Futahaguro

I believe you are speaking of the cant disks, basically imagine a shim that you wedge under the binding. If it is wedged under your toe, you get all toe lift and no inward or outward lean of your foot (cant). Rotate the disk under your heel and you get heel lift, etc.. If you dig around on the Bomber site there is a lot of info on all of this. I read all about it on there and they also have an Excel spreadsheet that shows the degrees of cant depending on how it is rotated. The 0, 3, and 6 are the degrees but they are different disks. http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm

http://www.bomberonline.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=30507 The Bomber store is in the process of making a plate that will fit their TD cant disks but they are not the highest prority so it might be late in the season. The reason I like the idea of these is that Bomber seems to be a good company and there are 3 different cant disks to use and different elastomers versus the Palmer risers that are hard to find. I am not sure how they will be selling them but I would imagine you can find some TD-2 or TD-3 on this forum for a good price so you can hardboot later and then use the cant discs with the adaptor plate for your soft boots. Just an idea.

I will just tell you my experience with my first used stuff that I just got since that may be what you end up doing. I bought a board for $80 from a guy on the forum here, a pair of TD-2 step-ins (SI) for $100, and a pair of Head Stratos Pros for $150 also from a guy on this forum. I had been boarding for 20 years before ever putting on hardboots and I must say, it has been great! I did as much research as I could on the equipment before I looked for it on these forums and elsewhere. Yes, it would be great to get the perfect fit, perfect board, etc. for $1000+ but if you measure your foot very accurately and somehow try on a boot over there, heck even a ski boot from the same manufacturer might give you a good idea, then you will feel better about buying used stuff. Obviously shipping will hurt but then again coming over here and bringing it back with you will be expensive too! If you have been riding for a while you should be able to pick it up but whether or not you will like it I have no idea. Obviously if you can try the stuff before buying it that would be ideal, but this is not always an ideal world. My $.02.

So I took out my Burton Alp 169 with TD2 SI's and Head Stratos Pro boots for the 1st time on Saturday. I read a lot on common setups so I went with 50/50, 3 degree cants shifted for some inward cant and toe lift in front and heel lift in back. I also waxed with SWIX Cera purple(?) for 0-14 degrees or something. I HATE scraping that stuff! The first impression went something like, "Woah, this is as weird as alien sh!t." But after a run or two, I really tried to lay down some toe side carves and then it went something like, "WHOA! I've never done this before???! I've been missing out!" Holy cow that was fun! I met up with Trent there to try his Volkl Cross to see if it was much different than my Ice Rocket but it didn't feel too different. However, going from the Stratos to my 10+ year old Shimano Clicker boots was crazy! Those old things were FLOPPY! I love the control of hard boots! I also pulled off a toe side carve uphill:) That was fun! I cannot wait to go again but weekday sessions are few and far between for me. I also need to work on my "butt-out" but I will just say that I am trying to lay a trench with my as5:biggthump. I was also told about the MES that has happened in previous years and I certainly plan to attend so I can meet the others. See you on the slopes!

Very nice. That place looks beautiful. I have been there once but it was a long time ago. Good editing, nice music, and I love high quality video.

Now that Kieran pointed this out to me I wanted to put my name on the list as a buyer. Any progress on it? I'm sure it is at the bottom of the totem pole. Thanks

Wow, that was fast. Sorry people, didn't do a good enough job searching. Thanks.

So I've been using the search function alot lately looking at softboot carving stuff, cants, etc., and it got me to thinking about how to hook up softboot bindings to a Bomber cant disk. Now, before you flame me for saying you can't carve in softboots, I just watched Sean Martin do it as an advertisement for his plate system:). I was reading about how the old Burton cants fall apart and it is hard to find the Palmer risers, Catek doesn't seem to fill their orders promptly, etc., so I had an idea. Why can't someone make a plate that is very similar to the top part of a Bomber TD series that is as large as the base of a softboot bnding that can then have a single 4x4 pattern in it and then use the same holes in the cant disk to mount it to. If the current TD bindings use just those 3 screws to hold you on the board, I am sure it could hold the soft boot bindings to the board safely. So to try and make my idea more clear, if it wasn't already, it would be elastomer, cant disk, adaptor plate, softboot binding. It would seem to me that it would not cost much at all and would use the same machining that already exists to make the bindings. I know there is not much of a market for it but if someone can make money off of it than it might be worth it. Obviously anyone can roll with this idea:biggthump. Thoughts?

HA! I love it! I don't know what kind of angles you would have on that baby! An Ice Rocket is an Avalanche Ice Rocket designed by Damian Sanders for his boardercross racing. It is a 159 that can really rail. I measured it the other day but forgot the exact specs but I think it was a 129 effective edge, 30 nose, 28.5 tail, 25 waist, 8.2 scr, and pretty stiff. I have had it for years and with my old Clickers I can fly pretty good on it. I need to put a pic on my website so that I can link to it because you can't find a pic anywhere. I do remember to be pressuring the tail alot when I was really going fast and wondering if maybe my stance was a bit back also. That was with my 15/5 angles, my size 9.5 boots do hang but I can dig it in some. At the increased angles my boot tongue started digging into my rear foot so I put them back. Now I think I understand why some people suggest a front toe lift and a rear heel lift for hardbooting. I think I will pull out the new (to me) Alp 69 I got from Joe up in Duluth with some TD-2 step-ins and Stratos Pro this weekend and see how it goes:)

That looks fun! I like the 3-4x speed to get through the slow stuff. Tell your buddies to strap on the helmet cam and film you:) I really need to move to the mounatins.

Don't you just love Minnesota weather?

Thanks everyone, I got some e-mails regarding this so I am excited to try some stuff out at some point. I'm not really looking for a mostly directional carving board, more of something stiff that I can still take some jumps with and with a 24-25 waist so I can use my soft boots. I might retire my old Ice Rocket if I can find something newer that I like.

I'm not as official as some of the other posters with temp, humidity, angle of the sun :), but it was certainly a fun time on Saturday, November 27th. I went from 4 PM to 9:30 PM with my Ice Rocket and the conditions were actually quite nice. Almost all of the runs were open, not saying much, and all of the boarders were at the park . The ice started rearing its head after 8 PM but it was still a lot of fun. I tried putting my bindings at 35/30 for the first time ever and it felt WEIRD. I certainly feel more comfortable doing toe side carves but I need to get used to it before I try any races. It felt great to be out there and I even hit a few boxes and launched some jumps :D. BTW, was there anyone from this forum at Wild that evening? I saw someone in a red jacket wit a helmet on.

Are you talking about Doug and the Virus BX? He replied to me a big ago and I think it would be great to check it out sometime mostly because I never have ridden anything like that before. I will just stick to my Ice Rocket 159 for now and see how I like the BX stuff. Thanks and see you out there some time.

I'm in the same camp except I still use the SST's with my Shimano boots that are similar to the Skylords but are not the Skylords. I looked at the new stuff and it isn't that much different. People say the Nidecker 800/900 are the best freeride soft boot binding, unless you want to try to get the Catek FR2 Pros:) I rented some new decks with bindings a few times and I liked my Clicker setup better but rentals can suck so take it or leave it. If you are like me I am just trying to find a way to justify a new purchase but I keep telling myself that I love my Clickers so why buy anything different. I might buy something when mine break. People always knocked on clickers for jammed up bindings, slop, etc. but I never had any of those problems and I've been using them for 10 years with no problems. I think they give great edge control and, while I don't throw Rodeo 540s or anything but I go pretty big sometimes with no problems. Oh, any I guess the Solomon Malamutes are recommended for a stiff soft boot. My $.02. **Edit - Since you are in the Seattle area I bet there are some demos near you. I would do that before buying anything. Or, heck, find a Craigslist board with bindings and if you don't like it, punt it:) I've seen some nice Prior decks near you, then find some Nideckers on Fleabay or Craigslist, get some closeout boots with a moldable sole and there you go. You could als find some used boots, chuck the liners, and get some thermoflex liners from the Bomber shop.

I just asked someone about this but I thought I would throw out a line to see if there is one out there for me to try. I am looking at the Prior BX and the Donek Saber but I don't know if I really need to drop that much coin on a new board if it doesn't ride much different than my Avalanhce Ice Rocket:) I am open to trying the other ones if someone happens to have them, like Oxess, Kessler, Palmer, etc.. I have hardboots and Clicker softies so if anyone does have one that I can try out I am more than willing to pay for your lift ticket and some beers or something, if you are old enough of course:) Thanks for viewing.

BAH!:( I will be going to Loveland in February but there is no place open in Minnesota so I keep reading this thread! 4 feet, 5 feet, blue skies,

Now that I have a new (to me) hardboot setup I am stoked for this season. I was thinking of strapping on my rock board and going do some hills at my local park to satisfy me a tad! I keep seeing all of the Colorado folk talking about hitting the powder and I want to .

Speaking of oldies, I was just browsing the Craigslist in my area and low and behold one of these pops up, http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/spo/2050104548.html . I'm not Goofy and as much as I would like to start collecting snowboards I really don't need to spend the money. I might have gotten the model wrong. ***Crazy! 2 goofy asyms in my area! http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/wsh/spo/2049938300.html

*Digression*1st, I know it is not a resort but the old adage of 'Ski area' doesn't work anymore. So I could call it a 'boarding area' I guess but what do you call a ski/boarding locale that does not have all of the junk of a resort these days?*End Digression* So, to the point, I will be boarding at Loveland on the 18th-21st of February and was wondering if there is anyone who could hike to the top areas and show me a safe way down. I am not sure which day I will do it because I will be with my wife and she is not good enough to do it. She is not used to boarding 4 days in a row so I am sure I will find some time on my own. I already have the 4pak tickets so no need to point me in that direction. I have been boarding for 20 years and have hiked to the top of Bridger Bowl in Montana so I feel confident that I will be able to make it down most areas. I don't have any avalanche gear, except for my old snowboard:biggthump, so I will need to rent that stuff. If anyone is interested you can e-mail me via this board, it is turned on, with how you would like me to contact you, etc.. As long as you don't take my money and ditch me I am more than willing to pay for your lift ticket. Thanks and I'm really looking forward to the trip!</DIGRESSION>

Minnesota sucks. I should have moved to a state with mountains and snow before I really dug my feet in here.

After 20 years of boarding and never racing I just signed up this year:) Minnesota may suck but it is better than nothing. Gets me really excited to board again. Just waiting for the fake snow to start flying!

I thought I would add a tiptic of sorts that I scanned in on a crappy scanner. 1st pic is 1990 on a Burton Performer Elite 140. Boy were those crappy bindings! 2nd and 3rd are from 1991 on a Burton Air 163(?) which is still in my garage:) The pics were taken at Bridger Bowl Montana, my favorite area. **Edit - BlueB fixed it:) And a fine job at that!

Wee! I think this may make boarding in Minnesota kind of fun again! That video was cool, nice to see the kids doing it and the regular to fakie catch was nice! I just got a Burton Alp 169 from a dude on this forum in Duluth as well as some Stratos Pro and TD-2s from another guy on this board here in the cities. I'm not a piper but I could get 1st in my Masters class most of the time according to last years results:) I'm stoked! **Edit** Do they usually have the courses set up before race day for people to practice on? Even SBX? Any rules that I should watch out for that are not covered in the rules book? I read the whole thing but I just want to make sure there is nothing hiding in there, like what the helmet certification needs to be for BDX or whatever. Thanks.

I plan on entering a few disiplines for the first time ever. I've been boarding for a while though so I hope I don't embarass myself too much.