GNU Carbon Credit Series BTX - 2011

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The Gnu Carbon Credit Series represents fantastic value for money! Magnetraction edges and a banana profile matched with a twin shape, an easy to maintain extruded base and medium soft longitudinal and torsional flex, thanks to the biaxial glass, make the CCS perfect for beginners and intermediates looking for a board to help them to get to grips with the park, or local pros who need a board to spin and jib around the hill. Although not much seems to have changed from last years Carbon Credit design the 2011 model is a winner of a prestigious Transworld Good Wood award……so Mervin must have tweaked something!

Manufacturer's Description:

Now in Banana Magnetraction!... Award winning technology, handmade in the USA by snowboarders at Mervin Manufacturing, proven sandwich construction, twin geometrics and a great price. Banana tech is so easy to ride, rips the hardpack, kills the jibs, floats in powder unbelievably… The Magnetraction serrated edges give you awesome control and edge hold even on ice. All terrain freestyle performance for new traditionalists of all ability levels… a Carbon Credit is all you need to go from beginner to pro. Also available in wide sizes. Banana’s are fun and easy to ride!

Recommended for park riding.

Recommended for rail riding.

Recommended for freeride riding.

Medium cost $

Available in Wide.

Rocker Construction.

Twin Shape.

Green or Eco Friendly Construction.

Year: 2011

Available Lengths (cm):
147, 150, 153, 156, 159, 156W, 159W, 162W, 165W

Riding Style: All Mountain

Specifications:

Banana Magnetraction shred Technology
Sandwich construction
True twin shape
Double sintered UHMW sidewalls
Biaxial glass
Mervin A5 Eco farmed wood core (Aspen)
CX 2500 base (extruded)

Similar boards: Rome Garage Rocker - 2011 DC Tone - 2011 Arbor Wasteland - 2011 Forum Scallywag - 2011

GNU Carbon Credit Series BTX

Snowboard Review:

The Carbon Credit Series was a big hit on Snowboard-Review.com last season and rightly spent the majority of the winter in the top most viewed snowboards on the site. Few other snowboards on the market offer such a comprehensive spec with such an affordable price tag, and with two of Mervin’s ground breaking technologies; Magne-Traction and Banana Tech and the promise of effortless progression to intermediate snowboarders, I was keen to check out the Carbon Credit and see if it lived up to the hype.
My first impressions were good; the Carbon Credit is a nicely put together piece of kit. This year’s graphic although quite plain is not going to turn anybody off purchasing it, but it probably won’t get to many longing glances in the lift line either. Like all Mervin snowboards, the Carbon Credit has no edges at the nose or the tail. I’m not a massive fan of this manufacturing technique, all it takes is a prang with a rock or a shunt from a lycra clad ski racing grom in a lift line to convince you that full wrap edges are worth having. The longitudinal flex on the Carbon credit was probably a 5/10 but because of the rocker it felt softer most of the time, and don’t worry about torsional stiffness the CC initiated turns effortlessly and held an edge on hardpack. Switch was equally as cushy and the CC felt agile enough for jibbing around on the side of groomers and for fooling around on boxes and jibs, like all rockered boards the nose and tail were nice and forgiving which helped me to butter-round a number of under-rotated spins. Where I found the Carbon Credit a little sketchy was flat basing on hardpack, like with a lot of other rockers, particularly those that rocker aggressively between the bindings the board can feel like it is pivoting between the bindings making the board really loose at the nose and tail, if you ride hard conditions all of the time it might be worth looking at hybrid with camber or zero between the bindings instead. Although I felt a little unsteady flat-basing hardpack where the Carbon Credit felt most sketchy was on the hard packed T-bar line where placing my back leg between the bindings made it wiggle around like a Michael Flatley with ants in his pants… I almost stacked it twice. Enough about hard snow; on the fresher groomers it worked really well and it would serve as a fantastic snowboard for beginner and intermediate snowboarders. In the heavy afternoon May powder that Kaunertal had to offer, the Carbon Credit floated really well and felt nimble in tight bouncing turns and stable in longer carves. I hit a few 8-10 ft rock drops and the Carbon Credit dealt with them ok, although I did experience a quite squirly landing on a couple of a occasions as tips flexed up as I stomped my feet down; on softer powder snow I can’t see that being a problem. Another observation I made during my time on the Carbon Credit was that the base ran fast enough in all types of snow conditions, not lightening, but damn good for an extruded base.

Posted by Rich Ewbank in • GNU

User Snowboard Reviews

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What colour is powder?

dcsti22 on February 14, 2011 at 03:49 PM

Just picked this up last week, coming from a 154 DC Iika Pro.  Felt rather solid at Heavenly, coming from Chicago ice to Heavenly snow was a small transition, not as much ice!  The CC ripped through the snow at Heavenly, felt a little unstable at high speeds bombing the mountain, but held up amazingly well in the terrain.  Edge to edge took a little getting used to but after awhile the transitions became smooth.  I do think with some better bindings (currently mated with Forum Factions) this board would really excel.  Def looking forward to next season.

rybowski600 on August 06, 2011 at 02:05 PM

Hi. I’m in the market for a new board for a 3 week trip to japan in early 2012. Being in Australia, I’m not gonna get a chance to test a board before i buy it. I am a strong intermediate/advanced rider and like to ride the whole mountain but have a pretty strong freestyle influence in my riding style - constantly looking for tree runs, natural jumps and small rock drops. Prob spend 75% of my time on the hill and only 25% in the park. The last board I had was the 2006/07 T.Rice but it was too stiff and didn’t find it fun to ride. I have taken a skate banana for one run down the groomers and loved it, but am pretty sure it would not be a great board for me as an all rounder.  Do you think the carbon credit would be a good ride for me? Otherwise i was also thinking about the Riders Choice, but worried it would also be too stiff like the T.Rice. I’m 5’6” and weigh 150lb. Would the 153 be a good length, or the 156 might be safer with all of the DEEP pow? Thanks for the help.

rybowski600 on August 07, 2011 at 02:29 PM

don’t worry… just found the forum.