Jack M

You will have no trouble at all laying out long low carves with the 3 degree discs. Cants and lifts, when set up properly for you, can only help you achieve your best. Here's an article on cants and lifts: http://bomberonline.com/articles/canting.cfm

can't respond fully right now, but you may find some help in these practice drills: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/practice_drills.cfm

That's almost as stupid as $5000 fly rods. fools and their money. btw, sniping is the only way to shop ebay.

go to our front page and check out the Welcome Center. Bomber does a great job selling boots, letting you try them on and return them if they don't fit. otherwise, if you have to be able to use your boots for skis as well, check out Dalbello. I can't recall the model name at the moment, but it's the one that was designed by Glen Plake, and is basically a new version of the old Raichle Flexon.

D-Sub, you sound like you don't realize the guy actually said he had a bomb in his backpack. When he announced this, they escorted him off the boarding bridge and told him to lay on the ground. He then reached into his backpack and that's when they shot him. What more do you need? They did the right thing. The only thing to feel bad about is that his wife was married to a lunatic. http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/07/airplane.gunshot/index.html

you got it.

Cant. Canting the rear binding towards the toeside edge by a small amount, in addition to heel lift.

Yes, excellent point, I will put that in there. Glad you liked the piece, thanks!

Shred must be bidding!

Yes. I can't stand having both my legs tilted forwards by the forward lean built into the boots. It is a really unnatural position for me - one that puts my lower body in a constant state of stress. With toe/heel lift I can relax and be loose. Did you have a chance to read the article Sean? I briefly discuss riding flat in the article.

I deeply regret not snowbumming for a year. I figure I'll just have to bust my ass and put myself in a position to be able to pay for a lot of mountain time. However I would have only snowbummed for one season. I have two good friends who snowbummed in Tahoe, caught the fever, and lived in that neverland for 4 years. For one of them, it basically erased his entire college education. He can't get a job now in the field he studied for. The other guy is 31 and is basically at a point in life where most 27 year olds are.

you would probably get some use out of them, but they will break eventually. At 220#, you'd be pushing your luck, imo. And besides their inferior strength, they are basically featureless.

http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/practice_drills.cfm

buy yourself a beer and pretend it's from all of us!

Agreed. I haven't checked my other articles, but I don't believe I've said that. It's just that when you ride with your knees purposefully stuck together (for style, or because you think it feels good) the fact is that you've got a way smaller triangle of support (front leg, rear leg, snowboard) that also has a reduced range of motion. Actually this is one rare case where there is a distinct right and wrong. That person will enjoy themselves even more with their knees apart. Unless they are naturally very knock-kneed. You don't see skiers skiing with their legs pressed together like <a href="http://www.viamagazine.com/images/articles/stein00_1.jpg">Stein Eriksen</a> anymore either, for the same reasons. Quite possibly. Try it. I personally don't like it. Again, quite possibly, try it. I like outward cant on the back foot for the effects it creates on toeside. It moves your knee to the inside of the turn where it is more <i>under</i> you. I feel more stable and better balanced that way.

Sure, your suspension still works - you can still bend your knees of course - but you aren't nearly as <i>stable</i> with your knees jammed together. Does this look stupid? http://www.bomberonline.com/JackM/jm_images/v.jpg

This was an old article of mine at SOL/TWS. I've brought it here and updated it. If you've been wondering about Cant and Lift, or have been hesitant to fiddle with your bindings, hopefully this article will shed some light on the subject for you. Also the article discusses outward cant. Hope you enjoy it! http://bomberonline.com/articles/canting.cfm

Thanks for the input Allen. We actually have a FAQ ready to roll. Just waiting for the next big update.

If we segregate Gear and Technique into different forums, what will become of the "main" forum (Carving Community)? I think it would spiral into a chaotic and useless mess. We all come here mainly to discuss <i>carving</i>. Gear and technique are the meat and potatoes of the carving discussions that go on here. Personally, I think the technique threads are the most interesting, and often it is the newbie posts/questions that spark the most useful, information packed discussions that add a ton of value to the CC. If you really want a response to your post, you are welcome to bump it. And if you're looking for something specific, try the search function. The BOL Carving Community is a great place for a reason, I say let's not mess too much with success. The forums proposed above appear to me to be a complete dissolution of the Carving Community as we know it. The Ride Board is coming. Soon. Also a forum for racing-specific discussion. The only other forum I think could be useful is a resort review/discussion forum, but perhaps that will be covered by the Ride Board. (?)

Oh. Right then. Umm, fancy a pint?

What the hockey puck truck are you talking about?? A proven liability? I've only witnessed success with the toes/heels-on-the-edge starting point, given a reasonable match between board width and foot size. ps - kjl, bring back Optimus Prime!!

Bob: "So, if the boot cuff flex is linear with heel/toe, [...] wouldn’t the force exerted on the side of the boot cuff extract more leverage?" I really don't think so - your calf muscles make up the difference and then some. Do a little experiment. Go outside and do a 25 yard dash and time yourself. Then do it again without letting your heels touch the ground - run like a cheetah, all on the balls of your feet. I guarantee you will be faster. There is a similar advantage to using your feet/ankles/calfs while carving. Ignoring your ankles means you're doing more work moving your hips and shoulders over the board. But as several people have noted, there is a balance point where ankle action and body alignment are optimized, which is why we don't all carve at 0/0. This point may or may not fall with your toes/heels on the edge of the board. But starting with them there is a good idea, especially if you don't know where to begin. With Sean's and my own empirical evidence, I stand by that recommendation. Myth... harrumph! I'm afraid my articles have given you the wrong impression that the ankles aren't part of the equation and it's all hip to hip leaning. I wrote many of them at a time when asym boards and heel-to-toe asym technique were still popular, so I emphasized the benefit of lateral hip movements, perhaps at the expense of giving the ankles thier due credit.

Bob, meet me out by the bicycle racks after school. I'm going to kick your ass. :D

JJFluff - what I believe you are describing are "cross-over" edge changes. There's more than one way to change edges, and cross-over is the least efficient.

Sorry, my "side note" was a tangent, I shouldn't have mentioned it. But my point is that the force applied to the board by your ANKLE <i>does</i> change with binding angle. At 90 degrees your ankle can apply no force to the edge.