WinterGold

Ok, that is exactly what I thought ... By the way, there is also another plate system besides the Hangl, Vist and F2. The Flex-Plate by Apex (http://www.apex-snowboards.com). And no other than the womens overall champion is using it ... Apex also focuses on easy installation and light weight. But I don´t know much about this system.

I think you are following an interesting concept and a lot of the things you say sound good - easier installation, lighter, active suspension - all this sounds really promising! But I have one question - ´Slow responding board: One reason you don't see many of these plates in a slalom race where fast turn transition is king. Do you like fast trun transistions on your free ride board?´ Why do you say so? The top riders in the PSL Worldcup - Sigi Grabner and Benjamin Karl - and I guess 90% of the other Worldcup racers all use plates also in the PSL discipline ... I found that some of the girls do not use them - Is it a question of strength?

Nice pictures, Hans! But what is the last picture supposed to show us?

Nice information!! Thanks! And the boards look very nice ... can´t wait for next season

Thank you, queequeg, that´s quite interesting. I assume that the green one in the picture is a 2010 model. Any info on different models (length)? Or other details ...

Can you elaborate a bit on the Virus GS 183? Is it a metal construction? Does it have a decambered nose? Tail? Waist width? Are there other lengths? I guess coming from Virus there is no information on the radius ... Some details would be highly appreciated :) ...

By the way, I contacted Vist directly about the correct way of mounting. About the screws - they said that it is important that the screws go 8mm (+/- 0,5mm) deep into the inserts. Then you are good to go ... Floating - back or middle fixed - as discussed in this thread ;).

I now have all the screws . So I can go wild on the plate and let it float where ever I want (I now have 10 ring washers!!!) :D

@Bordy - ´Of Course some time CK does some crazy stuff with his plate but its a secret between he and I !´ I know it´s a secret, but could you give a little hint ´... on a 200 sg stick´ Can you elaborate a bit on that one :D?

I got 4 rectangular ones and 6 ring washers ...

So, the stock Burton screws would work on an SG with the vist plate? That would be a blast! I have tons of Burton screws ... I have just 6 ring washers ... so I can´t just lock the middle ... Right?

Ok, I see why the 177 was a mixup :D ... can´t wait for my SGs ...

Is there a reason why you have a mix of Kesslers and SGs? May I ask you how much you weigh? Hangl/Vist - any noticeable difference? I know, I´m curious ...

@Coloradoking - you already have the 2010 model? Damn ... So you have 2 rectangular washers in the back and two in the middle on all your boards? Which SGs (or other boards) do you use?

@Bordy and Coloradoking - thank you so much!!! There is hardly any info about the plate on the net ... I think I understand now how it works. Making the plate work without the Loctite would be nice because I will be switching between two boards and also compare boards with and without plate ...

@Coloradoking - thanks so much!!! I am getting closer ... but you said at the beginning the I should fix the back and leave the middle and the front floating ... so I thought I put the 4 rectangular washers at the back and use the round washers for the middle and the front (I will be mounting to a 2010 SG, so the inserts are there ...). Why do you suggest to use only 2 rectangular washers at the back? And also rectangular washers in the middle?

I have heard so many different opinions about the plates that I now want to try them myself. If I don´t like them, I will resell ... But in the ski industry nobody would even think about using a carving ski without some kind of plate system. So there must be something ... Can anyone elaborate further on how you mount your Vist plate? @Coloradoking - thank you so far!

I have the plate here, but unfortunately no board to mount it to at the moment. So I use the rectangle washers in the back and the round ones in the middle and the front? (I just have 4 rectangle washers and 6 round ones ...) And how does the ´floating´ work? Red Loctite and no tightening??? Sorry, I don´t get it ... Do you mean the connection to the board?

Can someone explain to me how the vist plate works? There are different ways of mounting the plate onto the board, right? What is the difference? And how should I mount it the first time around?

I didn´t get any concrete specs on the setback (only that it is different on the different models ...), but the sidecut on the 185 is 19m - the questions is what kind of sidecut it is ... :D

As far as I have read about it, the Schochs built up there own workshop together with Marc Iselin. On the technical side they got help from a Swiss ski constructor called Günther Wiesmann (he builds the Snowriders). So I think this is a good mixture and as it seems also competitve with the best.

Ok, they just changed the specs on their website ... the nose of the 185 is 248mm ... that´s more like it :D But still - no other information on these decks ... they might be the next big thing ...

I have been looking for some infos on these boards, but couldn´t find much so far. I guess that not too many people have already been on some Black Pearl decks, but maybe some of you have some insider information. Here are the specs of the 4 current race models: Race models 08/09 model...type..............length.......tail........waist..........nose GSH.....Men´s GS.......1850mm....233mm..200mm.......284mm GSD.....Women´s GS...1720mm.... - ........190mm......... - .... SLH......Men´s SL........1610mm...250mm..200mm.......265mm SLD......Women´s SL...1500mm....247mm..190mm.......259mm Some questions: Is the nose of the 185 model really 284mm wide? That´s huge! There are like 5cm of taper (just like my powder board ... :D). Does this mean that the boards have a smaller radius than e.g. the SGs? (the GS model in the front and the SL model in the back???) And something else ... http://www.blackpearlsnowboard.ch/index.php?section=gallery&cid=5&pId=47 How much is the setback on these? It looks rather extreme ...

You can go on dreaming about new Burton boots ... I sometimes do it myself :D ... BUT ... as I said before the molds have been destroyed!!! Just like the molds of the Northwave boots ... And I doubt that anyone would build them up from scratch again ... considering the numbers Jack posted ... But maybe somebody else will dare a new development. That would be great!

SG - Besides the new graphics the specs haven´t changed at all, but I got an email from SG mid February stating that they made slight changes to the flex and the chamber/rocker (nose). Maybe after the WC season is over, I will get more info ... Full Race Titanal and Full Race Pro Edition are the same boards - just a different design (mainly different colors for this year).