kamran

I bought my Reusch from Dave (hardbooter.com) for a very reasonable price. visit his site and convince yourself. I am very happy with Reusch.

NateW, So even bombers and cateks cause a lot of accidental bail release? I was under the impression that these 2 brands were very reliable in that regard and I'm currently shopping around for them. Hmmm,.... Personally I have never had an accidental bail release with Burton race plates and snowpro(unless the setup was poor with boot shell fitting in the bails). But like you said, these are our legs and our knees and it's just one time too many!!

Kreeves, I have never tried a donek freecarve, but most of the people I ride with have/had it and they are all very positive and united about its great performance. My donek axis is a perfect solution for those days when it's dumping and you can't find the perfect groom anywhere. I took it on the groomers and off the slopes (not in the trees though) and it just cuts and carves anything. But the Virus,...it's just another dimension. I tried the regular tantalus and hopefully my tantalus team edition (yes Chris,...like yours) will be here shortly. I need to put a lot more hours on the Virus to form an overal and comprehensive judgement, but one thing I can already agree with Chris is that it carves small turns and huge turns like there's no tomorrow.

Randy, My board should be here next week. Best part is that after a lot of phone conversations with the shipping company, they finally took the responsibility for the damaged box and ultimately damaged board. So the insurance will pay for all the damage. I am shopping around for a good set of bindings though. wish you a speedy recovery

Kreeves, Sorry, I have to dissapoint you again. My only donek is a donek axis 177. I just got it and haven't had more than 2 days on it. axis is an all mountain board and even if I was an authority to dare the comparison, it would still be like you said; apples vs oranges. I think Chris's summary should give a good overall impression as of now and when it comes between a donek freecarve and virus, we should definitely get Ladia on board to give some feedback. I believe he has good experience with both virus and donek freecarve, and he is a hell of a rider. He doesn't just ride the groomers on plates, but he rides on any slope in any conditions. Ladiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, where are you????????

kreeves, Most of these boards start around 900 euros. I have seen some people scoring new boards on german ebay for around 650 euros as well. Bomber has a link to the Virus homepage, there you can find their contact info along with a list and description of their products. Email them and they will answer your needs. Ray, I am writing back and forth with bomber to get a pair of TD2s with either extra TD1 or second board kit for TD2. As soon as everything is in, I will post a picture of the board and bindings, ride the board for a full day and post a report here. Chris and Ladia, what happened to your reports and findings? I know you guys have been trying your new Viruses. We would like to hear about Lightning and Tantalus experience of yours. Please let us know what kind of bindings you are using with your board as well.

Unless there is more technology in the development (solid aluminum heel block, better attachment to the boot, failsafe two pin mechanism) I prefer the simpler system of clamping the boot on to the binding. Couldn't agree more. From the other recent threads about Intecs it seems there are just as many, if not more, inadvertant releases with bails. A better look at those threads would reveal that "inadvertant releases with bails" happen to rather inferior products. Bombers and Cateks appear to be immune for sudden bail releases.

I have a 170 and I really love it (had proton 172 and proton 178 too) The 170 is way more forgiving than the other protons I had. It is stable yet with 11.5m scr very manouverable on those crowded days and narrow slopes. It is not stiff like the proton but I guess that depends whether you like the softer flex or not. It was my board of choice for a few weeks and indeed I am thinking of selling it now. But the reason for this sale is that I bought two new boards (donek and virus) and I would like to fund two new pair of bindings as well.

If I don't have time for hotwax, I use SWIX F4. You rub it in,...wait a few minutes,...use a scotchbrite pad to rub it in again and bring a pattern on the base. It is almost as good as a normal hotwax job but only lasts a lot less (good for half a day). For racing,...I don't know.

Ray, Great pics. makes me impatient to get my virus. Since you have been riding (and own) a number of different Virus boards, could you summarize the riding characteristics of different models? @ Virus homepage they don't write any more than 1 or 2 lines.

oxygen limited edition 2002, 170cm (okay maybe too long), with 11.5m side cut radius. 6 days old. you can pick it up in tahoe. if interested I'll email pics.

Jim, go to the "classified" section of this site. I think there are a few ads there offering race plates bindings. Use the "search" window.

My Burton Physics have never had a problem other than being difficult to release at times. I've solved that problem by pressing my weight to the outside of the boot when pulling up the lanyard. Great. That's what I'm doing with my physics and it works perfect.

Jim, It won't work on Donek. you need 4x4 disks for the middel part of your bindings (instead of 3D now), and a 4X4 aluminum disk as the center peice of your cant.

My guess is that they are rare incidents and that we probably hear the stories behind most of them. Phil, That may indeed be the case. I see some are taking a few points of my initial post and react to them in an isolated fashion. I was merely trying to think out loud and intended to get some brain storming on this one. So thanks Phil for adding some general substance to the whole post. I think you are right and Fin would have a better picture of this issue (whether he finds it worthy of reacting to is something else since this has been partly covered in the past). Again I am using stepins myself and never had a problem with them. but I firmly believe that an extra vulnerable piece in any given mechanical device (intec heels in this case) could only enhance the risk of malfunction of the whole setup.

I am using stepins. They are Burton's but the effect is the same, you pull the handle next to your boot and it releases. I was on the mountain and yet again someone was missing a bolt of the intec heel and then you don't really trust your setup to ride. Another great tahoe carver got badly injured just recently cause his intec heel broke on him and put him for a long time out of action. Then I hear a cable breaking here and there and people getting stucked in their bindings. Looking at the pro's, almost none of them uses (trusts?) stepins. I am wondering, aren't we paying a too high of a price/taking bigger risks by this new revolution of stepin? Wouldn't we be better off by not being lazy and bend again a little(not figurely) to engage our boots and release them? Isn't simplicity always better and safer?

Okay I don't know about the 4x4 since I haven't tried it, but yesterday I tried my axis for the first time. I took it to the grooms and also to soft snow (no pure untouched powder) and it carves really good on both surfaces, although I must acknowledge that I haven't found my sweet spot on this board yet. the angles didn't seem to be a problem for carving (53/53..on other boards I use 60/60) But I am pretty sure I need to displace both bindings at least 1 centimeter to the back to get the maximum leverage. I am used to narrow boards, but again I noticed no delay in edge to edge transition and everything went smooth. The flex is surely softer than my proton but it still feels stiff enough for a full carving experience. just my 0.2 cents

Willy and Hagen, thanks for the advise. bindings close to the edge is what I'm feeling right too. If axis proves to be good to me, I have to let go of one of the oxygens and put it up for sale. Never been to Mt Rose. is it carving friendly? Hagen, I look forward to carve with you again. I am planning to be in Kirkwood on sunday and monday, let me know if you'll be there and we get you a cheaper lift ticket then.

Actually I got an axis 177. I think that's the right size for me and the area I go to. No I don't ride alpine meadows and don't know your cousin. I am mostly at Kirkwood (south), where I got a season pass for. Did you have to adjust your bindings greatly to ride the axis? I ride 60/60 on my carving board and last night when mounting bindings on the axis, I felt like I had to go 53/53 to be closer to the edge as a starting point (mondo 27.5). Not sure if changing the angles to that extend would impact the ride negatively.

I just got myself a donek axis. Haven't tried it yet, but I was hoping it would be a carver that wouldn't sink in the dumps we get lately in tahoe area. You know for those days that it keeps coming and they have no time to groom it and I need to make something out of my weekend while on the slopes. Sean's comments are suggesting that I was right by choosing the axis. I like this thread and look forward for more feedback from other members about these two boards, especially the axis.

Hagen, I am working on it :D looks like there will be quite a few carvers on friday at the wood, so you should be able to find someone with full pass.

I got mine just yesterday. It looks great and I can't wait to ride it. I got myself a donek axis too, so this weekend I'll be treating myself fully. Here is a pic from their site, mine looks exactly like this, I may post a close up of it later. Ray, you already got three of us infected! P.S. I already asked a few time on this site whether someone could explain how compound radii works, but unfortunately no great mind around is able or willing to do that so far.

I have a 4 wheel drive and during thanksgiving and new years eve got caught in heavy snow in tahoe area. I passed along many chain control points and all they wanted to know was whether I was locked into 4 wheel drive and I could drive thorugh . chain was required on all 2 wheel drives. My car had no problem what so ever in 3 foot snow (Nissan Frontier 4 wheel drive).

Steve, I had cramp and pain in my sheen (both feet) and front foot area (one foot).(Raichle SB 423) I played with adjustments but it never got really comfortable. talked to Ladia about it and he said he had the same problem with raichles and he was very happy with the new Head he got and he insisted I should try Heads. My raichles were only 5 days old so I wasn't too happy about buying a new pair, but I did and thank God (and Ladia) I did. It may very well be the shape of one's feet as I know of many people being happy with their Raichles. (bought a pair of Raichles 123 just yesterday for my gf and she is (sofar) happy about the fit (on carpet and at home).

I second that. Heads made me feel comfortable again on a board.