# Lib Tech Banana vs Ride Machete



## Guest (Apr 7, 2010)

Whats your guys opinion on it? 

nanner or chete?


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Unless mostly all you ride is powder (which I'm guessing not) by these choices...I'd go for the Banana for the magnetraction. It really works good.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

Uh, the skate naner or naner magic? If you're talking skate banana, I'd go with Machete. If banana magic, then I'd go with that.


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## mrpez (Jan 29, 2010)

banana magic has a stiffness of 7 while the skate banana is 4.5-5. why would you even compare those two boards as being similar?


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

mrpez said:


> banana magic has a stiffness of 7 while the skate banana is 4.5-5. why would you even compare those two boards as being similar?


I'm not comparing, I just don't know which one out of the two the OP is asking about. The Machete is not just limited to freestyle riding. The board rips all-around. Just like the Banana Magic. I don't do much park at all and I would place the Machete on the top of my list of boards to purchase.

Saying the "naner" is vague. You can't just assume it's the skate banana because the other board he asked about is the Machete.

I would put the Machete into the equation with deciding between a Banana Magic or the Skate Banana. And I'm a free-rider with little bit of freestyle.


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## jgsqueak (Mar 9, 2010)

The Machete rips every part of the hill. That is my opinion (and Leo's from the sound of it) but I have found some that find it a little soft. The 2011 version gets poprods which is a great addition. 

If the other choice is a skate banana, then I would have to say if you ride east of Colorado (and ride a lot of park) go with the skate banana, however if you are in the west, go with the Machete.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

jgsqueak said:


> The Machete rips every part of the hill. That is my opinion (and Leo's from the sound of it) but I have found some that find it a little soft. The 2011 version gets poprods which is a great addition.
> 
> If the other choice is a skate banana, then I would have to say if you ride east of Colorado (and ride a lot of park) go with the skate banana, however if you are in the west, go with the Machete.


Exactly my feelings. I demoed the 2011 Machete. Super sick board. Yes, it on the softer side, but it certainly doesn't ride like other boards of the same flex.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2010)

Thanks for all the opinions guys by the way by nana i was thinking skate banana.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

The banana magic is a full banana. Designed mostly with powder in mind. Will allow you to press a bit easier considering it's so stiff too I guess.

The SB is banana between the feet. When you stand on it, the ends engage the snow. Just not as hard as C2 banana boards. But it's stiff at the ends so it can ride powder and carve better than if it was flexibly throughout. The middle is softer so you can still engange in presses and spins easily.

Everything is a compromise. It depends on which ride is more important to you...for that particular board, if you have a couple.


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## Guest (Apr 7, 2010)

*chete chete*

I just picked up a machete and i am absolutely loving it. From the park to the powder it just destroys everything. the lowrize rocker technology seems to be the perfect balance in the camber vs reverse camber battle. while i have yet to ride a skate banana (this will be remedied this week) based on what i hear there are some minor flaws with having as much rocker as it has. i have heard that 1. it is easier to wash out off of bigger jumps due to the full length rocker. and 2. the banana sacrifices pop (which i find fairly essential in the park). I am pretty excited to get on one to see how the banana tech compares to rides lowrize technology.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

I prefer the Machete over the skate banana. But against a Banana Magic, the story changes. It was easily in the top 5 boards that I demoed for 2011. The Magic was just a pure joy to ride and mess around with. The edge to edge on that thing was so smooth and it was light. The Machete was also a blast to shred on. Presses were easy, the pop was satisfying without being overpowering, and the slimewalls just plain worked. In fact, I attribute the softer Machete's stability to the Slimewalls. It definitely is not a gimmick.

The Skate Banana does beat out the Machete in one department... Ice. There was no doubt in my mind that Magnatraction works on ice. I was able to edge on ice as I would normally on snow with the Skate. Pop was lacking, but by no means was it missing. I just didn't enjoy riding the Skate as much as the Machete. Nothing more to say about that really.

Now, keep in mind that I am talking about 2011 models. They have made minor adjustments on both sides of the camp. Nothing really game changing from what I hear though.

I say Machete wins the better board award out of the two.


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## Adam C (Mar 1, 2010)

jdaripper said:


> I just picked up a machete and i am absolutely loving it. From the park to the powder it just destroys everything. the lowrize rocker technology seems to be the perfect balance in the camber vs reverse camber battle. while i have yet to ride a skate banana (this will be remedied this week) based on what i hear there are some minor flaws with having as much rocker as it has. i have heard that 1. it is easier to wash out off of bigger jumps due to the full length rocker. and 2. the banana sacrifices pop (which i find fairly essential in the park). I am pretty excited to get on one to see how the banana tech compares to rides lowrize technology.


Let me know please


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

will do haha


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## Technine Icon (Jan 15, 2009)

jdaripper said:


> I am pretty excited to get on one to see how the banana tech compares to rides lowrize technology.


I'd be interested in what you have to say, maybe make a thread about the differences and comparisons.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Leo said:


> I prefer the Machete over the skate banana. But against a Banana Magic, the story changes. It was easily in the top 5 boards that I demoed for 2011. The Magic was just a pure joy to ride and mess around with. The edge to edge on that thing was so smooth and it was light. The Machete was also a blast to shred on. Presses were easy, the pop was satisfying without being overpowering, and the slimewalls just plain worked. In fact, I attribute the softer Machete's stability to the Slimewalls. It definitely is not a gimmick.
> 
> The Skate Banana does beat out the Machete in one department... Ice. There was no doubt in my mind that Magnatraction works on ice. I was able to edge on ice as I would normally on snow with the Skate. Pop was lacking, but by no means was it missing. I just didn't enjoy riding the Skate as much as the Machete. Nothing more to say about that really.
> 
> ...


It doesn't look like Slimewalls should work well on ice. If you think about it, ice skates are stiff pieces of metal. I don't think having a flexible attachment to an ice skate would be a good idea otherwise they would have already done it. That could also be why the Machete is not that good on ice.


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## Pistachio (Mar 9, 2010)

rasmasyean said:


> It doesn't look like Slimewalls should work well on ice. If you think about it, ice skates are stiff pieces of metal. I don't think having a flexible attachment to an ice skate would be a good idea otherwise they would have already done it. That could also be why the Machete is not that good on ice.


The slime-walls are meant to be a replacement of standard sidewalls, they don't extend down to the edge itself (that would be crazy) as that would severely ruin edge-hold in not just ice, but everything. The slime-wall shouldn't really effect edge hold anywhere.


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## Dave Legacy (Mar 9, 2008)

Pistachio said:


> The slime-walls are meant to be a replacement of standard sidewalls, they don't extend down to the edge itself (that would be crazy) as that would severely ruin edge-hold in not just ice, but everything. The slime-wall shouldn't really effect edge hold anywhere.


I second that. Slimewalls are intended to add durability to the sidewalls so they'll flex instead of break. Capita also uses urethane sidewalls and the Ultrafear FK might be an interesting comparison to the Machete.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

Technine Icon said:


> I'd be interested in what you have to say, maybe make a thread about the differences and comparisons.


No problem ill be sure to do that. i havent really seen anywhere that has compared the two yet, so im pretty anxious to see what i get out of it.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Pistachio said:


> The slime-walls are meant to be a replacement of standard sidewalls, they don't extend down to the edge itself (that would be crazy) as that would severely ruin edge-hold in not just ice, but everything. The slime-wall shouldn't really effect edge hold anywhere.


That's not what I meant...of course it still has a steel edge.
But by virtue of the fact that it acts as a "dampener" it makes the edge more flexible and thus will vibrate more while chattering...such as on ice. I'm not saying that ...if ice skates are made out of rubber...that would be silly. I'm saying that ice skates don't incorporate this kind of "shock absorber" like what this slimewall does.

The main purpose of it is perhaps to "give" instead of "crack" when you hit a kink or something wrong. This "softness" makes it hold an edge less...like how a soft board suffers the same drawback. Like when going through hard pack or ice surfaces, the edge will deflect more relative to the sidecut and twist when it hits little bumps...in addition to how a soft board flexes overall compared to a stiff board.


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## Pistachio (Mar 9, 2010)

rasmasyean said:


> That's not what I meant...of course it still has a steel edge.
> But by virtue of the fact that it acts as a "dampener" it makes the edge more flexible and thus will vibrate more while chattering...such as on ice. I'm not saying that ...if ice skates are made out of rubber...that would be silly. I'm saying that ice skates don't incorporate this kind of "shock absorber" like what this slimewall does.
> 
> The main purpose of it is perhaps to "give" instead of "crack" when you hit a kink or something wrong. This "softness" makes it hold an edge less...like how a soft board suffers the same drawback. Like when going through hard pack or ice surfaces, the edge will deflect more relative to the sidecut and twist when it hits little bumps...in addition to how a soft board flexes overall compared to a stiff board.


This would make a lot more sense. Anyone got a diagram of some slime walls?


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Pistachio said:


> This would make a lot more sense. Anyone got a diagram of some slime walls?


If you hold a regular sidewall, it will be like a rod, If you hold a slimewall, it will be like a rubber band. You can tie it in a knot. If you press your nail into the sidewall, it will dimple in instead of beak your nail.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

rasmasyean said:


> It doesn't look like Slimewalls should work well on ice. If you think about it, ice skates are stiff pieces of metal. I don't think having a flexible attachment to an ice skate would be a good idea otherwise they would have already done it. That could also be why the Machete is not that good on ice.


No, you misunderstood me. I'm not saying the Machete rocks on ice because of slimewalls. I'm saying the slimewalls stabilize the Machete on steeper, all-mountain runs. On ice, the Skate Banana wins hands down.


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

depends on what you are used to riding ... If you ride boards like an SLR, Lib Dark Series or some other traditionally stiffer all mtn boards you should like the Machete. If you are used to softer park noodles the Machete will come off a bit stiffer than you anticipated. Ride boards traditionally seem to really need to be broken in meaning they get flexier as you use them more. The Magne Traction will ride better on the ice coast but its will kinda be negated by the skate bananas rev cam cut and floppyness.. a better comparison would be either the Lib TRS or as someone else stated the Banana Magic

check out both my blog and Angrys for a review .. we both had close to the same experience with it .. also Davids and Shays ... links to all the reviews are at the bottom of my review


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

2011 Skate Banana: This board is a very solid board. The combination of Banana Tech and Magne-Traction is a dream to ride on powder or icey conditions. I did several runs with this board through ice and steeps and just plain cruisers. What I personally loved about this board was the flex. I don't know Lib's rating, but I also don't care. I go by feel and the flex on this board was just right for me. Not too soft and not too stiff. On ice, the magne worked as promised. I was able to transition from edge to edge without any sketch whatsoever whether it was on flats or the steeps. What I didn't like about this board was that it wasn't the best when it came to normal runs on groomers. Edge to edge felt unengaging although never sketchy. On steeper runs, there was some board chattering, but this is no big deal since the Skate really isn't meant to be an all-mountain board anyways. I also found this board to be on the heavier side of the spectrum. Though this could be attributed to the fact that I rode a Banana Magic right after this one so my mind is exaggerating the weight difference (I tested the boards a couple of months ago). Pop was also nothing to clap about. Not bad, but just didn't have that satisfying feel when you ollied or took off from a kicker. I can't account for big airs since I don't do huge park kickers. I am a free-rider so I pop off natural features. So for me, landings were good enough.

2011 Ride Machete: This board was awesome all-around. I didn't expect it to perform as well as it did considering my style and the design of the board (freestyle oriented). What really stood out to me about the Machete was the flex. It was almost as if the board had variable flex. When you lift your tip/tail for a press, it was easy and high. But when you took it for bomber runs, it was stable with almost no board chatter like a stiff board. And the pop, man was the pop satisfying. I have not tried other years' Machete, but the 2011 definitely had good pop to it. That's another shocker considering the softer nature of this board. I did hear from the rep that the 2011 line of Rides got upgraded poprods or something like that. The other board that I know of that received this tech is the DH and DH2. It's not something that gives the board more pop, in fact it did the opposite for the DH boards. What it does (according to the rep) is make the pop more responsive and satisfying. Ride had many complaints about the DH having too much pop for its own good so this was Ride's answer to that problem. This snowboarder gives it two thumbs up. Just load the tail to your liking and off you go. Let's talk about Slimewalls. Remember when I said this board had virtually no chatter on steeps? Well this is because of the Slimewalls. It acts as a dampening tool for the board on those chattery runs. The LowRize rocker on this board was perfect for me. This was my first year on rockered boards and I didn't like the higher park oriented rockers found on other brands like Rome. Edge hold was present and edge catches were almost non-existent. I was popping off walls and doing flat 180s and the times that I felt like I was going to sketch out, I didn't. No snow biting = smiles on my face. The Machete was also pretty decent on icey runs. Nowhere as good as the Skate Banana though. I honestly have nothing really negative to say about this board.

Just so you guys know, I was fully ready to purchase a Skate Banana as my next board after hearing so many solid reviews about it. After the test fest, that all changed. To be quite honest, the Skate Banana just can't compete with all of the other great boards out there.

For 2011, I have my sights set on these boards:

Burton: Custom Flying-V, Easy Livin Flying-V

Ride: Machete

K2: Turbo Dream, Slayblade

Lib Tech: Banana Magic


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

yeah I can pretty much agree with those two reviews ... one thing may seem misleading in my above post is im not saying the Machete is stiff like the all mtn slrs or dark series I just think if you tend to ride stiffer boards and are looking to get into park the machete is a good start as its still firm but has park capabilities ... if you ride park boards already you may find the machete not as flexy as you like or anticipated 

when I rode my banana for a few seasons the ollie thing became easy ... due to the banana shape you have to load it up more to get good pop... even on small things you have to load an ollie instead of just popping one like you do on less reversed cuts..

I agree the low rise is the best rev camber ... the flat in the middle gives you great stability and lets you use the rocker when you want to... rome ( on some boards ) capita, smokin, k2, and ride all use this style of reverse camber


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## CoopersTroopers (Feb 24, 2010)

Pistachio said:


> This would make a lot more sense. Anyone got a diagram of some slime walls?


Sidewall | Technology | Ride Snowboards

Even has a video of Paul (Ride's board engineer) tying a knot in one. Cool stuff. Slimewall 85A is more forgiving than 90A Slimewalls, so you will generally find 85A on their freestyle oriented boards, and 90A on their bombers.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

Leo said:


> What really stood out to me about the Machete was the flex. It was almost as if the board had variable flex. When you lift your tip/tail for a press, it was easy and high. But when you took it for bomber runs, it was stable with almost no board chatter like a stiff board.


being the owner of a 2010 machete i would have to completely agree with this. people keep posting that the machete is stiffer and whatnot but i do not find that to be the case. i was riding a 2008 (i think) DH and while that was the year before they started to make them more park oriented, it was pretty dang stiff. makes the machete seem like a noodle. but back to the flex, when i am going down a run it is so simple just to lay back on the tail and bring up the nose of the board. i dont feel like the machete is too stiff for anything.


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## n2i1c3k7 (Jun 23, 2009)

has anyone ridden the machete and evo-r, if so how do they compare?


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## Adam C (Mar 1, 2010)

Thanks for the comparison Leo! I'm glad I'm not rich or I'd have to buy one of each. :laugh:


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

You should buy a head or a yonex snowboard. They make tennis rackets so they'll be all about technology.


Slimewalls don't do shit , I repeat do do shit. Just another bit of marketing hype to sell more boards. You can not notice them and thinking you do , you might need to o get seen about that.

Lowrise is sweet , still has the pop of a bottle and raise contact points but doesn't look like half an orange peel when riden. 

Lib tech , smib tech. Unless you buy a board on how it functions - I do not , then go ahead and buy a board that looks like the took the design of a crinkle cut fry and slapped a big ol' banana on it. Thats lib's idea of a good looking board.

Buy a board on how it looks not how it rides , it has gotten me this far


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

discostix said:


> You should buy a head or a yonex snowboard. They make tennis rackets so they'll be all about technology.
> 
> 
> Slimewalls don't do shit , I repeat do do shit. Just another bit of marketing hype to sell more boards. You can not notice them and thinking you do , you might need to o get seen about that.
> ...


Get off the crack bro


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

jdaripper said:


> being the owner of a 2010 machete i would have to completely agree with this. people keep posting that the machete is stiffer and whatnot but i do not find that to be the case. i was riding a 2008 (i think) DH and while that was the year before they started to make them more park oriented, it was pretty dang stiff. makes the machete seem like a noodle. but back to the flex, when i am going down a run it is so simple just to lay back on the tail and bring up the nose of the board. i dont feel like the machete is too stiff for anything.


that just goes back to what I was saying .. if you ride stiffer boards then yes you would think the machete to be pretty flexy, but if you ride park oriented noodles youll find the machete to be a bit stiffer than you are used to. Thats why both angry and I labeled it too stiff for us because we tend to ride softer stuff and dave labeled it nice and flexy because he rides stiffer boards

btw the dh started as a jib board and came out just before the kink ... overtime the dh has stiffened up to become an all mountain stick and the kink took its place as the park noodle ... of course now theres the crush and machete in between them to help blur the lines .. the DH in the dh stands for chris Demolski and justin Hebbel two early 2000's well known rail kids who helped develop the initial boards.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

discostix said:


> Lib tech , smib tech. Unless you buy a board on how it functions - I do not , then go ahead and buy a board that looks like the took the design of a crinkle cut fry and slapped a big ol' banana on it. Thats lib's idea of a good looking board.
> 
> Buy a board on how it looks not how it rides , it has gotten me this far


wow. i would have to completely disagree with your ideas. lib tech has pushed the snowboard technology to new levels and why the hell would you buy a board with the mindset fashion over function...? especially when you are paying hundreds of dollars for them... i think someone else needs to get checked out, just my personal opinion.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2010)

burritosandsnow said:


> overtime the dh has stiffened up to become an all mountain stick and the kink took its place as the park noodle ...



thats interesting because it seems after my year they softened up. i personally felt last years and the one previous and they definitely felt more flexy than my year. but you seem to know your ish about the DH so ill back off on this one.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

I have a dark series. It’s a different board made for different things. I would say that the Skate Banana’s nose and tail are stiffer than the Dark Series nose. So if you ride switch…

I guess for the Banana you will still have to “lift the board higher” like someone else said, but once you do, it’s the same both ways.

This would be speculation but lets say in the current specs the DS is flex 7.5 and the SB is flex 6.
If they take the average, then the DS tail is around 8.5 and the nose is around 6.5.
The SB tails and nose is around 7 then…and the middle is around 5.

I mean, I’m not positive on this…but that’s what it seems sort of like how that numerical indicator works.


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## burritosandsnow (Nov 22, 2008)

jdaripper said:


> thats interesting because it seems after my year they softened up. i personally felt last years and the one previous and they definitely felt more flexy than my year. but you seem to know your ish about the DH so ill back off on this one.



to be honest its one issue ive had with ride in general too many damn boards lol


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2010)

oh, im not confused as to which board is which at all. im just saying based on personal experience i thought that the DH was getting more park oriented.


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## Guest (Apr 9, 2010)

Well me and my buddy are going mt.hood tomorrow he has been riding his chete since christmas and tomorrow will be my first time on the banana. We are suppose to switch boards halfway through but i'll let everyone know how it goes!


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Here's a video of some kid flexing the skate banana. Definately a pretty stiff nose and tail.

YouTube - Lib Tech 09 Skate Banana Flex Test


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## jitpunkia (Mar 24, 2010)

i like discostix . he reminds me of this old grandpa that sit on the side of the road and cursing people as they walk/drive by . cause he hates his own life so much that he needs to put other people down so he can remind himself its ok to breathe .

i can see where is he coming from, i dont like flow bindings, i dont like step in bindings, but other people can use em i dont really care . i like reverse camber boards, i feel it makes me a better rider, well if it doesnt work for you . what can i say .

discostix, remember to breatheeee, its all gonna be alright


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