LF Litmus vs. HL Premiere

mossimo · Criminal Joined: 28 May 2003 Posts: 76 City: Arkansas

I'm fixing to buy a new board and have narrowed it down to these. I wanted to demo these two but I can't find anyone around here that demos anymore. So which one should I get or are they basically the same and I should just find the best price. Any help would be great.

Spyplane8 · Outlaw Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Posts: 228

My vote goes for the litmus, this is the perfect combination of speed and pop. Great board

Jon · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 1176

Whats up man. I have a Litmus down here in Malvern Arkansas you can demo. Just hit me up with a call and we can get things squared away. 501-467-3555

Gradie421 · Outlaw Joined: 24 Dec 2003 Posts: 198 City: norman

i love my premier but i have never rode the litmus

trammill · Soul Rider Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Posts: 389 City: Georgetown

Rode both. IMO, I'd go with the Premier.

Jeffro · Addict Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 659 City: Austin, Texas

mossimo · Criminal Joined: 28 May 2003 Posts: 76 City: Arkansas

[quote="Jon"]Whats up man. I have a Litmus down here in Malvern Arkansas you can demo. Just hit me up with a call and we can get things squared away. 501-467-3555[/quote]

Thanks but I really want to demo both so I can compare and I can't find anyone that demos hyperlite. As far as stats go these boards are basically the same I am wondering which rides and performs better. If I decide to go with the Litmus I will definatly come by and see you.

I see that most be prefer the Premier over the Litmus but I am wondering why. Is it performance or is it just the name. To me the Litmus is a better looking board but I can care less what it looks like so long as it performs good.

Also is the 2004 Premier with the updated side fins and wider tips worth the extra money because I found a 2003 brand new for $100 less. These are both 135 biolites (136 for the 2004)

rediro2h · Newbie Joined: 29 Feb 2004 Posts: 6 City: San Luis Obispo

Go with the Limus and ride it finless, very smooth board, tons of pop, I have a Limus 136 and my roommates have 2 premiers both a 135 and a 141. I've ridden them all several times and I DEFINATELY prefer the finless litmus over all of them. Besides, Liquid Force customer service is way better than hyperlites. They'll hook you up if you ever need anything or break your board.

rediro2h · Newbie Joined: 29 Feb 2004 Posts: 6 City: San Luis Obispo

Go with the Limus and ride it finless, very smooth board, tons of pop, I have a Limus 136 and my roommates have 2 premiers both a 135 and a 141. I've ridden them all several times and I DEFINATELY prefer the finless litmus over all of them. Besides, Liquid Force customer service is way better than hyperlites. They'll hook you up if you ever need anything or break your board.

rediro2h · Newbie Joined: 29 Feb 2004 Posts: 6 City: San Luis Obispo

Go with the Limus and ride it finless, very smooth board, tons of pop, I have a Limus 136 and my roommates have 2 premiers both a 135 and a 141. I've ridden them all several times and I DEFINATELY prefer the finless litmus over all of them. Besides, Liquid Force customer service is way better than hyperlites. They'll hook you up if you ever need anything or break your board.

whynot · Posted: May 08, 2004 3:20 pm Post subject:

don't tell danny, he might pull off a 1260 on it!

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

so are you talking about the NEW premier? because the new premier is a 3 stage and the old premier/era/nyx is a hybrid, just like the litmus is.

i would demo both. i actually am very interested in demoing the litmus myself. it really looks like a fun shape...

rediro2h, why did you like the litmus better than both the premiers? what makes liquid force customer service any better than hyperlite's? did you really ride the litmus finless, or did you just take the center fin off of it?

mossimo, the 2004 premier is a different shape than the 2003. the 2003 premier shape changed names to the Era (men's graphic) and Nyx (female's graphic) for 2004. the reason why the 2003 premier is cheaper is because its last year's board and nobody would pay full price for last year's board. im guessing that people like the premier more because they have actually ridden the premier. the litmus is a brand new shape and not many people have ridden it since its just now beginning to warm up and become demo season. oh yeah, and there are some people that just must buy a hyperlite board.

mossimo · Criminal Joined: 28 May 2003 Posts: 76 City: Arkansas

[b]Scott A[/b] From what I was told the only real changes to the premier were a longer side fin and wider tips for more pop. As far as the rocker I looked at the era and the premier in the new catalog and it said the rockers were both "subtle 3 stage" so i assumed they were the same. I looked at the era but I figured if i was going to spend the money I might as well buy the updated version.

[b]Rediro2h[/b] what did you not like about the premier? Or did you just find the Litmus to be a better board?

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

mossimo, ok im wrong...the new premier is a subtle 3 stage, not a pure 3 stage like i thought. it still looks pretty different IMO than the previous year's premier. you are right about the rest of the changes as well. longer, deeper molded in fins. it has a shorter detachable center fin, wider tips, and a flat spot in the middle of the board...

i would still try to demo them both before you make a decision. dont just get the new premier because it is "updated." what if you dont like the updates? heck, what if you dont even like the era? k-dub demoed the new premier and didnt like it at all (he used to ride the old premier shape). he said it was even slower than the old premier shape, which is a slow board to begin with...

if you cant find anywhere to demo, check out www.trinityboardshop.com they are an online retailer operated my maeghan major, and they will demo hyperlite products for free for 30 days. you just give them your credit card number and they ship you a board for 30 days. if you like it you keep it (and they bill you), if not you send it back to them and they dont charge you. you might wanna check that out if you have no board shops near you.

mossimo · Criminal Joined: 28 May 2003 Posts: 76 City: Arkansas

Scott A thanks man I will give trinity a shot.

blaize · Newbie Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 48 City: Palm Springs

My vote is for the Litmus. I demoed a ton of boards (Litmus, Byerly, Temet, Parks, Substance, Balance, Premier,...), and as soon as I rode the Litmus I knew for sure that it was the one I wanted. Coming from a 2001 HL Premier, the main difference is that it is faster and really helped me stick my landings. I'll go ahead and rank all the boards I demoed.

Litmus: Right off the bat I felt really comfortable on the board. It was hard to tell that I even had a board strapped to my feet, mainly because it reacted at just the right speed (not too slow, not too fast). It had good speed and pop but was also really forgiving (especially on a couple of questionable landings where I usually would have ended up with a face full of water). Before this I had never really figured out the benefit of having a board with speed, but it definitely allowed me to start cuts from closer in and I didn’t need to “build up” as much.

Substance: My second favorite, although I never really felt solid on it (felt bigger than it was, a little sketchy). I could tell it was a great board (great pop, etc.), and maybe I should have tried the 139 instead of the 142. After trying the Litmus though, I didn’t really need to.

Byerly: A lot of people don't like this board, but I do. One of the things that really stood out to me was how high I could ollie on it. I don’t know if it’s because of the cutouts or what, but I could get at least a foot higher than on any other board. Other than that, I felt that it had good pop and nice landings, but it was definitely a bit slow.

Premier: I rode the old Premier for 2+ seasons and it is a really great board to progress on (the old shape at least). A bit slow, but to be honest I never noticed until I starting demoing other board. I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet.

Parks: It is what people say it is: fast and unforgiving with great pop. I felt like it was unnecessarily tracky though; I tried putting .7” fins on it but it didn’t really seem like they were meant for it. I’ve come to the conclusion that if somebody is good enough to be able to handle a super-aggressive board, they should also be good enough that the board won’t make that huge of a difference (they should generate pop without a huge 3-stage and hold an edge without the super angled out fins).

Temet: I really wasn’t a huge fan of the Temet. It was heavy, didn’t have great pop, and was pretty slow. It was another one of those boards that I could definitely tell was on my feet (didn’t react the way I wanted it too).

Balance: This board felt similar to the Parks, but seemed especially unforgiving. Basically, it beat the crap out of me. Anytime I would have a lapse in concentration I would just get planted. Some may like it, but I would much rather have a board that helped me out rather than made me work.

So now I ride a 141 Litmus with Transit boots. By the way, the Transits are incredible. They aren’t the most locked down, but are definitely the most comfortable. My only concerns with them are the durability of the Helium cells and the F.A.S.T. system.

Mike

rybassett17 · Addict Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 562 City: Cadillac

I ride the premier and I really like it... I havn't gotten a chance to ride the liquid force

rybassett17 · Addict Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 562 City: Cadillac

I would still say the prmier I rode the Lithimus just the other day

Stanny · Posted: May 21, 2004 10:29 am Post subject:

I have an '03 Premier and love it. I heard that the '04 isn't quite as good though, since they pretty much changed the set up of the board for '04. If you don't mind a board that is a year old you could probably find an '03 Premier at a decent price.

wakeguy2008 · Addict Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 847 City: Ft. Myers

ive never rode either of them but remember that you want the board that looks the coolest....wakeboarding is 75percent style and 25percent talent....thats how its always been and thats how it always will be....remember that!!

scott a · Ladies Man Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 9810

blaize, thanks for taking the time to type out all of that info on the boards. its nice to see that there are people that are willing to take the time and not only demo lots of boards, but also to type up what they thought of each board instead of just saying "get the parks."

i do have a few questions though. what was your fin configuration on each of the boards? this makes quite a bit of difference to me as i love loose boards. did you ride any of the boards without the center fins? i have a litmus sitting in my truck and i'll be checkin it out for the first time this weekend. i didnt bother to even put the center fins on, and it still looks like it will have a bunch of edge hold from the cupped fins. did you use a center fin on your old premier? i have an 02 premier that i loved, i was just curious as to how they would compare...

once again, thanks for taking the time to type out all that info.

savage3221 · Posted: May 21, 2004 7:25 pm Post subject:

premier '03 for me. I have the '04 because when I demoed it I thought that I liked it, but I was mistaken. It is just not the right board for me...so I am back to my sweet '03 ('02 actually, but they are the exact same)

blaize · Newbie Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Posts: 48 City: Palm Springs

scott a,
Sorry for the late reply. You've probably already tried the Litmus by now, but in response to your questions about the fins, I actually left the fins in all of the boards I demoed with the exception of the Premier and the Parks (I used the .7" fins in the Parks). I like a loose board too and rode my old Premier finless for an entire season, but when it comes to learning new tricks I've found that leaving the fins on really helps me stick those borderline landings. I also get a more consistent edge coming into the wake, which is especially nice in choppy water. Granted, I do have to work a little bit harder when just sliding around, but I can still do everything I could do with the fins out.

I guess it's all personal preference. If I ever start landing straight over the board every time and sticking everything, I'll take the center fins out for sure. For now I think I'll just keep them in.

Let me know how you liked the board.

Mike