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Snowboards

Lib Tech Skate Banana 2018-2019 Snowboard Review

  • Sizes: 152, 153W, 154, 156, 156W, 159, 159W, 162W, 165W
  • Flex: 5
  • Profile: Rocker
  • Shape: True Twin
  • Price: £439 / €499

The Lib Tech Skate Banana will forever be an opinion-splitter. If you don’t like snowboards with rocker profile, this isn’t for you – and more than that, it’s essentially responsible for the proliferation of the upwards bend. While it may not have been rocker’s Patient Zero, it was pretty damn contagious.

The benefits of rocker are threefold; there’s the reduced risk of edge catching, easier buttering and pressing, and less effort required to stay afloat in powder. For the Lib Tech Skate Banana, that makes it potentially a great choice for the complete beginner, rookie freestyler and experienced pow-hound alike.

“For the right rider, the Lib Tech Skate Banana is the ideal all-rounder”

So why doesn’t everyone have a rocker board? Well, the main reason is that there’s less edge purchase when you’re making turns. Lib Tech has done its best to minimise this by adding small camber sections directly under the feet, as well as its signature wavy Magne-Traction edges, but it’ll never feel quite as solid on an edge as a board with camber.

You might not mind, however, especially if you’re more interested in doing tricks in the park than carving up a fresh groomer. If that’s your bag, then the true twin shape and tough-as-nails base will definitely float your boat.

For the right rider, the Lib Tech Skate Banana is the ideal all-rounder. No wonder it’s still around after so many years.

Tester’s Verdict

John Wellswhitelines.com

“It’s no wonder that a popular yellow fruit took its name from this famous snowboard. Like an actual banana, this is easy to handle, slippery underfoot, and alleviates depression.

When you look up ‘snowboard’ the dictionary there won’t be a picture of a Skate Banana, because dictionaries don’t have pictures. – but when you look it up on Wikipedia there should be a picture of a Skate Banana, instead of what is probably a picture of a Burton from 1996. This is one of the all-time great snowboards, and the 2018/19 model builds on a damn fine heritage.

“Like an actual banana, this is easy to handle, slippery underfoot, and alleviates depression”

The Skate Banana is, no doubt, one of the most famous iterations of the rocker profile, meaning this is made for fun, jibbing, butters, and ultimately progressing. It is both an all-rounder, and a perfect beginner purchase. It will float like a cloud in powder but, unlike a lot of rockers, it can still hold a solid edge on a groomer and hard pack.

However, it is still a rocker, and will therefore get a bit twitchy at high speeds and in low turns – but who wants to win the Olympics slalom anyway? Get this and win the Coolympics instead…”

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