Dr D

When I ride soft I ride 54 -50 angles. I was skeptical myself on returning to the sport but soft boots are decades better than they used to be. I have a pair of vans with heat mold liners that are great for soft days and are supportive enough to rip. I also can't stand the duck look or the butt hanging out. I have found that with forward angles and the right board people watching assume I am on an alpine setup. I recently had a liftie look at me shocked and say I have never seen softies on a race board before. that is interesting only because I was riding a "normal" looking directional board at the time not an alpine specific board. The carve was doing the talking obviously. It is possible it is fun and its a great way to extend the day. When my old quads are screaming at me to quit I switch into softies and let my calves do the work for the restof the day

I have the thick intuitions and found that they molded well to my feet standing. I did not need an additional footbed.

Makes a 173 freeride board that is custom made. I am 265 pounds and mine is stiffer than many alpine boards. I wear a 29 mondo and have no problems with this board with room to spare and since its directional it screams like an alpine board. floats like a dream in the pow or the crud. It holds an edge better than most other boards I have ridden. With the spring wet cement conditions its my favorite ride lately

some kind of foot bed is a must unless you have the thick intuitions that will actually mold one when you mold them. the heat molded ones are the best shy of getting custom orthotics in which case I recomend amfit. Your bootfitter can shave you some room to add the foot beds

the idea tickles my brain. the pics I saw looked like a total custom throw it together. I am playing with ideas on how to do it with some adjustability.

email me for pics I don't have the patience to shrink the damn things tonite. My photo program is a pain in the kisser.

I assume you are asking about the PJ? ITs all base stuff. It has several scratches that require Ptex and the base is not completely flat side to side. I would describe it as looking like someone rode rails with it a few times as the scratches are side to side. one of the inserts is fouled with somekind of putty of unknown origin. IT isn't on one you'd use unless you are a midget so it didn't bother me. The topsheet is in really very good shape considering the age of the board. Its a dark colored board with a maroon tail. one of the last assyms I'd say since it is 3D I don't know which year. I will try to get some pics up when the wife returns with the camera.

see bootfitting guide on main page. A bootfitter uses a variety of techniques to help you get the best fit. you can buy thermo liners for any boot that's kinda the point. some higher end boots come with them. If yours don't and you have fit issues they are the way to go. the bootfitter will mold them for you and maybe use shims ar grind a little or heat and stretch the shell. lots of options for getting your boots to feel comfy and yet be performance tight.

good point and it can be taken the other way. Most of the members of this community have more than one tool. (some of them are Tools:lol: ) Any way nothing wrong with having a softie setup. I can't imagine quitting hard boots all together though, Its like Giving up your Ferrari Enzo because you discovered boulder crawling and 4x4's. you still gotta get around on the freeway.

. As for my knee pain, it happens after about 6+ hours of riding. I'm guessing if i play with my stance, i'll be able to achieve a more natural position. I the stance thing is huge and proper canting makes a big difference. the natural relaxed stance for you will take a lot of pressure off of your knees. I know since going through 3 sets of bindings this season that it can vary from one set of gear to another. what worked on burtons was very painful on fast stepins. Its definitely worth playing with because pain free carving is abeautiful thing.

It gets a little more complicated and involves wrapping your mind around some new ideas. basically Chiropractic philosophy says that the body is capable of healing itself if it is uninterfered with and functioning normally. Since the major portion of control for all systems is the brain and the nervous system we look there first for interference. the Plica or loose pieces you are talking about are essentially an injury not a factory defect. Active people are more prone to this problem. Two ways of approaching the problem are 1) mechanical ie. the tire analogy. a misalignment in the knee can reduce the amount of space in the joint causing more pain and inflamation from the plica than you would otherwise deal with. the body remodels tissues at different speeds. It takes longer to heal bone than it does skin for instance. Prolonged irritation can slow this healing process as well. 2) neuro control basically this point of view says that when a nerve is irritated or impinged the signal being transmitted on that nerve becomes abherant or reduced. The organs and tissues that are controlled by that nerve lose their ability to adapt and to properly function. Basically the tissue is better able to heal with proper nerve flow to the area. There are absolute cases where surgery is the answer. If you are not ready for that step I would highly recomend you explore some alternatives. A good Chiropractor will approach the injury from both aspects making sure that mechanically everything is lined up and making sure that there is no interference to the nervous system. Personally I have treated many people with plica who no longer have symptoms. did I miraculously cure the problem?? absolutely not. All I did was remove whatever interference I found and allow the body time to heal itself. Sometimes the plica are gone on followup MRI sometimes they are not but does it matter if they are not experiencing symptoms and are not drug dependant?

I have a PJ7 that I would let go for 40 plus shipping. Its not a cherry but it is a hoot to ride. I also have a RAD AIR soulcarve 164 which is almost identical as far as geometry goes But its a little stiffer. I would let it go for 100 plus shipping. Its cherry flawless base and very little use. the pj is 3d and the soul carve is 4x4

arrived today as advertised shipping from canada is still done in a horse drawn wagon though. It took forever. Also canada post tracking stops at the border. they look good I will try them out this week.

[ I've decided that the next board I get will be a 165 stiff freeride with soft bindings. I highly recomend a Garage. you have to get a hold of John and make an order and wait awhile but its so worth it. This guy is the genius behind the 185 carbon identity. he knows the carve and there's a little built into every board no matter what its intended purpose. email me for contact info. He's bringing out a new alpine line in the near future. But for now the 173 screams as an allmountain board with either plates or softies.

Knee jerk reaction phhlbb:rolleyes: I have to come out of the closet myself. Maybe its the gear or my set up but I love carving in my soft boot setup especially in the spring muck and days I want to drop into Hellroaring canyon. I ride vans Switch N-types set at roughly 50 and 55 degrees. yes it gets weird looks from the lifties. I ride a garage 173 directional with an extra layer of carbon for my oversized 265 pund butt. John Mcginnis formerly of Identity built it for me and it carves better than many of the alpine boards I have tried. I have run both hard and soft on the board and they both carve great. Yesterday a liftie said "I have never seen Klickers on a race board before" He watched me come down the run and assumed I was on an alpine setup. It never occured to him I was riding a standard looking board. He did however notice the soft boots. another good thing is that when my quads are tore up and I am ready to go home I cna switch out of the hard setup and go the rest of the day because you use a different set of muscles in the soft setup. Twice the carving time without any added Burn:biggthump Also in spring ski conditions by 2pm the mountain is turning into a giant slushy and the soft set up deals with that better. I still love Alpine the best, its just another way to enjoy the carve.

Long term? Yes! Just like the tire analogy uneven wear of the knee can occur. Ultimately it is labeled as arthritis or degeneration. A regular check up can easily prevent it and in fact most cases respond quite well and actually heal. The Human Body is amazing if you let it. Remove the interference to the system and the system will balance and repair itself. This in no way means you have to quit doing the things you love. It just means you need to spend the same care and energy maintaining your body that you no doubt spend maintaining your equipment. How long will you own your board? You wax it and you do the edges and you check the base and you grease the bindings etc. All for something that will last 3-5 seasons! how about spending a little time and money maintaining the body you will live in for the next 80 years. Be proactive rather than reactive and your body will thank you for it. Get your spine checked It protects your entire central nervous system!

As a chiropractor I see this a lot. The easiest way to explain it is to compare it to a car. When the front end is out of alignment the tires wear funny. The same goes for your running gear. There are many different variables here from lower lumbar issues to pelvic misalignment. Any of which could give you the symptoms you are describing. Combine that with strapping your feet to a board at funny angles and cants and add the aforementioned blunt trauma to the butt and knees and its very likely that you have a problem that is easily solved by a good chiropractor. I would highly recomend getting checked regularly throughout the season especially those of you who are more prone to the Blunt trauma part. Walking will help loosen things up after as well.

are you saying the metal pin does not go all the way through the heel? Or that the Heel is 2 piece and the outside is thin? D-sub ? Anyone else know anything about these?

Any partial has the potential to heal. The most important thing is to get rid of any interference to the healing process. Next provide the body with extra raw materials and influence the healing chemistry with mild natural stimulants(ie herbs) The chinese are the experts on that bit. Get a good supplement with extra joint factors. check out the weilab thing. I have seen before and after partial tears on MRI with results that would amaze you. with or without surgery you will need these steps to recover perhaps even more so after surgery to avoid scarring. the long term pain is attributable to scarring and adhesions. the therapy will help prevent the adhesions. the fasst patches work beautifully to prevent and heal scarring. I would recomend a visit to a good rehab oriented Chiro to make sure that the knee was the only thing injured. Lower spine injuries can prolong and aggravate lower extremity injuries. you may have no symptoms in that area but misalignment can affect how you carry your weight and put more pressure on one meniscus over another sort of like driving a car out of alignment wears the tires. the other concern is impaired nerve flow slowing the bodies natural healing responses. If there is swelling around the nerves that control the knee area the bodies ability to respond to the injury can be reduced. Any good Chiro can evaluate you for that. The orthopedics are the experts when it comes to surgical options. Follow their protocol and then help you r body recover after.

the raichle's may not have cant but you can buy a seperate cant plate. look for a burton universal cant or either a three or four hole plain cant that attaches to your board under the binding. you need at least one in the back

definitely try cant plates fore and aft they will also allow you to cheat the angles a little. the cants will take the pressure off of the knees significantly. the steeper the angle the more you will want a cant.

I loaned and then sold an old set of bindings to a jibber patient who has a supermodel 181. He mounted it up and rode his ski boots. (he's multisported) Anyway he was back in my office the next day grinning uncontrollably and waiving money at me. He said he had an insane day and that it combined the best of skiing and snowboarding , imagine that:rolleyes: If people ever figure out what we do Fin is gonna get really busy.

Shred grummer broke two sets of TD bails while he was up here earlier this year. Said he was gonna ask fin but I haven't heard. Its gotta be technique angles or something else overworking the metal. I would like to know what to avoid.

Some snow just isn't cool with an alpine board. you can do it with softer boots and bindings but dropping into a double black with 6-10 inches of fresh is a good way to kill yourself. get the softies out and play in the powder unless you are blessed with miles of no skiers and no trees.

Must be a rare one now days? I found a set new in the box but missing the heels. anyone now where to find a set of heels? or is anyone ridng them and want aextra set? I don't know much about them are they any good? they seem super tough although a little heavy maybe. they are all alloy but the shims. the plate is cast but triple thick.