Lib Tech Travis Rice Pro Pointy Review

Lib Tech a subsidiary of Mervin Manufacturing. They have been producing bomber snowboards in the USA for 26 years. The company strives to employ sustainable practices in every step of construction. Examples of this include their biodiesel heated factory and Soy-based sidewalls. The environment is at the forefront of their business model with no compromise to durability. This particular model has to put up with the thrashing that Travis Rice places on it. The Travis Rice Pointy Pro remains largely unchanged from last year's model.

Performance Comparison

Edging

The Travis Rice Pro is a top performer in edge hold and security. Because of its stiff flex and wide waist width, this board can handle a lot of turn before it buckles out on you. It won't easily be overwhelmed by your legs or turn generated force. A board similar to this would be the Bryan Iguchi Pro. Although there is a speed threshold before you get you railing turns. Due to the stiffness and Magne-Traction, the board is a little more work to roll and edge and can feel catchy at slow speeds. In the end, this board isn't made to be ridden slow, and when you play toward its strengths, this thing is radical.

Float in Powder

Similar to its edging constraint it requires a higher level of speed to begin to plane and float. Our testing attributes this to the camber tip and tail and stiffer flex pattern. In high snow densities, we were fighting the camber and flex of this model for two primary reasons: The camber wanted to dive, and the speed threshold was hard to obtain. Once it's up to speed, the wide waist width and length provide comfortable flotation in especially in good quality snow.

Stability at Speed

The Travis Rice Pro is a relatively nimble tank at speed. The cambered tip and tail engage to provide a camber like experience that offsets the stability threat from the rocker. The Bryan Iguchi Pro provides similar experience due to its full camber profile. Both models scored a 9 out of 10.

Hard to decide whether to look at Lake Tahoe or focus on the high speed long turns that the Travis Rice Pointy Pro was made for.

Playfulness

The Travis Rice Pro did not excel in this category, scoring a 6 out of 10, one of the lowest scores awarded in this metric. It's difficult to obtain such high scores in the other metrics without sacrificing in others. The board is wider and stiffer than the others in our lineup. Not only that, but it's pretty darn heavy and has a monster sidecut. All things that were great for the other metrics that were measured, but not here. The Burton Deep Thinker also scored poorly primarily due to their stiff flex patterns. The Never Summer Proto Type Two, Nitro Fury excelled with their medium flex. These models earned perfect 10 out of 10 scores.

Pop and Jumping

As with the other rockered, or hybrid-camber/rocker boards, it has a little less merit in its vertical achievements. It is a stiffer board, which helps it keep some of its pop. Both hybrid profiles the Never Summer Proto and Travis Rice Pro are in the same scoring categories with a 7 and 8 out of 10 respectively.

Best Applications

Jumping, high-speed carving, and all around ripping.

Value

This is a well-made board and if it fits your riding style and goals its worth the 599 price tag. But might not be if you're a sub 150-pound rider.

Conclusion

The Travis Rice Pro Pointy is a solid ride if you have powerful legs, and you like to go fast and push it to the max. This board could be tough to handle if you're on the smaller side. Our lead tester is 5'9" and weighs 162 pounds and found that he had to ride the board powerfully. We estimate that if you' re under 5'8" and sub 150 pounds, it might not be the board for you.

Other Versions and Accessories

This comes with a pointy and blunt tip shape. We tested the pointy version. It also comes in standard widths and/or with blunt-shaped tips. Happy Turns.