JohnE
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Posts posted by JohnE
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A link to my eBay sale of some Nidecker Supermatic bindings:
If the link doesn't work the item number is: 155349007973
Thanks
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Great day yesterday. Cold (~9 deg). Good groom with some recent light snow & blow-in.
Normal mid-week crowd is mostly older skiers. Yesterday seemed to have a lot of younger skiers & boarders.
Started with a few on Firebowl / Turtle Creek. Over to Roulette for a run. Second ride up we saw a pair of young boaders straightlining Roulette. So, over to #4 then to #8. Crowd was smaller and seemed to be more in control. Did a bunch of runs under the lift. Some very nice mixed powder runs. Did a bunch on Chet's. Not recently groomed but in very good shape.
Bailed out down Face. This sucked but it sucked just a bit less than going back over to #4.
Love my new Flux!
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Nice style! Who was doing the filming (skier, boarder)?
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I only have 2 days (about 30 runs) on these. All in ~10 deg F conditions. No icing / freezing conditions.
I did have 2 issues yesterday:
1) For the first 2 - 3 runs I couldn't get my rear boot locked in. I had the highback adjusted all the way forward. I re-adjusted the highback to a more neutral position and then had no problem locking in.
2) I had one instance where the stirrup piece that goes under your heel got caught between the heel edge of my board and the highback. I couldn't get the binding open. I had to kick the stirrup forward and was then able to get the binding open.
Once I was locked into the bindings they performed perfectly. I never detected any boot out on either toe or heel.
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Ii did something similar by cutting a ski pole down to about 28" and putting a crutch tip on the end. Haven't tried it yet.
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1 hour ago, David Kirk said:
Cool - are you running the front binding flat or do you have some toe lift?
dave
I'm on soft boots so there really isn't a way to do toe lift. Right now I'm running about 30 deg F & 5 deg R.
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21 hours ago, David Kirk said:
Does your front knee hurt mostly while sitting on the lift or does it feel strained while riding?
dave
I think I notice my front knee when I exit the lift and have to ride some distance on my front leg only until I have a chance to engage my rear boot. The place I usually ride has about a 50' downhill offramp until I can buckle in. That's where I notice it the most.
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RocketMan69 went up today and said the place was swarming with stem-christy type skiers, most of the runs weren't groomed and the cold winter storm was moving in. I expect the week between Christmas & New Years will be full of OklaKanBraska skiers. I cracked my wrist last Thursday so I'll likely be out for a while.
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Do you find that your front knee takes more of a beating than your rear?
When you arrive at the lift, you take your rear boot out of the binding and skateboard to the lift. Once on the lift your front leg (knee) takes the load of the board all the way up the lift. When you get off the lift you ride on your front leg alone until you are able to put your rear boot back in the binding.
Now wonder my front knee hurts more than the rear.
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On 11/27/2022 at 12:26 AM, andygere said:
I spent half a day on the Supermatics and here are my impressions. I was riding a Rossi Sushi, on groomed packed powder at Kirkwood. The bindings were easy to set up, and my back foot snapped in easily and precisely every time. In terms of riding, they felt firm, precise and comfortable. They felt as good as any other binding I’ve ridden, but remember I was riding a short powder board on groomed conditions. I did have a minor mishap on the chairlift, and lesson learned. I used my back foot to clear some snow off the deck of my board, and in the process I inadvertently depressed the release on the front foot. My forefoot stayed in the binding, and I was using the leash provided with the bindings, so there was no real risk of the board dropping. I was able to get my front foot clicked back in, so no issues getting off the chair, but I did learn to avoid kicking around on the deck while riding the lift. Overall I really like these bindings, and look forward to trying them on one of my Burton Customs or my Coiler BXFR to see how they work for more aggressive riding.
Does anyone else have any direct experience with this binding?
After more consideration I think my biggest complaint is that to get out you have to squat all the way down to depress the release lever with your rear index finger and at the same time pull your rear foot up & out of the binding. You can't just reach down, release the lever and then stand back up and pull your foot out. For me this is a difficult maneuver and puts a lot of strain on my front knee.
Other perspectives are appreciated.
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Wow Bob - you have quite the life! Keep posting!
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First day of the season yesterday for Gregory (RocketMan69) and me. Did not expect much. No new snow for some time and predicted cold & windy.
5 degrees in the parking lot. We got out on our new Donek Fluxes - each with new bindings.
We did a lap or 2 on Mambo & then saw that Ptarmigan was open. The snow was much better than expected. Pretty firm, dry and chalky. We did about 15 runs between 9AM and about 12:30PM when we were both toast. We did about 5 on Firebowl, 5 on Roulette (including at least 2x non-stops) and the rest on Mambo and one on Dueces (a mistake).
We didn't have to wait for openings. It was mostly openings with the occasional skier as an exception.
Had a great time. The carving was wonderful. Gregory is convinced it is the new board. I'm thinking it had more to do with the conditions. The difference between my new Flux and my 4 year old Flux is pretty subtle. But the new one has a tighter SCR and I do believe it carves a tighter turn.
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My review based on my first day on Supermatics.
I'm comparing these to the previous generation of Flow NX2-CX semi-step-in bindings - not to any traditional 2 strap binding. I have not ridden a traditional binding in many years.
I LOVE my year old NX2-CXs. They are easy in / easy out and support very well. To get in you slide your foot in from the rear, lift the highback and close the lever. Getting out is the reverse. Quick, easy & straightforward.
The Supermatics on the other hand just require you to step in. The downward motion closes the highback automatically. However, I can't feel or easily hear the click that signals you are locked in. On more than one run I started down the hill and found that my rear binding wasn't closed. I had to stomp in to make sure it was closed. There is no doubt with the NX2-CXs that you are locked in.
I've also run Intech (Fintech) bindings with hardboots. With those you can normally hear and feel the pins locking into the heel receiver.
When riding the Supermatics, they seemed about as supportive as the NX2-CXs. Maybe just a little bit less supportive because of the way they grab your boot but I would have to ride them some more to be sure.
At the end of a run to get out of the NX2-CXs, you flip down the lever & highback and get out. To exit the Supermatics you have to reach down to a lever near your rear foot instep and push the lever down. This is not a big difference but having to reach down to the bottom of your calf compared to reaching down to your instep is the hardest part of bending down - maybe and additional 10" - 12" reach.
Also, you can only pull your boot out of the binding while you are pressing the lever down. You can't press the lever down, let go and then pull your boot out. So you have to squat down, push & hold the lever down and pull your boot out before you stand back up. Maybe not an issue if you are in your 30s but it does make a difference when you are in your mid-60s.
So, I've only given them one day (about 15 runs) so there may be some amount of creating some muscle memory.
But, at this point if I could snap my fingers and transform my Supermatics to NX2-CXs, I probably would.
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I can't imagine there would be any rules against wearing a high-visibility vest. I too try to wear bright colors. However, as others have noted, even if you are seen by a careless person, it won't make any difference.
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I think this was discussed some years ago but I'd like to revisit this.
I think many of us go to the same area over and over and ride the same runs over and over.
If so, do you find that you start the run at the same location and on the same edge and with the same turn cadence and turn radius over and over? Or do you deliberately vary runs and how you ride those runs?
I think arguments could be made for both cases.
There may be a "best" way to ride a run and there may be a "best way for me" to ride that run.
Alternatively the argument could be made to ride a run differently so you find new terrain, and improve your ability to adapt to varying conditions.
Last season I used the "Ski Tracker" app that overlays all runs throughout the day. I was surprised at how many times I took almost the exact same track down a given run over and over again.
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Bob -
After watching your setup I tried a similar setup of my own. Instead of using leather straps I got some semi-rigid polyethylene straps and bolted them to the highbacks of some older Salomon 2 strap bindings. The straps were about 1" wide by about 1/16" thick.
I bolted them to the highbacks of some older Salomon 2 strap bindings and bolted the highbacks to the heel cup. I tried this on a board for a run or 2. It worked pretty well but I really never gave it a chance. I am spoiled by Flow (now Nidecker) quick entry bindings. I think your solution is well thought out but it does require one to close 2x straps at the top of each run and undo them at the bottom of each run. The advantage of semi-rigid straps is that they retain their approximate shape when disconnected instead of hanging down.
Anyway, ride on and have fun!
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When we get powder in Colorado (not as often as we used to) it is so dry that it doesn't freeze to anything.
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I recall that Sean at Donek told me that a shorter SCR will be squirrely at higher speeds. However, I only want to ride as fast as necessary to carve and I try to always be on edge.
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I got a new Donek Flux with a 7.5M - 9M SCR. This is about 1 meter shorter than my older Flux. I'll see how I like it!
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What is the shortest sidecut radius board that anyone is riding? What is the downside of a shorter SCR?
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Bend it....
in Carving Central
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Odd that many of these "Bend it" photos where the edge is not in contact with the snow appear that the board is being bent severely at the waist - instead of a continuous arc along the length of the board.