Istvan

The Kessler is the new baby. Thought it would make a nice couple with my Berserker - one is devil, other is an angel.... :lol:

Thanks!

Thank you all.

Thanks, still better than what I have in front if me now... what I got is in the neighborhood of $700.... Anyone else?

Hey, do you know what is the least expensive way to ship boards from US to EU? I'm about to order 2 slalom water skis from a US vendor, but the quotes he got from DHL and UPS are just nonsense.... Thanks ps.: A slalom water ski has similar dimensions as an alpine board, 170 - 175cm long.

Moderator pls ban Pogo. I'm sitting in my office in a bank, in suit, shirt and tie and I have to watch pics of Zylon Gladiators, Curacao beach etc.... ps.: Flying to NYC on Friday, party in Manhattan Friday and Saturday night, so US beware! :lol:

@Pogo: Buying a Virus Gladiator II Zylon Evo III + living in Curacao = decadence :lol: How worse can this get? :lol:

Holy crap.....

On the left: http://sg-snowboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/SG-Pro-Team-Riders_Manabu_Kobayashi_Roland_Fischnaller_Sigi_Grabner_Masato_Katayama1.jpg

I liked the UFC Narrow more than the UFC, but both are great boards. Most probably because the sweet spot form me in width is around 17-18cm. Both feel like they have a longer effective edge than they seem to have. Both feel very "sticky" when coming out of the turns. I also have to admit that I prefer the traditional Virus nose over the new square one, not because of the looks, but because of the feel. I feel the traditional nose leaves more room to make changes to the turn and also the release feels softer. Can't define it more precisely, but if you tried both, you'll know what I mean. @Ladia: sure, the progressive / changing sidecut of the Virus boards gives you a great feeling, you can easily shorten the turns if you want. Question: the Scalpel does not have a too big camber and pop, right? That's what I can recall from testing, but I tested it 2-3 yrs back in Zinal, so I'm not sure. Also, I remember that it had a terrific edge hold, I felt it didn't even want to release me when coming out of the turn. @Like Carving: Virus has many great boards and all of them are different worlds. Even the ones that look alike, e.g. a Gladiator and a Berserker are completely different. Now the X-treme and the Scalpel are very differently behaving boards and both are pretty far from the traditional narrow poppy Virus feeling. Given the price, it is really worth testing before buying to make sure that you buy something that you really wanted. Or you may want to buy both :) Later,

Agreed. EC is typically done on boards around 13-14m radius. Also saw people doing it on long GS sticks with radius above 16m. Short radius will not let you go down and fully extend as they turn too quickly. I'm not saying it's impossible, but way more difficult than on an optimal radius. If you feel that bigger radius hinders you to make the board turn, most probably there is some room for improvement on the technique. If the body position is ok and the timing of the push is accurate, you can turn a big radius board around a glass of beer. :) Later,

I bought it from Frank / Virus. When something catches my eyes I try put my hands on a demo board first to test it and then if I like it I order one directly from Frank. He is very helpful when it comes to figuring out what you really need. But he's usually quite busy, so it's not easy to catch him :) Compared to the Prior WCR (which I never rode, but checked out the specs) the X-treme will feel very wide. Wide boards will help you mastering EC, but there is also a flip side: edge-to-edge will be much slower. Also, the X-treme (and if I correctly also the Scalpel) are kinda flat with a de-cambered nose. Again, this comes handy for EC, but there is a price you have to pay for it. Again, the best advice I can give is to try to demo one so that you know what you gonna get. Other than that, no need to say, both are great boards, the usual top Virus quality. Later

I own an X-tremecarver Titanal and also tested the Scalpel. My preference for EC is the X-tremecarver. Anything particular you want to know about these boards? Maybe if you tell us your level of experience and also the boards you own / ride / like, people here will be able to give you feedback more tailored for you. Until then here are 2 pics of my X-treme in action Later

@Hans::lol:

Measured 126km/h with a gps device. I do not know how accurate that stuff is. But it is quite easy to get to 80-90. Above 100 you need an empty slope with perfect grooming. Feels more scary now than before I measured....

Benttech, no those materials are easy to handle, density is similar to toothpaste. Of course you can't dip the gloves into that glue if that's what you ment by coating, but in my opinion it is not the way to do it. This is how I do it: I put one of the gloves on, put some glue on the palm and use a spatula (a piece of flat something will do) to distribute the glue evenly on the surface. Dependent on your skills you can get a very nice, smooth surface. It hardens within an hour. Lasts very long. The gloves I use are now like 3 seasons old (20+ days in a season) and I only had to do smaller fixes on them in certain points were they started to wear out (fingertips, etc). For the smaller fixes I use black neoprene glue, comes in small tubes, easier to handle than Sika products. Sika can also be used on jackets / pants. Frame the surface you want to protect (forearms, knees, hips) with some tape, so that the edge of the treated surface will look nice. Make sure the piece you want to treat is laid out flat on a table or on the ground, apply the glue as explained above. The surface you'll get will look like it was alway part of the jacket / pants. Make sure your jacket / pants have some matching colors, so no one will notice the small tuning :) Later

Try Sika Tack Drive or Sikaflex 256, it will convert any gloves to pro EC gloves.

I do. Levels are my favorites. They last long provided that you treat the palms with some additional rubber layers (Sika products do the job properly). The protector under the palm serves the purpose well. Go for their top product, I think it is now called Super Pipe. As for body armor I belong to the group of people that say, thank you, but no, thank you. I feel that it limits my moves. Having said that I also have to say that it would be very stupid to advise someone not to wear protective gear, so go for it. Kindest

Perfect conditions do help a lot. But it is not all about that. You can EC even if it is pure ice or if it is chopped up. I'm not saying you'd enjoy it like on cord, but technically you can. It's about the timing of the push, balance, body position and good positioning. By positioning I mean that I see several carvers who want to stretch out too late, when they are already close to the fall-line, or even crossed it. That will never work on real steep slopes. You have to start laying it down when the nose of your board is still pointing towards the edge of the slope, this way gravity will help you to do a nice laid turn. The only thing you don't want is huge bumps, then you simply have no chance. And by the way, you don't have to EC all the time and under all conditions.... snowboarding is about so many other things. EC is only one technique that is good to have in your backpack. My $.02 Picture 1: A laid front-side. This was taken in Kitzbühel on a pretty much chopped up slope as you can see. Picture 2: A laid back-side. This is not too obvious from the pic, but this was pretty icy and stiff. You might notice some chatter marks skiers left on the slope. Not blue ice, but so hard that I was practically the only one riding it all the day. Also you can see that the board is just about to reach fall line, and I'm already fully stretched as I initiated the turn pretty early. Shot in Hochkar.

I knew you were hiding something in the back of your truck the other day in Sölden....

Tell us more, Frank. What is this? New F2 race deck + plate designed by Herr Dietzel?

Agree with Hans. Board width and binding angle will have an impact on the need for cant and lift. Wider board = lower angles = less need for lift and cant. And also the other way around. See the attached. 5 tips (work for me, might not work for everyone): - don't do pure cant or lift, always try to combine them (the attached pic will give you an idea why). - don't be afraid of trying a bit of toe lift on your front foot. As Hans mentioned all the boots have a heel lift, so a toe lift will help you to find your balance in a centered position. - take into account your biomechanics (bow-legged, knock-knees, etc). Don't just simply copy someone else's settings. - after you change the settings, give yourself a bit of time to adopt, so that you can feel if the new setting are better or worse. - when testing your new settings on the carpet try to go down as deep as possible without losing your balance. If you can easily go down really deep without any pain and loss of balance you are on the right track.

185cm..... a Virus..... a Berserker....

Board width and binding angle also has a lot to do with cants and lifts On a wider board you can have lower angles and hence less or zero cant and lift. As the board gets narrower and the binding angles get higher the need comes for toe and heel lifts. Just try it on the carpet by imitating the extremes, i.e. 0 and 90 degrees binding angle and a nice wide stance. Cheers from Hungary

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