graham p

Ian, The fit between my bindings and Raichles is such that the toe block can be either slightly loose or slightly tight, I chose to make it slightly tight to err on the side of caution. It almost requires two hands to clamp down the toe lever, when sitting on the ground with both feet twisted at 55deg, both knees bent and one hand behind me holding me up I find I have a hard time geting the required leverage to clamp in with the other hand. It was a bit easier with the Dalbelo's as the blocks could be adjusted to a position that was not to tight or loose. I'm sure that with practice this will get better, but I like the idea of just stepping in and going. Like I said, I'm not as flexable as I remember!

Hi Keyser. The Dalbellos were quite comfortable to wear, they were hard to squeeze into and take off, but once on they gave me no pain during the four hours of riding. They seemed to have some forward/rearward flex but absolutly no lateral flex. My cateks were tilted and canted almost to the limits to put my legs where needed. cruising on the slopes was ok, but when I started traversing rough spots I found that I could not absorb more than one hit before being bucked off, two closely spaced bumps and I was on my ass. The Raichles on the other hand seem to allow my lower legs to absorb the rough, or not even transmit the bumps further up than my ankles. I have been able to reduce the tilt and cant on the bindings significantly, and have been able to widen out to a 510mm width stance from a 480mm. Both feet at 55deg. I have thermal molded foot beds in the Raichles that would not fit into the Dalbellos, both boots are a 26, but like you found out, there doesnt seem to be room for a foot and a footbed in the Dalbellos. Clamping in with both boots was an equally taxing experiance, I don't remember having that much trouble when I was a teenager! Looking forward to the stepins. Chris's Catek experiance was not about being ejected, he actually had a sperical nut fail while riding, the power plate, and bails stayed with his boot, and the base plate and angle plate left with his board. Nothing he could have done to prevent that! Other Catek users i've spoken to have never had a problem. I think it may be prudent to disassemble and inspect this part on occasion.

Hi All. I managed to finally get out on my homey skulls board at fortune last night, all I can say is wow! the board worked! well! I took the time to adjust my bindings, do a couple of runs, adjust some more, and now my stance is dialed in.Now I need to work on my skills and technique. The board handled beautifully. Lino thanks for the boots, I'm completely blown away at the difference between ski and snowboard boots, being the skepticle sort I assumed it was more marketing hype, and people justifying thier $600 expence, but they are night and day to the Dalbellos I tried earlier in the year. I will never go back to ski boots now. Chris, my Cateks held together and show no signs of coming apart, but I probably didn't push as hard as you do. I will be looking them over fairly closely after hearing your experiance with them. I might not ride as hard as you, but I can crash fairly hard. Brian, I need to talk to you about the intec step in parts you have, apparently I am not as flexable as I used to be, the kids on the hill already look at me and my board with odd expressions, I don't need to be flailing around on the ground in contorted positions trying to clamp in. Please send me and email or pm. I'll probably not get very many more days this year out by myself, but maybe I'll be able to meet up with some of you at some point. Later Graham

Hi Lino. Pm'ed you my contact info, I am available to meet up tomorrow afternoon. I'll call in the AM. Graham

Are you riding a white and blue coiler Tabatha? I thought I recognized you this morning but wasnt sure. I was soft booting with my daughtor, we strapped in at the top of allens alley at the same time. The crowds did get a little crazy, but changing runs and a strategicly placed lunch break eased the congestion a little. Graham

Let me know if any of the sales fall through. I am local as well and looking for size 26 boots. The brown 323,s preferably. Graham

I get just as annoyed as everyone else here over having my tail stepped on, but those screws to me seem like a very bad idea. If anyone were to get cut up by them I think you may have a law suit on your hands. I,m sure that most hill owners would not stand for that on thier property due to liability issues. A better idea would be to use clear film like on car hoods and replace it every now and then and just accept that this is a part of standing in crowded lift lines. I also have no problem shaming the person behind me.

I'd like to thank Brian and Tara for hosting a great get together.It was good meeting everyone there. The maiden voyage may or may not be advertized. I might quietly sneek out some mid-week night to some out of the way hill to save myself the embarrassment of a catastrophic failure of either my board or my ability to control it. Thanks everyone for the positive comments.

Hi Ian. I will bring my board with me for a little show and share session. It still needs a base grind and wax to be 100% complete, but the board itself is finished. I won't be able to make it for the bike ride, I'll see you just after 4:00. Graham

Hi Brian and all. I will see you all Saturday evening. Graham.

In going through the process of setting up my new to me Catek bindings, I noticed that the screw on the toe bail is installed with the head toward the boot, not on the upper side of the lever. Check if this is possible to do with your bindings as well, the head of the screw will chaff into the boot much less than the end of the shank. Take a look at pictures of the OS2 bindings on the Catek website to see what I mean. Graham