SunSurfer

Snow starting to fall on the mountains here in New Zealand. Season starts in late June, and my main blast on the slopes will be in August. And Aspen beckons for Feb 2012. Meanwhile, over the summer last years design has been tweaked and developed in a number of directions. I've built a range of plates, to enable me to have a plate on each of my four boards, and developed better bearing surfaces in the axle units. __________________________________ This plate is mounted on a Coiler glass All Mountain 177. UPM pattern inserts added, centred on the original 4x4 binding insert pattern. Set on the outermost inserts i.e. 66cm interaxle distance. 8mm full width solid stainless steel axles. Sliding axle is the front one. This plate was made from 7-ply exterior ply, with an X-shaped rib pattern underneath. A small amount of camber has also been built into the plate. The aim was to still allow some flex but increase torsional stiffness. Reinforced with West epoxy and fibreglass. The final plate outline is yet to be determined. Narrowing the waist should produce more flexibility if I so desire. Stance is fixed to my preference (50cm binding centre to centre, 65 degree front, 60 degree rear, centred over the original binding inserts in the snowboard below), with customised binding inserts allowing direct mounting of heel/toe units to the plate. The heel/toe units are both further apart than on the original base plates, but also offset from the midline to place the boot centre over the midline. With my size feet that was previously impossible with the SnowPro and F2 bindings in conventional 4x4 binding mounts. Removing the binding base units reduced weight and height. SunSurfer

No skin off my nose if you choose to sell them for a profit. SunSurfer :)

Glad to see they arrived. SunSurfer

http://vimeo.com/4207784 Previously posted on Bomber, but if you haven't seen Danny MacAskill in action ... Different type of extraordinary skill and strength on a bicycle. SunSurfer

Sold to a TradeMe buyer in NZ. SunSurfer

For some reason my previous post didn't increment the post counter. Try again! SunSurfer

Best person to answer those questions is a doctor with you, and your spine X-rays, in front of them. In general terms fractures heal fastest when we're young, and slower as we get older. Most fractures take 6-8 weeks to heal as new bone forms in the place where the break occurred. Spine fractures fall into 2 groups, those that leave you with a mechanically stable spine, and those that are unstable. If the fracture, and associated ligament injury, was recognised as unstable you would have been rapidly referred to a spine surgeon for operative stabilisation. From your description your fracture is almost certainly painful but should be stable. Keep active as the fracture heals. Walking is a good exercise as it keeps you in normal posture and uses your abdominal and back muscles. Swimming would also be good. Use pain relief to help you keep active. Bottom line, talk to your own doc. (Dr) SunSurfer

Just working through some of the possibilities for a circular insert pattern that would allow using only toe & heel units without the joining alloy plate and still allow a range of angles to be used. F2 bindings run their toe/heel unit mounting bolts at the corners of a rectangle approx. 17.5 x 4cm. Rotating a rectangle of that size about its' centre, allowing for M6 bolts/machine screws and standard inserts (20mm diameter across the base) allows 13 degree increments. If one was to use a large metal insert in the substance of the board, drilled and threaded for M6 bolts, then rotation increments in the range 8-10 degrees would be possible depending upon the metal chosen. The threads of adjacent holes will touch at rotation increments of 4 degrees. SunSurfer

Of course, some people who don't own a snowboard companies build their own plates in their garages at home!!

Works for a custom build isocline plate for a rider who knows exactly what they want for binding angles. For this reason unlikely to become a commercial proposition because of the need to make equipment that can be used by a wide variety of people willing to part with money! SunSurfer

Hi Michelle, http://www.asahq.org/For-Members/Education-and-Events/Calendar-of-Events/2012/February/Aspen-Anesthesia-2012.aspx There's an anesthesiology conference at one of the hotels in Snowmass Village, Aspen, from Sat 4th Feb 2012 to Sat 11th Feb 2012 which I'm planning to get to. Do you know if this is the same week as SES 2012? SunSurfer </o></o></o>

Have bought two lots of inserts from Worden. Both arrived promptly, one lot sent to UK where I was on holiday, one lot to New Zealand where I live. Know about the tesma site but have not dealt with them. Have seen some comments from others in the USA that their local shops have these inserts. Fin has a post where he drilled a Sigi Grabner race board to install these things. It's a much less stressful thing to drill an old board than it is to drill a top-end, very expensive, race board. Don't know if Fin, Bruce Varsarva, or Sean Martin have considered getting in stocks to retro fit old boards for the UPM pattern. It would be useful service, but obviously would reduce the market for new boards!! Would want to be on very good terms and absolutely trust my local board shop before I would entrust the job to anyone else than myself. The P-Tex on the inserts is 2mm thick so plenty of leeway when you get a base grind to finish the job off. I got a 16mm countersunk bit from my local hardware store. The inserts are designed to go with a 110 degree countersink bit, I was only able to source a 90 degree bit locally and filled the gap with the epoxy I used to bond them into place. 110 degree bits are available from some hardware outlets, you don't have to buy the special Maeslinger-Snoli one. Procedure: Marked out where I wanted the inserts, very carefully!! Drilled a 3mm guide hole from the top surface of the board. Use a drill press if you have access to one to get the holes perpendicular to the base. Drilled a 16mm hole just through the P-Tex base on the board. Countersank the hole in the base using the countersink bit. Then drilled the top surface holes with 9mm bit. The 9mm refers to the outside diameter of the top part of the insert. They take standard M6 x 1mm thread binding screws, absolutely normal snowboard binding thread. Check everything fits nicely. Adjust hole depth if necessary, better to drill too shallow initially than drill too deep. Bond them in place with epoxy. Coat all the metal surfaces with a thin layer. Slot them into place. Once set get a base grind for a beautiful finish. There are a range of ways you could use to ensure they are all vertically aligned properly. When I put my next lot of UPM inserts in, I will use the holes drilled in UHMWPE base for the mechanicals of my plate to tighten up screws in the inserts, to pull them well into place, and ensure they are aligned with the base unit. SunSurfer

You should always eat a good range of vegetables, and it's good to eat a range of different coloured vegetables. What is chocolate made of? Well...... Sugar, comes from sugar cane, clearly a vegetable. Cocoa, comes from the cocoa bean, clearly a vegetable. Milk/cream, comes from grass via a cow, and therefore clearly a vegetable. Now how many other dark brown vegetables do you know of? Clearly, as part of a balanced diet, dark brown vegetables should be eaten regularly along with the green, red, orange, purple and other wonderful colours that vegetables come in. However, eating your own weight of anything in a single day, vegetable or no, is clearly going to stretch the waist band on whatever you're wearing. Eating your own weight in chocolate, say over the course of a year, is obviously moderate consumption and can be recommended!! (tongue firmly in cheek) SunSurfer :))

First time I heard General Lee is of the female persuasion! You sure you're not driving Miss Daisy? ;) SunSurfer

http://www.worden.fr/boutique/index.php/Worden/118-ENTRETIENREPARATION/60-Vissage/730-1604SM9.html I've bought inserts from this site in France, and used them to create a UPM pattern for a plate on an older glass board. There are classy and effective alternatives to just using T-nuts! There are photos of FIS World Cup racers racing with these in their boards in the days before UPM/Hangl pattern boards being available. SunSurfer

Hadn't seen this thread when I separately posted a thread linking to Phil's videos on Vimeo. Thanks King Crimson for alerting me. Have deleted that thread, so that there is no confusion that "philw" on Bomber is the Phil Wigglesworth of these great videos. SunSurfer

Carving skis leave trenches when they are carved. But few skiers carve them, they just skid short turns in a narrow line down the fall line. In early January I had 5 days skiing with an old friend and his son at La Plagne in France. I've not been on skis for quite a few years so the first couple of days I was just reminding my legs what to do. Day 3 and all this time carving on a snowboard kicked in and I found a feel for my edges in a way I'd never done on skis before. I started carving, just as I would on my alpine snowboard, down the piste at speed. My friend complained that a) I was using up all the piste and b) that I was going too fast to easily get past!! Most skiers just don't get it!! SunSurfer

I happily run Intec only at the rear, since I only get in and out of the front only a couple of times a day. I don't notice the problem that tex describes, doesn't bother me a bit. SunSurfer

Aaaaaaaaah!!!! Great photos. I am sooooo jealous of you guys!! Have a ball. I have plans to actually get to SES 2012, cos' there's an anesthesiology conference in Aspen from 4-11 Feb 2012, based at Snowmass!! SunSurfer

Soles, liners and liner repair detail.

Raichle SB223 boots 29.0-29.5 shell 2 position angle adjuster BTS, Intec/Fintec heel, and Thermoflex liner compatible. Top/rear of each plastic cuff has been drilled x 1 hole to attach Booster straps, now removed. Liners have been modified to remove a fold from the tongue that appeared when the boots were tightened, which pressed down on my midfoot. Flat seam, hand sewn repair (see photo). Owned from new by 1 careful owner, due to initially infrequent snow time have had less than 30 days use. Few scuffs (see photos), but otherwise in great condition. All buckles work, no loose rivets. For my feet, this shell shape has persistent heel lift, and lateral pressure on the base of the widest part of my foot. These boots have been replaced by Head Stratos Pros and are cluttering up my garage. Willing to post Worldwide. New Zealand Post’s Parcel Rate Finder site will allow you to work out the approx. postage cost in $NZ for various types of postage to a range of places. Enter parcel dimensions (H) 450 (L) 450 (D) 150 (millimetres, and don’t enter the units) and most importantly approx 6kg weight (again don’t enter the units) http://tools.nzpost.co.nz/tools/rate-finder/sending-internationally/parcels/InternationalParcelsIEC.aspx Payment accepted via PayPal Price excluding postage NZ$150. Approx. conversion to your local currency by any of the converters on the Web. Contact via Bomber or aj dot mckenzie at clear dot net dot nz SunSurfer

Riding the plated Riot with some colleagues at a conference who were fairly dismissive of snowboarders. I take off and carve down a steepish slope ahead of them. When they catch up, a little short of breath .... "With your arms out like that, you just looked like you were flying!!!" SunSurfer

You've run into some of the limitations of trying to mount a plate on a conventionally set up 4x4 binding insert pattern. It was for these kinds of reasons I went for a UPM pattern when I built my own plate. I used a stiff Riot snowboard as the snowboard under the plate. It had only 50cm between the outermost binding inserts. My normal stance is 50cm. I bought aftermarket pre-P-Tex'd binding inserts and setup my board with a UPM pattern at the maximum separation. The whole story is in 3 separate threads from May to Sept 2010. This allowed me to have - a) my plate axles approx. 61cm apart & equidistant from the board effective edge centre. b) my binding stance distance at 50cm. c) my binding centres approx. 5cm inboard of each plate axle, thereby ensuring no need to sit back as you describe. d) my binding centres to be equidistant from the effective edge centre. While the 4x4 plates mechanicals allow you to put a plate on a 4x4 pattern board this may well cause significant compromises in the plate performance just as you have found. SunSurfer

And vowing he would ne'er consent, consented! So Jack, you're finally a believer and join the growing throng. The benefits of a plate are not model specific, just concept specific. I was reporting exactly the same qualities in August 2010 from my home made "isocline" plate. People riding the Shred/Lowrider plate, and the Donek plate, report the same experience you've had on the Boiler. SunSurfer

Getting into the theoretical/hypothetical here, unless Lowrider has already done some trials of longer than 63cm outer insert distance. It struck me a while ago that the isocline plates allow us to optimise the points at which the rider's mass/momentum is applied to the board edge. (I think my previous attempts at explaining this idea were in the Plate Systems thread.) The optimum for edge hold should be where the downforce is most evenly spread along the effective edge. In a conventional setup (no plate) the rider's mass is applied to the board at points based on the rider's stance distance. These are relatively near the centre of the board, and due to the effect of torsion/twist along the length of the board, the farther you are away from the bindings towards tip and tail the less edge force is applied. A plate both makes the board more torsionally stiff or twist resistant, but enables you to make the points at which the mass is applied to the edge further from the centre. What's optimal? I don't know, but I suspect it's farther apart than the 61.5cm that is the max. avaiulable on the UPM pattern. Maybe half the effective edge distance, maybe even more given that the board between the plate mounting points is thicker and better supported than the tip & tail. There will likely be a different optimal distance depending upon board length and stiffness pattern, maybe even rider style. At World Cup / Olympic level it may be enough to make a difference. SunSurfer