Transistor Rhythm

Just follow the link! :) For me it's either TopSurf or Sölden when I need new boots that I need to try on first. I bought my Heads off BlueTomato since I knew they would fit. Oh and try DutchBootFitter if you have problems, he's helped more hardbooters (including me).

382km to Vinkeveen if you live in Aubange, which is the furthest away I could find from Holland. Just saying ;) You don't have Skype @ Bomber HQ?

Head Stratos 27.5 is plenty of stiff and the liner is not shortened in the boot. Regardless of brand try to get a .5 sized boot in SB HB's as they liners and shell are the same size. If you had a problem with your toes in the liner of the Ingemars, and not the plastic it should work. The liner of the Stratos is fantastic and didn't even need to be heated for me to fit. They are really snug when I put them on, but after a day riding I forget to unbuckle them. The only thing that kind of puzzles me that you say you have narrow feet, because Heads are regarded as the most wide boots, together with UPZ's. So Ingemars should have been giving problems as well. Why no asymmetricals? I think the Deeluxe 700 is a really good boot apart from the horrible fit (for me at least). Topsurf sells them, maybe close to you too: http://www.topsurfvinkeveen.nl/component/option,com_virtuemart/page,shop.browse/category_id,156/Itemid,37/

I'm still dying to try the Dupraz D1. Seems like the ultimate board to me for powder and hard/soft carving.

Most snowboarders don't want to be found dead in hard boots and a slalom snowboard. Yet when they try skiing, they rent hardboots and slalom ski's without a hitch. Then they're surprised about how easy those ski's turn, never realizing they could enjoy the same amount of control on a snowboard.

It's called making the best of a very awkward stance. He's at least trying to go deep, keeping shoulders level and turning shoulders into the turn.

Maybe I'll drop by in Landgraaf the 13th of May, I want a new SL-ish sized board somewhere in the future. I'll bring a Swoard 175M if I come, I remember reading someone wanted to test that board?

I think Facebook and every other things internet should stay separated forever. I use it a lot but I don't want them to know everything everywhere. Google already scares the **** out me.

My bootfitter told me to get the .5 version if possible, because those liners are usually much better fitting. Actually he said "keep looking around until you find a boot that fits and has a .5 size, not a .0 one", but that could prove to be hard if you have only four different molds of hardboots.

Point the board downhill and sit on the backside and just stand up while the board starts picking up speed. There is one thing that really sucks with an alpine stance: going slow or standing still. So don't.

A 175 is a bit long for a beginner, unless you have ideal circumstances a lot. A board in the 165 range makes a lot of things easier. When I don't have ideal circumstances for carving, like bumpy snow, narrow or flat trails or crowds I always take my shortest board (168 with a longer oldschool nose shape). It carves at lower speed, doesn't use much space and skids way easier. Also my carving in general improved a lot when I went back to using a shorter board after going to longer boards too soon.

Maybe that's for the best, so you don't get tempted to ride unlocked ;)

AF700's can be pretty stiff boots, I rode my Indy's in walkmode (this is not an advise) until I got my BTS (this is an advice) and cut off some plastic on the inside of the boot that caused friction. After doing so flexing at the ankles was really easy to do. So you could try riding VERY CAREFUL on an easy, empty slope in walkmode, and if this gives you the flex you were missing, order a BTS with the softest springs asap.

I'm really missing this....

There's this Russian movie of a softbooter totally outcarving his buddies on hardboots. Not completely Extreme Carving, but just 10cm off the snow. Anyone still knows where to find that one?

Could someone please win the lottery and buy the rights and molds? Bomber Stratos Pro, sounds good doesn't it? ;)

This database could be hacked ofcourse. You might want to try out putting a user into the database by hand, don't evere log in or post, set up the mailaccount on your mailserver and just wait. Use something like somerandomname@bomberonline.com for the registration email address. If you ever get spam on that address you know you have a security problem. Hacked databases are pretty common, more common than you wish. People get in by using common known security holes in your open source forum software, the hosting database, the hosting operating system or even your hosting provider. Sometimes those flaws are used by scriptkiddies and you notice, but most hackers just sell your account info for a few cents per address.

Is this for real? Still got a link to the auction?

- Carve at least two consecutive turns while riding backwards (almost there!) - Laid down and linked heelside turns - Get at least 20 days on snow

I chatted with somebody from BlueTomato when I bought mine there about two months ago, he said they were expecting a new shipment for this year, but I'm still not convinced they will as their new winter catalogue is already in but there are no new HSP's on their site....

I think Sölden is the best place to go to if you have some money to spend on gear, I don't know of any other place that has so much hardbooting equipment for sale. Every brand of hardboots can be found, even in multiple stores. Also a lot of boards for sale and for rent, but they're all brands that are typical for the German market like F2, Virus and Pogo. Rent it, test it, buy it. You can just go back to the shop and switch your board if you don't like what you've rented and want to try something. Very friendly service!

Maybe that Stubby would just be what you are looking for then. A bit big for a beginner but if you're already carving well in your softies already it will probably work fine for you. If you're not carving at all, get something with a bit smaller SCR.

Ummm yes and no. Having steeper angles always feels awkward in the beginning (it even feels weird to me the first five seconds if I haven't been riding for a while), but you'll get used to that in about two runs. After that a more narrow board means getting on edge and changing edges easier. Also you can get away with some boot-out if you're not getting very low or carve on very steep slopes. For me there's a big difference in feel between my 19cm Hot Blast and 23cm Swoard. The Swoard really feels sluggish edge-to-edge compared and needs more input to turn. The boot angles I have on that board feel more natural though, and because I usually make big turns on that board the edge-to-edge transfer speed doesn't matter as much. What kind of rider do you want to be? More fast down the fall line and zig-zagging or do you want to make big C-shaped turns?

Forget about anything Burton, unless you can get it for almost free. Why are you looking at wider boards? The Stubby is a nice board but has a bigger SCR. Why did you pick that one? Not that it's wrong per sé, I just want to find out your reasoning behind it.

If you don't want to go off piste and you don't want to do EC a SL-type of board would be best to begin with. You don't need width for float or to be able to do laid down turns, so there's nothing holding you back using the advantage of a narrow board (20cm or less). A shorter board turns easier and on lower speeds so it's more versatile because you don't need wide and empty slopes and is more easy to learn to ride. It comes down to how much money you want to spend, there's plenty to choose. You could get an older F2 board and it would still perform pretty well, but newer boards and other brands are even better. I think I would rather ride a Donek if I could afford one. F2 is more available and generally cheaper though.