Gabe T

Nice vid! Nice camera shots from the front view. What sort of binding mounting system is on the Burton? Didn't think it would be compatible with f2s.

Thanks Hilux. Actually, I don't think I ever tried the original Stubby so I can't give any insight on comparisons. I rode a finished version of this board for the first time at ECES last season and really enjoyed the ride. It didn't last too long in the demo collection as it was snapped up before the end of the session by a happy guy that demo'd the board. :) The board I'm riding here is the identical build prior to the topsheet assembly. The Stubby I tested really excelled in hard, firm conditions. I had a chance to ride it in some gnarly ice at a local hill and it performed extremely well. I'd say of all the Coilers I've tried, this one held as well as any in icy conditions. The board draws some inspiration from some of the recent EC board designs. At 21cm wide, this one was a nice compromise for those that want to dabble with some EC turns but don't want to go too Extreme in the width department. Great for your more conventional freecarving as well! I'm planning on getting one myself for this season with a slight tweak in the stiffness department (slightly stiffer compared to the one I tested) Gabe

Ok, technically this is actually above his garage; a glimpse into where the magic begins! And a little bit of riding as well. A few EC turns on one his latest designs; Stubby Version 2.0. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MId1K-yQ7Qg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Gabe

This will really depend in large part on your boot size. If the goal is to have a set up with as low angles as possible without the threat of booting out, one with smaller boots will be able to set up lower angles. Not sure I interpreted your question correctly. I'm guessing you are talking about an alpine setup based on the 21cm width in your example. I often vary my binding angles depending on the board I am riding. I have not experimented too much with really high angles on a softboot setup. The highest I tried may have been 33 on the front. I think there will be a threshold at some point where too high an angle will result in diminished edge to edge control.

Hi BlueB, Some time ago, you posted some review comments for one of the test boards. You mentioned that it rode excellent in good conditions but felt 'stiff' when conditions were not so good. I can't find the post so I assume it was lost during the website outage a few weeks ago. Can you elaborate? Hopefully you recall this as I can't remember what board you were referring to. Would you say it handled exceptionally well on hard and/or icy conditions but not so well on softer / bumpy conditions? How would you describe the stiffness of the board? Any idea what the sidecut/camber profile was on the board? I've had similar experiences on a board but couldn't quite figure out what was causing its feel; performed exceptionally well in icy conditions which I would correlate with the board having a softer flex, yet when I got it in soft bumps or powdery conditions, the sensation was that the board was not bending that much.

I spent a bit more time on the board this past weekend in some varied conditions. It was generally pretty soft snow but I did find an icy section early morning where it gripped up pretty nicely. Rode some banks and went through some soft moguls and found it pretty maneuverable. Got pretty soft and bumpy by the end of the day but the ride still felt good. It had a nice comfortable flex. When more weight was required on the back to get through soft bumps and corn snow, it had a smooth feathery feel. Easy to slide the board too when required. In good snow as seen in the vid, it was really fun! This board had full carbon construction which gave it that added pop and lively feel in firm conditions. The 26cm might seem a bit wide, but this suited me fine as I really enjoy getting up on edge without threat of booting out. I'm around 165lbs and I found the stiffness just about right for me. Sidecut worked well too. Really nice ride in all conditions! This was a pleasant surprise as I wasn't really expecting such a well rounded ride for a BX board. Here are the specs. Some from Bruce and others were from quick measurements I made, so could be slightly off. Length : 163cm Width: 26cm Taper: 10mm Sidecut; 9/10.5/8.5 (similar to slalom shape)

Stayed tuned on the specs. This is not my board. I believe it's around 164 length, 26 width with about a 10m sidecut. Will post more detailed specs including camber and sidecut details once confirmed. Bruce started building boards late in the season for some local BX racers so I think the board incorporates some characteristics for the discipline. Although, as you can probably tell it made for a pretty fun freeride board! Off to ride now. With some rain yesterday might make for some icier conditions today so will see how it handles. Bindings are Flow NXT AT.

Fresh out of the press! No, not riding duck stance, although all this talk has me wondering what it would look and feel like. :) Hmmm, what angles do you figure they were riding? ... I’m running 30 front/18 back here. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CMziK7kfDZY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hey Tabatha. One day late .... A few of us were out today. Conditions were great, lots of sun for a change! Should be back on the weekend. Made photo of the day too. :) http://www.mountstlouis.com/

Should have told him how you really feel ... I'm looking at a mid week session next week to do some damage. Will let you know once I confirm. :)

If the crack was further down the side of the cover, I would say it's no big deal but this crack looks like it's very close to where the t-nut and screw is located. It might be advisable to replace the cover. You may also want to double check your t-nuts as well. They have a tendency to crack or break on occasion.

When I get on a board for the first time, one of things I naturally assess within the first few turns is its edge hold. Don't see this as a choice but would imagine this should be high on the list for any rider.

email sent

A fellow BOLer (Rob-CanCarve) has some ties with P-Swiss. http://longboardhaven.com/history.html Rob hasn't been active on the forum in a few years but it was nice to see him back on the hill the last couple of seasons.

I shot all the footage (except for the clips of myself of course) chasing with a pole cam and riding my board. I used the youtube stabilizing feature as well for the first time. It did smooth things out nicely while cropping the shots a bit. The raw footage of Bruce at the end were quite shaky as the snow was choppy that day. For the most part, I'm carving as I'm chasing. (I think it would be interesting to actually get a video of this...perhaps next year :)) One thing I noticed is that if I shoot really close while following the same carve line as the rider , it actual has the effect of making the riding look slower. I think it might actually look better if I actually turn less and move the pole more in a right/left motion as the rider moves towards and away from the camera.

Our hill closed this past weekend so that will be it for me. Here’s a vid with shots of the local gang from the past season. It was a good year with some definite improved riding among the gang. Wishing everyone a great off-season! The video includes rare footage of ‘The Black Needle of Death’ in action - test ride by Bruce in some choppy fresh snow. It’s the snow covered board on the chair and at the end of vid … a late season creation with some wacky specs! : 17 / 7 / 17 sidecut radius, 17.5cm wide, with lots of camber and carbon. Yikes! I’m guessing he tweaked every spec to include lucky # 7 to ward off any evil spirits from this wicked creation! Luckily, no casualties during testing … not sure what happened after it got delivered! :D <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qIlnboDtaOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mix of clips riding Coiler EC (172 x 22 x 13/15) and my VSR 173. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0e5RIRYr8Gw?vq=hd1080" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I consciously avoided getting my weight back so it didn't end up feeling too hooky. I set up the binding positions in the same spot as my regular stance and I found myself having to keep my weight more on the forward side. The sensation was that the board felt shorter with the 'nose' on the stiff side.

Ok, not really ... just a Coiler 173 VSR ridden in reverse. (Tail first) So perhaps I was a bit bored and curious at the same time. This experiment was inspired by a potential project I overheard Bruce talking about at a local session a couple of weeks ago. :) <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rW6mvccmQSM?vq=hd1080" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yeah I heard the story from Chris. Bummer. Pretty sure Stewart and Keith will be there both days. Myself as well. I can get stuff back to Dave (Morgan?).

My sources tell me that the inner workings of an intec cannot be converted to have the cable come out the other side without replacing one of the parts. I have always only ridden with one step in and one bail on the front; so I only have left intecs since I'm goofy footed. This topic came to mind after I decided to put one of my spare left intecs on my right boot. This would give me the flexibility to use my setup should I decide to try riding my opposite stance (i.e regular). It would also serve the purpose of always having a spare intec cable handy should I ever have a cable issue.

Was the pull motion any more difficult or was it more a matter of getting used to reaching to a different spot? I took up skiing fairly recently and I recall an occasion where I reached towards my boot for a non existent intec cable at the end of my ski run!

Does anyone use a left intec heel on the right boot or vice versa? (This would require drilling a hole in the opposite side of the boot to fit the cable.) From a design perspective, is there any advantage to have the cable on the outside of the boot? From an ergonomic perspective, it seems like it may work just as well if not better to have the cable on the inside for your rear boot. Given the the correct method to disengage the heel is to put weight on the rear heel prior to pulling the cable, it seems that one would be in more of a balanced position if reaching towards the inside. Make sense?

Message sent. Gabe

as it should :)... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968546,00.html