Gone Bananas
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Mervin Manufacturing changed the game when they revealed rocker. And now, with so many companies latching onto this new shape—from Burton to Rossignol to K2—it’s proving to be a design that’s here to stay. Pete Saari is co-founder of Mervin Manufacturing, the maker of Lib Tech and Gnu Snowboards, and has been building boards since the early 80s. Here’s his take on all things Banana.
Photo: Annette Veihelmann
Explain banana technology:
Banana technology is Lib Tech’s snowboard technology designed around the needs of a snowboarder. Traditional snowboard design borrowed camber from skiing in order to make snowboards work better on hardpack. Camber is designed to work well with one central pressure input area (i.e. boot) on each ski, but was not really designed around how a snowboarder uses a board. Camber leaves an unweightable “dead zone” between your feet. Banana technology focuses edge pressure between your feet, bringing the dead zone to life. It adds catch free tips and tails for jibs, rails, and forgiving landings. It adds pre-bent rocker between your feet for edge hold and carving, and it adds tip and tail float in powder.
How did you guys think this up?
Lib Tech is an R&D company. Mike Olson and our ExperiMental crew designed our entire shop and all our tooling around change and evolution. We’ve been experimenting for over 25 years and still we’re not completely satisfied with snowboard design. They still kind of sucked compared to surfboards, skateboards, and skis. It finally came to us; camber is for skiers. Snowboarders need a board designed around snowboarding. I can’t believe it took us so damn long to figure it out.
Photo:Annette Veihelmann
What kind of testing did you have to do before you were confident it worked?
We were confident Banana Technology would be the future even before we rode it, we have been thinking about snowboard geometry every day for years and so once we had Banana Tech in our heads we pretty much knew it was a go. The actual testing was almost a formality, but it sure was fun to see all our theories actually working. Banana Tech is letting riders push snowboarding to new levels everywhere from backyard jibs and everyday park shredding, to Torah Bright winning the icy pipe at the U.S. Open and people doing gnarly big mountain Alaskan lines. Basically we work on snowboards every day and it sure is nice to build and ride boards that make you work less, ride better, and put a big smile on your face.
Jesse Burtner swinging his banana around at Bear Mountain. Photos:Liam Gallagher
And now a few words about Magne-Traction with Pete Saari
Who came up with the idea for Magne-Traction?
Magne-traction was a collaboration of ideas out of our Lib Tech Experimental division. We are constantly dreaming up new board concepts, some get built some don’t. One of the snowboard design
challenges Mike Olson had in the 80’s and 90’s was that he always rode his 190 Dough Boy shredder freestyle board and in order to have the waist width he wanted with the sidecut he wanted the nose and tails got too wide for the materials the suppliers made available. Mike had always dreamt of having a board with three separate side-cuts; one behind the back foot, one between your feet and one in front of your feet.
The theory being that you could ride different sidecuts at different times depending on where you put your weight. That board never got built, but did introduce the concept of having an edge that reversed
its curve and went back inwards, which is later one of the key elements of Magne-traction.
We are twin freestyle board company, but every year the Mt. Baker Banked Slalom turns all our freeriders into racers and we get super involved in carving, edge hold and speed designs. In the early 90’s Temple Cummins kept coming in and saying he was missing “something” on his heelside turns. Mike challenged Steven Cobb our board designer to come up with a multiple side-cut design at the wide points at your feet to reduce heel drag, improve snowboard edge hold and heelside turning performance. Steven pondered the project for a few weeks and then came into the shop with a drawing of a board with small bumps or serrations evenly distributed along the length of the board. Steven built a board and went up and tested it and was immediately stoked on the added edge hold, but felt like it was almost too aggressive. We reduced the size of the bumps in-front of and behind your feet leaving the big serration’s (teeth) in the area between your feet.
We built 5 test boards and went to Baker for an Experimental Division test session, everyone was stoked and Magne-Traction was born.
How would you describe Magne-traction to someone who’s never heard of it?
Technically Magne-traction is 7 bumps or teeth along the length of your sidecut and edge each specifically sized and located to improve edge hold and focus control and power where you need it. The 3 largest most aggressive teeth are located between your feet adding control to theun-pressurable “dead zone” at and between your feet where your balance is centered. Smaller less aggressive teeth are located between your front foot and the contact area adding edge hold for turn initiation and control but keeping the tips and tails loose for catch-free freestyle.
How does Magne-Traction work?
With Magne-traction we focus the most aggressive teeth or bumps between the feet, shifting and focusing edge pressure to the under utilized but vital middle area of the snowboard and effectively bringing to life the “dead zone”. The Magne-traction bumps or teeth act like a serrated knife cutting into the snow improving edge hold along the entire length of the board allowing people to ride dull edges for jibs, rails and boxes
and still get great edge hold all over the mountain.
Tags: Banana Technology, gnu, Jesse Burtner, lib tech, Mervin Manufacturing, Pete Saari
That shit is Bananas
B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
My old sims 1710 blade has reverse camber. its cool to see it back and better.
Hey jtee, I think the 1986 bong water might have impaired your memory banks a little. The Sims 1710 blade was Sims first commercial snowboard with camber. Before that, Sims were flat between the feet with nose and tail rocker, like the 2008 K2 rocker.
you know what’s really funny? k2 called their new rocker boards the ‘gyrator.’ i still ride a 1987 k2 gyrator. it came with mack’n camber and still has mack’n camber. k2 never made a board with rocker back in the day. they rediscovered outdated snowboard rocker last year!
Which brings up a great point, banana is dead opposite than the new K2 Gyrator. Rocker between the feet and flat toward the nose and tail. Banana engages the contacts while the k2 leaves the contacts floating aimlessly. K2’s version is dead opposite of banana. Go with a banana. Or maybe leak a pickle.
OH BOMB AH!!!
f**** you asshole
banana hammock
why do they have skate obama on one of them
because their is this guy running for president named barack obama and they wanna skate him, nah i dont know
Because their Mervin, and they do what they want.
it’s because they are smart and want Obama to win. Which is what any inteligent person would want.
A very smart and intelligent person would realize that mccain and obama are both nazi’s and vote third party…
its obvious its because triangles are better then circles
??yes but what about quadrilaterals??
my banana rips! i prefer to keep it very slippery.
and, is this an advertisement?
of course it is
everything is an advertisement.
$450 for a park board that I’m going to thrash on rails, etc…no thank u.
ok, pay less for something that wont last or preform the same…brilliant! its not only a park board either…it kills it in pow. I doubt you have riden one. hater. hahahah
rome makes an Artifact that has reverse camber…
i think it’s still like 390 though…
snowboards are expensive…
iv’e never paid over 310 for a snowboard before…
and you have never had a good board b4
www rocker is dope, got them presses locked son
pressing a www is not a hard feat to accomplish
I love my banana its the best purchase in a snowboard i have ever had. I reAlly WILL always ride this design b y lib probly untill rocket boards come out WOOT!
Question, if Banana and Magnatraction are so dope, then how come a few of their professional athletes ride a cambered boards with regular sidecut?
The Mervin pros are riding Banana and Magnetraction just like I ride the Mervin pros. Danny Kass for instance has already won 2 pro halfpipe contests while riding a Mag/Banana disguised as his cambered model. This was to help eliminate the remaining cambered boards off the retail shelve. Name a Mervin pro that doesn’t ride Banana/Mag. Name a Mervin pro that I doen’t ride, fool! Jamie Lynn…Banana…T. Rice……Banana!
bow to the banana
im 6′0, 180 lbs, used to riding a 156 nitro..ride everything..was thinking about getting something bigger for pow.. would the magnetraction and banana make a 156 feel like a bigger board due to the camber?! help please..thanks
It won’t feel bigger per se, but it will float better in pow.
yeah, they claim that you can ride your powder board three cm shorter than you normally would with the reverse camber tech
obama sucks balls. i hope mervin has fun paying all the damn taxes he’s going to put on small businesses…fools
If you don’t want to pay taxes I suggest you stop using highways or anything else funded by taxpayers.
I believe it’s called “fairness.”
higher taxes for small businesses is fair?
Facts check! Obama isn’t raising taxes on small business. In fact he is proposing a tax credit for businesses that keep manufacturing in the U.S.! Booya for Lib Tech, Gnu and Never Summer. If you make over $250,000 as an individual you’re screwed. You’ll have to pay 3% more like in the Clinton era when times were tough….wait a minute….those were the best of times. Me and my buddies that make over $250,000 sure are roughing it. I live in a Kenmore cardboard box. Bend over Colmes and share an icy Mike.
How come Republicans always get scared when an intelligent human might get the rare chance to be President. Oh yeah, balanced budgets, prosperity, world respect, and world peace won’t get ‘em any closer to Armagedon and that grand ol’ Rapture any time soon. Republicans yearn to get to live eternally someday with white flowing robes and gentle harp music…no touchy touchy……sounds great. I’ll take enerity with fire and rock&roll and endless …..you know! Did someone say,”Icy Mike?”
I say 8 more years! The last 8 were great! I told you so! Now pass me a stogie. What’s an ‘Icy Mike’? Is it like a smooth cool stogie?
Did yo say, “Sucks balls?” Rowwwwww! Come to daddy yo! Yo is my bo! Get yo republican ho around my toe!
Biggest problem with Sen. Obama is that he knows if he wins the country will take a huge turn to the left, and he won’t need to do anything. Rep. Pelosi and Sen Reid will pass liberal bill after liberal bill. Do you think Sen Obama will veto a bill rescinding the Bush tax cuts?
That means a tax increase for alot more than 5% of the population. Its his way of raising taxes for everyone and not admitting it
Also why punish successful businesses that do make over $250,000? This puts a cap on small businesses and they won’t be as successful because once they reach that $250,000 they’re going to be taxed the hell out of.
And you can blame Bush all you want but last I checked the house is run by liberals so this problme is both their faults. We don’t need an extreme conservative like Bush or and extreme liberal like Obama. what we need is someone who will be down the middle and act as a mediator..which is McCain
I don’t see a congress & president being able to actually make some progress as any kind of problem at all.
The Bush tax cuts were meant to be temporary. So, it’s not an “increase” in taxes at all.
Again, taxes are not punishment. Most corporations pay close to zero taxes as it is. Also, the $250,000.00 amount is on INDIVIDUAL INCOME, not small business.
It’s smart to go ahead and read both candidates policies if you don’t believe me.
all you bitches keep your political shit to yourselves!
Damn right…since when have we become politicians instead of snowboarders
this is snowboarding there is no room for politics in it bro. I dont like him eithier, but I do love Bananas. so shut yer mouth and go fucking ride/
I was riding banana in 1990, the baord I was riding was banana because it had lost all its camber and gone reverse, everyone asked me how I could ride it, and I kept telling them I thought it rode great
it makes everything about riding better. turns, ice, pow, jibs, rails, pipes, slush, man made snow, everything!!!! the worst thing about it is answearing all the questions in the lift line/
Yeah, about this little interview on Banana tech. I am still trying to figure out how versitile a banana board would be. Is it primarily for park, pipe, both. How is the carving? (Oh shit, I forgot, kids don’t lay down turns anymore)
Also, I thought there was going to be some info on Magni-Trac, or at least that is what the mag said. I wonder how that handles on rails, or if it is striclty a pipe board?
This is just personal experience, but i rode last year with a bunch of kids who were riding bananas and they loved them. Being from Southeastern wisco all we ride is park. They great for jibbing and you can take them off some pretty big hits with confidence Some of my friends took their edges down a lot, but those that didn’t really liked how they handled on the ice…thats all we usually ride on.
Banana tech is here to stay.
So is Obama, deal with it fools.
if peter line and the rest of the fools in the day can do rodeo 5’s on regular boards….. i think I’ll just get the on sale libs without bananna or Magnetrac. saw them on sale at Northwest Snowboards for 300 bucks son!
yeah you can pull off those tricks with an original snowboard, but the reason why youll pay more $$$ for a banana is because it simply rides THAT much better… get the hell out of the past and start believing what is goin on in the mervin shops pay the money… get the extra banana traction… im riding a 08/09 jamie lynn phoenix.. and thats all i have to say about that sun!!!
why do liberals have to punish people who are successful?
Taxes are not punishment. Sarah Palin is punishment.
you oviusly don’t know what taxes are, you ignorant litle brat. I bet all you know about politics is what your parents tell you. Taxes are paid to help you, your fellow countrymen, your military, those guys that got sick after helping on 9/11, and so on! the taxes you pay come back to you trough other things. The day you break your neck snowboarding and become paralysed, i’m sure you’d be happy if the government would help you out and not just leave you in the street!
Hey “for reals”, sending humans off to foreign lands to poke lots of holes in other humans for no real reason is punishment For Reals!
its funny how they think reverse camber is “new” that shit deff was out back in the day when kidwell was killin it
i put some lub on my banana
Just Copt one of these nana’s myself cant wait tho ride this shit on rails, park, pow, jib, ice, aaaahhhhh man rip it all over the mountain btx and mtx son!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok this kinda pisses me off a little because temple cummins owns my local shop and i talk to him about boards and he has said he does not like magna traction. He won the baker slalom last year and he did not use magna. Magna traction does not allow you to speed up during your turns, and that is what the slalom is all about. If anyone actually knew how temple rode they would know that he is down with the old stuff. Magna is good for beginners that need edge help, but not for people looking for fast carving, then it just limits. And as far a banana goes, it is mainly a help for learners because it is far more forgiving and you catch your edge far less. If you are good, you don’t need this stuff.
you have obviously never ridden a banana in pow
Temple is old school and has been training for slaloms for years and has won Baker before. His brother owns the fastest wax company in the world. He also surfs thick heavy twinfins. A few of the pros that that top 10′d were rail/jib masters Scotty Wittlake and Curtis Ciszek on Mag/Bananas with no special waxing and none of that lifetime of race training! They even schooled Peter Bauer, the World Cup Race Champ and almost served up Terje, a former race champ! All on Bananas and Mags.
i’d put all my money on torah bright over temple cummins in the halfpipe or the park any day. she won the u.s. open on a banana with magtraction on ice. chicks are looking more like skateboarders than the dudes are these days. chicks do mctwists. dudes do totally gay 1080+ male ice skate spins. i’m bionic!
you’re dumb. i bet with my banana and mag i could carve harder than you could ever wish. how is magne gonna hold me back from making a sharper turn, it adds points of contact, increasing edgehold and thus allowing you to put more pressure into your carve. for park, i can have my magne completely dull, shred park and not be worried about slipping out when im bombin down the hill at the end of the day. banana, is amazing. one yes, banana in powder is unbelievable…please tell me if reverse camber is such a bad idea…why then is nearly every single company introducing some form of reverse camber? Burton, Ride, K2, Signal, Never Summer, etc etc etc
i think all you haters have never acctually ridden a banana. and if you have, i think you need to try it again, and beginners huh? your right, travis rice is a beginnner…he def needs the additional help of magne so he can link his turns. ha!
MTX destroys ice and hardpack. Not something you would need if you’re Temple and ride 2 feet of Mt. Baker pow everyday. Slower though? I don’t think so. If you ride on the ice coast and try MTX you will never go back to a traditional sidecut board again.
how could banana tech be for beginners when you have the worlds best professional snowboarders riding it? Exactly pussy.
Temple “is down with the old stuff.”
Is Temple really “down with the old stuff?”
do mj slides work with magne traction edges???