[Who is going to the carve master challenge.]

If I wanted to go watch a guy beat himself off, there are much better venues where I could do that.

[Pretty much new to hardboots...]

I am in the minority here, but I prefer riding in ski boots to snowboard boots. Ski boots fit better and aren't the wet noodles that snowboard-specific hardboots are.

[what would be a good "slalom" board for me?]

I have a super short and snappy F2 SL that I adore. It's only a 153, it has an 8m sidecut, and it isn't very stiff. It is, however, absolutely fantastic to ride. It's so snappy that it did take a little getting used to before I could ride it safely.

[Madd is Much Better than Burton.]

Anybody who uses a Mac is a moron.

Believe me, I'm using one right now.

[Madd is Much Better than Burton.]

John,

I have seen 12 Madds with my own eyes. 1 is a prototype of the alpine decks, and 1 is a freeride board, so I won't count those.

Of the 10 production Madds, 100% of them are börked in some way. Edges have pulled out, bases have delamed, the cf topsheet has delamed, and inserts have broken free and just started spinning. This is not a very good record.

There was also the issue of the messed up graphics. Accidents do happen, so it's fine by me if a couple of topsheets are börked during production (although, this doesn't seem to happen to Donek, Coiler, Prior, Burton, F2, Volkl.....). The problem came from the cult-like response to people posting here about the shoddy customer service they got, and how they were pissed that they weren't told about the screw-up until they opened the box. "You need to work this out with Madd before you let anyone know something bad happened." If we followed that logic, nobody here would be complaining about Burton Race Plates, right? A call to Burton is all it takes to get those broken bails fixed.

Have I knocked any of the technical aspects of the boards? No. Have I knocked how they ride? No - they ride great, but they are not God's own alpine board. Have I knocked the graphics? No - I actually think it's awesome. The price? Nope - it's essentially in line with the competition.

Now, John, before anybody thinks you're just another satisfied customer who feels the Madds are the most bestest things evAr, why don't you tell us all what your relationship to these boards is.

lol.

[Took a ride in the toboggan today]

That sucks, but if she were pissed at you, there are much worse things she could have done.

http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=2975904

[Does anyone else turn???]

Try making tighter carves on a shorter softer board. Great chance to work on your cross-under technique.

[The "New" Madds]

How about the threads about production flaws? The follow-up threads about the lousy customer service?

[Logo-free goggle straps]

You could try getting some wide elastic should straps from overalls or powder pants. Or, for a ghetto fix, just take a Sharpie and fill in the logo :)

[The "New" Madds]

How do I link to deleted posts? ;)

[how manys beers]

I like how "puking" and "too many" are not the same thing.

[Is this fixable?]

I say you should just cut off that part of the board and then you can be the only person in the world with a Madd 148 :D

[The "New" Madds]

Fin,

Can you do the same thing to all of the posts made by the various people here who have a financial interest in seeing Madd succeed?

It's getting tiresome to see every less than positive post about Madd get deleted.

[Info on this Burton SI Binding?]

KenW's wife used to ride those, but IIRC, she had an ejection last season and won't use them again.

Is the risk really worth the time you save by not having to bend over? Over the course of the season you might save as much as a full minute, unless your season gets cuts short as a result of the bindings.

[The "New" Madds]

The boards ride as well as any other flavor-of-the-month board does. Last season, that board was Donek. This season, it's Madd.

[If you had to pick an alpine board for use as a rail board...]

Originally posted by ar(angel

I'd like to see some footage of you doing the rails on your alpine set-up. I've been curious about venturing into our beginner terrain park here and would like to see some shots of that. I was mostly thinking about hitting the jumps though, nothing big, just something to giggle about,

I don't have any rail footage yet. I do have a clip of some casual carves though, which was posted here: http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5221

Definitely go in to the park. They're a lot of fun and can actually improve your riding. Start off by doing ride-bys and jumping on to the landings, then work up to going over the jumps. Also take a look at the fun boxes and give a low one a shot. You may be surprised how few people are comfortable riding their boards flat, which is usually a sign of too much inclination, among other things.

[If you had to pick an alpine board for use as a rail board...]

Originally posted by alpinegirl

isn't the real goal to be able to ride any gear anywhere???

As long as that gear is hardboot gear, yeah :D (in reality, I just can't afford a freeride setup)

The F2 that I'm trying to save is the 153cm twig that I was on in the little vid I posted. It's a brilliant little thing to carve on, and soft like an early sapling.

I haven't done a whole lot with rails yet. Mostly I've just been messing around on the fun boxes until I find a dedicated rail board. I'll take a look at the Alp based on your rec. Are those things soft like wet noodles?

[If you had to pick an alpine board for use as a rail board...]

The problem is that I really like the way my F2 rides, and I don't want to destroy it on rails. Since I'm toying with the idea of a dedicated rail board, I'm looking for suggestions.

[If you had to pick an alpine board for use as a rail board...]

...which one would you pick?

You can spare me the "you can't do rails with that setup" garbage. My F2 would beg to differ (and, lately, has been begging for relief).

[How do I get rid of ghosting/blurring with DiVx?]

Just wondering what settings I should change/make use of to eliminate the effect seen in this clip (9MB) . I guess I would describe the effect as a cross between ghosting and motion blur, with a little bit of Photoshop's Dust&Scratches thrown in for good measure.

[How Many BOL Members to Change a Lightbulb?]

Originally posted by Randy S.

How many BOL forum members does it take to change a light bulb?

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

1 to move it to the Lighting section

2 to argue then move it to the Electricals section

7 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs

5 to flame the spell checkers

3 to correct spelling/grammar flames

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ... another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct

19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum

11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

7 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs

4 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL's

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, just to add "Me too"

5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

13 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again

Me too.

[what is the concept behind side-cut radii as it relates to racing....]

Doesn't FIS also have minimum sidecut radii for downhill and superG? Maybe for GS, too?

[Warm winter? Want to vent?]

I don't think it has been exceptionally warm up here, but it does seem drier than it has in the recent past. Of course, we got 3ft of snow just a few days ago and are expecting 7" more tonight.

Oh, and the snow was absofreakinlutely incredible today.

[a BAD rider blames..........]

Well, if you are as low as possible, then you're at the limit. Otherwise, you wouldn't be as low as possible.

If you are carving GS turns, you're not trying to get low. If you are trying to get low, you're not carving GS turns.

Now, how do you know when you've reached your limit? When the edge comes out from under you, you've gone too far. If you fall, then there is a problem with your technique. If you don't, then we really can't say if the snow just can't hold you or if you're doing something wrong without seeing you in action.

Yes, there is a limit to what the snow can handle, but without being there it is hard to say if you're hitting it.

If you are getting chatter, that is a problem with technique.

[Quick newbie binding question...]

One thing you may want to do is rotate the center disk 90º. Those holes/slots should go across the board to allow you to fine tune where you stand between the edges.