Lib Tech Travis Rice Pro - 2012
Watch Brain Farm’s latest release, the Art of Flight and bear-in-mind that Travis Rice was riding this snowboard when he filmed it! The Lib Tech Travis Rice is an all-mountain charger that tracks perfectly through the pipe, is snappy in and out of turns, glides in powder and fires off jumps like Evel Knievel on his Harley Davidson, minus the broken bones.
Manufacturer's Description:
TRAVIS’ ART OF FLIGHT ALL TERRAIN FREESTYLE GEOMETRIES! King of the Hill winning, valley leaping, Alaska ripping, Jackson Hole freeride & jib sticks. 100% shredtassium for sliding in and out of tricky situations with ease in all types of riding conditions: hardpack, park, pipe, pow, rails, and even ice.
Recommended for park riding.
Recommended for halfpipe riding.
Recommended for freeride riding.
High cost $
Available in MidWide.
Hybrid Rocker/Camber Construction.
Twin Shape.
Green or Eco Friendly Construction.
Year: 2012
Available Lengths (cm):
153, 157, 161.5, 164.5
Riding Style: All Mountain
Specifications:
C2 Power Banana/Camber Combo Tech & Magne-Traction
H-Pop Core
Axis inversion fiberglass
Twin pointy pow shape & twin blunt jib shape
Bio beans top sheet
Similar boards: Nitro Blacklight Gullwing - 2012 Never Summer SL - 2012 Lib Tech Mark Landvik Phoenix Series - 2012
Snowboard Review:
Watch the 2012 Lib Tech Travis Rice Pro Video Snowboard Review
If you know anything about Travis Rice you’ll know that he’s one of the most aggressive snowboarders on the planet; slaying everything from enormous backcountry kickers to the steepest Alaskan faces. So it would make sense if his signature board was an aggressive feestyle/freeride snowboard, wouldn’t it? Well that was my view before riding Travis’s board at this years’ board test.
At around 70kg (roughly 150lbs) and 5’ 9” tall I’m no Travis Rice in stature so I was expecting this board to be a difficult to control and tiring to ride. For this reason I decided to size-down to the 153 rather than riding the 157, which would have been my normal choice. Nevertheless sizing-down to the 153 turned-out to be an inspired choice and meant that the board was far more manageable and easy to ride.
Although this years’ board hasn’t had any changes made to it from last years model, except for the graphics, there seems very little point in changing a board this good. The T Rice is a lightweight versatile board that when sized-down can be ridden and jibbed all over the park and mountain. The 153 was a lot of fun all over the park, from kickers to the halfpipe and it even pressed fairly effortlessly on boxes and rails. The C2 Power Banana profile felt poppy at low and high speeds, lively in and out of turns with added torsional strength which makes the board feel deceptively stable underfoot and quick from edge to edge.
If you’re an average size and you’re looking for a capable park board that can handle the rest of the mountain then sizing-down a T Rice could definitely be an inspired choice. East Coast riders who ride icy parks can take full advantage of the Magnetraction and slightly firmer flex for icy halfpipes and firm landings. If you’re a West Coast park rider then you may want a board with a little more length for floating on those powder days. If you’re a larger, heavier rider and you want a board to slay the park then you’ll definitely be able to ride this board at a regular length.
So what if you’re focus isn’t on the park and you want an all-mountain board for cruising around groomers, hitting the occasional kicker and riding pow and variable snow in the backcountry? In that case there isn’t much point in sizing-down just be prepared to ride this board hard and fast.
Highlights:
Great grip from Magnetraction edges
Responsive and fast edge-to-edge
Versatile C2 Banana profile for true all-mountain riding
Letdowns:
No full-wrap edges
Only two lengths in Blunted shape
Posted by Tom Ewbank in • Lib Tech
User Snowboard Reviews
Want some advice, or have a question about the Lib Tech Travis Rice Pro snowboard, or whether it is right for you? DON'T POST HERE! Head over to our snowboard forums and our community will be happy to help.
Seriously - READ THE ABOVE..., the snowboard forum the best way to get your question seen by all of our community and an answer, rather than just those who happen to view this page.
However, if you have ridden this snowboard and want to share your feedback, then please add your experience below. It helps to add as much detail as possible, e.g board length you used, bindings, rider stats etc.
on November 20, 2011 at 10:33 PM
Tom, what is your foot size? The TRice Pro 153 has a waist width of 25.3 that makes it a mid/wide board?
on November 20, 2011 at 10:44 PM
Tom’s foot size is a US9. The longer lengths get quite wide.
on November 21, 2011 at 04:39 PM
Guys im 5.7@165,and im one step before buying this board.but i stuck between size(153/157).I want it more for jumps and some park use,and of cource some times to charge throw the mountain.do you think that i will have stability issues with the 153 model at high speeds or a problems in pow? My weight its ok for 153? Between 153 n 157 its a big difference in your opinion in these boards? With my current Sapient 159 board i have maneuvering problems and limited playful…
on November 23, 2011 at 10:09 AM
How does this board compare to the attack banana? They seem to both be geared towards all mountain riding with park capability so whats the main difference?
on November 23, 2011 at 11:51 AM
The attack banana is a more jib focuse board. EC2 tech is a halfway house between the C2 and dtandard Banana tech. If your riding is more park and jib focused the Attack Banana is a better choice. More all-mountain the TRice is better.
on December 16, 2011 at 12:23 AM
by the way its brain farm not brain foods
on December 16, 2011 at 12:31 AM
Gracias
on January 22, 2012 at 03:05 PM
Definately interested in this board. Male Weight: 180.7 lb (82 kg) without gear on Length: 68.5 inches Footsize: 10¾ inches, 44 (EUROPE), 10.5 (US & Canada), 10 (UK)
I would appreciate it if you could tell me what size board should i get? 153? 157? (is my footsize ok without there being a wide version? Planning on doing a lot of jumps / flips and ripping slopes plus the occasinal jib.
What medium priced bindings are best for this board?
Sorry for all these questions, would appreciate it A LOT if you could answer
on January 30, 2012 at 11:11 PM
I am 5’9”/155lbs. I have the 161.5 with flow bindings and palmer power plates. I don’t do the park but carve, bumps, trees, etc. My personal opinion is that if you are my size or thereabouts you would be missing out on some important aspects of this board if you downsize all the way to a 153. My first two weeks on this board I had trouble figuring it out. Then I took it to Colorado and figured out that you just need to ride it like the big mountain board that it is. Like any piece of gear there are tradeoffs. Carrying the board to the lift it feels way too heavy (especially with my early model flows), maneuvering around the lift line can feel awkward. But when you are underway it will carve a rock solid line and smash through or over anything from powder to crud. If you’re inclined to downsize too much then it’s possible this isn’t the board for you.
BTW, I’m a big fan of the C2 shape. Any kind of 3D snow (even an inch) and the rocker between the feet lets you smear around beautifully. Free and loose and just plain fun. But put it on edge (even a bit) on harder snow and it hooks up and holds. Really a great combination. And the magnatraction is magic. As an Eastcoaster I wouldn’t buy another board without it.
on March 20, 2012 at 05:05 PM
T. Rice Pro C2BTX 2012 157cm
First impression: My first impression was wow, WTF is this witchcraft happening between my legs as compared to my old 2007 Lib-tech board.
Facts: http://www.lib-tech.com/snowboards/travis-rice-pro/
POP & Stability & Rocker: POP – This was what surprised me the most. While just playing and jibbing down small natural bumps I was flying at no effort – ripping shit harder than Ola Tjade. Little did I know that giving the board a little Ollie at jumps would complicate landings. When popping I always landed far down there which I guess is a positive thing, but it takes some time getting used to. Rocker- didn’t try it in pow yet.
Magne-traction & C2BTX Shape: Board is like a knife cutting through the snow. Long and hard curves felt effortless and the only limitations were the back of my bindings touching the snow (yeah you can lean that far), the size of my testicles and gravity. Helps a lot with those big landings. Every landing was stable as shit, like SLAM, and you’ve landed safely, like a boss. Drawbacks? Too much confidence, pushing your (and the physical) limits to the point when you suddenly realize that you’re not going to be able to reduce speed in any “normal way”. But you’ll be able to rip shit up with less effort, and that’s what it’s all about. I’m guessing that the C2BTX design also helps a lot with the right traction and float, but will have to try looser snow.
Length I’m 180cm at 80 kg. Was comfortale with the lenght of my last board at 157cm, but this actually felt a bit short for freeriding. It’s definitely a good size for park/jib/freeride-freestyle, but for going FAST downhill I would have liked to try a 161,5.
Should you get the HorsePower version? Difference: Factory claims a stiffness of a 7 on both the fiberglass version and the HP (basalt) version. Different forums and several reviews claim that the fiberglass version is stiffer than the HP version. Though, with the HP version with basalt instead of fiberglass and Colombian gold wood core (+ awesome glow in the dark edges) you get a lighter board.
Evidently I will have to try the HP version to come to a conclusion, but I’m quite confident that the fiberglass version will be a (as) great all around board, but I would choose the HP version for hiking, backcountry or splitboard purposes given reduced weight.
Would I recommend this board to others? HELL YEAH. I was to impressed that I bought the 161,5 T.Rice Pro C2BTX HorsePower SPLIT last week.
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