# Board Reviews - Lib Dark Series MTX & Capita Stairmaster



## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

*A Few Reviews- Lib Dark Series MTX, Capita Stairmaster, Airblaster Inverter Bindings*

After having ridden each board 10x last season and 2 times each this season, I finally feel that I am qualified to review each one.

Me: 6'3", 215lbs, 
Been riding for the last 12 years now
I change my riding style to suit who I ride with. So some days, I lazily cruise down the runs and do ground tricks, and others I charge like a mofo and hit every jump, bump and roller I can find...And then there's mogul day. I absolutely love charging the moguls on a board!

*Lib Dark Series MTX 164:*
I really can't believe I'm going to say this, but the more I rode this board, the less and less I liked it compared to the Stairmaster. I find that quite ironic that I love a $300 board (that I got on sale for $150) way more than a $600 board. But I digress.  After I got over the initial hype of "I've got MTX...It's the shit", I quickly realized that I hated MTX. When I'm hard carving down the slopes, I find that the MTX sometimes digs into the snow, which results in a much, much harder carve than I initially planned...And it all ends in a crash. I think that, perhaps, MTX would be awesome for the east coast - but in CO, it's not really needed. Also, the base scratches quite easily IMO - at least compared to the Stairmaster.

That's not to say that the Lib DS is junk. I do like this board and it handles great when I'm bombing down the runs, or when I hit a booter and get launched. It is quite responsive and spins somewhat decently (for a directional board). The one area the DS shines in is the pow! This thing floats like a dream in powder...It handles so well in pow, I often wonder why they advertise it as a freestyle rig, instead of an all mountain board.

*Capita Stairmaster 156W:*
I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this board!!! I originally had no intentions of getting one, but when it was 50% off, I just couldn't resist. I have to admit that the graphics aren't the best - and I've been asked a few times why I'm riding a girls board (it doesn't help that I have Airblaster Inverter bindings that have 1 highback with pink pterodactyls on them). But onto the review. lol

I can't say enough good things about this board. Dispite what I had previously heard, the Stairmaster is not a noodle at all...not even close. It's got a middle of the road flex pattern that excel all over the mountain. I really enjoy the flex pattern because it allows me to pull out some sketch landings on spins that would have otherwise resulted in a crash. Very stable at higher speeds with no chatter. Because of true centered stance, riding switch is as easy as regular. 

It's also practically indestructable. I've ridden over quite a number of rocks, grass, tree roots/branches and small children with this thing and the base is barely scraped up at all. 2 weeks ago, I launched off of a roller on the side of the run and landed in a huge patch of rocks, and rode over them plus a bunch of dirt on the way out. Only damage the board took was one small little gouge and a couple very minor scratches.

I really don't have much of anything bad to say about the board at all. It's obviously not good in powder and it's not something I'd ever use to hit the icy steepes. I do wish it had a bit softer flex to really kill the presses with, but other than that, this board is awesome!

*Airblaster Inverter Bindings*

I picked up these bindings after I destroyed my Flow Teams. They were on sale and they had dinousars on them, so I figured why not.

Pro:
Perfect all-mtn flex
Easy to adjust on the hill - just need 1 screwdriver and you can adjust anything.
They look killer! I always get comments on these bindings. "Are those pterodactyl's on your bindings?" "Why does one highback have pink pterodactyl's and the other one have brown?" Pretty much in that order...So if you're looking for your gear to get noticed, these will do the trick.
Durable (minus the straps). I'm pretty hard on my equipment and I've yet to break these bindings...Which is something I can not say about most of the other bindings I've owned up to this point.

Con:
Pink highback!!!
The leather straps get torn up quickly. I've got around 20ish days on these bindings and I seriously doubt the straps will survive to the end of this season.
The toe strap doesn't stay put unless you use them over the top of your foot (around the front of the boot and they slip)


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2008)

sweeeet review dude


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2008)

Ive got a DS too..... the only issue i have with it is how stiff it is..... i dont think i weigh enough to take advantage of it.... otherwise its a pretty sick board.... especially in the pow


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

If you feel MTX grips too much, get it detuned, and that will resolve your complaints.


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## T.J. (Aug 28, 2007)

Triple8Sol said:


> If you feel MTX grips too much, get it detuned, and that will resolve your complaints.


no offense, but doesnt that defeat the purpose of mtx? not being a dick, but isnt that what its supposed to do? keep in mind i've never rode a mtx but read a lot of good things about it.


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## T.J. (Aug 28, 2007)

acegoodrich said:


> Ive got a DS too..... the only issue i have with it is how stiff it is..... i dont think i weigh enough to take advantage of it.... otherwise its a pretty sick board.... especially in the pow


i've got an older Jamie Lynne and i've always thought it was way stiff. i've heard ALL dark series Libs are VERY stiff. must be a lib tech thing.


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## Triple8Sol (Nov 24, 2008)

T.J. said:


> no offense, but doesnt that defeat the purpose of mtx? not being a dick, but isnt that what its supposed to do? keep in mind i've never rode a mtx but read a lot of good things about it.


I never felt the need to detune because I ride like a man so I wouldn't know.


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## snowjeeper (Nov 11, 2008)

awesome thanks for the review, the capita was one of three boards i wanted to get, but ended up getting the hatchet. How come it sucks in the pow?


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## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

snowjeeper said:


> awesome thanks for the review, the capita was one of three boards i wanted to get, but ended up getting the hatchet. How come it sucks in the pow?


Because it's a 156 and I ride it centered.


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## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

So I rode the Lib on Saturday in anything from ankle deep to nearly waist deep powder. I finally had to move the stance from almost centered to 1.5" setback. I've got to admit that the Never Summer SL-R rode better in pow than the Lib even though it's 6cm shorter and was centered stance. Reverse camber is definitely where it's at.

Oh yeah. My friend was riding an Arbor A-Frame and that thing was way lighter than the Lib. The Lib felt like a ton of bricks compared to the Arbor. The weight difference was an eye-opener.


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## Gnarly (Mar 12, 2008)

Well, after 25 - 30 days riding, the Union bindings (Airblaster Inverters) have been retired. The straps just didn't hold up like I expected them to. I thought maybe I could make it to the end of this season on the current straps, but 8 days into the 2008/2009 season, the toe straps fell apart so much that unless I wanted to risk ruining my boots, I just couldn't continue riding them. I can see the bottom of the ratchets through the underside on the toe strap (the metal from the ratchets are digging into my boots). And the stitching is coming apart on the heel strap on one of the bindings and the heel straps are pretty ripped up too.

I thought Union would help me out somewhat when I told them of my problem. Instead of helping or even being curteous, I got a one sentence answer to my email directing me to buy $80 worth of straps (that I assume will have the same durability as the 1st pair). So no thank you Union, I do not feel like I need to spend $80 to replace the straps that should, IMHO, last longer than 25 - 30 riding days before falling apart.

As of tonight, I am the new owner of a pair of 2009 Rome Targas.


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