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Gremlin

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  1. That's a great idea. Thanks dhamann.
  2. Thanks pokkis. Now I just hope virus will sell me a set of insert extenders and I don't need to make them.
  3. Or at least let me know if there's a molded insert in there?
  4. The recently resurrected thread reminded me I was going to do this, now that I'll actually get on snow this year. Can somebody post a picture of the attachment point of a bumper? Not sure what the best way to go about securing them is and want to see how it's been done before.
  5. As others have said, width. Overwhelmingly the thing that matters in deep carves with low angles. I wear 10.5 boots on a 28.4 waist, and still sometimes boot out. One of the main advantages of softboots is the range of motion available with a free ankle joint. Stiff boots will move your flex up the chain away from the snow and push your weight out over your heel edge. Use your ankle stregth to improve terrain absorbtion and adjust your edge angle rather than relying on a boot shell. Length is only important the faster you go or the harder it is. Soft boots, low angles, wide board.
  6. Sugarbush has more open and forgiving terrain for carving than Stowe. The layout also lends itself to spreading people out more. Look at the trail maps of the two and it will be evident. Stowe is a significantly older mountain and has classic NE skinny, windy trails. The grooming at Stail is disgraceful at this point. They lost a bunch of veteran groomers during the acquisition and it's been absolute trash since. In regards to terrain influence on turn and riding style, 14-15 was brutally cold and there was pretty much nothing in the way of non-locals. Everything was smooth and ran downhill. From extremely narrow single track in the woods to bump fields, everything. Then presidents week happened, and things were as mentioned. Short skidded turns, fear bumps in and before every corner, no flow to be found anywhere. It's not the fault of the terrain.
  7. Thanks. I've never had any friction issues in boots, plastic has a pretty low coefficient. My rear pivots are spherical bearings for other reasons though, and there's no compressive force transferred into the cuff. I'd guess your boots together weigh less than one of mine. Not built with uphill in mind. A good idea to use donor plastic as hot glue. I surprisingly have very minimal ingress unless it's actively wet out, so I'm not worried for now.
  8. There's footage from last year in this thread. Boots (especially the rear) are lacking a lot of range of motion there, and underfoot geometry is different. Flexion/extension wasn't nearly as free. Unfortunately nothing from this year. Getting a buddy to film, on a clear enough day, in decent conditions, is challenging in the east. I also only got three weeks in this year, and two of them were in powder.
  9. Thanks. Yeah, probably around 3/8. Pivot was relocated on both sides of the rear boot. Done at @Beckmann AGs suggestion to allow the cuff to travel more up and out around the ankle rather than down onto the foot. Seems to have the intended effect. Have never had a want or seen a need for them.
  10. I've had some requests to post photos of my Langes. They are very much still a work in progress. Boots are 150 flex plugs. I thought the stiffer plastic would be a benefit when cutting away and adding new T-nuts. It might be, but I will choose a softer flex next time. Getting in and out is not my favorite part of the day. I only got in two weeks on my hardboots this year, so development and testing wasn't ideal in time or conditions. I like the response and feedback that the solid sole and good plastic provide. This made tuning underfoot geometry significantly more effective, and somewhat easier to find the correct ballpark as a result. The front (right) boot is very close to correct. It needs an update to the spring system to hold forward lean, as the set collar doesn't cut it. It also needs a stiffer spring setup. The rear boot is still giving me issues. I had mobility problems, which have been eliminated within the range I require when staying on the ground in soft snow. However in hard snow, coming out of the air, and in bumps or rough terrain, the end of that range is still abrupt and very stiff. After several days riding spring conditions with often questionable or no groom, the top of my foot in front of my ankle ached for at least a week. I'm also having some issues which seem like cuff alignment, so I rode with just my booster strap secured. The stock cuff pivots don't have provisions to adjust cant for some reason, and my pivots will require tools I didn't have access to. End result is good flexion and extension through turns, very solid underfoot feel, and a much more upright and neutral posture than regular hardboots allow.
  11. Upz 165ish. My boots are Lange plugs that I've made a spring system for and cut away material to allow greater range of motion.
  12. I learned: How to modify my boots to allow better flexion between turns. That I'm able to ride stiffer boards much more easily without the excessive ramp of my old boots forcing me onto the tail. How to extend off my board in the turn rather than relying on the cuffs to support me.
  13. Currently at 18 front -12 rear. 2° inward cant on both feet. I ride with my shoulders mostly inline with the board.
  14. I've recently been experimenting with heel lift under softboots. The last three days have been my first on snow this year, and I decided to revisit my setup. Board is a Rome 148ST with a 284 waist. (Excellent board, A+) I was having trouble bringing my heel turns around and remember having difficulty last year as well. After some consideration I realized I was trying to fall and then muscle my way into it rather than bringing the board under me with my feet before standing on it. This manifested in pushing against my highbacks and using my knees and squat to force the board up. Having your knees responsible for edge angulation leaves your suspension greatly diminished. This reliance on shin angle for board angle resulted in a braced squat during the turn. Not adaptable nor comfortable. On realizing this, I made a conscious effort to bring my board under me with my feet and use only my ankles for turn shape control. Heel turns immediately improved to parity with toe turns. However, I now felt that I was actually holding the board up with my feet and my rear heel was floating behind me. Solution? Aluminium tape. I stacked strips to make a single one approximately .125" thick and then stuck it on my board. It supports both the binding structure and the foam footbed. After some riding and tuning, it's at .050" and will likely end up .030-.050" tomorrow. Initially I felt what I would normally associate with highbacks too far forward, despite them having no lean. Difficulty transitioning from heels to toes in a tight skidded turn, overly aggressive engagement skidding on heels. Those decreased along with the thickness of the shim. Also, make sure your tape backing is easy to peel or roll a strip inside out. I picked way too many apart before I thought to roll it.
  15. My stance is fairly narrow. My boots are stiff, and their geometry makes a wider stance currently impractical. Width will be revisited after further bootwork. I was full forward on my rear insert set in front and front insert set in the rear. I do tend to have issues rotating my hips out of my turns. I'd marked it as a width issue, but watching this video I'm suspecting my cant. I worked on my one foot some yesterday and realized my front foot is all out of wack anyways. I have to intentionally keep the board carving on my heels, and can't get it to skid on my toes. I've moved both my bindings back one notch and will try that today. Will also mess with my cant. From :28 onward you can see me trying to make equal skidded turns on my toes and heels. Please excuse the hunchback. My back protector is bulky.
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