pow4ever

thoughts on where to? Stratton/Killington,June VT, Loon NH, Sunday River ME, Sugarloaf ME seems like Sugarloaf have the best condition? I will be there at the weekday of Mar 28 - April 1 thinking of hitting some ski resort i have not been to on Ikon this season. maybe i should just bring my running shoes instead snowboard lol

@daveo any recommendation/thoughts on which Zipfit model?

got it. I misunderstood and thought that you got one at the end of last season. It was just a picture of the Allflex Super H plate maybe in a warehouse somewhere.

This is a great thread to show that snowboard/engineering is but a series of compromise. caveat emptor people have been riding steep, not ideal snow, from 1st to last chair before Contra and likely long after something better come along. I am all for If Contra/any shape/technology can make the barrier of entry lower and get more people ridding steep and while enjoy the whole day. Democratized alpine snowboard if you will. However i just want to set expectation that it might be the case for most but not all. i like steep and the non-steep; like to ride for most of the day; i like go into a turn in a modulated control fashion. Took me a long while to not just throw my weight into the next turn (feel violent and sloppy to me(personal preference)). I personally like the idea of one board that does everything but like most i have a quiver/fleet. I have more time to internet carving than actually be on the slope. i am a huge fan of Bruce/Coiler. He is just awesome sauce. ooze cool in a super star bur approachable manner. The bang of the buck ratio for Coiler is through the roof. As much as I like Coiler the brand/philosophy/business practice/passion and etc; some time the palate crave something more exotic. Similar to car: Corvette is a super car; how much it cost is secondary. We hit a diminishing return at certain price point. Not arguing for the price of that 1 kessler = 2 Coiler. Maybe Bruce should jack up the price Hey that's supply/demand/capitalism. This is from a while ago from talking to Bruce. it's not an exact science to dial in the flex. weight isn't the only factor - at 185lb one can range from super fit to not. Looking at normal distribution - if your weight fall into the norm. A stock board will work well. For those that's outside the curve - super strong/heavy, or light weight. They will benefit the most from custom build. There are some added benefit such as centering the inserts based on stance width, setback, personal preferences of the nose shape. The more you know what you want/like. The more our artisanal builder can tailored it. On the other hand; those extra "feature" can become a handicap. it's a struggle (in a good way). if my technique is solid i should be able to do it all. All these exploration/experimentation is what keep me coming back for more. If one day i can carve effortless on all the steep runs; that might be the day i hang it up? As good as all these board builder we have: they don't always get it right the first time. Working with the same board builder on a baseline and tweak from there is the pragmatic way to go. I am a slow learner but i did learned that no board is magic - Contra/Kessler. Time on mountain and riding the trail/condition you want to ride will get you there. I am not discounting tuning, dial in setup, different board those extra polishing is the different between competent rider and those who make it look effortless. I am just a lemming blindly following the trend. sometime it worked out well some time not so good. Those who can appreciated the subtle difference i envy of them. Hope one day i will get there.

i chuckled

bump this older thread. on SL board - k168 is Allflex super H plate match made in heaven?

if you like long form podcast/interview give this a try https://lexfridman.com/podcast/ topics ranges deep and wide. it's a breath of fresh air in the click bait world we live in today. everyone sounded like a crazy person when things taken out of context and present it in a sound bite fashion.

I start notice effect of aging. Can no longer "abuse" my body the way i used to without consequences. sustainable strength training/awareness where the limit is... it suck but sometime we have to take a few steps back before move forward again. before weight lifting/running is more about "max number", PB(personal best). Now that i focus more on Stretching, technique. I am cautiously optimistic that maybe i can have my cake and eat it too. Thanks to Daveo i started on minimalist shoes (xero prio, Altra). It didn't help initially because I still have that "Foolish consistency" - i need to hit certain milage a week. I didn't let those atrophy musle/foot build back up slowly. so i squeezed the ballon; knee problem pop up as back problem. cause/effect: weak knee -> tight hamstring -> pulling on the back/back pain. Now that awareness is finally there; combined with the right foot wear, right running technique (faster turn over and engage more glute instead of hamstring), proper strength training. i am finally feel "healthy" again. I am still far from my "peak conditioning" but seems to be back on track. i also dabble in the knee over toe program. Every bit help but "the whole is greater than the sum the parts". wellness/health Is not one thing but doing lots of things right.

come to think of it. When on edge; Contra works excellent but it's that edge transition that i haven't quite figure out in certain condition. When work well on Contra/WoGo: 1. if one keep constant edge pressure so that it pop you from turn to turn (lots of fun but tiring) 2. air transition (even more fun but lots of work) what doesn't work well for my lazy method carve away almost all the speed to almost point of stalling that edge transition is where the "hesitation" occur. it take extra effort to get that edge to re-engaged for the next turn. Other board i seems to be able to dive into the next turn but not on the Contra. this is the fun part to figure out what work/doesn't work and continue to work on it until it click.

“If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest.” I don't communicated too goodly/me fail English that's unpossible I agree in tuning(a good one) will be like icing on the cake. Make something good even better. My statement is in a very narrow Contra context. I should have mentioned i had my contra/wogo tuned same as all my other boards by the same shop (Happy Tune in Maine) and riding them in pretty decent condition. Hence in my very limited experience it's unlikely the tune but something inherently to the core/shape. Thank you John: Exactly I notice Contra reward good/consistent input/technique in a specific/explicit way. Which is definitely lacking on my part. The other board seems to be less critical and happy with my sloppy input. I think that's part of my "resistance" to it. Like eating right/exercise is good for you but when it's force upon me i don't want it. It's a mind set. i think it will make me a better rider in the long run but in the short term we will have some differences to reconcile. In other words: i am a lazy carver; contra want me to be lazy in a different way that i am not accustom to lol... It make sense for my sloppy/crappy technique but not 100% clear why other more advance rider share some of the same sentiment.

re - tuning could be plausible Another humble 0.0002 cents: i know plenty of Coiler owner just ride the factory tune. shouldn't have that huge of impact; if that's the case seems more a bug than feature.

warning: Verbal/thought diarrhea Me - no where near the skillset of carve machine like Jack/Geoff/John and so on. Though I was getting semi decent 3-4 years ago on Donek Rev (inspired by BIgwave Dave’s build) meaning I was able to link some decent turn on steep with both hand down on both front/back side. I seems to recall what a good turn feel like. Today I am Just your average gear chaser here. I do see people rail on Contra/WoGo so likely it’s deficiency/incompatibility on my technique/style(or lack of it). Been trying for 2 seasons on getting use to Contra/WoGo. Here are my humble $0.002 Coiler/Contra seems to like high angulation (even pressure to the whole edge) to initiate the turn. Donek/race board like nose stomp to get the turn going and result in high angulation. It might not sound much - On Contra/WoGo When I ride compress; apply constant edge pressure; WoGo/Contra reward you: make steep/icy trail “cake”; almost boring. That’s not how I like to ride. Kinda like Nissan GTR it’s a technology marvel/high performance but punish bad habit. I like to ride “tall” and complete unweight at the end of the turn and be all over the place and weight into the turn (and not being precise about the even weight distribution). When Contra shape edge pressure is not even weighted; it does something funky (at least for me). Every turn there is a hesitation but once I am on edge it’s fine. Bottom line for my narrow case: the edge transition seems to be issue are for me. When I am on edge; it worked great. But during the edge transition “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”. I can’t quite place it. But I am enjoying the journey so far. It force me to be more consistent which is a good thing. But for strange reason I don’t like consistency. That wild 2 stroker quirkiness seems to be the “je ne sais quoi” that’s missing for me. Again this is like a board that’s way above my skill level and it’s the rider not the board. There are occasion when I given input to the contra and it gave me the result I wanted but she is doing it with a dirty look than go “yea that’s how I like it”

proud member of https://www.thirdgen.org/ I have a complete assembly of TPI (tuned port injection) off l98 some where. Nothing to add here but another shout-out to Ivan from https://www.i-carve.com/ Crazy fast shipping. I wonder why DHL never really took off in the US. Super knowledgeable and great customer service. Season is not over yet; get your orders in on Wed and you could be on the slope Friday with your new toy.

are you looking for https://www.bomberonline.com/TD3-Cant-Disks-for-Plate-Systems_p_289.html it's not just the cant disk you will also need specific TD3 Center Disk for mounting on plate https://www.bomberonline.com/TD3-Center-Disk--set-of-2_p_52.html and specific mounting screw (shorter screw because the center disk is shorter) i have a set of 6 degrees cant disk somewhere in my piles of parts hoard.

Explore/experiment is part of the sport. Only way for sure is to give it a try. internet/armchair analysis can only go so far. For the price(good deal): i would buy it and test it out. If it doesn't work; should be pretty easy to sell it for near the same price. Think the price difference as demo fee. sometime you can even do better than that.

a better Q: Virus 166 vs k168 not exact fair comparison custom vs off the shelf

awesome feedback! thank you all. Doesn't sounded like it's isolated incident. the stamp steel/aluminum ring are just fine. Was trying to figure out is it a technique issue or i should cut down on number of donuts before hitting the slope

my power is increasing lol.... i have been thinking about the loaf for the past 2 weeks. North East isn't looking good lately. I will be there at the end of March.

thank you for sharing the stoke: I meet/ride with many of the riders(in the video) at Stratton/other place over the year. such fun, good time and fond memories/ Nick/Patrice/Real(mustache)/Gecko(Carloine)/Claude Hope one day i can hang with the Québécois once again it's amazing carving can transcend the language barrier

Instead follow other skier/snowboarder: i would just use our own track as reference and try to make tighter and tighter turn as drill. It's about speed control. We might think we are angulating, bending but there is another gear (or two). Until we can control speed; we are at the mercy of the slope. Try carve/bleed off speed until you stalled. Throw yourself(commit) at toe/heel side and really feel the board whoo-ish(making the sound help) decamber/snap you around. Then the addiction kick in; finding steeper and steeper.............. so i was told Do you feel you have a strong side? toe or heel side? Stronger side to me meant we can speed control better. This is what i believed why people overnight preferred one side over the other. We tend to have one stronger side. Where we can bleed off speed more on side(either toe or heel) while the other side pick up more speed. Work on the weaker side will help us move to steeper stuff. Of we just keep on riding but not pushing ourself then it's understandable we get stuck at the level where we are at. If we want to ride steep/narrow/icy - practice on steep/narrow/icy trail. Purposeful training/practice > keep in our comfort zone.

awesome riding! EC done right is spectacular/aggressive air transition. There are lots of similarity in bomber style. the mustache The feeling that everyone is getting better really lite a fire under my butt

this happen to anyone? no crash; new binding (F2 titanium) on the 7th day. Doesn't seems to impact the binding; seems to be safe to ride? angle is off now that i took it off the board.

yes! sharing carving stoke created an inexplicable bond between people.

I thought religion/politics are discourage lol.... /flame on there are ppl don't carve well on board X. ie me.... 3 cents driver(inflation) but my quivers is pretty extensive/expensive(SG, Oxess, Donek, Coiler). i also see ppl carve extreme well on "older" but modern shape/construction. mere mortal like me hit diminishing return very quickly. like wine, car, computer, cellphone - once you are above the "crap threshold". most of what I am paying for are "stuff that make me feel better". gear does not make one carve. if you are skillful enough to appreciated the subtle differences; then more power to you. Maybe one day i will get there.

It's all part of the repertoire. don't discount EC/laying down. my humble 2 cents: basic style comes to how much angulation vs rotation. Being dynamic(load/unload) and commit are required in both style. EC - more rotation; initiated with rotation and lead to angulation Race/bomer style - more focus on angulation but there are element of rotation involved. have fun; the time will come.