1xsculler

Are UPZ RCRs and or Deeluxe 425s too stiff for freecarving?

What makes a Northwave better than a Deeluxe or UPZ?

I learned a lot in my 2.5hr session today. No, I am not laying out Euro or Extreme carves but I did get the tail to follow the nose a lot. I learned that it's ok to scrub off speed with a giant skid to get back to where you can ride the edge. I learned that whether I am in my Sx91s, 325s, 700s, Ultra Prime 69, Coiler Nirvana 172 or et al., it makes little difference. You either bust your balls to ride the edge or you don't. At my stage I must control my speed with the occasional skid in order to get back to the sweet spot for a turn or two. A glass of wine or a good stout beer improves the attitude enough to compensate for what loss of balance and coordination one may suffer. More determination is the net result for me. Angles, cants, lifts etc., just ride. Most fun I've on a board since 2005.

I'll trade you a 3-hole for your 4-hole.

I will have a nearly new pair of black Deeluxe T325s in size 28 with no liners for $250 plus $30 for shipping. I have a new pair of UPZ RC8s, size 29, no liners for $350 plus $30 for shipping.

We're having an epic snow season but little rain.

SEJ, I'll take it for $350 shipped to me in Gig Harbor, WA. Send your Paypal email.

That seems like a very good question, Jim. In 2005 I could carve some good pencil line, linked trenches on my Maverick, Alp and SX91s. Nothing serious like on the steeps or anything but, never the less, I had found the sweet spot and then I went back to skiing for ten years. Now I am trying to find my carve again, i. e. get the tail to follow the nose with zero skiddingn before I run out of B-days. IF I can accomplish that trick I want to start coming to Trenchin' conventions so I can hear all about Dick Spector as my role model. I 'd like to break his 86.5 year old age record as a carver. I have thirteen years to go. There's no point in joining you guys until I have a rudimentary carve which I am very close to.....maybe this Friday, next Tuesday or by the time I get back from Whistler the next week. Now to finally answer your question why an Alp over my Coiler? Only because that's the last board I actually laid down carved turns with. Somehow I got this post ahead of Jim's. It should followed his.

What cant or lift might help reduce rear leg quad burning? I have a 6* rear lift. I have 4* of lift in front and my quads feel good there.

Getting off the chairlift is a thrilling experience on my flat boards. I'll post my experience with my Alps Friday afternoon. Thanks for the comments. So I had both Alp 71s stone ground and tuned to eliminate as much of the concavity as possible. One still had .040" in most of the length even though the stone grinding made about 2" flat areas on each side adjacent to the edges. I figure that board is junk. The other one came out to have a .010" concavity so I made a few runs on it last Friday and although is was a little quirky it rode pretty well. I am going to file that .010" out and try it again this Friday. It doesn't turn as easily as my Nirvana Freecarve Balance 172 but it is a little more stable. I went back to my Solomon SX 91 ski boots for this morning and if there's any difference between them and my 325s I would say I can apply more edge pressure with the SX91s and thery're more comfortable. The sole length is the same so I can interchange both boots on Burton Race Plates with no overhang and no adjustments. Since I can't fit intec heels to the Solomons and since I like the convenience of stepins I will probably keep boarding in the 325s using my TD3s or F2 Titanflexes.

What are the specs of the old Maverick Purecarve 175? Anybody have a good one for sale?

After my original post I started thinking about this issue more seriously and decided to take measurements with the following bindings off their boards and on a verified 0* surface: Burton race plates, TD3 stepins and F2 Titanflex stepins. I have four electronic digital levels all reading to 0.01* and I verified them against one another to be accurate. With stepins there is some space between the bottom of the heel of the boot and the binding but I found it to be only a few mm and when pushing down on the boot, as if I was standing in it, the gap closed. The Burton race plates are, of course, flat. Both the F2s and the TD3s have a 1.4* toe lift built in and only changing out the toe piece, if there are thinner ones available, could the binding be zeroed out. So, considering the TD3s, I thought I was riding with a 3* front foot toe lift as I was using a 3* cant disc but I was actually riding with a 4.4* toe lift. On my rear foot I had to insert a 5/8" shim under the heal stepin piece and use a 3* cant disc to get 6* of heel lift. If I had a 6* cant disc, which would compute to 6* minus 1.4* = a 4.6* heel lift, I would have to add a shim, the thickness of which I don't yet know, under the heel to get an actual 6* of heel lift. Considering the F2s, if I use the thickest black plastic shim (about 1/2") that comes with the bindings under the heel of my back foot I get only a 1.3* total heel lift. I'd probably have to add a 1/2", or so, shim under the heel piece to get close to a 6* heel lift. When you mount your rear Burton Race Plate on a 6* cant you actually get 6* of heel lift. Upon further examination I found that there is a 1.3mm space between the heel of my boot and the SI binding so my calculations need to be adjusted slightly. Stupid, definitley, but I found the exercise interesting as people do seem to pay attention to these angles, especially me at this time in my learning curve as I am always looking for some excuse as to why I am not finding the sweet spot more easily. I can't blame it on myself... it must be the setup is incorrect, right?

When using a 3* cant disc I actually have over 4* of toe lift when measured by my digital level as it appears there is over 1* of toe lift built into the binding. My rear binding has a 3* cant disc and I placed a 1/2" thick lift under the heel which still gave me only about 4* of heel lift. Adding another 1/8" shim brings heel lift up to 6*. Using just a 3* cant disc with my rear binding actually produces only about 2* of heel lift. Is this what you guys are finding?

During the past sixty years of skiing I generally owned one pair of skis for several years and then bought a new pair never to go back to the old ones. It seems like every hard boot carver, including me, owns at least a half dozen boards. Why do most of us own so many boards?

Donek Free Carve still for sale...price? Shipping to WA USA?

Mistake

I am 189cm tall and weigh 68kg so I think I should ride a 175S. What''s the vintage, condition and price of your 175M?

Want to buy a Swoard 175 S.

Anybody here have any experience with the Deeluxe liners that are used for half sizes, i.e. 28.5, etc? I'm familiar with the 131 and 141, full size heat molded liners but I'm curious about the half size liners. They appear to be partially lace-up. They call them a Normal Lacer liner vs. a 131 or 141 Palau Thermo liner.

My foot measures 28.2cm. I cannot cram it into a 27 and a 29 is a little too roomy. I have achieved a pretty good fit in Deeluxe 325s, 28, with an intuition liner. My toes are a little cramped but are feeling better with each outing. My question is concerning the 131, 28, Thermoflex liners that came with the boots. When I slip my foot into these liners my toes are very, very cramped and i am postponing heating them up as I can't imagine the length of the liner stretching enough to ever accommodate my toes. Can the length of these liners, or 141 Palaus, be stretched significantly when they're heat molded?

sold

Getting off the chairlift is a thrilling experience on my flat boards. I'll post my experience with my Alps Friday afternoon. Thanks for the comments.

I try to go to Crystal early on Tuesdays and Fridays, being one of the first ones on the lift, banging out fifteen runs on Forest Queen and heading back home to Gig Harbor so I can get a 7k training row in the afternoon. I always change something for each day, i.e. angulation, lift, cant, board, bindings, etc. and I do feel I am beginning to sneak up on dialing in some carves. I'm having one heck of a good time and I am absolutely determined to learn to link nice big carved turns on Queens or Quicksilver.

Let alone coaches, how many hard boot snowboarders are there at all? I've been up to Crystal Mt, WA numerous times this year and I have never seen another hard booter. I know I'm on my own and I am beginning to get back to a decent carve I had ten years ago but it comes down to personal trial and error accompanied by help from the people on this forum.

Jack, From your experience how do you think it will work out? I'm having both of my Alp 71s tuned and will try them out on this Friday. Would you suggest I take one of my flat boards along incase the concavities in the Alps cannot be reduced enough and they're not fun to ride? I would appreciate your opinion.