I want something suitable for aggressive freeride (that's such a bull****
term, but hey...), so it needs to be good in powder, fast carved turns on
hard pack - oh yeah I also have size 11 feet (tried a K2 recon riser and
still got toe/heel drag, so needs to be a bit wider) and I weigh 85kg's.

I've been riding for 15 years, and reckon I'm pretty OK, so I don't need a
particularly forgiving board. I kind of like Lib Tech, K2 and Palmer, but
I'd really welcome any suggestions!

Sounds like you're looking for something with excellent edge hold, and
reasonably stiff. I'm about the same weight as you and also consider myself
an "aggressive freerider" - carving, powder, steeps, trees, bumps... my
favorite soft-boot boards are the Doneks (www.donek.com). I've written much
about them on this newsgroup in the past, even to the point of being accused
of advertising for them. These days I ride hard boots for often than not
but when I'm on my soft boots it's on a Donek Wide. I highly recommend
these boards for anyone who wants a nice, stable ride with good edge grip
and prefers carving performance and speed to park and pipe.

I also have personal experience with some of the Salomom models from a few
years ago. They share many of the properties of the Doneks - especially
edge hold and stability - but they have a more synthetic feel, and IMHO a
less friendly flex to them. The current names for the models I liked are
the Fastback, Definition, and Forecast.

Based on hearsay, some other models that are worth looking into if you like
to ride the way I do:

Prior MFR
Rad-Air Tanker or LSD
Voelkl Downhell, Cross, or Coal
F2 Eliminator, Eliminator LTD

The latter 3 are hard to come by in the US. The Rad Air LSD is available
new as a Buy It Now on eBay as we speak:

http://stores.ebay.com/snowboardsand... playZ2QQtZkm

The Voelkls can be had he

http://www.oobsnowboards.com/oob_04_boards.htm

Prior's website:

http://www.priorsnowboards.com

Hope this helps,

Mike T