daveo

='(

Yeah saw that thread. If I can get access to some equipment locally I might try printing my own. I know what sort of cant / lifts I need so it is easy I guess.

I'll definitely do that. Our next trip is planned for next year unfortunately, although she is going in April for 3 weeks. I just did 5 weeks in Japan solo so can't get any more time off =/ I'll be sure to bring my softboot carving board down (up) when I go, though. Provided it is in winter that is.

Yep. Might just wait for the bomber store to reopen I guess. There is something equally as good by the way. Called 'Universal Cant'. Some of the Japanese riders use it.

Great. Might have to visit next time I'm there. My partner is Chinese so I frequent China. Xi'an specifically.

Where in China do you ride? Assuming North somewhere.

I was personally looking at flow nx2-gt. Ridden them?

It's not a topsheet delamination or anything. It is like the clear sheet on top of the topsheet which kind of makes it look shiny. They always peel. ALWAYS dammit.

That's interesting. I'll look into that bindings and boots for research purposes. From what I'm hearing here in Japan the type-r is as close as you can get to an alpine freecarve board on softboots. That is when compared to the other boards from One, Ogasaka, BC, Moss and bx boards don't even get compared as they're a different kettle of fishies. But in saying that I only personally know 8 Japanese alpine riders (two of which softboot carve, also) at my mountain in Nagano. They know a lot more though as I'm just a foreigner here.

Preeeetty sure they're trying to get to the finish line first. If that means to skid a turn then of course they will. From my experience top racers are the top carvers skill wise. They can out freecarve us on any terrain and beat us all through the gates...

One thing I've noticed on every SG ever is the topsheet clear cover thingy always peels. No matter what. On. Every. Single. Board.

Those are some cool photos. Thanks for that! So in these competitions they're not allowed to use hardboots right? Like it's softboot (only) slalom? What sort of bindings and boots are they using generally? Seems like an interesting concept. I wonder if it will take off here in Japan. Doubt it but I hope it does. This sort of competition would be great to increase skill level on softboots, I'd love to give it a shot, even though the race itself is being run on inherently subpar gear for the chosen purpose. The only reason why I did some gate training on my Kessler was to increase my skill level, not to actually race. Yep exactly, they're not bx boards and not meant to be bx boards. That's their whole 'thing', they're made as freecarve boards. Not high speed bx boards. Exactly what my Japanese coach said yesterday at lunch. Don't be mistaken by thinking any of those Japanese 'carve' boards are designed for bx because they're not at all =) In saying that I've recently contacted oxess Kessler and apex regarding some softboot carving boards bring custom. I'll definitely be riding something like this next year at some point.

Interesting regarding softboot slalom. I'd like to see it. Got any videos? Yeah I thought I'd heard someone tell me the Ti was 2 strips and the Type-r was criss cross. Thanks for confirming that. The construction info slash specs are hard to find. I'm keen on the 166 Type-r but I'm also interested in an Apex, Kessler or Oxess. The 172 seems way too big in all respects for me. I am interested to hear your feedback on the SG bx board. Construction issues aren't good though. The guys I ride with all have SGs (full carve 170) and they seem to hold up well. A few here have some softboot carving boards and they're holding up well. But then again I haven't inspected them closely.

What's the difference between racecarving and freecarving? Excuse my ignorance

I've always fancied myself as a master booter

Softboot slalom hey? Interesting because there are heaps of guys who ride grey type-r here but never even heard of or seen softboot slalom. In saying that, it does have a very racey feel. It is generally recommended here (Nagano, Japan) as THE softboot carving board... If you are willing to splash out, of course. The more I've enquired the more this comes up. As far as I'm aware the Desperado Ti has 2 titanal strips up either side and the Desperado Ti Type-R has a criss cross of titanal strips. I'm fairly sure about this but I could be corrected here. And I've only ridden a type-r not regular Ti. What you guys think about a custom or off the shelf from Apex, Kessler, Oxess, SG or F2? Apex had a big following in the Olympics, wonder if they make good softboot carving boards..

Oh OK. My bad. Was under the impression that might matter. Thanks for clarifying that.

I'm all about quality...

See you space cowboy...

I personally swapped my upz liners with Palau hard overlap ones. Maybe I should just stick with this kind in the driver x? Anyone know how high their driver x cuff is? Just worried the Palau overlap might be too high... PS: I sense some jealousy of my stealthily rising girthy internet appendage.

Made me laugh

Just wondering if anyone has decided to switch out their liners in their Driver X for something else. If so, what did you decide on and how did it go? =)

Are there any sites around that anyone knows of that might have stock of power plates? =)

In that case maybe look into getting the 159 soon and figure out logistics later. The shop will hold it for you if you pay. The 159 is half price at the moment because previous/current season stock. Well the 18-19 models are just released now. 88000jpy vs 170000jpy. I'm probably going to go for the 166cm so yeah kind of stuck with the expensive one.

159 has a 143 effective edge... Pretty damn loooong. 160 is the wide version. And effective edge is the same length.