michael.a

Why not? What's this obsession with having everything "open" and "welcome" and "family-friendly"? Why can't a technical sport (imho this is a technical sport) remain what it is, i.e. difficult to learn, physically demanding, very expensive, and... well... entirely technical? Why must a sport accommodate the needs of the lowest common denominator? Definitely not for its own survival, one of the key facets of any niche hobby or sport is that it is, de facto, niche; it will always attract those who are looking for something different, something a bit out there, something not du jour; surprisingly, it turns out that riding in hardboots is also really really fun ;) So forget entry-level equipment, Disney-themed topsheets and a color-by-numbers guide on "how to ride". Let this sport live on with those who are truly interested in finding out what it's all about, taking a step into the deep unknown of what equipment to get, where to get it, how to set it up, and last but not least, how the hell to ride it. And, most of all, willing to make mistakes and learn from them. Committed individuals willing to invest serious time and money and get around the rather steep learning curve all with with the same goal of wanting to learn how to ride, and not just because it became the fad of 2016. The last thing this sport needs is a ton of two-bit flakes who'll probably bail the moment a new PlayStation comes out or have a shiny balloon fly by...

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You look like a dork but it works - personal experience

"are" Way too big for you. Its imperative you get boots that fit and are comfortable. This may even include buying one pair of boots to find out they dont work for whatever reason and having to buy another pair.

Why do you feel you have to move from one board to another? Buy another board that's something quite different and ride on both. I normally take three boards when I go riding, a 166 SL board, a 177 and sometimes 183 GS board, and then my Swoard.

Work on your technique as you're making a lot of the common beginner mistakes. At this phase the board matters the least. If you feel your boots are too stiff then look into getting a spring system, as that's something that can and will immediately improve your riding. I'd recommend you start buying cheap, used boards in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, on ebay there's a ton of F2 boards that can you grab for 100 e or less. This will provide you a lot of feedback when learning new skills, as well as allowing you to decide how you like to ride. So a good start would be first a short slalom board in the 160 range and then get a GS board up to 175, and then fill in those gaps with an AM board, maybe a Swoard (168M for you), then something ultra narrow, etc etc. I'd avoid the Eliminator even thought its a good board.

Danigold, your email is turned off, please contact me: sixtyeightbu at hotmail Shoe size doesnt mean anything, measure your foot in cm.

yup, are you interested in the liners as well?

Bump bump bump

Look for a slightly too short GS deck in the mid 170s. For example, any of the boards fscott has for sale would be good for you as a first time board http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?39105-Pre-ebay-F2-172-amp-174-oxygen-170-burton-race-plate-bindings-amp-cant-wedges

Howdy, get your buttz in hardboots and a race deck pronto! ;) Wow, I used to ride at Mountain Creek, I remember it especially in regards to the archaic lifts (that weird open gondola thing), a pervasion of ICE and a boatload of the yo yo yo NJ tyte homies of the 'u wanna smoke up' crew. I think I got offered a hit every 10th ride up.

In Europe the HB scene is exploding, of course it's an ant hill that's exploding but still.... Unfortunately I have no stats to back this up, and I don't see a manufacturer like F2 (whether bindings or boards), Virus or Bomber willing to provide the stats on how much new equipment they sold over the past few years. But you can see it, you can feel it. Nonetheless, I see more and more hardbooters in Europe, I see more and more carving sessions, more and more manufactures of boards and plates, and more and more interest in what we do from the general population, i.e., pure carving. Hardbooting will always be a niche sport due to its overall rarity and its rather extreme learning curve, but I see only good things in the future. Burton, eat your heart out.

A big "affirm" to what corey said. Boots in the carry-on with your bindings and laptop :) If you have a relatively skinny board then take off the bindings, pack two in one bag and call them fat powder skis.

It's your technique 100%. I've come up with a nice little ballerina exercise that helps practice rotation, angulation, shoulder/arm position for both toe and heel side, but it'll be a few months before it's on youtube. Though I must say that it's disappointing to see that most people think their lack of ability in performing a certain athletic feat is based on a belief of technical or equipment inferiority.

I used to ride in walk mode myself, and recommended it wholeheartedly to everyone I could. Then one day I tore all my the ligaments in my ankle. Riding in walk mode is dangerous, end of story. Except maybe for light and careful riding.

Im 90kg and I have the "firm" or "expert" model. The first time I felt no difference, a year or two later I tried them again after softening my Head boots and really liked them, but only over the boot shell, not the liner.

You don't need new boots, bindings or boards, just modify your existing 225s to have more flex. I don't recommend low cuff boots and I don't recommend riding in walk mode (but it gives you a good idea of how a boot should flex). You can: find a softer tongue buy a spring system (I recommend the European one) then do the shell mod (PM me for more details) And if that's not enough, but should be for most riders, you can then: sand down the tongue by a mm or two cut the tongue lengthwise by a cm or two move the 3rd buckle up by 1cm

Do you use, or will you use footbeds? And you can fit one finger behind your heel when wearing 27s or 26s?? I found I cannot downsize in Raichle/Deeluxe boots. For comparison, my feet are 29.2 cm and only 29.5s work for me, even with thermo liners. I tried 28.5s but they were just too small.

My girlfriend's oxygen fr 147 has either a .5 or 1 degree base, 2 degree side.

Surprisingly, try routing the cable to the absolute front of the boot, like around the tongue area. no matter what boot/liner combination I ride in having the cable in front of and away from the ankle worked for me.

I weigh 200 lbs. Black boots, black tongues (in powder orange tongues), cut wings and yellow BTS. Good configuration for an all around boot, but the boots have become too soft for when I really try to rail it so I'm going to upgrade to the silve tongue for now, and I'm not happy with how the BTS system works. I'm going to do a step by step upgrade on my other pair starting with an orange tongue and no mods, then orange/black/silver tongue and ACSS, then go back to the stock spring but with cut wings and different tongues.

Oh yea, a friend started using a polyurethane coating due to its "transparent" look, but it turned out it looks like he... erm.. had way too much white gooey stuff all over his upper pants area.

Some advice: Same deal when painting, but work in coats. Instead of smearing a thick blob over whatever you've got, put one coat down, let it dry for an hour or two and then proceed with the next one. The stuff is tacky for up to 12 hours, but wait until 24 hours till they touch anything. Use a large smooth surface to smear the stuff on. I used an old credit card. USE LATEX GLOVES Have your work surface totally prepared, wear work clothes and work very very carefully. Once the stuff touches anything not entirely smooth, that's it, it's black forever. The problem with thinning Sikaflex with acetone is a major one: durability. Whatever magical chemical hocus pocus happens, Sikaflex that's been thinned with acetone seems to rub, or actually "chip", away much faster. You'll notice that your gloves tend to wear (with sikaflex) the most around the tip of the thumb, the absolute end of the glove around the tips of your fingers and around the bottom of the palm (sometimes going down to the wrists), so add more coats there. Make sure you have gloves that have the most "free space" around the lower palm, so no straps, cords or strings and give that area a good coat.

Unfortunately this is the de facto number one issue I have with carving: safety. After having gotten hit by a number of skiers and snowboarders (with most of them blaming me for being in their way, even having two separate fights on the slope), having a few million close calls and also being literally torn to pieces by poor conditions (ankle tendons) I've become very paranoid when riding. I don't know about the rest of you but I simply sit down and wait until the slope clears up before I do some heavy-duty carving and then have my head and eyeballs swivel around nonstop as well as keep my ears perked up listening to anyone coming up from behind me, as well as know when to quit. I think most of our accidents come at the end of the day when we're tired, after a few beers and have to ride on ripped up moguled slopes.

Any binding can be broken. From TD2s to TD3s to F2s to Burtons. I think TD1s are pretty much bulletproof. The only one binding I can say stay away from is the Raichle X-bones.