WinterGold

This is really a great forum! Loads of information. Very helpful! @blueB - my 185 was not my everyday carving board and the new one will also be for some special days. Exactly like you described it! If I can afford it, I will go with an SL board and a GS board ... @philfell - alright, so I will go for it @yyzcanuck - I think I got it now :D @waypastfast - hopefully you´re right! @snowman - I will kick the boards ...

I really appreciate your contributions so far. I have a vague idea where this is going. I bet that some of the mentioned boards are excellent snowboards. But Prior and Coiler and Donek are not that present in Austria. SG (and also F2) are relatively easy to get. Other customs (Kessler, Oxess, etc.) would be very expensive ... My preferences ... I like snowboarding in all its different forms ... I use softboots and hardboots ... I like carving fast, big turns and also slice some tight slalom turns. I have quite a lot of experience on various boards, but not on new alpine boards (except my F2 163 WCE 07/08 scr - under 10m ...). @pokkis - I love your invitation ... unfortunately this would be a long journey ...

Thank you for your quick replies so far! @yyzcanuck - I don´t understand what you mean by ´effective´ scr. And leaving the money aside, what would you choose for freecarving? So can the numbers not be compared to the old ones? Do I have to ignore them?

For next year I wanted to retire my old Factory Primes (60, 73, 85). So I was looking into new raceboards. I discovered that the sidecut radius has changed dramatically in the last few years. Production models from F2 and SG (for 2010) - the F2 Speedster WCE 183 has 22m scr!!! Also the SG Full Race 185 has 20,3m. Unfortunately there were no testboards available this year. When I wanted to order my boards for next season, a big discussion started about how much sense such boards make if you do not race. I always liked my 185 Factory (15,14m scr). So now my question - Are these boards useable for everyday riding and doing nice carving turns? What does a 20m scr mean? Can they only be used on empty, extra wide slopes? Are they made for real carving or initiating turns by drifting?

U2U? How does it work? Private Messaging is somehow disabled ...

The reason I ask is because I´m debating between the Full Race T and the Pro Team Edition. According to Sigi the Pro Team has just a different graphics. So 100€ for a different topsheet is quite a lot ... Which length did you decide on? I will go for a 163 and a 185.

Ok, I see ... Which model did you order? Titanal?

Can you tell me what proof files are? When do you expect your new boards? What did you order? I know, I´m curious ...

Of course it is all about performance. Otherwise I wouldn´t look into SG raceboards :D. But it is no disadvantage, if the board doesn´t look like coming from the latest discount shop ... Aggressive Germans ... By the way, the insert pattern on the new SGs is made for the Vist plate, right? No more Hangls?

@mc-alex - this point goes to you ;) Of course I haven´t seen the boards for real - only the pictures ... I just meant the mainly black topsheet ... Do you own one of these? Because production hasn´t started yet. Only samples are out ... @Hans - I totally agree. Therefore I´m going to order for next year! @pokkis - I do! Not on the slope, but before and afterwards ... And considering some of your beautiful boards, I guess you like a little bit of design yourself :D.

I find it interesting that quite a lot of people look back favourably at the Burton boots. I also loved my Burtons (Reactor, Wind, different Fires), but on the slopes you saw Raichle/Deeluxe almost exclusively. I was never a fan of the older Raichle/Deeluxe models. From the alpinecarving site: If you want to buy Raichle/DeeLuxe boots, get them used. The general consensus: because of problems with the buckles, the lean adjuster, and the cant adjuster, they are not worth their full retail price. Which is (was?) quite true ... And the same story could be told about the Northwave boots. Many World Cup riders have a stock of old Northwaves at home (not to mention the extremcarving community ...) So why did Deeluxe survive and Burton/Northwave didn´t? It´s really sad for us. One more thing - I´m pretty sure that the newer Deeluxe models (with the new buckles, etc.) are decent snowboard boots. But some years back it was a different story ...

I don´t think that giving the prices in US dollars is confusing - it just makes it easier to compare. I just converted the prices. And if you think the difference is only explained by shipping, custom, etc. then why are the Austrian boards much cheaper in e.g. the Cech Republic? And if you think that 1000€ is not much for a snowboard then the marketing must have been successful in making you think so. But you are right that in comparison to a Custom X the price is understandable. But it is only the relation - both are too expensive!

The prices are insane - we (in Europe) pay 1300$ for an SG Team Edition and that is like a ´production´ model. Virus is even more expensive - a standard model (Vampire Tech) is about 1700$. But the fun only starts when customising and using exotic materials like Zylon, etc. Now we go way over 2000$ ... not to mention the Virus Goddess Limited which is about 3800$ in Europe. And it doesn´t stop at the boards - TD3 is 440$ and so on ... Freestyleboards are sometimes less than half the price in the USA and because of the smaller market we don´t have the kind of sales you have in the US ... And I don´t think that we earn much more than you do

It´s interesting that the 162 is missing from the list. Some freeride lines and the SBX line are supposed to get that new size. Sigi is busy at the moment winning races (or coming second ...) , but the info is from the secretary and quite new.

I would also like to know if the specs changed for the next season. BX - yes, the one with the ´team graphics´ (same as the raceboards) is the BX model. For next season there is a new length - 162. No other infos ... Some teamriders use BX boards with a ´hammer´ nose. Maybe there will be some changes as well ...

Hans, your the best!!! The graphics are good, but not really spectacular :D I guess the orange tail is the team edition and the white tail is the ´normal´ full race. According to SG there are slight changes to the chamber and the flex of the race models ...

I know that we are not talking about Vist, etc. Ok, there are some riders using plates, but a MUST??? The top rider in the SBX this season does not use a plate as well as many other top riders. So how can it be a must? I hope I didn´t come across as if I am an expert. I´m just curious as to what setup the pros ride. And plates do change the board feeling considerably - some like it and some don´t, as it seems ...

Plates a MUST??? I think that hardly any of the top guys in the World Cup use plates in the BX discipline. Just check the pictures on the fissnowboardworldcup site. Plates don´t really improve the handling of the board (when landing big jumps, etc.) ...

Does anyone know if there are any changes to the UPZ boots for 09/10?

Thank you, Surf Quebec! There are some good ideas in your answer. I guess I will continue to look for the perfect boot. For next year I´m looking at a UPZ RC10 and maybe I will go down from 27.0 to 26.5 (this would also be the smaller shell size which is always good ...)

You are a 100% correct! But the problems with the little cracks on the shell and the tongue (both happened to me and lots others) would have required to change the molds and the last owner (of the molds) wasn´t willing to put that amount of money into it ... pretty sad ...

@Michael Pukas - interesting read. I also loved my Fire boots, but there were always problems with breakage (especially the transparent versions ...). Unfortunately the molds from Burton were destroyed (just like the molds from Northwave - these would have been very interesting!). New developments would be nice, but very expensive ... And I don´t think that the snowboard hardboot market is big enough for that ...

I have read about the downsizing now for several times. How can you go down a whole number? Do you use special liners? Or do you roll up your toes ...

@Hans: Thank you! Pretty good finds! Any other companies? SG, etc.? The Japanese websites are always ahead of us

I also hope that they will continue to produce hardboots, but the ones they sold this year were the same as the ones from 07/08, right?