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Mervin Manufacturing - Lib Tech, Gnu, and Roxy Snowboards
Lib Tech Snowboards by Mervin Manufacturing, the environMENTAL snowboard company, also makers of Gnu and Roxy snowboards and Bent Metal Binding MachinesThe incredible grip of Magne-Traction MTX edges and the versatility of the "rocker" boards with Banana Tech BTX or the advanced C2 Powerbanana curves found on the Travis Rice Skate Banana give an awesome ride, and that's all a snowboarder needs to feel really good. Or is it? The people at Mervin Manufacturing, makers of Lib Tech, Gnu, and Roxy snowboards do not think so.
Snowboarding is more than a sport, it's a lifestyle, complete with its own culture, language, and attitudes. The connection between rider and board is a bond of love, and there is more to that connection than just the ride. The entire being of the board should fit into the snowboarding lifestyle, reflecting a love of the sport and of the people involved at every level.
Mervin Manufacturing has always put an emphasis on a safe and efficient workplace, and on avoidance of toxic materials and sustainability in raw materials used in their Lib Tech, Gnu, and Roxy snowboard lines. Mike Olson and Pete Saari set out to ensure that workers would not be breathing toxic materials by using resins with low volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Grinding dust is minimized by using wet grinders, and water and citrus based cleaners are used instead of toxic solvents. The air circulation system provides lots of turnover from outside air, and the factory is heated with vegetable oil biodiesel from the company coop.
From beginning to end, the materials used in Mervin snowboards are chosen with an emphasis on environmental sustainability and safety. A snowboard starts with a core, and Mervin makes their own cores using fast-growing sustainable wood harvested from responsibly managed forests. They splice core remnants to make new cores, and sell the remaining small scraps as kindling. Even the sawdust is collected and sold or composted nearby. Because all of the workers are snowboarders and skateboarders, innovations in core design such as the Lib-Tech Banana rocker, the Magne-Traction edges, and the C2 Power Banana cores can be conceived, built, and tested in-house, keeping the Mervin brands on the leading edge of snowboard technology development.
The snowboard core must be sheathed on the top, bottom, and edges for protection and strength, and Mervin has led the way, using low VOC epoxy resins and recently using fibers made from basalt instead of traditional fiberglass cloth. The Magne-Traction edges are protected by edge strips made from a soy based elastomer plastic instead of petroleum based ABS. The graphic designs are created using non-toxic water based colors, which are then transferred permanently to the board top sheet by sublimation, which involves heating the graphic ink until it vaporized and becomes infused into the top sheet. The top sheets themselves are made from a castor bean oil based material, and the whole combination is much less toxic for workers and the environment than traditional fiberglass and ABS construction with silkscreened oil paints and laquer coatings.
Assembly of Gnu, Lib Tech, and Roxy snowboards is done in molds and presses tooled by Mervin, so they are free to develop new designs using their CAD programs and then implement and test the innovations quickly and get the winners out to the market. Anyone who has watched the epic shredding by Lib Tech and Gnu champions Jamie Lynn, Danny Kass, Travis Rice, Eric Jackson, Mark Landvik, Jakob Wilhelmson, and Barrett Christy knows that they have produced some great snowboards. Whether you want a board that will smooth out and dampen bumps, carve deep powder, flex when buttering, launch with a pop, jib off the boxes and rails, or do all those things with grace and ease, Mervin makes a snowboard for you.
The Mervin Brands:
Lib Tech Snowboards
Gnu Snowboards
Roxy Snowboards
Bent Metal Binding Machines