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Miltie

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  4. Was buying or riding a Plate worth it for You?

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Lowrider, Excellent post and questions……

    Due to lack of access to power tools and a workshop of over the last 5 years or so, I have not dabbled in the DIY aspect of plates. You could say I am a consumer.

    I weigh about 160 (no gear) and sit at desk or meeting table roughly 10 hours a day – not in the same shape I was 25 years ago. Have 25 years experience on alpine gear but less leg strength than I did when I was 22.

    Plates I have tried:

    • Bomber Boiler 5mm (4x4 and UPM hardware)

    • Bomber Boiler 4mm Lite (UPM hardware)

    • Donek A Plate (1st gen 4x4 and UPM hardware and 2nd gen 4x4 aluminum hardware)

    • Surfeye Active Flex Carbon medium flex (available in Japan only - 4x4 hardware)

    Were the plates you tried too stiff or too soft?

    • Boiler 5mm – stiff - great at high speeds but can be a handful on cat-tracks or at low speeds

    • Boiler 4mm Lite – right on the money for my weight and riding – improved turn initiation and lows speed handling

    • Donek A Plate – feels just right for my weight – not too stiff and not too soft

    • Active Flex Carbon – this plate is made of laminate sheet carbon (no core) – a little too soft at my weight – designed for lighter Japanese riders. Lacks torsional and longitudinal rigidity since it has no structural core

    Were the plates too difficult to dial in? Note: I run my axle spacing with Front axle under the ball of my front foot and the Rear axle under my rear heal

    • Bomber hardware is the sh#t – no muss and no fuss! Usual Bomber quality and bulletproof design. I prefer the UPM hardware as it easy to set up. The Wunderbar is definitely helpful for 4X4 set up.

    • Donek – 1st gen hardware was challenging to get the axle spacing I needed with certain boards. 2nd gen hardware is a huge improvement for axle spacing.

    • Active Flex Carbon: Hardware is relative easy to set up. Plate also has more placement options for axle outer side bosses.

    Under what conditions do you find a plate most helpful?

    Great in chopped up mush after the yobos and open-coaters have destroyed the groom.

    Longer Boards – 170 cm and up. Need lots of room to let the board run. Typically find myself going faster than normal with a plate. Great on weekdays or when slopes are not crowded.

    Shorter Boards – 158 to 168 cm – pretty much found that I did not like a plate on shorter boards. Prefer a little more maneuverability. Usually ride shorter boards early season or when I am with my kids. A plate is usually too cumbersome under these situations.

    Did the plate you bought fulfill the claims of its maker? Simply… Yes. Think each plate has some positive attributes and maybe some trade-offs (engineering is the science of trade-offs… right?). Once you get everything dialed in and you have some solid runs on a plate, I think you can feel the positives. Will they work for everyone – probably not. For me, I like the added leverage and Cadillac ride.

    Did or does it retain its value for resale? No. Think plates are like personal computers or cell phones. They become dated as newer versions are released. This doesn’t bother me as I am more into the engineering/technical aspects of the plates.

    If in the market for a new board does that decision include ordering with UPM mounts? Yes - definitely. Have been ordering boards from Sean at Donek with UPM inserts since 2010. Would not order a new alpine board without UPM inserts now that I have tried UPM.

    Bindings: Initially ran Sidewinders on my plates but eventually went back to TD3-SI. Felt a little too isolated with a plate and flex of Sidewinders. Much prefer the TD3-SI. Also use the BP lower cant assemblies to reduce stack height.

    Could I ride longer with a plate? No. Found myself pushing the envelope harder and thus burning up my office chair legs at about the usual rate. Can’t say a plate allowed me to ride any later in the day.

    Overall: My personal preference of the plates I have tried so far is the Boiler 4mm Lite followed by the Donek A plate. Think plates come down to personal preference and where/what you ride. If I am out on a weekday and can let the board run, will have a longer board with a plate mounted.

    Would also like to try the Donek AF plate sometime to get a feel for Sean’s new hardware.

    Hope the evolution of plates continues and the manufacturers keep the innovations coming.

    Thanks! Tom

  7. Bomber Boiler Plate 4mm Lite

    in Bindings and Subplate System Reviews

    Posted

    Bomber Boiler 4mm Lite Review

    Location: Snow Summit Resort, Big Bear Lake, CA 2/7/2013

    Conditions: Groomed hard granular base with 1-2” of loose granular on top. 40F and sunny.

    Plates: Boiler 5mm and Boiler 4mm Lite

    Mounting Hardware: UPM (no muss no fuss – it just fits)

    Axle Spacing: Rear axle under my rear heal and front axle under the ball of my front foot

    Board: Donek FC Glass 175 VSR

    Bindings used: Bomber TD3 SI with BP Cant Discs

    Boots: Track 700T White with race tongues, BTS and Fintecs

    Rider weight: 155 – 160 without gear

    Rider skill/experience/style: Average / 20 plus years on alpine gear / race carve – upright – currently nursing a sore back

    Started out with the 5mm Boiler to get a baseline as I have put some miles on this plate. The 5mm plate needs speed and it feels most effective when carving at a good clip. Slow speed handling in traffic can be a challenge. I like the leverage and smooth ride – especially at speed – like a freight train on rails. Found myself going faster than I should have.

    Switched over to the 4mm Lite after a quick coffee break.

    Immediately found the 4mm Lite to be more forgiving at lower speeds and had more board feel especially in the mid-section of the board. Slarving was way easier when encountering groups of yobos or open coaters.

    The 4mm Lite still had the leverage and soaked up the uneven terrain like the 5mm plate. Still found myself going faster than I should have. :rolleyes:

    One thing I really like better about the 4mm Lite is the extra mounting options (extra inserts in the plate and extra outer axle side boss mounting holes). It is a little easier to get my stance and axle spacing dialed in. :)

    Overall very impressed with the 4mm Lite. For my weight and riding (mostly freecarving) it works better. Nice work Fin. Thanks for taking something good and making it better. Looking forward to more days on the mountain with this plate. :D

  12. Carving plug-in

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Kaz, Good stuff! I too collect Japanese carving videos. My wife (from Chiba) also got me Installer 12, Installer 13 and Absolute 2012. She even got me this year's Carve magazine.

    I lived and worked in Nagoya for 7 years and moved back in 2011. Spent many days on the snow in Gifu and Nagano. Really liked the alpine scene there and the easy access to decent snow. Met lots of cool people there.

    Have fun up in BC! Tom

  13. Carving plug-in

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Just received the full length Carving Plug-In DVDs from Japan (red and blue). Both are real good and promote some of the upcoming racers in Japan. Also, both videos are edited well are more creative than the usual Japanese carving videos. Carving Plug-In Red was also sponsored by Bomber Japan/Wintertree.

    The rider mentioned in posted videos above is actually the force behind 2Production which distributes the Carving Plug-In series. His name is Kohei Kawaguchi, rides for SG and is a real positive figure for alpine snowboarding in Japan.

    Overall, great stuff!! Tom

  17. Thanks Bomber!

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Yo Fin! Just wanted to says thanks for all your hard work.

    Started mounting my BBPs and bindings today. At the risk of sounding like a complete butt-kisser..... I really appreciate how all your products go together so buttery smooth. No tolerance stack-ups, no fiddling, no tweaking, no kung fu..... it all fits! This is one of the most enjoyable times of the year.

    I work in Quality Assurance for a living. If everything I dealt with at work was this good, my life would be much easier.

    Thank you and all the talented folks at Bomber for building such precision products! You made my day :) Tom

  18. TD3 SW SI released in Japan

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    The Bomber Japan website says the SW-SI will be released this season but they are delayed - please wait. So.... the Japan market is waiting (just like us) for when Fin is ready to sell them. I would imagine there is some special production tooling required and what is shown in the photos are prototypes.

    Knowing Fin, these will be well engineered and well built. It will be worth the wait.

  19. Carving shops in Tokyo

    in Carving Central

    Posted

    Dan's post mentions Viento. That is the place to visit. It's in the Jimbocho area. You can get there by train easily.They have a good selection in winter and staff is cool - some may speak a little english. One of the Managers is a former F2 sponsored SBX racer and has helped me out before - nice guy.

    There are several other snowboard/ski shops in the Jimbocho area but very few carry any alpine gear. I used to spend hours going from shop to shop looking at all the gear.

  25. Donek Axxess 172 Glass Construction

    in For Sale

    Posted

    Posted this at the end of last season but still need to sell. Price lowered.

    Donek Axxess 172 Glass from about 2006 – Very clean board. This board only has about 20 runs on it. A few minor nicks in the top sheet in the tail – can barely tell it ever had bindings on it. Base is in great shape with only a few very small scratches in the tail. Camber is 8mm. Comes with Donek board bag and has storage wax currently applied. Edges sharp and clean with bevel at .5 degrees base and 89 degrees side. Rides nice but a little stiff for my 160 lbs. Ended up replacing this with Axxess 167. Need to thin the herd to fund a new Boiler Plate.

    Specs:

    Length = 172 cm

    Running Length = 148 cm

    Nose = 27.2 cm

    Waist = 21.5 cm

    Tail = 26.8 cm

    Sidecut = 10.2 m

    Price: $300 shipped to Lower 48 States in US.

    Will ship to US only (Sorry). Just don’t have time to deal with the Customs stuff right now.

    Email me through BOL if you are interested. Will provide better photos via email on request. Can take Paypal. Thank you! Tom

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