KB303
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Posts posted by KB303
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No worries!
And indeed! So grateful to have Walker keeping the brand going. It’s a pleasure working with him. Super helpful. -
I sure do! I just got these for my TD3s. Rode them once (last weekend), and they seem to be a bit too much for me. I'm going back to 3*. I will get the new disks in the BP version, though, so unfortunately a trade isn't an option for me. Make me an offer! If you happen to need some 6* BP disks, I have those, too.
Keith
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good to hear. I appreciate your perspective on these. There's certainly a lot I like about them. Just wish I didn't need so much lift. Hopefully these will be a great match for someone.
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Thanks, @Kneel! I really appreciate you taking the time to check this out on your bindings and to provide your perspective.
The F2 lifts on the binding do look great; love your setup. I think with the UPZ RC12 boot, I'm getting pitched a little too far forward even when I lock the forward lean in the most upright angle. I used to ride 3-degrees, but I think 6 is in order with these boots. I'm considering going with a stiffer tongue as well.
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46 minutes ago, Neil Gendzwill said:
You need both the heel and toe pieces.
Certainly. I was just trying one to see what the angle of the screw to the sole block would be like.
33 minutes ago, Corey said:Yeah, you have to shut off the engineering part of your brain.
Phew, yeah, a lot easier said than done in this crazy, hyper-analytical brain of mine. I really appreciate your perspective on this, though, and it's tempting to give it a shot. Also this discussion has been very helpful as I might try this approach with my SG bindings. Ultimately, however, it just makes more sense to me to go with a product that was designed for the need I am trying to meet rather than trying to make this work with the Powerlocks when the modifications seem pretty far outside the intended design of the bindings.
I would be happier if these went to a rider who needs less lift than I do, and I know I would be more comfortable / more confident on bindings that were designed with 6 degrees of lift in mind.
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Good point, @Neil Gendzwill. I hadn't thought of that. Although I just removed the heel piece to set it at a 6-degree angle and see if I could still drop the screw straight down as needed to screw into the plate. Where the head meets the heel piece, there doesn't appear to be enough play there to maintain a flush connection at that angle. Three degrees looks good, as @Kneel confirmed in his setup. But I think six degrees is a bit too much as the head would be at an angle to the sole piece rather than flush with it.
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Hey Kneel, good word. I did run across this fact somewhere, and it's helpful to hear that the protrusion would need to be filed down. However, are there 6-degree F2 blocks? I thought they only went to 3. I'm leaning more towards 6-degrees at this point, probably both front and rear.
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As part of my return back into alpine riding, I'm very much in a mode of trying a bunch of new things. Sadly these bindings aren't right for me. Although I knew the lift was adjustable, I didn't realize they would be quite this flat. Frank said that 95% of their customers ride them in this configuration, which is a flat front (one block under both the toe and heel), and the rear has about a 1-degree lift as best as I was able to measure (one block under the toe, two blocks under the heel). Frank offered to send more blocks and longer screws if I felt I needed them. However I think it would take a fair bit to get to 3 degrees, and I'm now toying around with the idea of a 6-degree lift at least on the front (so considering some TD3s now).
I just have one day on this set. Unfortunately I experimented with too many variables at once, and my stance (and riding) was jacked. I'm guessing that's why the rubber pads on the toe piece incurred some damage because I was trying to steer madly with my feet. Besides that, the bindings and dampening pads are in the same condition as they were shipped. I feel badly about the rubber pads, and just want to recoup some of my money at this point.
Purchased for $392. Selling for $225 including shipping in the US.
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You know me well, @Shred Gruumer!
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These are helpful considerations, @TimW, and makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
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Thanks, all! I’m on the lighter side (140 lbs), so I will give this setup a try and will consider the extra hardware if it seems like it’s needed. I appreciate your experience and insight on this!
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Hey gang,
I didn't find anything when searching for prior discussions on this topic. Due to my placement of the toe and heel sleds on the SG bindings and also my binding placement, the inserts that I would normally use are partially covered by the sled and are very tricky to tighten, and this feels like a risk of stripping the head or cross-threading the screw. Does anyone have any experience mounting the screws diagonally as in the attached photo? This gives me the access I need to tighten the screws appropriately. I can't imagine this would cause any performance or durability issues, but I wanted to see if the community had any recommendations or concerns with this setup.
Thanks.
Keith
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I'll be in touch, @Jack M!
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Ha! Well that makes sense! I'll start pulling something together and run it past you all for feedback and input.
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Hey Shred and Jack,
Just ran across this thread. I'd be happy to help put something together. I take a lot of notes when I'm going through a buying process, and I'm pretty much creating this content right now anyway. I'm getting back into alpine riding after about an 11-year hiatus. As I'm building up my gear again, having a buying guide with a fairly exhaustive (and current) list of links and other advice would have been helpful.
I'm imagining something not quite as verbose as the alpinecarving.com pages, formatted in a more user-friendly way, and containing information like key contacts (if applicable) at the retailer / manufacturer, some key purchasing info (e.g., what is customizable / what is not, best times of year to order, lead times required, etc), and advice like consider this if you are <this type of rider>. I'm sure this could develop into a pretty extensive resource, but we could start with most valuable info first, keep it simple, and add to it as needed.
Anyway, just throwing some ideas out there and happy to offer my time to work with you all to organize and compile this info.
Keith
Riding the Boiler Plate 4mm Lite and getting a lot of heel side rotation
in Carving Central
Posted
I have been essentially working through Mark Fawcett’s Graduated Plate System to work up to the BP. Starting with the Gecko Carve on the GS board (SG Full Race 175), this unlocked a couple breakthroughs for me, namely riding more relaxed (less from the muscles and joints), which allowed me to focus more on my technique. As a speed freak (and you can blame my skiing background as well), my habits / tendencies are to stay near the fall line instead of completing my turn and slowing down. Riding the Gecko finally helped me relax and focus enough so I could work on completing my turns and consistently carve down the blues rather than blasting through 8-10 turns then having to scrub some ridiculous speed.
Switching the Gecko to the SL board (VIRUS SL Hypercarbon 168) also yielded a very intuitive feel and more relaxed riding - that is, less tension in my feet and legs and more fluid in my hard-charging style. After that, switching to the Boiler Plate on the GS board seemed pretty automatic. No adjustment period at all. Except for one weird thing.
Starting with a very slow speed at the top of the hill or on a catwalk, when I put even just a little bit of pressure on the heel side, my back foot seems to shoot forward uncontrollably, causing a big rotation and of course a skid. This caught me so off-guard on the first day, one time I actually looked down at my binding to see if I wasn’t clipped in correctly or something. So bizarre. Also after the first day riding the BP, I concluded I must have been fighting that tendency to rotate / skid on the heel side turns because my back leg and my glute on that side were quite sore. I thought it might have to do with my axle placement. I have a 47 cm stance width, and I initially had the BP axles 56 cm apart. I’ve been primarily using Sigi’s instructions for the SG plate on where to place the bindings relative to the axles. This seems easier for me (and gives me a range to shoot for) than to try to approximate the location of the ball of the foot relative to the axle. So following his instructions, I wanted to make the plate / board less reactive by moving the axles out. Now I’m at 59 cm for the axle width. The center of the front binding is 5.5 cm behind the axle. The center of the rear biding is 6.5 cm ahead of the axle. Sigi’s recommendation is 4-8 cm for the setback (or set forward).
This seemed to help a little, but the rotation is still very prevalent at slow speed, and at high speeds I’m getting some big, skidded heel side turns. Not always, however, so I assume I’m figuring out how to compensate for this rotation, which obviously isn’t a good long term plan.
Sorry about the long history to get to the primary question(s)....
I’m not sure where to begin to diagnose this:
Since there seem to be a lot of different directions that I could go with this, I’m hoping to get some advice from the community to help my trial and error be more focused on likely successful outcomes. Thanks, all.
Keith