lonerider

Update! I just sent you a Jackson by Paypal. I happily await your video... hopefully it it arrive in time for the Vancouver Olympic Games. Hmmm... I still call that only a carved 270. Most people here can/have done that (as I have myself) You technically might be on edge after 270 degrees... but you are going so slow that if someone were to only see the second half of the clip, I doubt they would describe it as carving... also you decreased the radius of your arc...Heh... and don't bother waiting until 8:44 of Tex's video... :p 200 degrees... 270 degrees... some how just doesn't add up to 360 degree

You misunderstood me. I mean that whenever someone says "it's for the cause" or for the "good of the community" in reality they are trying to convince of something they don't agree with and not bothering to give the real reasons. Instead you should just present your point of view and let people decide for themselves. Like in your second post you gave a better line of reasoning. Here you are putting for your opinion and allowing people to judge it based on it's own merits. It's not like members of BOL don't alienate people based on suppositions. Try searching for "jibber" or "monkey" and you'll see a lot "alienating" comments. Every couple of months, someone posts asking about improving their carving (without alpine gear) and inevitably (most posts are helpful) someone says the equivalent "give it up, you can't carve in softboots. buy hardboots". The difference is that those comment alienate the "outsider", Gilmour is attack the "main group" which is kind of difficult to actually "alienate" don't you think? So I see John Gilmour's comment as a reply to people who say things like "The only thing soft boots are good for is walking... Oh, well I guess soft set ups do make it easier to slide sideways." or "YEECCHH!!!! I hated riding in that gear! I couldn't wait to get that crap off my feet! And dealing with those insane strap bindings was obnoxious" To them he's saying "it's not the gear that sucks... it's you that suck"

Haven't you realized? TV watchers today love watching other people get humiliated, that's the allure of shows like that. Make people feel like their live suck less as they think to themselves "well I maybe 40, bald, overweight... but at least I have never been embarrassed like that." You idea is just the same... just humiliating the pro athlete to make yourself feel better... My solution is not a satisfying one... you can't get younger, or grow hair, or be cool anymore... but you can get back in shape. The only obstacle is your own laziness (everyone here has busted knees and bad backs so that's not an excuse). Yes, I've notice that you like to talk about the good old days and how you are old now. Fun fact is that you are younger thanmost of the people on BOL

If your snowboarding consists of simply turning left and right, you might be on to something... Whenyou get right down to it, carving really is simply about turning left and right. Hardboots, plate bindings, alpine boards are merely just a means to an end. Like Gilmour and Bordy, I believe these are great tools to help you carve and enjoy snowboarding in general... but if you know how to carve, then gear matters less. In particular, I definitely believe anyone who CAN'T ride/carve in softboots hasn't really mastered carving and might need to got back and practice some more. Ouch. This comment does little to help the cause. You're straight out alienating me, for one. "The Cause"??? I dislike it when people whip out like "The Cause" or "Good of the Community" "Good of the Sport" to justify their point of view. If your point of view has merit, you shouldn't need to vague collective-metaphysical-constructs to support your arguments.

More like you are trying to stroke your own ego... you have like what 10-20 years of snowboarding experience over them? All you would have proved is that it was a stupid contest... they would go back to being super-fit millionaires that have women all over them... and you... well would go back to not being a fit, millionaire with hundreds of women chasing you...In First Strike, Jackie Chan drops a 40-50 cliff on a snowboard, and THEN gaps off another cliff to catch himself on a helicopter hovering pretty damn high off the ground. He did it with around 8 hours of practice (2 hours a day for 4 days). You can see him literally learning how to snowboard (and crashing) as they are filming him in the outtakes at the end of the movie. Galen - I also that Peyton Manning commercial where he tells people with a gut "I would buy bigger t-shirts".

My apologies. I thought they only made foam injected liners.

Wait... you go someone else's Comformable liners??? you are SOL, as they cannot be molded... they are custom foamed to the original user's feet and they will be excruciating painful for anyone else to wear (heck it's painful to wear the first couple of days even if they are foamed to your own feet).If you are saying you are thinking about getting some... you can ONLY get them done at a shop... foaming them takes 2-3 people, several bottles of reactive resin, a bunch of chains and hooks, and perhaps one lead pipe (I'm serious).

Yea, Head makes some decent snowboard... I rode my friend Head ICT Intellifiber board (155ish, I'm 145 lbs) last season and it felt light and turny, it semi-damp but not to the point of being unstable... anyways at 145 lbs... a 154 is definitely going to be better for carving than 147.

Huh... I would say that's too low... I would have my front foot at 21 or 18 at least... back foot from 15 to 3.

Cool... I just biked across Italy in the fall. Cycling will strengthen you calves... but you again are locked into a single track of motion... thing with snowboarding is that your ankles take a lot of twisting and diagonal pressure that you don't get in cycling.I still think it's an ankle strength issue as I'm not convinced your going that fast.

Yes, it sounds like your ankles are weak. While not the same as hardboots and plate bindings... a pair of Salomon F22 and Cartel bindings should give you plenty of support unless you are cranking really hard, fast carves.Instead of covering your "Achilles heel" with plastic armored boots and metal bindings... first try instead to get rid of your weak point entirely. A simple exercise is the "Ankle Alphabet". Simply raise your leg and "write" each letter of the alphabet in the air with your toes by flexing and rotating your ankle. This can be done anywhere at any time so no excuses. Once you can do that without tiring... do both upper and lower case. That should make your ankles plenty strong.

I am aware of how step-in systems work and the benefits of boots with a highback and boots without a highback... I learned on Clicker (no highback) and after a few years switched to Clicker HB (highback) for a few more years before I switched to strap bindings.Again, my opinion only... but I don't think adding a third strap will be as great as you hope... but definitely go try it. It's already been tried before several times and while some people like it, it isn't hugely popular. I modified my bindings using a booster strap as the third strap on my strap binding a few years ago as well... was a little more responsive... but totally not worth the hassle in my opinion. In the end, I found using a third strap to improve toeside turns to be like trying to lift yourself up by your bootstraps (better ways to do it). Like I said in the previous post... the way you get instantaneous reaction is a stiffer tongue (either stiffer softboots... or ahem... hardboots). A stiffer boots also reduces stress on the lower legs (as does increasing your strength).

Right... but why do you want to merge the highback and the boot the first place? To me (no expert), the purpose of the higback is to act as a lever on the board for heelside turns. For toeside turns, the power comes from the boot stiffness where the tongue of the boot act as the lever and the highback doesn't really come into play. This is why step-ins and hardboots don't require any straps at all... the stiff boot tongue is a more efficient means of transferring your energy to your toeside edge.

That sounds like just crazy talk... adding a strap to a strapless step-in binding but hey... it might work.Like most people born less than half a century ago... I don't see the minor increase in support that 3-strap bindings give you as worth the hassle. A good modern binding (Nideckers, Catek Fr2, Flows), with good stiff boots, and good strong legs will work a lot better in my mind - just like a pair of trekking poles (while not as stable or supportive) will help you hike a lot better than a cane or a walker.

I am 5'9" 145 lbs. I went to Woodlands and Edgemont High School (cross-registered). Yes, what I usually do is just key an eye out for deals... if it's 40% off or more and a good fit for my size... I just go ahead and get board since I can sell it for about the cost of a demo. For alpine gear, there is always a lot of stuff available because there are so many people who buy multiple brand new custom / metal boards ... run out of money and then are forced to sell off their gear fast. Their financial irresponsibility is to our benefit

Since you are on the East Coast (I grew up in Westchester) where the trails are narrower and more crowded. I would not go longer than 182 for the Tankers. I had the 04/05 Rad Air Tanker 172. The newer Tankers are a little different, but all of them tend to be quite damp, which lets you ride the same way in all snow conditions. Combined with the added length, you could laser down the hill. One thing I missed was the lack of pop in the tail for trampoline like edge changes and ollies off of rollers. Another board to consider is the the Rad Air Reto Lamm LSD 164. THAT board is a carving machine and has a TON of pop in the tail. I had the 2002 Donek Incline 155 and the 2004 Donek Phoenix 155. The Incline was a carving machine... very lively, very stiff. It was excellent on firm hardpack... less friendly on wet/soft snow and terrible in powder (due to narrow profile and stiffness). Phoenix is much more powder friendly, but still a little too lively in bumpy conditions for my taste (transmits all the bumps and jolts into your legs where as the Tanker and Madd soak that up). I had the 2005 Madd TT158. I liked it a lot. Best ice edgehold. Very damp with very good pop in the tail. A little less powder friendly than the Tankers. Actually my favorite of the three as it was more maneuverable than the Tanker, with a mellower flex than the Incline, and yet more stable than the Phoenix. This probably more of a Goldilocks thing as it just happen to meet my personal preferences the best. Here's a summary Ice grip: Madd > Donek / Tanker Dampness: Tanker / Madd > Donek Stability: Tanker > Madd / Incline > Phoenix Pop: Madd > Donek >> Tanker Liveliness: Donek >> Madd / Tanker Stiffness: Incline >> Tanker > Madd > Phoenix Maneuverability: Phoenix >> Madd > Tanker > Incline Powder: Phoenix > Tanker > Madd > Incline

The Ride Timeless was a decent board, it is a bit damper and smoother than the Phoenix, but the Phoenix has superior edge hold, better manueverability, better float in powder, and does feel a lot lighter. The Timeless was replaced by the Ride Concept TMS.I haven't ridden the recent Custom or Custom X but I have a hard time believing it would have better edge hold than the Phoenix. It might be as maneuverable. The X will be stiffer. I dislike the 3D pattern. I have yet to hear knowledge people gush about the Custom or Custom X much. I personally would still go with the Phoenix.

Yea, the main good thing about the Malamutes is their stiff flex. You are on the right track with trying to get some bootfitting done. Some things you could try1.Replace the liner with an Deeluxe heat moldable liner (better than Salomon's) 2.Replace the liner with a Zip-fit foam liner, my bootfitter at Elite Feet said he did this for a guy in stiffer soft boot shell and the guy really liked it. Either of these won't fix the fact they don't fit your FLOW binding well. As a final alternative... you could try on a pair of Nitro Darkseids... they are about as stiff as the Malamutes, but have more contour in the liner to help lock down your heel. I have the Nitro Team TLS (slightly softer for freestyle), and I like them better than my Malamutes. I don't know what stores are near you, but you can order them at backcountry.com and return them if you don't like them (you can even return them after using them on the mountain). Go to backcountryoutlet.com for cheaper price AND to read some reviews on them (notice that the two reviewers compare Nitro to 32 and Salomon).

What year Forecasts did you ride? I had the 2005 Forecasts and they are only average stiffness. The Malamutes are much stiffer (I rode the 2006 model). If you have *really* skinny ankles try the Nitro Darkseids (I have the Nitro Team TLS and there are above average stiffness, and very good for skinny ankles... better than Salomon or 32).

I don' think you understand. The screw is intact, I'm using the screw extractor to grab onto the T-nut. Unfortunately, the screw is do deep into the nut, that I can't stick the bit in through the other side enough to get any purchase.Did you replace the T-nuts on your Stratos Pros (what year are they?)

Hi, I'm having a lot of trouble getting out a screw to install my Intec heels. I found this thread a few weeks ago and actually got a hold of Scott Firestone's screw extractor (we live near each other). Problem is the screw is in the nut so deep that the extractor can't get in the other side enough to get any grip on the bolt. I tried getting a wider bit, that didn't work. I tried a pair of vice-grips, that didn't work. I took it to a ski shop and the shop tech couldn't get it undone. He suggest (cautiously) to use a dremel tool to cut a notch in the bolt and then use a flathead screwdriver (although it would be hard to fit the dremel in there). Any other suggestions?

That's CRAZY talk!

My friend started making these in '97.Started over ten years ago, eh? It's battle of the vaporwares!

I think there might be some confusion (well at least for me) between liveliness and pop. For me pop is the amount of energy return the board has when it snaps back after being flexed. For me the Madd Freeride and the Rad Air Reto are damp boards (much of the vibration/chop is absorbed by the board) but they have a lot of pop (trampoline like edge transitions, huge ollies). In contrast a Tanker is very damp, but doesn't have a lot of pop to it. Lively is more of a general feel of energy return - giving you a lot of feedback out the snow you are riding over (you can feed every little bit of the snow). I would describe Donek (without olympic construction) as a lively board. Just my thoughts.

Apparently F2 didn't ship them to US this year (I have no idea why not). I think I may have a set that I can use for myself. Here's to hoping.