abakker

correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't a good architecture scale ruler work? you can get them at staples for pretty cheap. Alex

the liners still look like they are in fine shape. not noticeably different. what is weird is that the flex differs from boot to boot when they are unlocked at the same tightness. Alex

i purchased a brand new pair of deeluxe track 325s this year and had them thermofitted and had the straps drilled for the best fit i could get. now, after 27 days on them this season, i notice that the flex pattern is different from my right to left boot. when i tighten the boots the same tightness, and have the boot setting unlocked, the left boot(back foot, i'm goofy)is significantly softer and has way more flex. on the other hand, my right boot is stiff and feels like it always did. at the beginning of the season i rode both boots in forward lean 3 (knob rotated 90 degrees) but after riding some the boot flex changed in one boot, and now i have to ride my back boot locked and my front boot at 90 can anyone think of a reason that this is happening? Alex

i have been hardbooting for a year now, and just bought my second alpine deck. i now have an f2 speedster and a coiler pure race, as well as 2 pairs of bindings. my question is whether or not it is ok to teach friends who want to learn on this equipment if they have skiboots. and if so, are there any settings in the bindings i have to adjust one way or another (other than angle) to make skiboots work. Alex

i'm just going to go ahead and say that i check my binding constantly, morning at lunch and at night before riding. maybe a habit i got when i used to ride palmer bx lifts with k2 clickers on a burton board(screws just didn't stay tight). now i have to ask, isn't the number of breakages in either bombers or cateks significantly lower than the old plastic bindings like burtons? i met a guy on the chairlift who said he has been through 5 burton toe clips this season and said he keeps a spare in his pocket. i'd rather check my bindings than carry a toolkit and some replacement parts. Alex

interestingly enough, when i switched to hardboots, i rode a tanker, not for carving but because i hated softboots, and the first thing i noticed was that i could hit cruddy snow with alot more confidence because with the more solid connectiont to the board i could just hit stuff. just my 2 cents. Alex

i recommend agains the ride with plates at your weight, you could significantly over-torque the inserts and potentially damge the board or yourself. you'd be better off selling that board or keeping it for softboot days. as for boots, i highly recommend demoing a pair before you buy. it is just hard to tell fit and feel any other way. otherwise be willing to re sell a few pair of boots or so to really get it right. with your varied riding style i recommend a boot from the deeluxe line maybe suzuka or track 325 because of the adjustable lock on the cuff. i use it all the time to change the boot stiffness from board to board. as for boards i don't know if this is entirely out of the picture, but the rad air tanker is a great board for plates. it carve well, has good edge hold, and can do a lot of all mountain things. however if you are set on a more carve friendly shape (not twin tip) the prior is a really good board from what i've heard and you will probably have to order it stiffened to your specs. lastly, bindings. right now there are two really top choice makers of bindings out there. Bomber and Catek. the bombers are easier to set up but can require the purchase of lots of different cant and lift disks to get it right as someone new to hardboots. catek on the other hand are infinitely adjustable and are what i ride because i swap boards and cant/lift alot, the downside is that they are harder to setup initially. both bindings are rock solid and perform great on the snow. a note on stepins. i personally don't like them because they make the connection between rider and board too stiff and causes me to lose a feel for the board. some people love them. however if you ride in powder frequently, or plan to ride powder, they can clog up with snow and not clip in, or they will clip in with a wad of snow that totally messes up your carefully set cant/lift. Alex

i go to whitman college and therfore live in walla walla wa. was wondering if there are any local hardbooters around, i'd love to head up to the local hill for a day. Alex

i ride an F2 speedster. its not really a carving board, but one of the things that bugs me is the tip flex. don't know how the silberfeil is, but i vote a custom donek. Alex

Startingate in VT is a truly great tune. i started using them when i took lessons with PSR there a few years ago, and i just kept going back. now i am out at college though in washington and have been doing my own tunes for the most part, but i have a few new boards that need a pro tune soon. Alex

i literally just bought the gun from tognar. it will arrive tomorrow and i'll let you know how it does. the advantage to a gun is that you are injecting ptex instead of ptex/paraffin like the candles. don't use black epoxy on your base unless you are using it to fill a core shot and covering it with ptex (just epoxy a little bit over the core then the rest is ptex) black epoxy is for bonding to metal, but wont hold wax and will be impossible to scrape. Alex

i second the nu finish as a good method. don't put rain-x on your base it just sounds like a bad idea to me and ptex is sensitive enough as is. on another note, plastx which you can get at autozone is great for buffing small scratches out of topsheets if you are the kind of person who cares about those things. it also buffs scratches out of ipods. Alex

i got the track 325 this year and i love it. for me it was the perfect shell for all my applications. i ride and f2 speedster and coiler pure race as well as a rad-air reto and tanker. varying angles from 30ish to upwards of 65 and they have worked wonders for me. also look at the catek binding for adjustablility. i have ridden and enjoyed the donek axis, but not recently enough to comment on the current model. Alex

i was wondering if anyone here knows what the old madd base material was made out of. this is the base that held wax poorly however was extremely durable and looks kind of speckled or sparkly. abakker

maybe a prior 4wd or madd bx. tough to find them used though. also you might look at a rad air Reto if you can find one. they are all boardercross kind of boards, so they take plates with high angles and are meant for carving. maybe you need more alpine type boards, but these are my best bet for you.

my friend and i are trying to put together a website which would review downhill mountain bikes as well as snowboards, and other gear. the website is http://www.realdh.com there are a few articles written by us up there already, and we are looking to expand our database of articles with some written by other people. if you are interested in contributing, please email me at abakker@realdh.com and i will have your article posted. the site is new, so forgive the problems, we are working on getting it up to speed. any contributions to the site are much appreciated.

the canyons is a really nice place. i have ridden there for several seasons now and never had a bad day. they have great snow, and if you can do the hard runs, its not crowded.

I've got a tanker crown 177 from last season which i ride with plates, and i've never had a problem with it in the powder. because a shorter board is better in woods where i find most of my powder, i think the 177 is great, to me the 186 is just a little long. i also weigh about 180 and i think the board handles it great . and they are so much lighter compared to my old 167 burton baron. makes me wonder why burton is still so popular

I am asking $325 for them. they do not have thermoflex liners in them unfortunately. if you send me an email, i will send pictures of them to you tonight. also, there is another interested buyer, so keep that in mind.

I am asking $325 for them. they do not have thermoflex liners in them unfortunately. if you send me an email, i will send pictures of them to you tonight. also, there is another interested buyer, so keep that in mind.

i have to sell a pair of last year's suzuka size 29s because i mistakenly bought them too big for myself. they have only been used 15 days. let me know if you are interested.

i Started in the hardboot world last year after 10 years of being a softbooter, i started late in the season, after having difficulty locating where to actually get equpment, but the with the aide of a friend of mine up in vermont, i got a pair of Suzukas, some catek bindings, and a rad air tanker crown. i'm not it this for serious racing yet, but i wanted to make the switch from softboots and bindings which i thought gave me inferior control. long story short, since i bought late in the season, i ended up with the last pair of suzukas in the store, and while they seemed right when i tried them on, they ended up being to big, so i rode them for the rest of the season, about 15 days, and decided to sell them. so for starters, i have an essentially brand new pair of susukas size 29 for sale. now i have the problem of replacing the boots for this season, and i have to choose between the suzukas again or the new track 325 Ts. i gathered from other posts that they are of similar stiffness, and material. i like the buckles on the track series more because of the ease of use and durability, but, the track doesn't have the carve asymetrical flex. so i was wondering how big a difference the asymetrical flex makes, and whether there are additional features/problems with either boot that will make a noticeable difference? Alex Bakker