Brand new Lib bases need work?
I bought a Lib Tech Skunk Apes for my upcoming Japan trip, waxed and scraped the base and seemed to think it wasn’t holding wax. In fact when I bought the board I thought the base looked a bit odd. Yesterday I got told that Lib Tech boards aren’t sold ready to ride, that you need to get the base tuned so they will hold wax before riding them. Can anyone verify this?
From what I understand, the TNT base is extruded, so it’s not going to hold was as well as a sintered base. In fact, extruded bases don’t hold wax well at all. You’re better off using a high performance rub-on wax or paste for speed on extruded bases.
I have never heard of a board needing to be “tuned"prior to use. A wax, yes, but a base grind, no. I highly doubt that would be the case. The theory might be grinding an extruded base creates more structure in the base, or perhaps exposes a more porous part of the base, but I doubt it would make much difference. Who told you that anyway?
The snowboard guru at the local snow shop. I wish I could remember the other brand he said was the same. I don’t think he’s being intentionally misleading but producing a snowboard that’s not ready to wax seems strange
Was GNU the other brand? Both are produced by Mervin Mfg.
Do you remember why he said they needed a tune first?
You should always wax a board before you first ride it, as you don’t know how long they have been sitting on a shelf, drying out etc., but this is the first I’ve heard of a full tune straight off the shelf.
No it definitely wasn’t Gnu, I would have remembered if he said that.
He claims its to expose the pourus part of the base, that Libs bases are taken straight off the mould and sent out without any machining which leaves the pours sealed inside. The reason it holds some weight with me is because the base is opaque and stays opaque even after being waxed. Maybe this isn’t unusual? In my limited experience it seems to be. The base isn’t as smooth as my last board either.
I’d love to find out if this guy’s on BW, it’d be better coming straight from him.
I might even email Mervin and see what they reckon.
Why didn’t the guy in the shop grind it then?????
All seems a bit weird to me!!!!!
Most boards will come “Factory Waxed”, which is really just a seal so the pores don’t get clogged up with dust/dirt, and should be hot waxed properly before ridin!!!!!
Along with that, most boards come “Factory De-tuned”, although they can be very subtle in the finish!!!!!
Hey Unremarkable, it’s been a few years since I owned a Lib Tech board but I can say for sure that my own Lib (Dark Series) was wax-able like normal and I never base ground it.
I can’t say specifically for the new skunk ape, but here’s what I can tell you for sure.
I remember when I first got it, I waxed it A LOT!! I would wax it ride a few days and it was asking for more wax already. So, basically I just gave the board what it wanted. As soon as it looked slightly dry I would wax it again, and again… and again.
Eventually the frequency I had to wax it slowed down, until I would only need to wax it every week, then every fortnight or so.
I think what happened was more and more waxed infused into the base until it would hold it’s wax much better (only guessing).
Lib Tech boards have always come with a little sticker that says “Waxed by One-Ball Jay”. I thought they still did. If your board has one of those stickers then the guy is full a crap.
Mine did, so I rode it straight out of the box for it’s first day and then waxed it after that.
That’s what I recommend doing if it has a One-Ball Jay sticker on it. Ride, Wax, then re-wax every time it looks dry and be diligent about that.
Yeah, the Lib’s get a real white fuzzy look to them when they dry out!!!!!
I had to do my TRice regular, cause the edges dried out really quick!!!!!
Yeh, Mr.h0z has 4 soon to be 5 boards.. All lib tech, (attack banana, trice pro, horsepower and 1 - soon to be 2 burtner box scratchers..) and he had never had a base grind.. He removes the factory wax and put on our swix fluoro wax before he rides.. The first time, on the more colorful bases, he gets a bit of colour through the wax, (the bottom of his box scratcher turned the first wax coat an orangey-red colour (only tinted it a bit) because the board is red and yellow on the base. But after that it waxed like all our other boards.. He even had a sintered stepchild board for a while… And only difference was it didn’t take as much wax into the base.. But it lasted the regular 3-4 days that we usually get out of our other boards before needing more wax.. I would call or email a lib tech rep and ask them..
TnT Base Material
Fast and low maintenance dual layered fluoro base material. Wax it or maybe skip a day. Use Oneballjay snowboard wax.
that’s what their official site says about the base on the skunk aoes board,
http://www.lib-tech.com/snowboards/skunk-apes/
and this is the contact for for lib tech (Mervin)
http://www.mervin.com/contact/
hope that helps!
When I was riding my 2011 T.Rice. I have to wax the board several times before it actually got fast. I think I was waxing after every time I ride for 1 week then every 3 times for 1-2 weeks. After consistent waxing the board got fast. I also used Bluebird wax, I found it is faster than One Ball Jay (at least back when I tried it). Also try brushing your board too after you scrape it.
Wow!! Thanks very much everyone for your input it has been helpful! I’m going to email Mervin anyway but I’m pretty sure I got my answer here. I’ll post their reply if I get one. Thanks again guys!
OneBallJay X Wax (Flouronated) is good wax!!!!!
The first time, on the more colorful bases, he gets a bit of colour through the wax, (the bottom of his box scratcher turned the first wax coat an orangey-red colour (only tinted it a bit) because the board is red and yellow on the base. But after that it waxed like all our other boards..
I had the exact same experience with my T.Rice. Are you saying you think some tint is coming out of the actual base material? I was thinking they must have factory waxed it with some funky red wax and that was coming out when I heated the base, but you may well be right.
The base on mine looked quite dry right from the start - a bit white and fuzzy looking as mentioned above. I usually wax my boards after 2-3 days of riding.
Yeh mud, none of the other boards have done it, but none are that vibrant.. (my gnu gave a very very slight yellow tint to the wax).. our theory is that when the pores open up from the heat.. some of the dye/colorant can leech out, but it only happens the first time we wax..
Cool, Hoz, good to know!