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Posts posted by Buell
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Is that a result of the reverse camber, or the Magne-Traction?
I have no idea. Without changing only one variable at a time, I cannot answer what was doing it. The flex pattern was also different than many soft boot boards. Stiff in the nose, soft in the middle, and stiff in the tail.
The banana rocker in the Lib Tech certainly did not seem to hurt its performance and it is an example of a rocker shape that puts the nose and tail on the snow when riding flat.
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Don't naysay until you ride a rocker board first. The first turn I made on a skate banana last season, my first impression was......Oh my this technology was make the perfect race board for steep, icey SL racing. There are reports of many of the top World Cup racers testing boards with full rocker for icey courses.
For buffed flatter terrain I think I'd still prefer a board with camber, but when it's steep and firm I'd take a rocker.
The above quote is from another thread a couple of weeks ago.
From our testing with the K2 Gyrator (slight camber between the feet, lots of rocker in the nose and tail) I would say that rocker definitely deserves more testing and an open mind. The Gyrator is really meant for powder and has more rocker than I think a groomer board should have. The nose and tail do not fully engage until the board is very high on edge.
It may not be an end all for many people, but three people have ridden our 162 K2 Gyrator and all three have found it very easy to carve. While it does not track straight as well as a fully cambered softy carver, none of us have found truly significant or dangerous stability issues running flat on groomers. It goes down cat tracks just fine, it traverses just fine. All three of us consider it an amazingly fun and easy board to ride.
In fact, today we got to watch someone just learning to carve get on the K2 and start carving many of his turns immediately. It starts to carve at very slow speeds and that was an immense help. It put a giant smile on my friend's face for the rest of the day. Stability was not an issue.
I recently made some groomer turns on a Lib Tech banana rocker Snow Mullet. This board has rocker between the feet and is flat from the bindings to the nose and the tail. This board carved like it was on rails. Better than my Prior MFR. On this design, when going straight, the full running length makes contact with the snow and it tracks like any cambered softy carver.
There is a lot of refinement that still needs to be done. The soft boot board companies are already doing a lot of work on this. Compared to the cambered boards, the flex patterns are different and figuring out rebound is an issue. Even the rocker / camber patterns still need to be resolved based on the fact that most companies seem to still have their own version.
Interesting stuff.
Buell
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Hmmm, if still problems - a few possible solutions. Keep downsizing the boot or start working out your calves (running will do it, believe me :)). Also, I just wonder if the size is fine, but the boot is loose around the calf - what's the situation with heel lift. I guess, this also would be a problem, since the skinny leg will try to get out of the heel cup. Good luck
Millen
I think the biggest problem for the skinny calf brigade is that the shell sizes are in 1 mondo increments while the upper cuffs are in roughly 2 mondo increments. Most of us are probably on the low range of the upper cuff.
I downsized 2 mondo sizes (26, 25, 24) and the whole boot actually fits better. On the 25 mondos, I was at the lower size for the upper and had to actually drill a hole in the strap well beyond where the extra spot is provided just to ride the boot. As Furi mentioned (he has my former 25s), you then need to shorten the straps and cut out material on the boots.
On the 24s, I am at the upper end of the upper cuff sizing and it fits, but just barely. I usually have one notch left on the upper buckles.
I do not understand why the uppers are sized so large. Are any hardbooter's calves too big to fit in the correct mondo sized boot?
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Hey Chris,
Great to hear that we will see you again at OES!
What are your goals for the day trip?
I am unsure of guide services for most of the Volcanoes. I know that Rainier has guided trips, but that is a significant undertaking.
The weather in March is very unpredictable and plans on a specific date to do something at elevation will often not work out very well.
Oregon is a wonderful state and there are quite a few good options if you cannot find a guide. Even if you can, I would have a variety of options just in case the weather is bad at elevation. Something in the mountains and something in the desert and / or at the ocean. If you want more detailed thoughts, just let me know.
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carving uber steep blacks demands proper form
ultimate test to see if you are on your game
when you are you know it
its just too easy to carve blues with poor form and get away with it
and you end up thinking you're good until you go to a black
I have found this to be exactly right. I see many carvers with many techniques happily and successfully riding green and blue runs. Many of them have no aspirations to ride steeper runs and can be very content with their technique. People who can ride the steeps have really worked to refine their riding.
Improving my riding is one of the reasons I am always testing myself on steeper runs.
The main reason though is the intense focus I experience riding slopes at my ability level. It is in part a suppression of fear, working to keep the mind silent. Other times the brain is repeating "you can do this, you can do this, you can do this" just so you can make it through each turn.
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Wave Rave in Mammoth Lakes is the home of Steepwater. It looks like they might have some 2009 boards. They are good, damp boards with a relatively large sidecut.
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With all due respect, I want to ask how you are supposed to make precision moves and maintain balance with your foot wobbling side to side?
Wow, I don't know that we have ridden the same F2s. Wobbling side to side? Is this how the racers get down the course at the speeds they are traveling and with the forces that they put on the boards and bindings? They make some amazing precision moves and manage to put the board where the course tells them to go.
Flex and sloppy are not the same thing to many riders. If they are to you, Jack, that is where the Bombers excel and you have found your binding. It seems insanely narrow to say that all the carvers and racers that prefer to ride F2s don't know what they are talking about and are "wobbling side to side".
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24 shell Track 700. 26.3 and 26.5 measured flat on the floor.
I started in 26, went to 25, finally to 24. I have a low volume foot and a narrow heel. The 24s are snug, but I finally have a boot that fits.
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Funny Jack, F2s are a good binding for someone on a student budget?
Bruce recommended we ride F2s on Coilers just like he did for Louis. Money is not an issue for us.
Billy Bordy tried to get us on F2s and off of TD2s for a couple of years before we tried the F2s.
Once we did a head to head test between the F2s and the TD2s, we sold all 5 pairs of TD2s that night and bought all F2s. The added flex of the F2s gave us an instant improvement to our riding. Bruce and Billy were right for us.
While Bombers are a beautiful binding, the ride of Bombers is not for everyone (nor is the ride of the F2s). I am glad you like yours TD3s so much Jack. It is always nice to find what works so well for the individual.
I am interested in trying the unreleased race version of the TD3. It sounds like Fin has done a great job creating a binding that has more flex than the current Bombers. Perhaps we will be on a Bomber binding again in the future.
Enjoy the Coiler Louis! You might prefer TD3s, but don't be surprised if you really like the F2s.
Buell
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Hey Louis,
It is always good to listen to Bruce. I love my F2s on my Coiler!
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metrix, I have not ridden the 413 boots, but I have not found any hardboot to be that soft in forward flex for me. The BTS will offer you a tunable stiffness that increases as you bend the boot farther and compress the spring more. You can adjust the spring tension, or if needed, you can change to stiffer springs to get the flex that is right for your riding. I would start with yellow.
The hardboot flex without the BTS is based on the deformation of the boot and / or the tongue. The BTS will allow your boot to flex farther and smoother than the locked 5 position lean adjuster. That added flex really allows you to bend at the ankles which allows you to bend at the knees without getting your center of mass far beyond the edge of the board (it will help you carve better). Bent ankles and knees also really help absorb bumps and grooming imperfections making it much easier to run right over them.
Enjoy, Buell
Edit: Ha, two ravens beat me to it.
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I think this is a great set up that will allow the flex you need, custom fit and solid connection.
That is a great place to start for a lightweight new carver on a budget. Try to get some yellow spring BTS for the boots as soon as possible.
Zoom and myself are both light weight riders and we have found that if others consider something stiff, it is usually too stiff for us. Heavier riders can get the flex they need out of equipment that just beats us up. Softer boots, softer bindings, BTS, and proper flexing boards have helped our riding immensely!
Enjoy, Buell
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Splitboard.com is a really good place to check if you are looking for a used one or if you want splitboarding advice.
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I'm at the 450ft ant hill right now and the first impression of the 176am is its foolish. Carving is not supposed to be this easy
:eplus2:
That thing is amazing. Bruce took one big jump from his previously wonderful 172 / 12m AM to this new 176 AM design. I had to get a whole new board after riding one last May. Mike T did too!
Buell
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There are a couple people here that spend time in Ogden that might chime in.
Hey, that must be us. Just saw this thread. Rebecca (zoom) and I ride most days at Powder Mountain, if you're headed that way, let us know. Another BOLer, Kirk, rides at Snowbasin sometimes. Lots of powder riding right now
, but we're bound to get a carving day eventually....
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Riding!
One more trip up to Snowdome on the north side of Hood this Friday and then it is off to the Oregon coast for two months of work and surfing!
Looking down 4000+ vertical feet on Mt Adams 2 weeks ago, End of the run off Hogsback and down the Zigzag glacier on Hood 10 days ago, and riding again on Hood last Sunday.
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Another Coiler AM-T fan!
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Hey Gavin,
Been there at T-line. A couple of years ago in mid June. It was great until then, no lift lines, uncrowded slopes. Once the camps start full force, there is barely any snow left for the public to ride and long lift lines of camp kids. Here are some photos shot by oldsnowboards on that day.
Sounds like you have plenty of other things to enjoy up there.
Take care, Buell
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Yeah, the happy dance was only because I did not know what was to come. Forty feet of knife edge ridge you could not fall off either direction, gusty winds, and a snowboard (sail) on my back. Then there was the steep ice for 400 feet. I finally made it back down to where Jim was looking for his approach ski at the Devil's Kitchen, an area of steaming rock smelling strongly of sulfur that you really do not want to get too close to, especially since it makes a deep hole in the snow. It was fun riding the rest of the way down.
The crew that was right behind us (I only counted about 12 people on Hood all day) posted up their trip report on TGR. Jim and I are actually in a couple of their photos although we are very small.
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Thanks for the update Cherie. Kimo and you are in our thoughts! Good luck with the next couple of days. We will be watching this thread closely.
Buell and Rebecca
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I am not sure the exact days yet, but Rebecca and I are planning to ride TLine for 2 days of the Friday through Monday Memorial day weekend as well.
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Rebecca and I will be at Bachelor this Sunday and Monday the 4th and 5th of May.
07/08 Prior Pow-Stick 176
in For Sale
Posted
07/08 Prior Pow-Stick 176 in excellent condition - SOLD!
Base and edges are in great shape with a few minor scratches. It has never had a base grind. The topsheet is nearly perfect with only light binding marks.
Specs:
<table class="boardSpecs"><tbody><tr><td class="rowHeader">Length (cm)</td> <td>176</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Effective Edge (cm)</td> <td>130</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Nose Length (cm)</td> <td>37</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Tail Length (cm)</td> <td>9</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Nose Width (cm)</td> <td>31.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Tail Width (cm)</td> <td>30.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Waist (cm)</td> <td>26.1</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Radius (m)</td> <td>10</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Taper (mm)</td> <td>10</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Insert Setbacks (cm)</td> <td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Stance (in)</td> <td>19"-24"</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rowHeader">Suggested Rider
Weight Range (kg/lb)</td> <td>70-109/
154-220</td> </tr></tbody></table>
More and larger photos available.
Thanks, Buell