Mark.Andersen

Some of the exclusive Euro mfgs on Nils' swallowtail build super expensive sticks. For example: Swellpanik (www.swellpanik.com) ~$1050 Miura (marius.potes.free.fr) ~$1000 Boheme (www.boheme.fr) as much as $1675 One that doesn't even list prices (if you have to ask... ) PowderFlower (www.powderflower.com)

Here's a thread I started last season. The tinypic photo has expired, but I might be able to dig it out of my laptop if anyone cares to see it. http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=5037 Stay safe!

Hey Randy, you're welcome to borrow my split sometime. It's definitely the best solution for riding the Tahoe BC. Mark

If everyone change thier behavior slightly, at the margin, everyone would be better off. I *know* that my habit of commuting by bicycle 2 or 3 days a week will not make much difference, but it will make a difference. I really don't do it for environmental reasons; it's for my health and mental well being. However, it has *positive* externalities. It's good for me; my neighbors deal with one less car on the road; the planet has 60 miles less pollutions in the air per week. Everybody wins! Does this make up for driving to Tahoe 20x per season. Hell no. But wouldn't doing nothing be worse?

I'll take em. Wifey uses cants on her softies and the UniCants break fairly regularly. Email me with your address and shipping costs. Zip is 94061 andersen_m (at) yahoo (dot) com

I got a donek freecarveII 4 years ago as my first *real* carving board. It still kicks my ass unless I'm really on top of it and the groom is good. Probably has to do with the fact that I'm too lazy to really learn to ride it, but my all-mtn carver (coiler) is a whole lot more enjoyable and forgiving. Call me a wimp (or something worse...). It's about having fun and I think that the Axis would be more fun for a while. Demoing really is the answer though. Doneks demo program makes choosing the wrong your own fault for not trying them all... Mark

They had one live at the SplitFest demo day in Tahoe last spring. It was fresh out of the press and wasn't waxed or tuned so I didn't get to take it for a spin. It really looks like a wider 4WD, but with a flex about halfway between the 4WD the bigger Men's Freerides. If I didn't have a 23cm Coiler AM169 on the way, the ATV would be hard to pass up.

Sneak preview of Prior's 05/06 line. New hard/soft hybrid (23.5cm waist) "ATV" looks pretty nice. 170 Khyber is a tempting powder ride. 164cm 4WD fills the hole between 159 and 169 for lighter riders. http://www.priorsnowboards.com/winter0506/ Looks great Chris! Keep of the good work.

You've got a few choices. Prior, Voile, Never Summer, Burton, possibly Winterstick. Where are you riding? I've been on the Priors and Voiles and feel that there is a bit of a home field advantage. The Priors are stiffer and excel on heavier coastal snow while the Voile is pretty soft and does well on the dry Utah/Colorado fluff. If you are riding plates/hardshells, the Voiles are a bit narrower, though I believe that Prior has built a few custom splits in the 21>24cm range to be more hardboot friendly. Also, you'll get lots of answers at the www.couloirmag.com forum and at www.splitboard.net/talk

Hey Juss, welcome to Bomberonline. People tend to get a bit grumpy around here in the summertime. Don't sweat it. ;) I was very interested in your analysis of friction and weight dispersion for pow riding. How do you think the new "fish-type" powder shapes change things? What about swallowtails? On the stance width debate, I'm wondering if perhaps part of the heated discussion here is resulting from differing ways of measuring stance width? Are you measuring 11.5" from "center-to-center"? If so, how can you get there without drilling extra holes? I checked out the Volkl website and the Selecta 175 is quoted as having a minimum stance width of 48cm or about 19". I'm guessing that is measured with the bindings centered in their screw-slots. So, to get from 19" to 11.5" you'd have to have 4" of adjustment on each binding. Most bindings have disks around 4" in *diameter* and you'd need 4" of radius to get that amount of adjustment. I've heard in the past people quoting their stance width from the inner edge of each binding. If that's how you're measuring, I think if you measured center-to-center, you'd be alot closer to "normal" stance width's of ~18-20". FWIW, I've been gradually narrowing my stance width on my Pow ride. I'm down to about 18" center-to-center on my Oxyygen Shogun 170, and that is the absolute minimum I could achieve without getting out the power tools. I'm riding plates/hardboots though, so that might have some impact on the weight distribution. Have you ridden the Selecta? What do you think? It looks like a "fish-type" shape, but with a whole lot more size. The 20mm taper isn't quite as much as the Fish (30mm), but it's inline with the Prior Khyber. 10cm of extra length over the biggest Khyber and 15cm over the biggest Fish sounds pretty interesting. Mark

1993 is right around the time when road bikes were going from 7 > 8 speeds. That required a widening of the rear end of the frame to make room for the extra gear. Steel frames that were built for 7 speeds (126mm between the dropouts) can be bent/widened to 8/9/10 speed specs (130mm between the droupouts). Carbon and Aluminium frames *should not be bent/widened in this way*. I think the 1400 was an aluminium frame, so if you want more than 7 gears, you should find something else. See this article for more detail than you probably want. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

I rode mine with risers at around 39f/33r. I was still in Flows at that time. Last season I fooled around with Catek Freerides and Malamutes and was able to ride my Prior MFR at 45f/39r without losing the ability to pressure the edges. The Cross also likes plates btw. Some softer F2s at around 45* make it a real all-mountain board. Even better carving and can still handle the park and the deep stuff...

Not sure how I ended up with this one... Not really sure what "Youth Brigade" means. Yours if you want it. I'll even cover the $0.37 postage.

Here's a shot of the 2003/2004 F2 Dealer Guide. I got it directly from F2 when I asked them for some replacement INTEC heel receivers. Getting the goods from Austria was a bit of a hassle, so I think they felt bad and put a bunch of swag in the package to make me feel better. I got stacks of stickers if anyone wants some... Nic, the catalog is yours if you want it. It's just been gathering dust in my shed...

Here are a couple of select shots. My wife screaming for George Hincapie on the climb to Plateau de Bonascre (Stage 14). Me and "Fast Freddie" Rodriguez (Mourenx - Start of stage 16) Me with Levi Leipheimer (Pau - Rest Day) My wife and I near the top of the climb to Courchevel (Stage 10). The road goes on another ~3k and 150m up, but the signs at the top weren't nearly as photogenic. Going uphill for 16 miles and ~5000 feet was damn hard on a tandem!!! The TdF is unlike any other sporting event. If you go, bring a bike and head for the mountains and the time trials. That's where the action is and where you can get a good viewing spot. The finish in Paris is *way* overrated.

Mike and Rob: I got the chance to fondle some early prototypes of this new forward lean device while Fin was out in Tahoe for the Splitboard Festival. He asked that I hold my tongue until he made an offical announcement. I think that powder riding will be excellent and much improved with the new spring device. When I ride pow in hardboots, I feel like I need a flex that is somewhere between locked in and free flex. There isn't enough heelside support in walk mode, and there isn't enough toe side flex in fixed mode. The "powder mode" of the 5-position mech on Raichles didn't do it for me as I wanted some progressive rear flex and I tend to ride in a 4 or 5 position (much more upright than Powder mode). At a glance, Fin's new mech appeared to allow for a wide range of forward lean angles and stiffness of spring preload. Perhaps the most appealing part of the design is that it will produce fore/aft flex in a much more natural way than asking the boot to deform to produce flex. As for splitboard use, I think the absence of a walk mode might be a major detractor in uphill mode. However, I've never tried going uphill with out walk mode on so perhaps it isn't really necessary. I do think that for descending in powder, regardless of how you got to the top (lifts, split, bootpack, heli/cat, etc.), these spring devices will be great. Fin, as I said in March, I'd happily sign up to be a test subject for a variety of different usages. :D Cheers! Mark

I've got a couple sets. The ones in the photo are all plastic except for the bails. The base plates are pretty flexy and work great for hardboot freeriding. I've got another set that have an aluminum baseplate with a black plastic covering. Those are a fair bit stiffer. I haven't used them much, but I'm considering a 169cm Coiler AMX with a 23cm waist for all mountain riding. I think that I want something between Bombers and plastic F2s from a stiffness perspective. I think the biggest reason why these feel more rigid than Burtons is the INTEC mech. With the Burtons, the bases flex, and the boots squirm in the bails. With INTEC, the boot > "bail" interface doesn't move, so all the flex comes from the base.

Thanks Pokkis. That looks like an excellent low cost alternative. Unfortunately, I needed some stance adjustment. Here's the finished product. Now I just need to get some screws (and some snow!). My Fish is now ready for some pow. I've got contact info for the guy who machined them if anyone is interested. He was going to keep the design around. Mark

Here you go, but they are rather pricy ($5/screw!). You might also try your local bike shop. www.srp-usa.com >> Online Store >> Titanium Fasteners

McMaster Carr lists both 14mm and 18mm stainless M6x1 screws. Socket cap (5mm key, TD1 style) and Flat Head (4mm key, TD2 style). About $5 for 25 pieces. www.mcmaster.com under "Fastening and Sealing" > "Socket Head Cap Screws" Enjoy!

I'm having some 3d insert pattern disks machined for my F2/Proflex bindings. The material will be Delrin. The price per pair including hardware (M6 Cap Screws and washers) will be $50. If I get a few responses, the price will go down with volume. I know it's steep, but if you need to mount your F2s on your Burton, there aren't alot of options. Email me if anyone is interested.

Randy, what bindings were you using? I tried riding my TD2s on pow days and had to use walk mode. I've since started using a pair of plastic F2s and am able to lock the boots down and let the bindings flex.

I blew the cuff cant out of my Raichles a few years back. I broke the medial malleolus (knobby thing on the inside of the ankle) off the bottom of my tibia. For about a year I was unable to get into hardboots due to residual swelling. I could still ride in softies, but I had to be pretty careful. Chatter was really painful. This season I gave up softies altogether for the added support of hardboots and my ankle is far happier. Here's my picture:

I've got some spare cants. You can also get raw materials from Tognar to make your own cants if the stock 3* isn't to your liking. Tognar - Scroll down for cants pieces If anyone knows how to get a hold of a pair for less than the cost from Blue-Tomato (~$125 shipped) please let me know.

Anybody? I'll pay handsomely!