Ear dragger

got it. cant wait to start carving again

yo ace, what angles do you run on this thing?

yes i have both, in fact i think i have 3 or 4 sets

I'll trade my one of my regular bail/block setups for the step in style. My stuff is very good. let me know

sweet. there's nothing like having a board made based on what you want!! I have been thinking the donek route may be the way to travel. how many dollars?

it's not really for carving. of course edge hold is a good thing. stability is nice for the occasional straight line. i appreciate all the responses. I'm checking out all the boards people suggested

I need a new free ride board for the afternoons, trees,etc. Something To throw my plates on that has some versatility. The go to board for me was a ride timeless 164. So, I am looking for something of that caliber. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

I don't think you are gonna find boots anywhere near. http://www.upzboots.com/. I don't know what kind of flex you are looking for, so deeluxe might be up you're alley. I don't recommend head boots. of course, used is an option, but of all the things to spend money on, the boots are the most important.

my foot size is 11. also, upz boots come with pretty poor liners. best to replace them.

you could go to a smaller shell and then get new liners, or just get new liners. They packed my boot with a bigger liner and it has worked out beautiful. no more painful heel lift. and for 2+ seasons on them. if you've got the dough for a complete new boot setup, by all means. but don't think you have to. the blow in liners are pretty awesome. I've got dalbello liners in mine. they are great too(i ride in rc10's btw).my boot is a 29, and i have 31 liners in them. great boot fitters are so important to those happy feet:1luvu:. my two cents

I'm not into the 4 buckle setup on the new boot, or the rc8. I guess it allows more flex. love the virus! the quality of the build is fantastic. the ride is like no other. the price was not that bad even last year when they were more $$. My thinking is you get what you pay for. any way you cut it, it's about 1000 bucks for any good custom board.

get RC10s. they are a fantastic boot, and don't let anyone tell you other wise. t-nut the heel and keep an eye on all other hardware. put a dab of blue loctite on everything, including toe piece screws.you u can't expect anything to stay together. check you're hardware on everything, on the regular. awesome fitting, and on the stiffer side for flex. buckles are great as well, micro adjustment gets them perfect. You will not be disapointed

agreed that the binding price is high regardless of longevity. and I'm not a fan of a fllexible binding either. but any board you may buy from frank is worth every penny. people may disagree but the truth is custom boards cost alot to build. here in N. america we've got a few more companies that are competing with each other, so thier boards are closer in price. one cannot be blamed for gawking at the price of any virus, but the truth is they are a fantastic ride

what fantastic pictures! The weather was outrageous!! I was very happy to ride with all sorts of carvers. It's amazing how many good alpine people there are in the east. I had such a great time. I hope the weather stays good for a couple more weekends. hope to see you all soon:D

paul said he worked very hard to ride "different", from the rest of us:p

It was an awesome event! I'm really happy to have met and carved with all the new people. So many good riders!! who knew there could be so many trenches dug. I can only imagine all the slider/skidders getting upset over our ruts!! special thanks to the people who put the event on. It could not have been better snow and weather. I hope to ride with everyone again:lol:

If you cant make it to the session, I suggest buying used. maybe buy two different boards coiler, donek. see what you like, then go for a new board. or if you know what you like pull the trigger. Just so you know glass boards are awesome, so don't rule them out. I know metal is the hot thing, but if you like to ride hard, you might want glass. definately 175 and up though. have fun buying a new toy!

I think you're gonna have to lean alot more to initiate the edge with the 2 degrees. try it. :( I think the only way to fix is base grind.

soft people are great. but for a carver, there is no point in having uncomfortable feet, so I stick with the rc10's on the pow board. who wants to carry 2 pair of boots along with all the other stuff. I tried the darkside:angryfire one day this year, that was the end of that. hardboots on all boards:D

from what i remember the virus version of upz's are the rtr model's. Nothing wrong with them though, the grey tongue is quite a bit stiffer than the black tongues . look at the tongue color on the virus boots. you probably should stay away from the grey ones. I currently ride the rc10's which have black tongues. they flex well for a 200 lb. person. of course other people will tell you, you may want a softer boot. I disagree. Probably a good idea to go with a f2 binding or sno pro (or something like that). they are going to give you a softer interface, which will help in begining stages of carving. when it's time, go for the td3's with you're new carving board (what ever it may be). that wcrm wide sounds like a good bet as well. but as far as length, I think go for the 174 over the 78. you will be able to maneuver a little easier. for me, when I'm riding powder or bumps or trees, I ride a freeride board (ride timeless) with sno pro bindings. then go to the real carving board for the rest of the time. I think the 4wd boards are cool but, you may want to consider just slapping plates on you're freestyle. learn how to ride with an alpine stance,then just buy a used carving board (try to find a coiler, donek, prior, just not too much sidecut, no more than 14) to get a feel of what you like. Of course it's nice to demo boards if you can. just a few suggestions, hope my:barf:helps.

thanks for the info all. I bought the intecs, and gonna do the back boot only. alex, if you don't break em, I doubt I will

so should I just bag going to stepins until the parts become available to use the fintecs? I seem to be good at breaking stuff this year and would like to buy this stuff only once. It sounds like the intecs and catek step in parts are just not that strong. I was going to the step in becuase they are supposed to be a stronger interface (boot to binding). I broke the heel off my boot and was hoping the step in would eliminate that problem (and of course, it's easier).

I did not realize you need to buy the fintec/catek kit to fit the fintec to the catek binding. two things, i just bought catek stepins, and the fintec kit is sold out, so I guess that leaves me with one option. what leaves are you all talking about??

I'm about to convert over to step ins on my cateks (os2). should I go with catek intec or the fintecs?

after carving is done or powder is around, the early 2000's ride timeless 164 is my go to. It's an awesome ride. Also have a pj7.1 with the zebra base, goofy! and a nidecker custom gs 168. don't know the year