Wolf

Also, the easiest, cheapest fix is to replace the lug shaft with a machine screw/bolt. I showed that part way down in this thread: If you use a bolt, you can reuse the existing lugs and you don't have to worry about removing the bail from the lugs.

That's the old style lug shaft. The flats on the steel shaft are supposed to be held from spinning by flats on the aluminum lug, but the shaft ends up mashing its way right through the aluminum. Then you're stuck because the shaft spins and you can't remove the screw on the other side. The replacement part is the newer style with a hex socket and no flats. Now you can get an Allen wrench in there to hold the shaft in order to loosen the screw. The newer version of the aluminum lugs now have replaced the two flats with a simple round counterbore, so you should probably get new lugs a well. And, getting your current lug shaft out can be a problem. I've tried grinding a slot in to try to hold it with a screwdriver, but ultimately had to drill out the screw. And, the bails can get stuck in the lugs as well. I had a bail twist off while trying to unscrew a lug from it. So, worst case you'll need a new bail too. A good periodic maintenance is to loosen and retighten all of the threaded connections on the TD3s so that the threads don't freeze up.

Actually, it's all off-the-shelf parts and cutting the bolt is optional. So a Home Depot or Lowes might be enough to keep some TD3s on the slope.

Here's another "emergency fix". I had to repair a toe bail during the time that Bomber was out of operation, and used a 5/16" hex bolt with a nylon lock nut as a lug shaft. The Bomber lug shaft is 8mm diameter, but 5/16" is so close that it didn't really create any extra play, and I could buy the 5/16" bolt more easily. I used stainless steel but standard hardware would do fine in an emergency. Ideally, you want a bolt that is unthreaded for most of its length so that the aluminum TD3 lugs aren't riding on threads. In my case, a 5 inch long bolt had just the right amount of shaft vs thread. I ended up cutting about 1/2 inch off the bolt when I was done, but it wouldn't have done any harm other than looking ugly if I had left it sticking out. And the double washers you see on the nut side keep the nut out just far enough so that it doesn't bottom out at the end of the threads. This worked out so well that I never replaced the bolt with new Bomber parts.

Our little place does a good job grooming. We get a lot of daytime thaws with a freeze up overnight, and they do a great job of grinding up that frozen granular into a corduroy surface that's firm but still holds a good edge. And if the snow is better than that, we get packed powder corduroy without any of those ridges between groomer tracks. They have three Pistenbullies, a 400, 300 and 200. The place is small so they groom every night. This ski area, Snow Trails, has been taking a lot of business away from the other Ohio ski areas that are all owned by Vail resorts. People I've ridden the lift with say the snow and grooming are better here. I won a drawing a few years ago for a groomer ride, so here's a photo of the groom being put down. The second photo shows the 400 including the attachments on the back.

The free, moldable liners would be very handy for someone who just wants to practice doing their own heat molding before putting nice, new liners in the oven.

Yes, it can be hard to get the pins to retract if there's a lot force on the pins. For that reason, when getting out of the bindings at the bottom of the hill, you pull up on your heel to remove your body weight from the pins and then pull the release to retract the pins. But for me, on a tiny hill with a lift ride every four minutes, using step-ins really is convenient. I have Intec (plastic) heels with TD3 bindings. They work great and the steel heel receivers don't wear. I haven't used F2 bindings, but they also use steel heel receivers and I expect they would work just as well. A lot of people here also like Bomber's Fintec heels. Essentially a copy of the F2 heels but made entirely out of metal (mostly aluminum with steel pins). They should be stronger than the F2 heels but I've never had any issues with the F2 variety.

There are those neoprene butt pads for sitting on wet chairs that strap around the legs as well as the waist. Hot Buns and Dry Cheeks are brands I've seen. They might protect the pants but will probably wear through even quicker than the pants.

Blog on Bomber says bindings will now come with Torx screws.

Also, since it does take time and some supplies to package up a board and then take it to a shipper, I generally don't mind if a seller wants to pad their shipping by a few dollars, e,g, if the actual shipping is $44.50 and the board is a good deal, I'm probably not going to argue too much if the seller asks for $50. But the 2X and 3X markup that those pack and ship places charge is way out of line.

Look for a small sole length number molded into the outside of the heel of each boot. Here's the chart giving boot shell size vs sole length (224 boots are SB series): :

Not something I learned this season, but just further confirmation: Ester Lidecke is way out of my league in more ways than one! As far what I did learn. I've been doing this for a number of years, but sticking to my little local hill since my wife doesn't do winter sports. Short season, limited days, limited terrain and I've never had a chance to ride with anyone qualified to assess my riding. This year, for the first time a skier friend offered to follow me for a video and I learned that I don't look terrible. But I need to keep working on the same things many of us beginner/intermediates need to do: bend the legs more; keep the shoulders more parallel to the hill (i.e., don't lean the whole body); rotate to keep the shoulders facing more forward toward the front of the board. And I'm sure there's a lot more that I'm missing.

It is m--i--n--e! (that's a dragged out, fiendish mine that goes with a sinister laugh). Please send some cold and snow to Ohio.

Thanks, I was thinking Catek. But an F2 Titanium large does have a longer plate, right? That might cause a concern about binding overhang at the edge of the board, depending on angles and board width.

Just FYI, if those titaniums are indeed large size, they probably don't go small enough for Mondo 25.5 boots.

Interested, PM'd.

Look for a small number molded on the outside of the boot, down by the heel. That's the sole length and correlates to the shell size. Forum member pokkis posted this handy chart of sole length vs boot size a number years ago : And, don't feel bad about liking your old Raichle boots. I'm still using SB shells myself, but I have had two of them crack while on the hill. I keep a whole spare set in the car.

I intentionally missed that to give you a chance to point it out

Seller might have a good reason for his silence, but I personally wouldn't risk sending money to someone who hasn't responded in six weeks.

I haven't taken those precautions, but I do back off the screws and re-tighten a couple of times per season to keep them from corroding solid. I started doing that after having the same issue of having to drill out a screw in the past. I've also found that the screws sometimes back off on their own so it's good to check them anyway. On the cable being stuck, maybe pull the plastic sole plate out of the boot (if there is one) to better see if anything is causing the cable sheath from moving.

Looks like anything new for sale now is all black. They may have changed something in the manufacturing process as the black tread pattern looks different too.

I just got this bag from Amazon. The 175 size just fits my Donek FC 175 (20cm wide) so I'd say these bags are "true to size". The bag is reasonably well made with dense but not particularly thick padding. There is one outside pocket that's pretty flat - good for tools, maybe gloves and a hat. As one of the reviewers noted, the attachments for the handles are a weak point and I think a baggage handler would tear the handles out pretty quickly. I actually wrote a review of the bag but Amazon rejected it saying my review doesn't comply with community guidelines. I'm one of those Vine reviewers and have written a lot of reviews and haven't yet figured out what Amazon doesn't like about the review of the bag. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMQ883QH?th=1 Update: My Donek FC is square-tailed and I think a 176 would still just fit. So, the 160 size would probably just handle the 161cm MK.

I've been using Intec (not Bomber Fintec) for years and haven't seen that delamination. But all of my heels have had the silver tread on the bottom of the heel, like this. Maybe there's something less durable in the way they manufacture the all black heels. I also noticed that the angled plastic guide ramp (not sure if there's a better name for it) on the side of the heel is really chewed up, so you're due for new heels anyway.

That wouldn't work anyway. Those inner arms are different for left and right cable.

New Burton Race Plate bindings came with a seven degree lift plate in the box. It looks like this photo. If that's included, you could try it under your rear binding. You'll end up with a lot of forward lean in your stance (because no toe lift on the front binding), but it might still work better than riding flat.