Summary
The Lib Tech Dynamo isn't the best floater in powder compared to some of its peers, but it offers up a pretty poppy, full-camber, dynamic ride underfoot that really shines on groomers and is a great choice for those who see a lot of hard snow.Update 2025: The Lib Tech Dynamo had a tweak to the nose/tail shape but it seems the rest of the board is the same as before. So, this review is still mostly relevant.
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Blauer Board Shop
Favorite Storeevo
Backcountry
Christy Sports
Stoked Board Shop
Behind The Pines
BlueTomato Belgium
BlueTomato France
BlueTomato Sweden
PRFO Sports Canada
Riding Style | All Mountain |
Riding Level | Advanced - Expert |
Fits Boot size (US) | 8-10, 10-12 |
Manufactured in | USA by Mervin |
Shape | Tapered Directional |
Camber Profile | Mostly Camber |
Stance | Setback over 20mm |
Approx. Weight | Feels Normal |
Split | No |
On Snow Feel | |
Turn Initiation | |
Skidded Turns |
Flex | |
Buttering | |
Edge Hold |
Where To Buy
No obligation, but these links support the site.
Blauer Board Shop
Favorite Storeevo
Backcountry
Christy Sports
The House
Stoked Board Shop
Behind The Pines
BlueTomato Belgium
BlueTomato France
BlueTomato Sweden
BlueTomato Denmark
BlueTomato Finland
BlueTomato Italy
BlueTomato UK
BlueTomato Netherlands
BlueTomato Austria
BlueTomato Spain
SnowCountry
PRFO Sports Canada
Lib Tech Dynamo Table, Follow Up Video Reviews and Written Review Review by The Good Ride
How The Lib Tech Dynamo Review Happened:
We borrowed this for an extended demo.
Size: 156 & 159
Days: 8+ (many more after I did the vid reviews you see above)
Conditions: Kind of hard, somewhat slippery CO snow but decent enough. Then some late spring conditions in the PNW and a little slackountry time with Drift Boards.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10” 185-195lbs), Peter (Size 8, 5’11” 185lbs), Zobel (Size 11.5, 6’ 180lbs)
Boots: Adidas Tactical ADV, Adidas Response, DC
Insoles: Sandsole Custom Insoles, Footprint Insole Technology Gameghangers Low Profile
Bindings: Union Atlas, Union Strata, Salomon Highlander
Similar Boards (but not the same) That We Compared This To:
Yes Pick Your Line, Burton Flight Attendant, Gnu Mullair, Jones Flagship, Lib Tech Lost Round Nose Fish, Never Summer West Bound, Rossignol XV, Gnu Antigravity
Set-Up: 21.5-22″ Wide. 18 front -6 back. Close to Reference and Set all the way back.
Approximate Weight
Feels pretty light but not too light. It sits a little more on the light side of the medium.
Sizing
There seems to be a good bump in width for each length that covers size 8-10 in the regular sizes and seems to cover size 10ish to size 12 pretty well in the wides. For weight, it feels like this can handle most average weights, but it might not be able to handle the super-heavy guys as much as some other Mervin boards. For Peter and me, the 156 felt great and matched up well with size nine boots.
Flex/Buttering
The Lib Tech Dynamo has a dynamic flex underfoot that makes for a snappy poppy ride. It does feel pretty much on the medium side of things, but when you do flex it, there is a quick snapback. You can feel that in the shop and on the snow when it pops. When it comes to buttering, it isn’t super easy and borders on being somewhat challenging but doable. This will do well enough if you are used to buttering a camber board. It doesn’t have a rubbery feel to it, and it feels like all the tech in the board is there to accentuate the personality of the wood core and how it’s been bent.
Camber/On Snow Feel
The Dynamo camber profile is full camber from tip to tail with an almost barely noticeable passive bend from tip to tail. It is for more technical, advanced to expert riders and not ideal for intermediates unless they want tot take some lumps and possibly create some new hospital bills. The flex isn’t too aggressive, but when the tip/tail is pointing down into the snow with this C3 profile, it has some consequence to it, and it’s not easy to skid a turn when you get off your game. It’s a touch easier than camber but not enough to be forgiving. It’s pretty locked in. You don’t really feel the 3mm of taper, and it’s not a really back-foot-heavy ride. It sits right on the border of All Mountain and Freeride.
Edge Hold
The mellow mag seems to have a good grip, but it isn’t quite an icy snow specialist like the full mag boards from Lib Tech can be. It doesn’t grab that hard in soft snow, though, so that’s good.
Turn Initiation
It’s pretty quick edge to edge, and it gets where you need it to go pretty quickly. It’s good for those that ride in tight spots.
Turning Experience/Carving
With all this camber, there is good spring out of the turn, and it’s very good for all but the serious rippers who want more torsional flex on a harder carve. Felt great to my average body though so it isn’t just for serious rippers. There is a good, almost full-on camber pop out of each turn and a pretty strong grip to make harder turning and carving fun in most conditions you want to ride.
Powder
So after the video reviews I got the Lib Tech Dynamo in some decent pow. About 1.5 feet of not too heavy PNW/Mt Bachelor snow. There isn’t that set-back directional float that some freeride boards have, but it’s pretty competent for an all-mountain board. It did very well for a board with camber from tip to tail with only a passive bend in the middle.
It has a pretty decent setback on board. At a 22.75″ stance width all the way back on board, you can get -2.375″ back from the center of the board. That’s a good bit further back than the 1″ setback on the sidecut, but it isn’t much compared to many tapered directional freeride boards. It’s also pretty wide, and most that ride the 156 won’t want to stretch their taint to get all that set back.
The 2025 Dynamo has a -2.5″ setback on board with a 22.75″ Stance Width. It’s not going to be bad in powder but there are many better options out there. If you want a similar shape and set back on board but with an early rise in the nose/tail, you can go with the Lib Rig.
Then you have 3mm of taper that isn’t too much and a much longer nose with more surface area. For 2024 and 2025, the Gnu Antigravity has a nose shape similar to the old Dynamo and floats a lot better than it used to. It’s very similar to the older and new Dynamo with the chopped tips/tail.
Speed
That somewhat light poppy flex doesn’t shit the bed on the mountain, and I could pick up speed with the Lib Tech Dynamo without it feeling too chatty.
The Base Glide isn’t upper tier but the base doesn’t have super low lows. If you don’t wax a lot it won’t be a bad choice. If you wax a lot and love really fast base glide then this won’t be a great choice.
Uneven Terrain
The Lib Tech Dynamo is the kind of ride I like if you are turning through bumps. It does that really well. Powering over bumpy or messy snow can be a little bit bucky but it wasn’t what I was expecting for such a poppy and semi-light board. Same goes for hard uneven snow like a frozen groomer with little micro bumps everywhere. Overall it’s a pretty good board for riding all-day on a weekend.
Switch
The Lib Tech Dynamo is not perfect, but it is very doable. As far as a Freeride board goes it’s barely a Freeride board and is more like a pretty directional All-Mountain board and it can ride switch well enough.
Jumps
There is lot’s of pop and this is great for all that favor taking off and landing regular more than switch. It can land switch fine but there are better boards for that if you want to be centered on board and ride both ways.
Jibbing
It’s not ideal here, but it’s more doable than many freeride boards.
Pipe
I only had a few laps in a kind of messy uneven late spring pipe but you could see it’s potential. It really drives well from wall to wall and turns well. You have to stay on your game but if you do it really rewards you.
Overall, the Lib Tech Dynamo offers up a great all-around groomer ride. There are many better Freeride boards for powder and some All Mountain boards but everything else about this board is good poppy semi-directional fun.
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Lib Tech Dynamo Specs
Lib Tech Dynamo Images
Lib Tech Dynamo User Reviews
Medium/agressive groomer machine
Tested this after the Travis Rice pro. Ejoyable ride, it excelled at medium to high speeds but always keeping a touch of laid back style. Quite good over icy stuff though the magne traction is mellower. Switch better than expected. Very fun lively turning machine without being a beast that is too demanding. I returned with the feel that I could ride this most if the days in which I dont hit the park. I would consider wide version (Im 10,5).
Absolute ball tearer!!
This board will for sure take me to the next level and I can't wait to see what's next.
Riding the 159wide is sweet for boot size
Very responsive board .
Where To Buy
No obligation, but these links support the site.