RCrobar

What is your snowboarding background or heritage? Did you ski, surf, skateboard or none of these before you started to snowboard? If you participated in one, two or all of these activities, pick the one that had the biggest influence on you snowboarding. Just curious, thanks Rob

Hi D Yes and No. This season with Mig's Diamond Blade, NO I did not try the combination you asked about. Last season with Bruce's Nirvana Balance, YES I did try the combination you asked about. To be a 1000% sure, I think more test should happend with all boards, etc. For a highly biased opinion and a gut feeling, the sensation that I believed I felt was that there wasn't much difference. If you always have nice snow, not ice, and don't have boot out and are good with the board's flex ... I'd take the plates off. Back to original thread topic on bindings. Any guesses as to why the Titaniflex bindings DON'T soak up vibrations as well as the Geckos? Seems it would be cool if the binding and Gecko plate could become one! Any thougths, anyone? Cheers Rob

Hi Chouinard For the past couple of seasons I have been experimenting with the Apex Stealth Soft Boot plates with hard boots and F2 bindings; my hope is that the feedback below might help with your testing. My subjective and highly baised opionion is that the Stealths configered in a symetrical arrangement with F2 bindings, centered on the Stealth plate had the following affect: - Stealth Plate, Red Bumpers, F2 Titaniflex = no change in the boards' flex, the footprint of the F2 binding directly on the board and the Apex Stealth plates are basically the same size. - Stealth Plate, Orange Bumpers, F2 Titaniflex = the board is able to flex and bend more easily, the foot print feels much smaller. - Red and Orange bumpers both give a much smoother ride that is very similar. Perhaps this might stop you from cutting off a finger:) Cheers Rob

Hi Mig I really have been having a LOT of fun on the Diamond Blade, it is a cool design that is fun, easy to ride, forgiving in a variety of conditions and performs all at the same time! Next step will be to twist your arm to build a WIDE version of one of your boards for the big footed Sasquatch soft boot carvers! Cheers Rob

Hello Chouinard Good question, I have been thinking about writing a quick review about the Apex Stealth Plates, that I think were designed for softboots being used with hard boots and wider carving boards. There is definitely is a difference between the red and orange bumpers and how they affect the way the ride feels, but this affect seems to be less dramatic with the Stealth plates as they have a foot print about the same as the bindings. My plan for future testing is to test the F2 Race Titanium on the front foot and an F2 Carve RS on the rear foot. The 'Freecarve' stance angles I have be having fun with lately use the FRONT boot side of the boot to leverage the edge of the board while the BACK boot uses more of a heel and toe to leverage the edge of the board. The F2 Carve RS on the FRONT foot was not able to generate, particularly on a heel side turn, as much force on the side of the boot as the F2 Race Titanium. Hope this helps Rob

Hello For the past couple season I have been riding the Fullbag Diamond blade as one of my boards in a regular rotation. After riding in a variety of conditions and with a few different binding set ups I feel that I can provide a bit of feedback for those that might be interested in this board. I have ridden this board only with hard boots as my feet are too big for the 26.5cm waist width and soft boots. Mig thought that this board would be ok with plates, but not a lot of guys that he knew locally had tried hardboots on this board. Set Up #1 Fullbag Diamond Blade and F2 Carve RS Standard Bails and hard boots. The conditions with this set up was several days after a powder day, really soft groom, harbor chop powder. On these days there was a lot of slashing and slarving in the chewed up crud and a bit of railing carves on the really soft grooming. This board and binding set up is very forgiving, fun and easy to turn. Set Up #2 Fullbag Diamond Blade, F2 Carve RS Standard Bails and Apex Stealth plates 1.5cm high with the softest ORANGE bumpers. The conditions with this set up was icy and hard, days after +10C and melting followed by -18C. The board railed very well in the hard conditions. I am all of 220 pounds and I 'thought' that I was overpowering the boards flex even though it carved well, I felt like I had to throttle back how hard I could push the turns and had to be careful to not push too hard. I wanted to make sure that this guess was correct, so I went to test Set Up #3. The board made really nice turns and had solid grip in the hard conditions. Set Up #3 Fullbag Diamond Blade, F2 RACE Titanium's and Apex Stealth plates 1.5cm high with the hardest RED bumper. Again the conditions were very very hard, groomed nice and flat, but very hard; hard to kick your hardboot and make a dent into the snow. The improvement in performance was dramatic! The board railed and popped from turn to turn like a glass board should, the harder I pushed the more it railed and shot me into the next turn. The tight 8.8m SCR made it like a super fun go cart that had me grinning ear to ear! The problem with set up #2 was not the board, I was overpowering the F2 Carve RS bindings. The board was able to take all that I was able to dish out in a hard turn and more! Flex When I was considering this board I asked Mig if the standard flex could hold my weight, he sent me a 30 video of him riding on some hard ice. Mig is a big dude that just said ... ''I'd be fine":) Man was he right, the harder I pushed into a full 'C' shaped turn the more it grabbed and held on. For an off of the shelf softboot board it carves really, really well. I'll be leaving the F2 Race bindings and the Apex Stealth Plates on this board as I had too much fun to change it any further. Bottom Line The fun I had making tight fully shaped 'C' turns all over the hill reminded me of the fun I had years ago with the Burton M6, Burton Rat Trap Plates and Raichle Snowboarder Mountaineering boots. If you have big feet, like flatter stance angles or want a turny go cart ... I'd recommend the Fullbag Diamond Blade as a steal of a deal fun board. Cheers Rob

Hello I have taken the soft boot binding advice from a few Bomber members and felt that I could add a bit more information to this thread, hopefully this might help others who are also searching for a softboot binding. Ride El Hefe, Flow NX GT, and Catek Freerides are my frame of reference with regards to softboot bindings. IMHO the Ride, Flows and Catek's all offer similar quality and carving performance. Below are a few things you might want to consider when searching for your next softboot bindings with carving and NOT booting out as a key focus. Centering your Boots on your Board -The Ride El Hefe uses an adjustable aluminum baseplate to move your boot towards the heel and toe edge of the board. -The Flow NXGT primarily uses off center holes in the aluminum center disk to move your boot towards the heel and toe edge of the board -The Ride El Hefe uses the 4x2 hole pattern center disk to mount the binding to the board. -The Flow NXGT uses a 4x4 hole pattern in the center disk to mount the binding to the board. -The Flows larger sized center 4x4 disk makes it possible to rotate the center disk so that the mounting slots can also be used to further adjust the boot so that it is centered perfectly between the heel and toe edge. -Rides smaller 4x2 disk are not able to be rotated to help center boot onto the boards' heel and toe side edges. All in all I think it is easier to center your boots with a large or XL Flows when compared to the El Hefes. Large vs XL Bindings Your boot and binding size play a pretty big role in making it possible to center your boots on your board. Unfortunately for me I have pretty big feel, size 11 Mondo Point 29. Size 11 is often the upper limit for a large and the starting point for an XL binding. With my XL Ride El Hefe's, which I really liked, I was not able to center my boot onto the board. The Heel edge of the Rides, with the metal baseplate slide to the smallest setting, hung over to the heel edge side by quite a bit. The smaller 4x2 disks meant that it was impossible to move the boots to a true center position. A non centered boot that was sticking out on the heel side edge combined with the standard heel hoop resulted in my booting out ALL the time, even with Gecko risers in place. I should have bought the smaller large El Hefe's. I also own a pair of large Flow NX GT, earlier in this thread some of my difficulties are explained with the large Flows, K2 boots and Fred Flintstone feet that are on what some would call large volume. The Large Flows are just a bit boot small for my boots ... but they do work. I probably should have bought the bigger XL Flows. 27cm and 28cm Wide Boards When shopping for a stock board, not a custom build, boards that are 27cm wider are easy to find. If you try to find a 28cm wide board, the search becomes quite difficult. Wider than 28, forget about it!! When you have Mondo Point 29 boots, carve your board at high edge angles (75 to 80 degrees), every cm counts. Because the Flows are 2 or 3 cm shorter than the Rides (no heel hoop), I decided to sell my El Hefes and buy a pair of XL Flow NXGT's. Doing so made it possible to ride my 28cm wide Dupraz with no risers, carve hard and NOT boot out!! With a 27cm wide board and a riser, so far boot out has not been an issue. Basically it was easier to shave 2 or 3 cm off of the bindings overall length then it was to find a board that was 2 or 3 cm wider. Flow NXGT (Size XL) Test Drive Time - Round 2 a year later My main issue with my large NXGT Flows, that I talked about a year ago, was the difficulty I had getting them on and off ... not as easy as advertised. With the XL Flow bindings there is a LOT more room to slide your boot into the bindings (as suggested by SVR). The 'technique' of loosening the top strap off of the binding strap, then dropping the high back down second when getting out .... followed by putting the high back up first, then tightening up the straps second when getting in made a huge difference (as suggested by Slopestar) with the ease of exit/entry into the Flows. I also rode the lower part/strap of the flow straps a bit looser, I am able to slide my pinky finger under the lower part of the strap. This helped my feet, that are prone to freezing, stay very comfortable and not 'pinched off'. Doing this also made it that much easier to get in and out of the Flows. I was able to, using Slopestars method, to get in and out of the XL Flows, get my back foot strapped in and ready to ride, in about the same amount of time it took my buddy to get his ski pole straps over his gloves. Yesterday I had an EPIC day of first chair, first tracks, 120cm of new powder ... all with the XL Flows and the 193 Dupraz. I loved the FLOW bindings and am glad I gave them a second chance. Cheers Rob

Would anyone like to trade my Large F2 Intec Heel and Toe plate assembly (below) .... for your large F2 Standard Toe Lever Heel and Toe plate assembly?

Bindings are sold, Thank you to Drschwartz

Hi Guys Wow, that was fast! Thank you for the interest. Drschwartz was fastest and first on the trigger ... so I have PMed the Dr and the sale is pending the two of us exchanging the mailing details, etc.

For Sale Catek OS 1 Short Plate Standard Toe Lever Bindings Fits Boots from US size 10 or less Good Condition, well used with the usual dimples, scuffs and scratches as seen in photo PayPal, gift: $80 Canadian Dollars plus shipping (Approximately $25 Canadian - Canada to USA) Will be shipped USPS, with a tracking number, $100 insurance and approximately 5 day delivery.

Bindings are sold and sent, thank you NWboarder.

Thanks pow4ever. I'll keep you updated on the deal as well

Sizing Help Please! I have a sizing question that I do not know the answer to and I do not want to lead a Bomber member in the wrong direction. Will a Deluxe 700 shell, Mondo Point size 26 with a shell that indicates 289mm, fit the F2 Intec large binding? My guess is yes this is the smallest possible size that will fit as a mondo point 26 and 26.5 have the same shell, only the boot liner actually changes. The F2 web site indicates that a 26.5 is the minimum, but I have not actually done this! Can anyone help with this question? Thank you in advance

Sale Pending Sizing Help Please! I have a sizing question that I do not know the answer to and I do not want to lead a Bomber member in the wrong direction. Will a Deluxe 700 shell, Mondo Point size 26 with a shell that indicates 289mm, fit the F2 Intec large binding? My guess is yes this is the smallest possible size that will fit as a mondo point 26 and 26.5 have the same shell, only the boot liner actually changes. The F2 web site indicates that a 26.5 is the minimum, but I have not actually done this! Can anyone help with this question? Thank you in advance

Still available.

For Sale F2 Intec Titanium Large - Step In Bindings Fits Mondo point Boots from size 26.5 - 31 Like New, Mint Condition, as seen in photo PayPal, gift, $180 Canadian Dollars plus shipping Will be shipped USPS, with a tracking number.

Hi Ryan Trying to rotate your upper body, with your preferred freestyle/duck set up, has it's complications as others have already mentioned. I also agree that you are killing it, so I completely understand why you will not change your stance. I am not sure that laying a turn completely over heelside, with a duck stance, no rotation and the body position that accompanies a duck stance, is actually possible; again as others have mentioned! But then again, maybe it is:) My money is still on you! Next, I would suggest trying to make your heelside turn more like your toeside turn; try to make them more of a mirror image of each other. When you do your standard and EC toeside turns, your body remains perpendicular to the board throughout the turn. When ECing toeside, you may be squatting very low, but you are not reaching, you simply get very low and turn very aggressively. Your standard and EC toeside turns are very similar, your toeside EC turn feels effortless as a result. When doing your standard heelside turn, not ECing, you bend at the waist. This is not a mistake and am not implying that it is, it is a technical choice. Your heel side turn is very strong, the cool thing is that you are able to do it so smoothly both regular and goofy! The problem, however, is that your natural instinct is to keep your upper body away from the snow when turning heelside. Maybe it is better to say that you prefer to keep your upper body perpendicular to the snow when turning heelside, but your EC goal is to get your entire body parallel horizontal to the snow and remain carving. Your natural instincts and goals are in opposition. I would suggest doing a lot of heelside turns where you don't try to EC at all. Try doing a lot of turns where you bend at the knees very low, then extend ... but do not bend at the waist, teach yourself to keep your upperbody perpendicular to the board throughout the turn. This is what I meant when I suggested making your heel and toe side turns more of a mirror of each other as this is how you already turn toeside. I have attached a few pictures to illustrate this idea. Couple Duck Stance EC Ideas: Performing a heelside in a duck stance position, as you lean over more and more and do not bend at the waist, will have your back facing and getting closer to the snow. That said, your videos show that you can get a 'small' amount of rotation and carve nicely. I believe that you could find a balance between a small amount of rotation that does not pull your rear edge out of the snow; you do not need to rotate to the full '+' position. This makes me wonder if it is possible to use your lead shoulder/shoulder blade as the only point that touches the snow, this will be a blind leap of faith for sure! I imagine both arms tight to your body. To get back up, quickly pressuring your lead foot to get the board to sharply turn under you, as you simultaneously push off with your lead upper arm, might pop you back up ... that and a bunch of sit ups at home:) A really steep run, some soft snow and BX body armor ideally would make the learning process possible and less painful. Maybe these brainwaves might spark another idea? Seeing you pull off duck stance, fully laid out and linked EC turns is a Youtube video I'd love to watch! Don't forget the ShoeGoo, Silkaflex and Duct Tape!!! Cheers Rob

Hi Ryan First of all I think that the way you ride and your attitude toward all things snowboarding is refreshing and a real asset to the hardbooting community! Second, I can't EC in softboots and I don't think I have ever seen anyone EC with a +15 and -15 stance, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. If anyone can figure out how to do this, and has the ability to do so, my money is on you! The first place you might want to experiment with is a very deep knee bend at the beginning of your heelside turn. Check out your toe side EC, you are almost squatting at the beginning of the turn. Next look how your legs are straight at the beginning, middle and end of you EC heelside turns that you are having trouble with. The only time your legs are really bent at the beginning of a heelside turn is when you grab your edge with your hand, forcing you to bend your legs. I am sure you have seen this video of Funcarve doing EC turns in softies, but just in case here it is again. Best of luck with your EC efforts. Cheers Rob

I enjoyed this video, thought others might as well.

I'll take them. I am off to work right now, but will PM you later today. Thanks Rob

Hi I don't think that the previous Carver Skateboard video that I posted did a good job of explaining how I use these skates during the winter when things warm up and start to melt in January! Carver wheel base lengths are very similar to SCR's on a snowboard. Using a shorter (15 1/2" WB) wheel base makes it possible to continuously ride in a VERY small area without EVER having to push. I don't look for a hill or have to wait for a long pumping path to be clean and dry, 2 minutes with a leaf blower in my driveway, add an iPod and 45 minutes of continuous riding goes by really fast and is great for the legs. Just another cool board for the quiver:) Cheers Rob

Carver skateboards have made my summers and winters a lot of fun!

Hello This past weekend I decided to give my softboot set up an honest carving day. For me softboot carving is something you do simply to get back to the lift when searching out more powder. On this particular day I rode the softboot set up in conditions that I would generally ride hardboots and an all mountain board. I set up the Apex Gecko Stealth plate with the 1.5cm high arrangement and the softest orange bumpers. My goal with the plates is to smooth out the ride and reduce boot out as much as possible, I want a balance between a comfortable ride and performance ... I'm getting older and just want to have fun! The Swoard Dual 175 is a board I have had for several years, but the Ride Ele Hefe bindings and Apex Stealth Plates are new to me; the K2T1 boots are only a couple seasons old. I can honestly say that I probably had as much fun as I have ever had when carving in softies ... the combo is a VERY nice set up! The ride was smooth and damp that I felt more and more powerful and comfortable as the day went on. The mobility of the softboots and the power and smoothness of the binding/plate combo was very enjoyable to ride. The only thing that still makes me nervous when softboot carving is a hard toe side turn in bumpy conditions, I am always a bit worried that my front ankle/Achilles heel is going to hit an impact and go way past the normal range of ankle movement ... this is where I still miss the power/safety of my hard boots. I really didn't notice the extra height or weight of the Gecko Stealth plates, so much so that I decided to measure the height of my softboot vs my hardboot set up. I rigged up a simple system to measure the distance from the p-tex base of the board to the inside the boot heel height of the front boot. The softboot set up has already been listed. For the hardboot set up I used my Coiler Nirvana, that has F2 bindings that are flat on the board, no lift or cants, and Northwave boots. The measurements were as follows: Softboot Set Up: 7.5cm from base of the board to the front foot inside the boot heel height. Hardboot Set Up: 10.5cm from base of the board to the front foot inside the boot heel height. Even with the Gecko riser, the softboot set up was a full 3cm lower than what most would call a lower hardboot configuration. Just an interesting observation. If boot out is an issue and you are searching for a smoother ride, I would consider the Apex Stealth Plate. Cheers Rob

Can anyone comment on the new Pogo Venado 167? I am particularly interested in the 6.5m SCR and how it handles bigger turns. This is from Pogo's web site: