Wolf

Wow, great picture! We were just inside the totality band in Ohio and got to watch from our deck. High, thin clouds didn't obscure the view. We were lucky as it was much better weather than Ohio typically gets for this date. Your photo really captures the awesomeness.

It looks like about half of the movement is in the slide mechanism for the toe pad adjustment. I'm not familiar with F2 bindings but I expect there's no way to snug up that part of the movement.

All - I really appreciate all of the good advice! Thank you. jburk - Do you mean these screws? Mine are flat head.

The flat sections at the front and back measure 5mm thick, so I assume that's the spec. I like the idea of trying the board without the plate. The board I used the most this year is a Donek FC (metal) 163. This Rev is an oddball 160, so pretty close. Nose side cut radii are similar(7.5-FC, 7-Rev) but the Rev probably has a larger tail side cut. Widths are similar (19.5-FC, 20-Rev). The Rev is a little stiffer so I should get the feel of that. I also haven't used the F2 bindings before. I have lots of time to think about it because the season here is done. I'm waiting until next season unless I take a big trip.

I just bought a Donek Rev 160 with a Bomber Boiler Plate from Chris C (photo below). This will be the first time I'm trying a plate. I know the Boiler Plate is an old design and plates in general seem to have lost that "must have" appeal that they once had. But I thought this would be an interesting new thing to try with a pretty cheap investment. We do get some days here with a little freshly blown, groomed snow on top of some uneven refrozen granular. The plate might make those days less fatiguing when I dig through the new snow. The instructions for the plate are still available on Bomber, and I understand how the pieces stack up and mount, plus the need to get everything aligned. But I'm wondering if there's any guidance on where to start for center-to-center distance for mounting the plate to the board (choices are 56, 59 and 62cm. My thinking is since the board is a short 160cm and I'm a wimpy old guy, 56cm might make sense to let the board flex more easily? Also, I ride with a 50cm binding-to-binding stance width. Do I want to start with my bindings at that width, centered on the plate? That would have everything centered, maximum flex for the Rev, and my usual binding-to-binding stance width. FYI, I thought I would use a set of F2 Titanium bindings initially. My other choice would be TD3s (not the BP version). Thanks for any advice y'all have.

It could really discourage lift line rash if you put a spiked wheel on it.

I think you're right. I checked with a magnet and zero magnetic attraction. Even stainless (unless a high-$ marine grade) will have some magnetism.

I had some with quite a bit of plating corroded off. I tried cleaning it up with a powered wire brush and found that the steel scratched easily in areas where the plating was missing. The steel substrate appears to be fairly soft. So, I would try a wire brush or steel wool, but start gently. I ended up painting my plates to make them look better, but the paint chips off too.

I wear old school ski gaiters. They're handy for snaking the Intec cables through. I'm also usually the only Alpine boarder, and everybody recognizes me since you can see the entire hill from the base.

If you have a short run with a short lift ride, how about strapping a GoPro (or cheapo clone) to a tree and riding by it for a few runs? It won't pan and follow you, of course. You could probably rig up a cable lock if there's a concern about someone taking it. You got me thinking because the round trip up and down my little hill is 4 minutes so I could get several runs in one video.

That's great! It took a couple of views before I figured out what I was seeing. Maybe I could do that if I switched to that brand of boots.

I have read that UPZ boots have a shorter sole length versus Deeluxe/Raichle for a given shell size, but I don't know what those sizes are. Your 192 / 312 could be the first data point if we can figure out what those numbers mean.

A while back I worked out that the maximum boot sole length for Catek OS1 and OS2 short plates is about 301mm. Here's a post showing how I got to that number: https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/49299-boot-size-for-catek-os2-long-vs-short/#comment-498702

A little annoyance to watch for is that the size adjuster knob on the back of my Smith Camber MIPS helmet has a nice grippy, rubbery surface. It's great for getting a grip on when wearing gloves. But, that wheel gets enough grip on my collar that the adjustment will loosen up as I rotate my head from side to side. It would be better if either the knob were harder to turn, or if the surface were less grippy.

Interested, PM'd you for more info.

Wow, TD bindings were $309 then, $525 now. Interestingly, Fin sold F2 Titanium bindings then for $269 and today they're only $20 more ($289) at Donek. Thanks for posting this, centsless.

The old Burtom race plates are still being sold, now rebranded as IBEX Speed CC. Carvers Paradise has spare parts including the bail. Did your bail break? Race plates are pretty light duty so you might want to consider a binding upgrade if you're an aggressive carver. https://www.carversparadise.com/en_US/products/speed-cc-rear-bail

Do these lines running up and down the hill count? (It's a short season here)

I'll offer an alternate viewpoint. New equipment is definitely safest, but your old stuff might get you going if you accept some risk. I still use Raichle boots of the same vintage as yours. The plastic does get brittle with age and depending on how much heat and sun the boots have seen. I've had two boots crack but neither break was catastrophic. I could tell something wasn't right and could ride to the bottom of the hill. But I'm on a small hill, parked close, and keep a spare set of boots in the car so a boot failure doesn't end my day. Your bindings are probably old Burton Race Plates. They are best for lighter, less aggressive riders. The metal bails can break, but the most common failure is the plastic toe levers. I'd put your bindings in the freezer and then try attaching the frozen toe clips to your boots and see if the plastic breaks. I'd say those toe clips are a bigger risk of an injury-causing failure than the boots. I'm no oracle, but the only toe clips I've seen broken were maroon in color. Other colors may age better. Also, I've read that the clear plastic baseplate covers are also prone to breakage. You can get 4-hole Burton disks for your bindings. If you don't ride aggressively and just want to get out on the old stuff, what you have might work. But newer equipment will be both easier to carve and safer.

CB - You mean you don't really use the stomp pads as name tags for Sparky? I'm devastated.

Here's a competing product that you can get without having to buy bindings, and it's 9x12 inches for those really big feet. But I vote for any product that's endorsed by Sparky. Link to: Foam Sheet - it incorrectly says it's 2cm thick, but what's a minor factor of 10 error? (I actually do make stomp pads out of this stuff)

Also, the easiest, cheapest fix is to replace the lug shaft with a machine screw/bolt. I showed that part way down in this thread: If you use a bolt, you can reuse the existing lugs and you don't have to worry about removing the bail from the lugs.

That's the old style lug shaft. The flats on the steel shaft are supposed to be held from spinning by flats on the aluminum lug, but the shaft ends up mashing its way right through the aluminum. Then you're stuck because the shaft spins and you can't remove the screw on the other side. The replacement part is the newer style with a hex socket and no flats. Now you can get an Allen wrench in there to hold the shaft in order to loosen the screw. The newer version of the aluminum lugs now have replaced the two flats with a simple round counterbore, so you should probably get new lugs a well. And, getting your current lug shaft out can be a problem. I've tried grinding a slot in to try to hold it with a screwdriver, but ultimately had to drill out the screw. And, the bails can get stuck in the lugs as well. I had a bail twist off while trying to unscrew a lug from it. So, worst case you'll need a new bail too. A good periodic maintenance is to loosen and retighten all of the threaded connections on the TD3s so that the threads don't freeze up.

Actually, it's all off-the-shelf parts and cutting the bolt is optional. So a Home Depot or Lowes might be enough to keep some TD3s on the slope.

Here's another "emergency fix". I had to repair a toe bail during the time that Bomber was out of operation, and used a 5/16" hex bolt with a nylon lock nut as a lug shaft. The Bomber lug shaft is 8mm diameter, but 5/16" is so close that it didn't really create any extra play, and I could buy the 5/16" bolt more easily. I used stainless steel but standard hardware would do fine in an emergency. Ideally, you want a bolt that is unthreaded for most of its length so that the aluminum TD3 lugs aren't riding on threads. In my case, a 5 inch long bolt had just the right amount of shaft vs thread. I ended up cutting about 1/2 inch off the bolt when I was done, but it wouldn't have done any harm other than looking ugly if I had left it sticking out. And the double washers you see on the nut side keep the nut out just far enough so that it doesn't bottom out at the end of the threads. This worked out so well that I never replaced the bolt with new Bomber parts.