valsam

Well here is my problem,the better i get and the lower i carve i have encountered serious problem witch happens quite allot lately! I ride goofy so when i carve toe side and get my right hand down it works like a ramp and all the snow comes rapidly to my face and inside my clothes and right down to my underwear, and a conclusion to this is that after 3-4 good laid down turns i have to stop because other than the problems i mentioned before i can't see sh*t! Is my technique wrong or should i just try to fit some kind of windshield whippers to my goggles and also duct tape my jacket around my neck so nothing gets in! Do any of you guys have this problem to?

If you try to push it hard the nose folds and "BOING" trampoline-catapult just like i got!

My boots cost me a fortune too this year! But they fit perfectly and do the job excelent! 1)Almost new burton shadows(worn 2 times)= cost me 1euro (1,4$)from e-bay! 2)Liners from my Oxygen kryptons (which are higher and stiffer then the burtons and have laces on them and extra strap)= free 2)Orthopedic foot beds=40 euros but i didn't pay for them because i got them with subscription and are covered by my insurance! I don't need Fin-Tecs because i use my new fritschi bindings witch i also bought from e-bay for the outrageous price of 9,99euros! So i spent the outrageous amount of 1,4$ on boots this year and my friend that spent 500 on his deeluxes ain't going any faster than me or making better carves than me!

I can break any board and all board break and that's a fact!!!!!!!!!!!! I have already broken 7 boards (in 12 years)and i could have broken all of my other boards too if i didn't start beeing carefull!

On wednesday it was perfect,so i went again yesterday and the slopes looked perfect from the parking lot (they where all groomed)so i took the lift and then realized that they where perfectly groomed because they where combed solid ice !!!! 1 day of high temperatures destroyed 1meter of fresh snow! Went down sold my ticket to someone else and left! Now here is the good part!!!! Went in a shop to get a cup of coffee and it started snowing very heavy 15 minutes for the coffee and another 15 to my car to get un-geared and realized that i forgot my snow chains ! Started back down the mountain only to realize that this was the worst experience i had in over 20 years of snowboarding! 20-30 cars off and some in the middle of the road others in ditches and collisions and stupid me trying to get down 20 kilometers with racing almost slick tyres and no brakes trying to avoid them and avoiding free falling of the mountain too! MY FALT ALL THE WAY!!!!!!! I always try to find the best days to go up the mountain(my job and can go any weekday!)by looking at weather maps, cameras on slopes,temperatures and also snow conditions,but since it is the start of the season and buy visiting this forum i got carried away!

4 days ago i bought a used F2 1,35 board with bindings for my daughter for 24 euros which i think is a bargain (from the photos i have seen)haven't received it yet to verify it's condition. The thing is that i was watching e-bay to find something at good price and took my time and i saw unbelievable things in there,people where biding on used boards more then they actually cost brand new! For instance someone bought a used beat up 135 crazy creek (kids freestyle) for 90 euros which is what it costs new here,and that was not just the only case another buyer payed 120 euros for a 2000 model 1,39 kids Nitro!!!! So as long as there are ignorant and stupid buyers you will also find "SMART" sellers!!!! By the way here in Greece stuff is pretty expensive but i think that things will change because over 50% of the new generation is buying there gear of the Internet and word spreads out quickly! I was on the lift chair 5-6 years ago with a 16-17 year old kid and he started asking me questions about my alpine gear and how much it costs and when i asked him about his gear he told me that he bought it from the states on a 70% sale because it was last season stuff ,so his stuff already cos ted almost twice the money in Greece and it was like he got it from here with 90%! Since then i have bought nothing from the local market and buy all my snowstuff from the internet ,i just bought from the USA 4 jackets and 2 pairs of gloves on a 70%-80% discount(2 burton gloves a special blend packer jacket and a bonfire radient for me,a burton jacket for my daughter and a sessions for my wife)all for 255$ which is about 170 euros and the thing that got me pissed off was that a local store tried to sell me the same last year model special blend jacket for 300 euros telling me that he gave me a good discount to because it was a last year model !!!!!!!!!!!!!! So tell me this guys why does the G-force Razor cost here 620 euros=910$ and the Donek razor if i am not mistaking is the same board costs there 680$ (Alex if you read this answer me a couple of questions?) I ran into the guy that tried to sell me the jacket for 300 euros (450$) and he couldn't keep staring at it because he probably thought i bought it from another local seller so i explained to him that i got it from the states for 50 euros(75$) and he got even more shocked ! (BOY WAS THAT FUN LOOKING AT HIS FACE EXPRESION) Another thing is that companies like Burton and Bonfire (witch is a European company) and many more do not allow sales to Europe from the U.S because the are overpriced here! Luckily i have dozens of relatives over there and sending me stuff is a piece of cake!!!

Burton reactor-wind-shadow,good fit but crappy shells ,reactor put water and wind shell cracked,shadow just bought almost new from e-bay for 1euro, haven't riden them yet! Also have oxygen's the purple ones three buckles and strap (very big shell don't fit in most of my bindings and very heavy boots)fit even better (no heal lift!)then Burton's,my front and heal soles have vanished and can't find replacements any ware so i cant wear them!

I got a sheet 2m X 20cm of polycarbonate "marlon fsx" 4mm thick from a guy that makes parking shades today,he gave it to me for free,and its time to experiment! This is something like the shape i am going to cut the spacers: Because my board (Oygen F2002) has a pattern on the top sheet that raises above about 1-2mm (a pattern like the Tinkler-Kildy flex)and i am thinking o following that pattern for better stress distribution and probably gain just a little stiffness!!

After reading this post : http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23497&highlight=spacers It seams like the spacers don't do miracles! I am thinking of using the 3mm polycarbonate (the 5mm might hurt the board rather than protect it because of the less flexibility the 5mm has!)and giving each spacer a butterfly sort of shape and cutting them longer than the 26,7 that the cateks have,for better stress distribution! But what happens in between the spacers guys? Doesn'T the middle of the board take more loads? It seams to me like 2 thumbs trying to snap a stick!

When you say buckling what do you mean ? Is it like a gap betwean the board and lexon? Sorry i was born in the states but left at the age of 14 and my english is very rusty! Yes i would like to add some stiffnes but avoid glue! If i understand corect the "FLEXONSHOX" when bent will have to slide at the back binding a little forward ! But how will that work if the binding is pressing on it ?

So i went looking for a polycarbonate sheet today )and i only found it in 3mm but the guy told me where i could probably find a 5mm (he also said that LEXAN is just a name and the all polycarbonate sheets are mostly the same)if i don't then i will use the 3mm witch looked pretty thick and ok for the job! I am thinking of making a conshox ripoff (without the pointy ears,more like 2 catec spacers that attach together)from the polysheet and applying it just screwed with the inserts , heating it up with a heat gun first on the board so it can get the boards camber and then marking the holes and then screwing down without epoxy or any sort of gluing! Something like this: What do you think of my idea ?

No! the idea of making a "madd ripoff" has gone! Problems like messy glue issues and no camber of the pre-cured carbon sheet that would eliminate the boards camber would not work! I am asking if making 2 separate plates with no glue like the cateks or the ones that hardbooter shows in the vid (not one big piece over both holes like the Madd's or the tinkler's)would help in protecting the board and provide a little stiffness too!

I saw this video http://hardbooter.net/blog/?p=147 and since i have broken 3 non metal boards already (all 3 from bad landings after jumps,2 in the front toe side binding area and one in the tail)i don't own a metal board but only 2 glass and 2 carbon ones and since i am a heavy rider (250 pounds!) boards break like toothpicks under my feet! My current favorite ride is glass and has a little too much soft flex and last year i posted a thread thinking of applying a carbon sheet over the top sheet but after reading stuff from people in here i realized that it was a complicated procedure that was above my skills ! But now after seeing this video and also these: http://www.catek.com/snowboard-binding-spacers.htm It seams pretty easy making a couple of them but i have 1-2 questions and if anyone would help it would be OK,so: 1)Do these sort of raisers-spacers give extra stiffness to the board? 2)If a carbon sheet like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Carbon-Fibre-Sheet-2-6x170x150-mm-100-Carbon-Fiber_W0QQitemZ220432726630QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN?hash=item3352d07a66 was used would it give better protection and ad MORE stiffness than LEXAN or polypropylene? 3)Do these spacers increase the presure on the screws-inserts and therefore increase the risk of riping then off? 4) Hardbooter say's that on there sait there is a pdf pattern to download but i can't find it !Is the pattern necessary or do i just cut one out something like catek"s? I AM ALL EARS!!!!

A friend of mine a former hardbooter (one of the fastest riders i have seen!) rides now on a F2 Eliminator and i feel sory for him because that board just is'nt for carving, he even put 2cm palmer plates and uses smaller binding angles to avoid toe drag and it still rides like a very stiff wide door!

And to think that my ballistic was the most relaxing board from the 3 i mentioned!!!!!!!!!! And yes it has a very Boing-Boing trampoline feeling to it !!!!!

I have never ridden a metal board (are they the magic carpet?)and i was referring to the old school GS boards if you consider the f2 2003 rs 177 ,nitro works racing 1999 1,83,elan ballistic 2001 1,71 old school,witch were very fast but tiering for me. And why is it that companies still make old school tech boards ????

+1 From me!!!!!!!!!!! I agree with you 100%!!!!! From what i read in this forum from other riders posts i get the impression that allot of people in here have supernatural powers and strength and considering there age too then it gives me allot of ??????????????,i was an athlete for allot of years so i have very strong legs and stamina (semi-pro basketball till the age of 37)and after 3-5 fast runs on a long stiff board it is game over for me because after that the only thing fast mean leaning carving can give me is a serious injury but i can ride almost all day on a soft boot setup because its more comfortable and it doesn't inspire you to go full throttle!!!!

I'm excactly the same size as you 6,4 and 110-112Kg's (44 years old) and long and stiff boards are not for me any more !!!! I started hardbooting (after 5 years of skiing)in 1994 with an oxygen 1,67 FR (very easy forgiving all mountain board)and after that i kept on going for longer and stiffer boards (1,72-1,82) with bigger SCR'S untill i found a new 1,69 oxygen F2002 wich is the same as my old FR and i'm loving it !!!!!!!!!!! The mountains that i ride are small and crouded and the smaller flexier board does it for me pretty well !!!!!!!

I just bought a pair of shadow boots for the extreme amount of 1 euro ( man i love e-bay!) and they were in excellent condition (the guy had used them about 10 times) and i see that the medial flex is free i mean that there is no choice of locking or screwing the inner side of the boot(where the round yellow burton logo is!)! Is this normal for the boot to tilt free from 0-10 degree while the outside of the boot is steady ??? The arrow shows were the boot slides up and down freely from the upper line to the bottom one ! Also since i have a pair of wind's i was thinking of trying to mod the shadow's with the upper part of the wind's so that i may have the 4 buckles + strap but i don't know if the lean lock mechanism will work and also change all the buckles because the shadow's don't have the micro adjust thing. Will this work ???

Had one broke it and there is no carbon in it! They replaced it with a Nale 157 TIGER skin print witch is the same board! Except from being made in the same factory with the ballistic they are very different boards.(also have a ballistic and it's still my favorite)

Really are there 2000-3000 hard boot riders in the whole world???

And if i may ask at what speed are those pictures taken? Because i think that Jack's going slower then Alex!

I have my board with serious delam at the area between the bindings for 5 years now and after bonding it with epoxy i still ride it without the delam getting bigger, but every once in a while it needs to be glued back together again because the epoxy cracks (i tried all kinds of epoxy and the one that lasts longer is Araldit blue) from the presure that it takes that is related from the area that the delam is located! In the area that your delam is i think that with epoxy you will be just fine!

Ηas this become an issue if helmets protect or not ?? If so then nobody that ride's motorcycles shouldn't wear helmets and let's see if the death rate rises or not! I don't know if Chris died from a head injury and i just stated that helmet's and going a bit slower than you actually can is a precaution from having a serious accident! (By the way in my avatar i am wearing a helmet!)

This is really tragic! But has the thought of hitting something or someone in mach speeds ever crossed your mind's? l rode GS skis from 1990 to 1996 and after i rode alpine stiff boards with big SCR up until last year and never wore a helmet and last year i fell and hit my head really hard on ice and had a concussion with a huge lump and was hospitalized and that was at a speed of just 20-30 mph. and it got me thinking ! And from now on i always wear a helmet and bought a shorter board with a 10m scr and do what i love but a little safer i think because i have 2 little girls to think about! So all of you out there think safe first and don't try to prove anything!