Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish Snowboard Review

I borrowed the Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish for a few runs at the demo. It’s not ideal but the best I could do since Altimont gutted the staff at Lib Tech/Gnu aka Mervin. I lost all my marketing contacts and the nearest rep is 9hrs away from Bend.

Size: 156
Days: 1
Conditions: Firm but fair and often fun.
Riders: James (Size 9, 5’10”, 185-195lbs). I’ve tested and compared 800+ boards and close to 1,000 if you count different versions of the same Model over the years.
Boots: Nitro Team TLS,
Insoles: Footprint Kingfoam Orthotic Elite
Bindings: Union Force
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse 3L Jacket
Pant: Burton AK Gore-Tex Pro 3L Hover Pant
Helmet: Smith Method
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt

James’s Set Up

21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +24/+6. Close to Reference on groomers and Set all the way back in powder.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same): 

Korua Dart, Korua Café Racer, Weston Japow, Moss Jellyfish, Gentemstick Barracuda, Soul Shift, Nidecker Beta, Nidecker Beta APX, Korua Pintonic, Jones Storm Chaser 2025, Salomon Wolle Nyvelt Fish, Stranda Tree Surfer

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Construction / Durability

The Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish is pretty well built. The Tri-Ax / Bi-Ax weave around the 75% Aspen / 25% Palownia wood core is wrapped with Birch sidewalls before the very outer UHMW sidewall that carries own past the edge into the nose/tail. That’s different than most boards and I found it to be more reliable in most but not all situations vs. a steel edge wrapping around the whole board. It seems to make the board a little lighter too. The Eco Sublimated Poly Top Sheet is pretty durable too but is prone to scuffing/scratching like many pretty top sheets out there. It doesn’t effect the ride though.

Approximate Weight

The Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish  is a (We don’t put in the exact weight because with wood cores, there is no consistency in a board’s weight)

Sizing

The Lib Tech Lost Sweet Fish 156 felt really good for my specs and overall feels like a much better fit for me in all conditions than the 157.5 Lost Rocket which is the board it’s inspired by. This is a great choice for an all day ride but if I was getting this for deep and clean pow I’d go 162.

Sizing is all about balancing what fits your boot size (most important), weight (second most important) and height (third most important) for how you like to ride. Size down for more control and size up for more speed/stability/carving power. Most Brands, Including are very conservative with recommended weight and very liberal with recommended boot sizing Here are some ideal US boot sizes for these boards.

Lib Tech is old school and doesn’t post boot sizes which sucks and they are loose with recommended weight too so here are my recommendations.

If it comes down to boot size or weight, I would ensure it fits your boot first and then your weight a close second.

Shape & Setback

The Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish is pretty tapered and very directional. It’s really far back on sidecut at 3 inches and seems to be a little more set back on board than the Lost Rocket as well.

It does feel more set back towards the tail like an actual ocean surfboard versus the Lost Rocket that feels a little more centered, a little less back towards the tail.

And while this doesn’t have as much taper as the Lost Rocket, it does feel more tapered than the Lost Rocket, and especially more set back and directional. But it’s still not fully there with a lot of true snow surfboards like Moss, Gentemstick, Soul, and many other brands that really try to make a board that emulates snow surfing.

It still has a little bit of a snowboard feel. That’s not good or bad, it’s just what it is.

Camber/On Snow Feel

The Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish has a very similar camber profile to the Lost Rocket, but also the Lib Tech Lib Rig. It’s got a lot of camber, but a good bit of early rise before the nose and a little before the tail.

It’s very stable yet forgiving. Even a committed beginner who knows they’re more into snowsurf could go with this, but it’s great for intermediates on up to experts who don’t want to always be on their game and have to deal with full camber all the time and the catchiness that’s associated with it.

And even though this has less taper than the Lost Rocket, I felt a little bit more of a triangular feel when one-footing and flat basing. It didn’t feel quite as stable and easy tracking, but still tracks pretty well for a tapered directional setback ride like this.

Edge Hold

So Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish doesn’t have Magne-Traction, but the grip is very competent in all conditions. You just have to dial back your turns a little bit in harder snow and icy snow. There are going to be better boards out there, like the Gremlin or the Orca, or other brands that have more disrupted, grippy sidecuts.

Flex Personality

Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish has a medium bordering on medium-stiff flex. Medium-stiff between the feet, softer in the nose for me—and the tail as well. Maybe a touch stiffer.

Even though there’s no carbon in the construction, I still found that this popped very well, had a good ollie to it, and a good spring out of the turn. It was pretty easy to butter in the nose and tail, and I think that’s because of the early rise before both.

Switch Park

And it’s not a bad board switch for how directional it is. It still has a little bit of a snowboard feel versus a snow surf feel if you throw it around.

I do like the Lost Rocket a lot better than I do this though.

Uneven Snow

And you get this out in uneven snow—hard, micro-bumpy—it did a very good job. Maybe not the best of the best, but most people won’t be bummed. This is going to do great in soft and uneven snow.

It’s going to be a nice balance between being poppy and not too bucky, bouncy, and chattery when conditions are uneven.

Base Glide

The Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish has the knife cut centered base, which I am not personally a fan of. I find that it is very thirsty and requires almost daily waxing for it to keep its medium bordering on medium-fast speed.

There are a lot of faster bases out there, but there are a lot more bases that keep their wax better than this.

Just an FYI, I’ve done extensive testing on the same Knife Cut Sintered Base on the Lib Tech Lib rig with the help of my buddy, a tuner at Mount Bachelor, who has spent many years tuning boards. Alfredo gave this a base grind, waxed it several times.

I took it home, gave it a few more waxes over and over again over the course of a few days, then took it out up onto the hill, and after just two runs, I was already seeing dry marks. By the end of the day, it was almost dry again. On top of that I’ve owned other Knife Cut Sintered bases from Gnu/Lib like the Orca, Gremlin and many others. They all had the same issue so this isn’t a one off.

So you can’t really win with this knife cut centered base, but if you’re into waxing a lot, then this could work for you.

Turning/Carving/Speed

And when it comes to turning, the Lib Tech Mayhem Sweetfish initiated a turn really quickly. I thought it was faster edge to edge than the Lost Rocket for sure. Then when you really engage the sidecut into a turn, this sidecut is definitely more on the turny side versus the balanced side.

And for me, it liked to always be turning. It wasn’t the best at going straight and really pointing it. So if you like those higher down-the-line, longer drawn-out S turns, this might not be for you.

But if you live to circle across the groomer, carve and make medium-radius playful, fun, splashy, quick-turning turns, this will be a great board for you. The spring out of the turns is exceptional.

I rode it Posi and found that it needed a little bit more back foot weight for me. I didn’t feel that front foot weighted turns were as good, but another person who was riding this board the same day as me said he was okay with the front foot weighted turn. And he set it up even more directional than me—I think closer to like +30/-15 where I was +24/+6.

I didn’t see how hard he committed to the turns, so maybe that helps if you go more Posi.

Powder

I wish I had some, powder but knowing how well the Lost Rocket floats in powder with this similar shape, a little bit more set back on sidecut and board, and a tail with similar surface area that sinks very well, this looks like it would even sink better.

I’m pretty sure this would be an amazing powder board. Just make sure you wax the hell out of that base the night before so you have better glide for most of the day.

Final Thoughts

And overall, I would have loved to have tested this longer, but that was the best I could do for all of you. Hopefully things will change with Mervin and I’ll be able to get more Lib/Gnu Boards for extended demo without having to straight up buy them. As it stands I do prefer the feel and overall ride of the Lost Rocket but this isn’t a bad board at all.