~tb

Every year, I try out the bombers (TD I's and TD II's) in hopes that I could get used to them . . . but, I have yet to be able to get comfortable on the 0, 3 or 6 degree cant. I like the concept of the E-ring suspension system, however the lack of a comfortable riding position keep me on the cateks. Some people comment about the fact that people on cateks spend to much time fiddeling with screws that you dont have to mess with on the bombers. yeah, this is true, but most of the time, I am making this adjustments simply because I can, and I know I will get more performance out of my bindings for the given conditions, or changes in my physique across the season (as muscles build and I get in better shape each season, my cant and lift angles can be adjusted appropriately). Most of the time, these comments come from people who are on bombers whom I believe are jealous because they know they could be just a hair more comfortable ;-) I fell in love with the cateks when I was out riding one day, and the inside of my back knee was bothering me. . . I thought about the pressure I was feeling on my knee, and realized all I had to do is make a very small adjustment and I should be pain free. I made the adjustment, and just like that, no pain. My power and feel on the board greatly improved, and I could ride all day long without any pain, in a position that I never would have found on a set of bombers. As for swapping between boards. . . I think we have just found a new contest for the SES. Cateks, VS bombers. Swap a whole set of bindings one board to another. I would put my money on the cateks being faster to change over than the bombers (being swapped over by equally proficient users). Personally, for my day to day riding (and I know this probably goes against the catek set-up instructions). Once my cant screws are set, I never touch them. I just tighten down on the king pin in the middle. That means when I go to swap boards, I undo the large king pin (1) and then remove the 4 screws that interface with the board (4). Thats 5 screws per binding to remove compared with bombers 7. Regardless. . . equally proficient users of the bindings should be able to swap from board to board in the same amount of time. So all it really comes down to is whether or not your the kind of person that wants to tweak screws to get the completely optimal set-up for you. Or it you would prefer a binding that has just a hair less adjustablilty, but less screws to keep track of and keep tight. Either way . . . both bindings kick A$$ and huge props all the way around to all that have been involved with their development. Truly a labor of love that can be seen! -Todd

Quick question to someone that might know better than I . . . which means, most of you, but maybe sean could shed some light. Plain weave glass or carbon has fibers running at 0 and 90 degrees. the fibers running at 0 degrees down the length of the board would stiffen the board tip to tail, but do nothing for torsional stiffness. . . The fibres going across the board are just wasted weight and money right or wrong? Triaxel glass or carbon has fibers running at 0, 45 and 135 degrees. the fibers running the length of the board stiffen the length wise flex, and the fibers at 45 and 135 stiffen the board torsionaly as well as adding somewhat to the length wise flex of the board. . . There are no fibers running straight across the board as they are relatively useless. Now there is quadraxel glass and carbon available, and being used ins snowboards. This would give you fiber orientations of 0, 45, 90 and 135. Doesnt this glass just end up adding dead wieght to a board compared to the Triaxel glass? The fibers that were added are running across the board in a direction that most likely the boards are pleanty stiff as is. Please someone share your thoughts. Oh, and my ideal custom . . . Sean made me the 195 that was absolutely sick about 4 years ago now. It has since met its maker, and I would love to get a new one. . . but with $2000 to blow, I would also ask him to take a stab at an independant flex plate to work with that board that would stiffen the board between the feet, and just infront of the bindings when I wanted to use it. Many manufacturers have been reluctant to go this route as it has been shown that the plate would basically cost as much as a second board . . . but with $2000, thats ok. -Todd -Todd

So, im only posting this because I have seen it first hand and think its one of the coolest things in the world. http://makeashorterlink.com/?B21652539 Go give it a read. Basically, it is a side project that Bose has been working on for over 20 years now to develop a complete car suspension system that far exceeds the capabilities of anything on the market. Definately check out the videos on the bottom right of the page, and read some independant articles like these found with google. At first I wasnt going to post it, as currently it has nothing to do with snowboarding, but then a few of you said I should post it anyway. enjoy! -Todd

supposedly this made national news, but happend right near our house on the 4th of july. Check out these pictures: www.ourwalden.net/car we took these pretty much right after it happened. -Todd

thought that some of you might get a kick out of my pain. Especially those of you who were in the condo with me at ECES. The following happened to me after making scratch margarita mix from about 4 dozen limes for a memorial day party. if you have a weak stomach, or are about to eat, dont open the following. www.ourwalden.net/limes these are pictures of my hands taken over the past three days since the party. Needless to say, it has rendered me 100% useless and a gimp. Read the link at the top of the page for a description of the allergy. This is the most violent reaction my local ER has ever seen to lime peels. Thought you could all use a laugh at my expense. Hope everyone is having agood summer! -Todd

I have a Donek 205 I know of several Donek 210 I believe CMC had a Donek 228?!?!?! I have heard of some other customs up in the 230's If you need some solid proof of existance, all the donek specs for these boards can be found at: http://www.donek.com/specs.htm dont have any pictures handy . . . other than possibly this one: http://www.bomberonline.com/images/photo_eces02_boards.jpg taken by Jack at ECES 2002. Lets see if I can get this right, From left to right, it is Donek 186 GS, Donek Custom 210, Donek Custom 175, Donek custom 175, Donek 185 GS, Donek 195 SGS, Sims Burner 197, Donek Custom 205. This was the year before the 228 was made. Keep in mind the SHORTEST board in this picture is a 175. 175 is already a little on the long side for the "average riding public," so to get what you are looking for, one would have to add in something like a 155 or 153. Hope this helps a little. And if you really need it, I can take a picture tonight of a 153 Donek SL, next to my 205. -Todd

I was riding my 195 having a blast. . . somehow, the board hooked up into a really tight turn, and I got thrown forward on the board. (I ride regular) on a heel side carve, my left arm went UNDER the nose of the board, carved the entire length under the edge, and shot out the back. Still cant understand the mechanics of it all, but in the aftermath it looked like I tried to commit suicide with a butter knife!

Phil, read it again.. . . they said "provides more lateral softness." Guess its just difference in oppinion about what you like. I would rather control the stiffness of my boot rather than the interface between my boot and binding. I find it to be more controlable and rebeatable. But those guys most certianly do rip. I dont think anyone can take that away from them! ~tb

I never thought I would switch over to step ins, but, having done so, I would NEVER go back. They are more responsive than the standard bail bindings available. That, and above all convienent. just to be able to step in without having to bend over. And then as stated above, if you get stuck in a flat, just pop out, skate across the flat, and step back in. I have even found that when I stop along the side of the trail to wait for people, I will pop out and stand in a much more comfortable position while waiting. All in all, step ins are the way to go. As for the two major complaints of cables breaking and comming out. Both problems can be fixed simultaneously. 1) Lube your cables and heels annualy. 2) make sure there is no snow under your heel before you step in 3) when releasing, make sure you are not putting excessive force on the pins. Have your wieght neutral on your foot and the amount of force needed to release the binding will be MUCH much less. ~tb

John, Might be a wee bit early to call you . . . who knows, you might actually be drugged up enough to sleep, but if someone hasnt picked up your mail yet and brought it into you, let me know. I can always use a run into the city. e-mail: brownt@alum.rpi.edu phone: 508-766-6870 -Todd Brown

Jody . . . the wife and I are looking for the same thing. Shes not a boarder, but will be comming as well. Drop me a line at brownt@alum.rpi.edu I guess we could have 6. . . but that bob jenny guy . . . I dont know about him. . . freak on a leash!

Forest. I have ridden both the step-ins and standards in both the TD1's and the Catek Olympic Series. The one piece of advice that I would personally give is that if you are going to use one in back, you should use one in the front as well. Believe it or not, the step in interface is STIFFER than the standard interface. I dont know if I am the only one, but from a riding standpoint, I would actually preffer the STIFFER binding infront. sense this negates the advantage, I would reccomend using step ins, front and back whenever possible. You may save a little money, but you also loose a chunk of performance. just my 2 cents!

I just started teaching my wife how to ride hard plates (no soft boot experience at all, pulling her straight from skis to hard plates). This means i am spending alot of time "teaching" free "lessons" while at the WA. If you ever want to meet up, let me know. The more the marrier. Right now, I am teaching vanessa, as well as one of her friends (on softboots), and can easily take on a third or fourth. -Todd

Is it safe to assume that the center disk on the TD2 is made out of metal? I tried to find a description on the site, but failed to do so, but then again, I didnt spend TOO much time reading.

I have had my dakine Dually for 4 sesaons now and have made it out to denver carrying the following all in the dually: 2 pair of cateks in the binding pouch (seperate): Donek 205 18.5 Donek 205 17.5 Simms Burner 197 (sorry sean . . . its gone now!) Donek 195 Donek 185 Donek 175 Donek Incline 163 and maybe even a volant 173 (dont remember) a sleeping bag (wrapped the 185, 178, and 163 in the bag first) my jacket and pants. I had the 205's made as they are the limit in the dually. I was considering a 210, but at the time, could not find a good way to get a 210 out west, and unlike some of my friends, I travel with my boards. So, my board length is limited by my want to be able to travel easily. I highly reccomend this bag, but the airport overage fees are rediculous. Its actually cheaper to ship your boards via Fed-ex then to pay the overage! Ship them to the hotel, let them know that they are comming, and they should be waiting in your room. but on a more important note . .. to avoid overage fees between boston and denver, Fly United, use the credit card kiosk check-in, throw your bag on the belt, and most likely it wont get wieghed. Just make your bag look light (nice and tight, nothing hanging out, as small in size as possible . . .though it may be as dense as lead).

ha ha ha, Im you local shop! What ya need? Buy from Bomberonline, or Catek. Boards from one of the many small MFGs. Want to try anything out . . . Bob has bombers, I have cateks, and a couple different boards. Im a recent college grad. . . RPI. Were not all old farts! Except maybe Bob!

Stratton season pass for college students is something crazy cheap like $349 Look into it. ~tb

Im all for you joining us at the WA, but if you are in college, and looking to carve with some REALLY good riders, Get the Stratton Okemo college pass. I could be wrong, but I think it is completely unrestricted now and worth EVERY penny. If you can afford it, get the Wa pass and the Startton pass. Will do wonders for your riding! -Todd Brown

Shred. . . drop me a line at brownt@alum.rpi.edu.

Thanks for the help guys. . . Dont want to paint a bad picture of don as he is generally a nice guy, just want to get my bindings back!

10$ CDN = $1 US . . . so, shipping is about $8 US, so . . . im loosing $7 US . . . or in short, I am paying you about $70 CDN to take away my cateks. . . My dad always told me I dont have a head for business. :)

Those would be the ones! And I stand by my word from before, If I get them back, you have first claim to them at whatever price we had agreed to before (I dont know if I still have that around or not)!

Ok, So im normally VERY generous about lending out gear to even almost perfect strangers. . . have only had this bite me in the butt once. Leaving the ECES last year, I met don scott getting his boots on asking if Jeff From catek was still around so he could demo a pair of bindings. I said nope, but seeing as I had my bag loaded up with three pairs at that given moment, I could lighten the load a wee bit and let him borrow a pair and either send them back to me or meet up with me to return them. The question is, where the heck is Don Scott now, I want my bindings back and he wont return my e-mails! Anyone ride with him or know his whereabouts? He is single handedly making me rethink my lending of equipment policy (which for those of you who dont know, use to be I would lend any of my equipment out to anyone to try . . . except one of my 2-205's) Please help! Don . . . e-mail me and send me my bindings!

My ex-girlfriend was a pretty serious skier but had problems with both of her shoulders dislocating due to a pretty serious spill she took at a big race. She sould wear two of them, one on each shoulder. They are made to allow both to be worn at once. The range of motion is fairly full. It restricts some in extreme positions (or atleast it did a couple years back, this looks like a newer model). It works by performing restraint in the same way that a healthy shoulder tendons and ligaments should, however it does so with a non elastic material and one that wont break. For my ex. . . im not sure if she ever actually ended up testing its limits, I dont think she ever took a serious fall with it on but it definately gave her, and her doctor pretty good piece of mind. ~tb

Most definately into F1 boston if anyone wants to pick a time before the snow flies!!!!