Corey

Change the question slightly: why go on blue runs? You can get going just fine on green runs. ;) Blacks here are generally just narrow blues, though there are some genuinely steep runs. I really enjoy the challenge of trying to carve the whole run in complete contol of my speed.

I am also in one size smaller than my feet measure, after a bunch of heel lift (and Fin!) convinced me to go down a size. I've since learned that I have very low volume feet because I still get a little heel lift even with thermo-molded Intuition liners. It's not my heel lifting in the liner, it's the liner lifting in the boot. I'm at the smallest/tightest ankle strap setting on Track 700's and could use a little more. Note that the longest part of your foot (when measuring) isn't the same part that hits the boot when you slide it forward in the empty plastic shell. For me it's the edge of the big toe and the 4th/5th toes that touch the plastic. If someone's foot was exactly the same shape as the toe box in the shells they could probably wear a full size smaller again. If your toes were closer to square you'd need a bigger shell.

Note the smiley at the end: ;) It was a joke based on this picture: http://aresolution.se/td3.JPG

That is one _W_I_D_E_ board that they're mounted on! ;)

A high-speed quad on a 330' hill? I'm envious. Seriously, I have a 7 minute lift ride on a 350' hill, then about 45 seconds to 1 minute down. http://www.frostfireskiarea.com/images/frostfire_trailmap.pdf or http://www.holidaymountain.com/libraries/misc/Trails.jpg I probably get a few extra runs a day with step-ins. [on-topic]FinTecs make every step-in a pleasure. ;)

The Power Wrap liners are vastly different from the Alpine ones. The Alpine ones have almost no stiffness at all. You can walk around in them out of the boots and barely know you have anything on your feet. I assume the Freeride ones use softer foam again. No idea on these new ones, but it's great that they have 3 thicknesses!

+1 on all the nice things being said about FinTecs. Very positive step in action with the TD3 steel receivers on my TD2 bindings. The heel pads are much harder than I was expecting, they're about 20x (unscientic guess) than the Bomber replacement toe/heel pads. They should wear well but are a little slippery on hard surfaces. You can actually feel that the rear edge of the pad has been extended rearward, walking feels more natural. There haven't been many pictures of these beauties so I snapped some. Highlights General pictures on boot: http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/01.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/02.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/03.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/04.jpg Replaceable heel pad: http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/05.jpg It has a lip all around that slides into a groove in the heel to ensure it doesn't come off, quite a nice little detail! The screws just keep it from sliding rearward out of the groove. http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/06.jpg Internal guts: http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/07.jpg (the 'fuzziness' is lube, they really filled these puppies up with some slimy stuff to prevent any future friction issues!) http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/11.jpg The FinTec cover with cable guides, extra reinforcing rib between cable guides: http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/08.jpg Regular F2 Intec heel for comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/09.jpg http://members.shaw.ca/ckdyck/fintec/10.jpg On the whole, these have the same fanatical attention to detail and utilitarian simplicity that Bomber is famous for. Love them!

You know you're tough when you can wear boots that have "warrior princess" in the description and no one calls you on it.

What was the fix? Shorten the toe bail a bit?

I'm not interested in a credentials pissing match. If you have space for a 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm block of material that is going to have an unknown load on it, would any grade of plastic be able to sustain a higher tensile load than 6061-T6 aluminum? Would an ambient temperature of -30F change your answer?

+1 on that advice! I had similar issues at SES, Sean Martin passed on that little tip that made a world of difference. Getting that next turn started early, high, and hard really controls speed. It also helps you think about making full "C" turns instead of a lazy "s" where you're not going across or even up the fall line between turns. For me this was a breakthrough as most local hills aren't steep enough to require much speed control, this wasn't a skill I needed to develop until then.

No need to get so stressed. (pun intended :p) I know you have a lot of plastic/composite experience. Maybe you missed the "for a given shape/dimensions" part. I don't debate that an aluminum part can be replaced by a plastic part and do the same or better job but usually the plastic part gets bigger, has a thicker wall thickness, etc. This comes down to tensile yield strength - aluminum has yield strengths varying from 14,000 psi for the lowest grades to stuff that's stronger than low-grade steel. A typical Nylon 6/6 tensile strength is 6,500 psi. Polycarb starts at around 9,000 psi. To take the same number of pounds of load, the area has to increase when the yield strength is lower. The Intec standard has a fixed amount of area to work in. If you can't make the plastic part thicker or larger, an aluminum part will be stronger in that application.

For a given shape/dimension of a part, aluminum will be stronger than plastic. There's no debating that. To the OP, you can also file the edges of the pins on the face that contacts the ramps. I was a little surprised to see the sharp corner on the pins when I first got my Intecs. I filed it so that there was a relatively flat surface with nicely rounded edges right where it contacts the ramps on the receiver. It makes for buttery smooth step-in action and a lot less receiver wear.

Don't span the two bindings! You'll put a huge amount of stress into the inserts and dramatically affect the stiffness between the bindings. You could go as long as you want though as long as there's a gap between the plates. This will still affect the stiffness, but only a fraction as much as connecting both bindings.

It's definitely the user's responsibility to ensure the pins are fully engaged. I look for pin engagement on the front binding - that's not very easy with the rear binding. After stepping in, I jump and then wiggle that knee from side to side quite hard. If both pins aren't engaged they'll certainly pop free with this. I do this just as I'm starting down the run so it doesn't actually take any longer.

This would put the bails at a funny angle where they meet the boot. Not to mention that it could possibly weaken the bail terribly if you put any nicks or sharp corners into it. It looks like you need to turn both the heel and toe blocks around 180 degrees. This means you will need to remove the blocks to change your binding angles and the hard bail stops don't work any more. :( EDIT: Oh crap, I forgot that the TD3 bail receivers sit in channels on the base plate. Turning it around gives the problem like you showed in your third photo. :( :( You'll need Bomber's help once they're back from holidays.

My guesses with zero inside knowledge: -Thinner base plate for added flex at the expense of durability -Thicker e-ring Maybe both. :)

Krazy Karpets (thin plastic sheets) are cheap as dirt but don't work at all in soft snow, they're really slippery though! Long wooden toboggans are wickedly awesome as they float on top of soft stuff, but they're expensive. Longer/stiffer is better for powder, if it's hard anything that's smooth will work. I assume that a piece of 1/4" plywood cut about 12" wide and 5-8' long with a couple Krazy Karpets attached to the bottom will be fun. Making an upturned nose will be a challenge. Put some ropes along the sides to hold on to, and some kind of leash is nice if the hill is long. You can wax wood, but it soaks up a lot.

I loop mine around the toe bail and slide it over to whichever side is closest to the ring.

I agree with the principle - that all skis/boards should have devices to prevent runaway equipment. But the execution is all wrong and completely pointless on a snowboard. One local resort has an employee in each lift line whose only job is to check for snowboard leashes. I actually had a hard time convincing the one guy that my Bomber leash actually was a leash. He had never seen plates before and didn't really understand what he was looking for. Even unclipping and leaving the board dangling from my foot via the leash wasn't enough proof for him. Luckily a supervisor wasn't that far away...

Picture: No car did that! That's a clean fracture at a weld. More details: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/ http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/gondola_collapse_strands_passengers.html http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/36265939.html Dropping 9m (~30 ft) in a gondola would be my definition of a bad day... It's amazing no one was killed!

Fin put rocker in the baseplate? I kid! ;) :p This is really interesting, I'm anxious to see this advancement.

The housing ends above the heel on my F2 Intec heels. Actually it ends above the 'floor' of the boot. The piece with the housing only curves to follow the side of the boot. Even a shifter housing would be better as it's smaller. Or just the plastic sleeve that was used many years ago on bikes to protect paint from the cables.

To take it a step further - Why even have a housing? On a bike you need the housing to take the compression forces along the length of the cable. In hardboots we just pull straight up on the cable and it doesn't make any weird curves. As long as it doesn't cut the liner you shouldn't need a housing at all. Maybe just a teflon coated cable?

I try to control my speed and direction without skidding, but if I get in trouble it's always there to fall back on. It's also fun to play with transitioning back and forth between a locked-in carve and a skid.