like to Carve alot it's a very fun snowboard.
> I have not tried the Attack banana but the sidecut 8.3M for 156 8.4M for 159 is not as deep as the magic.




Also, the 158 only coms in wide. Is that what you were suggesting? I never thought I needed a "wide" snowboard. I'm worried a 158W would be too much of a brute and not agile enough. Do my concerns have any truth behind them?


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

Ban magic is a great effin board. It's not that stiff. More like mid-stiff. Excellent edge power and you can lay down some sweet carves with it.

I rode it in Michigan and all we have is groomers basically. Not going to be the best jib stick, but definitely fun board to mess around on.


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## danimaltron (Sep 29, 2011)

Leo said:


> Ban magic is a great effin board. It's not that stiff. More like mid-stiff. Excellent edge power and you can lay down some sweet carves with it.
> 
> I rode it in Michigan and all we have is groomers basically. Not going to be the best jib stick, but definitely fun board to mess around on.


Thanks. I was just talking to a shop staffer (The Boardroom in Vancouver) and I told him what I want to do: mess around while waiting for my wife, but be able to keep up with my friends on certain days, hit jumps and ride pow occasionally. He said the Attack Banana is just super fun, forgiving, and better for messing around. It's not as fast as the Magic, or as responsive in super fast carving... but those are of lower priority to me. I firstly want to have fun and work on some tricks here and there.

Have you tried the Attack Banana as a comparison?

After hearing that, I'm starting to learn toward the 159 Attack Nana or a 159 Rome Mod Rocker, as they are both a little more freestyle oriented rather than "haul ass on groomers".


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## vwbrian (Apr 16, 2011)

I have the 158 with size 11 thirty-two boots and can still drag my toes in a hard carve. Not sure of the lenght of your boots or you stance I ride 20+ front and 10+ rear but for carving I liked the 158 over the 157that I demoed. I don't seem to have any problem throwing the board around or pulling 360's strait airs with it. I also take it into the park but just recently started park riding. I weigh 210lbs and this board stomps the landing and is very stable at any speed. I haven't ridden a board without magne-traction in 5 years so i am use to it and wouldn't get a board without it. Some people don't like it but I don't know why. I have 5 boards with it in all the combonations of camber except EC2. I trust magnatraction to hold an edge on almost any surface except Nasty ice that you wouldn't want to be on anyway. Out of all the boards I have the Magic is the one I will never part with. I have been riding since the 80's, on Mervin boards only. So I really like their equipment Plus there made in USA by snowboarders.


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## danimaltron (Sep 29, 2011)

vwbrian said:


> I have the 158 with size 11 thirty-two boots and can still drag my toes in a hard carve. Not sure of the lenght of your boots or you stance I ride 20+ front and 10+ rear but for carving I liked the 158 over the 157that I demoed. I don't seem to have any problem throwing the board around or pulling 360's strait airs with it. I also take it into the park but just recently started park riding. I weigh 210lbs and this board stomps the landing and is very stable at any speed. I haven't ridden a board without magne-traction in 5 years so i am use to it and wouldn't get a board without it. Some people don't like it but I don't know why. I have 5 boards with it in all the combonations of camber except EC2. I trust magnatraction to hold an edge on almost any surface except Nasty ice that you wouldn't want to be on anyway. Out of all the boards I have the Magic is the one I will never part with. I have been riding since the 80's, on Mervin boards only. So I really like their equipment Plus there made in USA by snowboarders.


Thats great, thanks for the personal insights.

I went to a local shop today that had the Attack Banana 159 and I felt it was too skinny for me. The magne-traction also seemed very subtle compared to others. I decided against getting it, even though its reviews have been terrific. If there was a 159W in the shop, I may have left with it.

I saw a 157 Skunk Ape though, which is their wide model. It has C2BTX, Basalt topsheet and some other things. The only thing I wish it had was the sintered base, but there are pros and cons with both the TnT and the Sintered. I left with the Skunk Ape!

It's a wide board, but the sidecut is decent still, and the magne-traction is pretty aggressive. It's supposed to be really poppy (it's stiff) and easy to maneuver even at slow speeds. And of course it will shred through powder, is super stable and fast too. And the board is a little shorter than the others, so I should be able to throw it around when I want to get jibby. I think I'm going to love it. I hope I do, anyway!

Now I'm looking for a good binding combination. I'm looking at:


Rome 390
Ride SPi
Flux TT30
Forum Republic

What bindings did you pair up with the Magic? Anyone else have any suggestions for a good binding match with a 157 Skunk Ape?


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## Lstarrasl (Mar 26, 2010)

Stoked


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## turbospartan (Oct 27, 2010)

I have the '10 Magic and it is an incredible board. 

I came from an old cambered Ride All Mountain 155, to the '10 157 Magic. I was actually surprised at how awesomely different it was to the old board. 

I can carve on a dime, its super fast and seems pretty poppy. 

The only downsides to the Magic that I see are that it is a 157 when I wanted something closer to 154 (in '10 they only made 152 and 157) and it seems a little heavy, though that may be the result of it being too big for me. 

I have Rome Targa's and I like them, came from Burton Cartels. Both are good bindings but the Targa's seem to hurt the top of my foot a bit, but that also might be because my boots are super old and breaking down. I'll be getting new boots this year. 

Good luck with your board - the magnatraction is awesome.


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## vwbrian (Apr 16, 2011)

I paired it up with the Gnu Agro bindings size large. I had the street stepin bindings at first and upgraded to the metal bindings. Also on the upper end Gnu bindings there is a rubber pad on the base so when you move your bindings they leave no marks on your board. Great for resale value on your board.
My friend has the 157 skunkape and he said it was so much better than his K2 podium 161 that it gave him way more confidence to try new tricks.


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