Deuxdiesel

Any idea what the waist width is?

Is there a published (by F2) upper weight limit on these bindings?

I have one of these with Bomber B1's on it, and it does not need anything to be fantastic, other than a younger, more fit rider. There are some limits to ancient equipment though....

I patrolled for almost 20 years at a local area that later became part of the Vail conglomerate. After that we were highly discouraged from curtailing reckless behavior on the hill because it might turn away customers.

I still have my RT 168 GS as well. Don't be surprised how much softer the Concept is than the Volkl. I'm not sure how it will ride with plates, but i would like to hear your experiences with it. Right now these are available at a pretty good discount online.

If it is for use on a heel piece, for sure use something like Super Lube (silicone based, not petroleum).

Permatex anti-seize does the same thing. It prevents galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals (aluminium and stainless steel).

Never used, black tongues. Sized for 25-27.5 shells. Shipping extra.

Does you friend have ski experience? If so, higher angles (30/20) aren't going to necessarily hinder him while he is learning. You might be able rotate the front high back a little, but he will most likely initiate heel side turns by projecting his hips a little more and a little less squatting.

I've had a few hard slams over the years, but other than breaking my wrist in 1984 riding my Burton Performer (slamming on ice because the metal side fins wouldn't let you turn on hard snow), nothing else serious. It's not the years, but the mileage- 10+ years racing, 13 years instructing, 17 years patrolling. Long term the worst thing is how messed up my knees and feet are, having had multiple knee surgeries to keep them going, and how my arches and toes are all funky from years of cramming size 10 1/2 feet into size 9 shells. My feet have retaliated and grown (flattened) out to almost 11 1/2, prompting me to buy larger soft and hard boots, tele boots and maybe even ski boots.

1 pair K2 Cinch, size Medium, early version, dark grey/blue with tan strap padding, regular and offset discs, ridden maybe twice, look almost brand new. $25 plus shipping 1 pair K2 Cinch CTS, size Medium, glossy black, regular and offset discs, used for a few seasons by my wife, good condition, $25 plus shipping 1 pair Flow Gem, size Large, hybrid straps, ridden only a few times, $25 plus shipping Either pair of K2's can come with a size 6/Euro 38 Burton Grom Speedzone (worn only a few times because kids grow so damn fast) or a size 8/Euro 40 Burton Casa (worn two seasons, still good shape) if you want. Flow's can come with Salomon 28.0 freeride boots if you want.

I've always relied on biking hills. Find a long moderately steep road and do hill repeats. It builds great endurance for all-day carving plus cardio.

I started with an Anvil Brand Draft horse wedge, roughly marked it out. Finished (sort of) product. Installed bindings. Rear view. $6 total investment. Once I settle on the angles I will trim out the pad more closely to reduce weight and give it a little cleaner look.

She is fantastic- fell in love when I met her after a Brian Setzer concert last year.

Good to know, thanks. The info I got was incorrect. I did hear back from PHK about their MIX bindings- about $600 USD plus shipping. Yowza.

The Jones Apollo is the same as the NOW O-Drive and about $50 less. Still $50 more than the El Hefe's though. High-end soft binding are sure expensive.

AT boots are very hard to find in my area to actually try on, plus they are very expensive and even harder to find a size 28.5. $600-700 seems crazy to me for boots.

It would keep the toes/heels from sliding sideways in the bindings? Not a necessity, just dismayed with the lack of options, technology and overall value of what is available in modern hard boots.

I have given up on using AT boots for plates and snowboard specific boots are ridiculously expensive for 20 year old technology, so I started looking into modern alpine boots with Grip Walk soles. One that I have considered is the Dalbello Pantera 90 with GW soles. Flex adjustment and walk/ski modes, ramp angle adjustment, plus the soles might reduce the side sliding that normal alpine boots have on plate bindings. There are lots of others out there like this, and the prices are much better than the limited supply of UPZ/Deeluxe boots. Has anyone else tried or looked into this? I have 4 great alpine boards sitting idle because I am in a boot drought.

I have been looking at using these to increase front toe and rear heel rise, but for softies. Anvil Brand offers all kinds of hoof wedges. I am working on using threaded studs in the board inserts and then locknuts on the binding discs. Getting full penetration into the inserts, and maybe even using a mild thread lock fluid, seems to be a good place to start. I will post up pictures if I get it to work.

The grand daddy of today's soft boot carving boards.

I just read a review about one of their boards the other day and the big complaint was that they do not have full wrap edges, so the tip and tail get beat up quickly in lift lines. Maybe they have corrected that?

Drill lots of small holes through the sidewall in just into the core material and fill it with good epoxy (G-Flex)and clamp it inwards as well as between the topsheet and base. You will know you have good penetration when the epoxy comes out of the holes. This will give you a much better mechanical bond than just on the back out the sidewall material.

I keep going back and forth between my Nitro Phantom Carver (light, super comfy, average support) and Flow NX AT's (crazy stiff, heavy, painful). I just cut the fusion strap into upper and lower pieces so I can adjust support better- we'll see how that works. If your boot shape does not match the Flow fusion shape, it's never going to feel great.

To keep the patellar plane roughly parallel, as you increase your angles from 0 you add more rear heel/front toe lift and subtract inward cant. Obviously it is up to individual choice, but it tends to unlock the hips and knees giving you more range of motion.