Bullwings

nope, it's using the engine front the already released RS4 (not to be confused with the S4 - which only puts out around 340 hp and has a much milder and softer suspension setup). exactly the same. as for the corvette, if all i was gonna do was race cars on the track, then i'd definitely pick up a z06. can't beat the car bang for the buck wise, although the new ones aren't as much of a bargain as they used to be at $70k+. if i wanted some prestige/wow factor, definitely a european sports car - aston martin, porsche, mercedies amg models, bmw M models, that audi R8, and ferrari/lamborgini for that extra bling bling. the R8 will definitely fit the bill of those cars, especially since there are very few on the road corvettes are cool, but if you're looking to impress, it's the wrong car. it may be fast, and it may perform well on the track, but as far as wow and prestige are concerned, it's still a chevy and there's way too many of them... Ford GT or Dodge Viper (even though it's aging now in comparison to the most recent corvettes) are better bets.

a lot better than many recent ones i've seen. there was a lot more that was believable about this bond. also, seeing as how he just got promoted to 007 status, it was nice to see his inexperience -- ass beatings and what not. not as many gadgets and gizmos and no Q... other than that though, it was a very refreshing change to the bond flavor. it's like eating filet minon for 5 months straight, and all of a sudden they serve some fresh atlantic salmon or something. the comical tidbits were nice too. some of the bond movies were too serious.

thanks, but totally uncalled for. i doubt you even read through my whole post, or if you did, you misinterpreted it. i'm being an ass? lol. ok fine... i ask for a little advice and you just throw it in my face... ok fine. sorry for asking. you're obviously not an approachable online resource, which is all I have as far as resources go. my apologies, i'll just get what you call wrong information from everyone else here at BOL (except for 5 people - according to you). btw, thanks for crushing this rookie and making him feel like $hit. i'm still gonna be hardbootin though, albeit incorrectly...

heh, for me, it doesn't really matter what i think of your personality, obviously. i can definitely see that you know your stuff, and i'm not questioning that all, i just felt that your messages could be more effective with more diplomacy. however, after seeing stuff, the "bad cop" approach definitely has a different marketting aspect to it that is effective in it's own right. just looking at this thread alone, and the number of posts and views that it has receive is evidence of that. my whole point is, as a complete newbie, and outsider to the sport (just currently trying stuff out), you pretty much make some people feel like $hit. and whatever, i'll still take whatever advice you have and do my best to work with it. i wouldn't know any better. hell if someone here gave me "wrong" advice, i'd probably try to work with that as well since i wouldn't know any better. my whole point is that making people (noobs like myself included) feel like $hit isn't the best marketting strategy. granted, you're still around, and hardbooter.com probably sells a lot of gear (other wise you wouldn't be around), but could sales be increased (who knows, i sure as hell wouldn't, but i can speculate). and yes, i have logged more hours on the boards than i have on plate bindings. and i have logged more hours reading as much online info and articles as possible than i have on plate bindings. and no, i definitely haven't fine tuned my riding to the point where i'll feel a major difference making changes. but do you think trash talking me because of my noobness helps your sport?? if you do that to every noob that comes along, then come 20-30 years from now, all you'll have are a bunch of old farts on plate bindings. but me, i don't care if you trash talk me and belittle me, but some people do care. you probably didn't even read my whole post because you don't respect me enough since i'm a noob (that's probably a bunch more people here), which is all fine and well. i can't do anything about that. you don't have to candy coat your messages and shoot rays of sunshine up my ass and all, but you don't have to be so crabby when you type every message. and yes, i have read many of the topics you post in (i know what the search function is). i'm not questioning anything you say at all. as far as you being an A-hole, to help ONE rider... :lol::lol::lol: you could probably help a ton more riders by NOT being an a-hole, but you'll never know since you are one (online at least - i hope i one day get the chance to meet you for what you really are, and maybe you can show me some great things - no sarcasm at all there). but this (me) dumbass doesn't care. i'll give my best to trying out whatever advice you or anyone else here has to give. i was just trying to give you a view of what a new person coming into the sport and seeing you first hand through the net might see, but you obviously don't care. it seems that nobody ever cares what the noobs see or think of the sport, and that's probably part of the reason why it hasn't progress as much as it can. it's new people that make the sport grow and really spread the word. if i spread the word to a bunch of soft booters as a convert, it has more weight than any preaching you can tell them. they see you as a hardbooter, and your words don't hold the weight to that kind of crowd. if you don't care and don't give a $hit, well then you've missed a key opportunity for pushing the sport forward and spreading it to more people. if you wanna keep the sport all niche and catered to only racers, elitists, etc. etc. then you're definitely doing a good job of it online (as far as message boards are concerned). most noobs would be scared away from the sport after you post... as far as people with real skills and knowledge being chased off of the boards, it's not from people like me. people like me are ready to absorb and really try what advice you have to give. we don't know any better. the people fighting you are old school people that are set in their ways and don't want to change. people like me have come to alpine boarding so that we CAN change. and no, you don't deal with people like me on a daily basis, since you don't know anything about me (eh, maybe you do, i don't know what you deal with on a daily basis...). you jump all over people for making assumptions about you, and yet you do it yourself. the only thing you're doing right now as far as noobs are concerned is chasing them away with your elitist attitude. i'm not saying that you don't have the credentials and what not to do that, but it doesn't help. anyway, you're probably going to belittle me in one way or another and make me feel like $hit because you're so good at it (maybe even better at it than snowboarding). in the process though, can you throw out some advice for a 2 day plate rider (got some time in between now and the last post) noobie? (definitely no sarcasm there). i'm here to learn.

i definitely know what i'm doing next time i'm up on the slopes. gonna try both knees together and apart. Bordy: sometimes it's not what you're saying but how you're saying it that's more effective. (kennedy looked way better on the camera than nixon did... was what kennedy was saying more logical/valid, probably not, but he won anyway) my point being this. i'm completely new to plates (bought a bunch of brand new gear, atv, donek fc1, and some td2s -- so i'm helping the sport :D:biggthump -- doesn't mean i can do anything near what JJFluff is doing), and i'm thinking you're trying to help promote the sport to people like me. there's a lot that goes into promoting things, and sometimes PR is just as important if not more important when promoting. i don't question what you're saying, or anyone else is saying on this board as far as technique is concerned, because i'm in no position to do that. if jack says, you're good, then you're good. i read the tech articles here and the carvers almanac and take it in as gold since i have no other resorces. the problem is, that you really come across as an a-hole in your posts (i've seen 2-3 threads here reach critical mass when you've posted -- and i definitely don't think you mean any malice by it when all is said and done). it might not be a problem in person since there's voice tone, body language, etc. etc. -- so it doesn't come across as poorly as it does online. you say that you don't care how you're perceived online, but maybe you should care (a little bit)... technology is something, and i don't know if you noticed it, but alpine boarding is only alive because of the ONLINE grassroots movement it has made. without online hardbooting would be dead. no hardbooting gear is sold in any stores. talking to your local sport challet/REI/big 5/ sporting good store isn't going to get you information on hardbooting. everything is online as far as the hardbooting market is concerned. hell, i only learned about hardbooting because i happend to come across BOL by accident after i broke my last freeride board. all my alpine gear purchase has been through the online market. you talk about promoting the sport (and i don't doubt that in any way, shape, or form), but a lot of the sport is promoted/discovered through the internet now. i think you could help better promote the sport with a more tactful online image, if people don't take the time to see more than what you first come across and dismiss alpine boarding because of it, then you've done just as much harm if not more than JJ as far as promoting the sport. btw, to go with your skinning a cat analogy. you could skin the cat with a knife or a spoon. bordy skins it with a chainsaw -- faster, more efficient, more effective... but way messier i can tell you one thing, though, i'll definitely be trying some knees apart with half a degree of outward cant. done ranting. and, no technical comments here except that i'm gonna give a bunch of this a try next time out.

i thought i rmembered seeing this... gonna bump it up. http://www.donek.com/01_products/blade.htm

http://www.donek.com/01_products/blade.htm kind of looks like a Swoard as far as shape is concerned. granted, i've only seen online pictures. the board is pretty wide too. the 180 has a waist of 23.5cm. that's as wide as my atv. doubt anyone has tried it yet seeing as how it's brand new (with the exception of some lucky testers maybe). hey, does anyone remember a thread on this where someone was designing a board and having Donek build it. i remember it specifically having "G-Force" on the bottom of the prototype pictures. i might just be out of my mind, but if i find the thread i'll bump it up.

a little more on the update. i'm riding angles of 50-45, which is pretty mild compared to a lot of what i've seen (60+) here. it works out on the ATV though since it's a wide board at 23.5cm. i have zero overhang. i went with jack's recommended setup of 3 degrees of toe and heel lift and zero cant. nothing hurts and i don't feel any pain going through basic motions, so i'm just gonna stick with that. i figure i'm so new at hardbooting that it doesn't matter what setup i use. it'll feel weird and funny no matter what. it's not like i'm going to know whats "right" to begin with. if it's not causing me pain and/or restricting my movements, then it's right for now as far as i'm concerned. once i get used to the feel of this setup and how things are working, then i'll start messing around with all the cant and lift settings. it'll be easier to tell if the adjustments i made are better or worse for me once i get a good feeling for my current setup. that's just my opinion on it as a noob trying plates for the first time. as for the board i'm using, i think the ATV is great for hardboot learning, it's very forgiving. i was still able to skid when i needed to, which was really helpful with moving around the crowds and all the jibber stuff that was setup. granted, i haven't tried any other alpine boards, but looking at the donek FCI 171 that i have sitting in my room, i can only imagine how different things would be especially with the 18cm waist and way stiffer flex (hand flexing comparison vs. my atv). i probably won't see any action on that till around jan/feb i'm thinking. the whole coming out of the bindings, very scary. i was going pretty fast in a heelside carve and reaching with my rear hand toward my front foot and getting a pretty deep and low carve when i popped out of it. i just ended up landing on my ass and sliding for a bit. the leash kept it from doing any crazy rotations like that one guy. i'm going to check out my bails and see if there's still some room to tighten them without over tightening. as far as training drills and exercises are concerned, i say try them all out. i rode something similar to "the norm" on my softy setup for carving, but it definitely feels different on HBs. probably the two moves that gave me the best an earliest noticable results were the ones where i flex my knees to try to reach for my boot cuff with my forward hand while on a toeside carve and reach for my board/front foot with my rear hand while on my heelside. also, arching my back upward away from the snow on toeside really got me lower and deeper. at no point did i try reaching for the snow itself. i know that i'm not at that skill level yet where i should be trying ECs and stuff. i'm probably one of the younger ones here at 23, but it shows that there's a little bit of a move toward hardbooting as people get tired of freestyling. i also just wanted to try something new. oh, and i found a negative for hardbooting today after yesterday. i have a little bit of shin bang, but nothing major. one of my shins is a little bit sensitive to touch. i've had shin bang before with my softies, but not after 3-4 hours of riding. it's more like 4 full days of riding.

First off, i just gotta say thanks to the BOL community. wouldn't have known where to start as far as getting an alpine setup without this place. Anyway, first day impressions: awesome :biggthump. Went through the tech articles and they provide mostly everything I needed to know for a great first day on plates, from basic technique and drill exercises (which i know i need to work on) to binding setup and info. I made sure to grease the heads on all my TD2 screws, and nothing came loose. i checked periodically, and everything was great. I did come out of my bindings once, toe bail popped open (that was scary -- good thing it was my front foot with the leash). i moved the heel bail one notch tighter and that fixed everything. i used an ATV 161, TD2s, and Sazukas today. compared to my softboot carving on the same board, it was no comparison. i could carve harder and deeper constantly engaging the downhill edge. there was a lot of falling trying out new stuff today, but i got a nice feel for things. loading the front of the board at initiation really helped out for me, and arching my back upward away from the snow on toe edge actually got me closer to the snow (awesome and weird feeling at the same time). the legs took quite a beating too. i'm not used to the amount of g's you can generate, although it feels great -- better than any jibbing that i've tried before. there was a decent amount of falling when i didn't properly load my edges (expecting g-forces and getting none = me angling and leaning into a carve that isn't there = me on my face/ass). experimenting was cut short to around 3 hours or so. only one lift and one run open with boxes and rails set up here an there. carving back up the slope was kind of scary too with the number of people, so i only did that a few times. trying to really get the feel for the HBs with the crowds is tough. that, and i overheard some teenie jibber in the lift line saying to his friend that i cut him off. :rolleyes::rolleyes: i read the carver's almanac, and that run was mine (albiet for a short length) -- it's his responsibility being up slope (i scouted both above and below). whatever, no point in trying to reason it out with him. i'd just come out dumber trying to do so. either way it was a great first day for the season since i finally got to try the HBs. this is one converted believer in hardboots. it's really something you have to try out before you can believe it (although i was pretty convinced beforehand with all the videos i'd seen of HBers). now, i need to wait for more runs to open with less crowds. alright, i just had to share that. i'm done ranting.

definitely doable on a Prior ATV. that thing has a 23.5 waist. size 12.5 boots might be a problem though. I actually did it on my atv and i have size 12 boots. i ran anywhere from 45 to 25 on my angles. i finally settled on 36-39 front and around 27-30 rear. i still had overhang, but there wasn't too much i could do about it. felt uncomfortable going higher than that. i think some catek freerides with a little bit of lift would have been helpful, and probably narrowing my stance a bit. anyway, you can still carve some really mean ruts with an ATV on a softy setup, but you won't be able to compare to plates. rode my first day today on plates, and even with my inexperience and lack of skill, i was able to carve harder, lower, and deeper lines compared to my softies on the same board. also, try searching through some of the past threads with the search function (use the advanced search), lots of info on softboot carving here. i've seen a number of good threads on it.

i'm no expert at this... oh wait, yeah i'm a noob too :biggthump http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/canting.cfm http://www.alpinecarving.com/binding_setup.html#cant i think that should give you a general idea. both of those articles have been useful for me as far as the technical jargon is concerned. the rest will have to wait till there's some snow on the slopes.

sounds like a crazy day. but hell, you got to go boarding, which is awesome. still waiting here, although things are starting to look good weather wise. locals might start blowing snow. btw, are those cateks FR1s or FR2s??

sounds realistic to me. i had the same surgery before, at the end of october. however, mine also had a few bone chips floating around in my knee. i had some physical therapy and i was on the slopes by january. i could have gone earlier but snow coverage wasn't that great (it's SoCal), and i was being extra cautious and really working my legs out. wanna strengthen those quads and hamstrings as much as possible. anyway, good luck with the surgery, as long as it's not a torn ACL or LCL i think you should be fine.

ever watch the movie Hostel?? well, don't go where they went... locations along the mediteranean are nice. they have great weather. Nice, france was great from what i remember (i saw my first pair of breasts there when i was 11, after that, i saw countless more in amsterdam 2 weeks later -- too bad i was only 11 at the time).

but it never gets old. at least not for me, but i'm lame like that. they started doing the same thing with vin diesel. it didn't quite have the same effect . not that there's anything wrong with vin diesel. he just isn't chuck norris (aka: born as: Carlos Norris).

a lot more cell tower coverage now than there was 2-3 years ago. they have giant cell towers that look like trees now. anyway, I find that people are always on my frequencies, even if i use the sub-channels and such. lately, my cell phone has been seeing more use on the slopes than my radios. that, and my radio almost broke my ribs last time when i fell on it... if you do get radios, get some with longer ranges. the 3-mile ones don't cut it. the 12 mile ones are overkill, but i find that they work better. get a pair that has it's own charging station too, like a cell phone (not ones that use AA or AAA bats). motorola or cobra seem like their decent brands.

bjvircks i'm thinking a bunch of duct tape on your top sheet, with some thumb tacks face up would be nice. just don't fall on your own board. although that seems difficult to do with both feet clipped in. and sorry for thread jacking again, but this thread is jacked... so, what did you mean by him being indian? you obviously thought it important enough to point out... Haven't ridden with him?? because he never went up to the slopes again, or because you chose not to? sure sound like a great friend to me.

nah, i'm not part of any group or organization. i just don't think race should matter. bjvircks i think you should get some indian's blood and pour that on his skis instead. then he'll lose all of his skills and probably go gaper style into a tree or something, or maybe he'll just fall off of the chair lift... one pint of blood is more portable, you can just kill the next indian dude you see on the slopes, oh wait... you probably won't see one :lol::lol: . oh well, just pass by the red cross, because blood type doesn't really matter, they label those bags by race, so only indian people get indian's blood.... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

bjvircks i'd be really pissed too, especially since you're part of some group that's experienced. the least the guy could have done is apologized. i'm telling you, one of those dr-wood chippers. look at what they turn tree branches into. just think of how much fun some skis going through there would be. on a side note: it seems like being plowed from behind is a REALLY big issue here.

For the OP: i think a nice wood chipper/shredder would serve you better. it'd make for some nice starting material for the fireplace. O/T: i like how you HAD to mention that he was Indian :lol::lol::lol: not that there's anything wrong with that. you're just supporting some other random ranting of mine that i was spouting out on some other thread... as for him going fast and slamming into you... it was his FIRST day. that's exactly how first timers are, and i find that those people are the ones that learn the fastest. it's the ones that go super slow and are too scared to build up any speed that never learn since they just try to man-handle their equipment the whole day. one of the few things i figured out when i was first boarding was that it was easier to move my board around (even for skidding) when i had some speed built up. i bet he didn't even know how to stop/slow down. i mean, dude, he's indian... think of the kind of trouble you'd have been in if he was somalian or brazilian. consider yourself lucky he was indian... :rolleyes::rolleyes: oh well, i'm pretty sure i'd be pissed if he wrecked my brand new board well, in any case, give the guy a break. it was his first day. that, and he's Indian :lol::lol: you know, because that's a good excuse, i think

so far, Helmet only. although, after last year's injury, i'm gonna get one of those turtle shell spine protectors at the very least. wrist guards... hmmm, i've only fractured my wrist once. i figure, given enough speed, the energy is transfered where the wrist guards end, which is your mid-forearm. this is likely to lead to a radial/ulnar fracture/break. i'd rather have that injury in my lower wrist. granted, it's much harder to fracture/break your radius and/or ulna, but if you do, that just sounds worse. i'm not actually sure if it is. but at the very least, a helmet is a must, mainly because of all the other psychos on the slope (in my case it's just stupid me hurting myself).

http://www.stoked.at/snowboard_freecarving_clips.html download Beyond the limits it's the second movie from the top, under pureboarding.com at the 2:00 mark, he does a FULL 360, not a 270 and tail spin. he's on edge the whole time, and carrying SICK amounts of speed. the movie is pretty cool too. i wish i could carve moguls like that... :eek:

well, based on the responses, it looks like i should be more concerned with what's up slope than what's in front of me down slope. i have a feeling that the lack of speed will make it difficult to carve or that an increase in speed will end up making me that jack ass that plows you over from behind. ah well. as for driving, it's only fun on a closed designated auto cross track or an actual race track. driving sucks. we need an ice age, then i can use the freeway system for something much more useful and fun. i'll need some warning though so i can order a split board before that happens, and so i can buy a bunch of matches, beef jerky, and something else completely stupid an useless. looks like i'll have to focus on early morning (which i already do anyway) and some night boarding (which i've only done 3-4 days of ever).

the wall comes when he SWITCHES lanes. i can't see what in front of him. even if i am 4 seconds behind, if traffic in front of him is at a DEAD stop and he still keeps going 60mph, i have no idea that traffic is at a dead stop because he's so fricken huge that he blocks my vision. then, when he cuts over to the lane on his right at the very last second, that leaves me with this wall in front of me that's at a dead stop, not COMING to a stop or BRAKING hard, but NOT MOVING at all because it hasn't been moving for a while... 4 seconds (and the rule isn't 4 seconds here anymore either. more like 2 or 3) isn't gonna save you front that... so, you don't smash the SUV that was in front of you, but rather, the car in front of him... either way, i've yet to actually smash the person in front, i've just seen it happen on the freeway 2x. i dunno, it's stupid LA driving. also, there's still the guy that cuts you off then slams on his brakes immediately. try driving in LA where they try to stage accidents all the time.

aye, you gotta love the f*cktard that cuts you off then immediately slams on his breaks. either that or the f*cktard that's going 60mph in his huge SUV blocking any sort of vision of the road in front of him. and then he cuts off the people in the lane to your right because the traffic right in front of him stopped... thus leaving you with this nice wall that came out of nowhere :angryfire