BadBrad

Well, I can't really complain. I play the guitar, mandolin, and old-time clawhammer banjo. If my wife can put up with banjo playing, then I can certainly put up with her fiddle. I'm actually quite supportive because I'd like her to be a better player so that she and I can play together more, but even with my encouragement she doesn't practice much. Sorry for the thread drift. Anyway, what is the diameter of the TD3 binding hole? A standard guitar soundhole is 3-7/8" to 4".

A flute can't be as bad as my wife learning to play the fiddle. One of our dogs would get a pained look and leave the room. The other dog would just lie there and growl.

Another thread here has drifted into a discussion of stiff versus flexy bindings, which got me thinking about lateral boot flex, and rather than further drifting that other topic I thought I'd start a new one here about boot and binding flex. I've been riding in Burton Wind boots since around 1999, with Burton race plates. Before that I rode Burton Reactor boots. I've done a lot of riding in them in walk mode, and I rode for years with the boot cant mechanism loosed up so that the cant was free-floating, and nothing has broken. A year or two ago I found the old boot instructions which said to never leave the cant mechanism loose, so I adjusted the boot cant to a comfortable position and locked it in (no cant front boot and a little inward cant rear boot). The old Burton liners finally packed out and tongue was digging into my foot, so I bought a set of ZipFit Grand Prix liners last year. They are very comfortable and warm, but stiffened up the boot significantly. I find that I buckle my boots pretty loosely to reduce the stiffness, but my foot has some slop inside the boot, which I know is not ideal. I tighted the boots a notch to reduce the slop and did not feel comfortable. I felt like the ride was jarring and could not edge as well and it reduced my confidence at higher speeds and steeper terrain. I also recently got some TD2 step-ins, so my binding interface is stiffer, but I felt the same way on the Burton plates. The Burton and the TD2 bindings both work fine for me, but I prefer the cant/lift options that I get with the TD2's, which allow me to dial in a more balanced, comfortable position. So, I'm just looking for suggestions on how to tweak my setup from here. Some things I am thinking of: 1. Get some Intuition Freeride liners, which will hopefully give the boot a softer overall flex. http://www.intuitionliners.com/products2.htm 2. Make the boot canting free-floating again. Is this a dangerous thing to do? Will it make my boot fail? 3. Add suspension to the TD2 bindings. I actually have a new TD3 second board kit (yellow e-rings) and will install it before the next time I ride. 4. Crank my boots down tight and ride like that for a couple of days to try to get used to it.

I wonder if a guitar soundhole plug would fit. These are usually 4" in diameter. http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--PTWPWSH01

At SES last year I was struggling with the transition from toeside to heelside. Sean suggested that I pressure the front foot to initiate the transition. This made no sense to me because pressuring the front foot would put more pressure on the toeside edge rather than shifting pressure to the heelside edge. But I tried it and found that it actually helped. The motion is pushing forward and down with your front knee then rolling toward the heelside edge. This might help to prevent leaning your butt out by initiating the turn with your feet and knees. Then look toward the inside of the turn and reach your back elbow toward your front knee.

It says that the purpose of the center opening is to reduce drag by reducing the amount of surface in contact with the snow. I'm not sure I buy this. Also, it seems like the opening would serve as a scoop in softer snow and scoop up snow, causing more drag. It also says that the arms of the spiders direct more force to the edges of the board, allowing quicker tighter turning. But looking at how they mount to the board edge in multiple places I have a hard time picturing how this is better. It also seems like that complicated spider assembly would get packed with snow and make the board really heavy.

Thanks, tex. I'll look for some lightweight twin tips. Any recommendation on length?

I have an 18-month old boy, and I am planning to put him on skis next season, and I'm looking for suggestions for skis for myself so that I can ski with him. I think it would be a lot easier for me to help him on and off lifts and help him on the slopes on skis rather than on a snowboard. Last year I rented some skis for a day, and it was my first day on skis in about 20 years. I thought that I'd be like a beginner again, but I found it very easy, and I was cruising blue runs immediately. The new skis are so easy to turn compared to what I rode 20 years ago. Anyway, I thought I'd keep my eye out for some used skis and boots or perhaps a good sale on a previous year's model. I'm thinking that some fairly short skis might work best since I'll probably be doing a lot of skating and slow speed stuff and might not be using poles. Is there a particular model and size of ski and/or boot that you would recommend so I can keep my eye out for them? I am 5'7" and about 150-160 lbs. Again, my main purpose for them is to assist my little boy while he learns to ski, but I have a number of friends who ski so I might also ski with them from time to time. I guess I'm looking for a general all-purpose all-mountain ski for slow to moderate speed use. They'll probably never see powder so powder performance is not a priority.

Maybe I'm not skilled enough with the step-ins yet, having only used them about 4 days, but they dont' seem much faster or more convenient to me. Clipping in is a bit easier and faster, but not much. I still need to stop to step into them. The only advantage is that I don't have to bend down, but that's not a big deal. Unclipping actually seems easier with standard bindings. Just bend down and flip up the toe lever. With the step-ins I need to push my boot down to get them to smoothly release, and there really isn't any difference between bending down to grab the intec handle or bending down to undo the toe lever.

I remember years ago when I was a 140 lb. beginning carver, I got a Rossi Throttle and felt the same way. I think I was riding some little 156 or 157 Alp at the time. When I first rode the Throttle I found that I was locked into carves headed for the trees and unable to release the edge. It was super stiff compared to what I was used to, and it kicked my butt.

Intuition has some new liners with a traditional tongue design. Has anyone here tried them? http://www.intuitionliners.com/products2.htm I have some ZipFit liners (Grand Prix model) in my Burton Wind boots and they make the boot too stiff for me. I'm thinking that the new Intuition Freeride liner might be a good choice for me. Someone on this forum felt that a traditional tongue liner was better for Burton boots than the wrap-around style.

I struggle with the same problem, but have made some small improvements lately. On the toeside turns it is easy to bend the knees more in order to get the board higher up on edge, but on heelsides it's harder to get that high edge angle. You need to work more on heelside angulation. The drill for reaching the back hand to the front boot cuff helped, but reaching the back elbow to the front knee worked even better for me. Someone on this forum suggested that and I tried it the other day, and it really worked for me. Also, look toward the inside of the heelside turn. By doing this, my heelsides have improved a lot, to the point that now my toeside turns now seem to be my weakness. As far as setup, it's hard to tell without looking at yours. Your stance angles seem very steep, but a Silberpfiel is pretty narrow and if you have big feet you might need those angles. On my Madd 158, which is even narrower than your Silb, my angles are 63/60 with a 26.5 boot. Do you have then set up so that your heel & toe are right at the edges of the board? See the tech articles on binding setup for a starting point. You also didn't mention your stance width. For years I rode a narrow (16-17") stance with either flat bindings or a rear lift/cant. This season I tried a wider (19.3") stance with 3* front toe lift and 3* rear heel lift and I like it. A lot of people use 3* front and 6* rear, and I want to try that, but the 3/3 feels very balanced and planted to me.

On my 4WD and with 26.5 boots I am at 54/51.

I have a pair of 0 degree cant disks that I'd like to trade for a pair of 3 degree disks.

I know nothing about them, but they have some cool graphics.

Will the Fin Tec cable set fit the Intecs?

I always liked a soft flexing setup and used Burton plates since the early 90's. I recently bought a used set of TD2 step-ins to try out, and I was afraid that I wouldn't like the extra stiffness, but they feel great to me. I don't notice them being stiffer (I have the yellow e-rings), and the increased cant/lift options make it a lot easier to get a comfortable stance setup.

I recently put some used Intecs on my Burton Winds, and I'm pretty sure I just reused the old Burton screws because the screws I got with the Intecs were pretty badly corroded. And, the original poster sounded like he needed shorter screws.

2009 Prior WCR metal 173 Standard specs: Waist 19.5 SCR 11m I got a discount for choosing the old maple leaf graphic during the Canada Day special in July. :)

So how is that thing in the snow? Seems like it would be the abominable snow car, especially if it has summer performance tires on it.

So the Fin Tecs require different length screws than the Intecs? What size screws are required? I think the Burton screw plates are a nice feature and I'd like to keep them.

I use size 26.5 Burton Wind boots, and I'm interested in getting some Thermo-Flex liners for them. The stock 26.5 Burton liners were a bit small and the 26.5 ZipFits fit perfectly. Since Thermo-Flex are not offered in half sizes, should I get size 26 or 27?

It looks like a shelf. But I bet it rides great.

My sister lives in Kalispell. Just send me a plane ticket and I'll be there!

Thanks, Neil, whole body exercises are exactly what I want to try. I think they will give a better workout in a shorter time and will provide strength gains that are more useful in real life. I'm just having a hard time figuring out a program that will fit into my schedule, and I'm a little intimidated by the free weight room at the gym.