frunobulax

Hi Aracan, AFAIK it would be quite complicated to fit BTS to the UPZ boots. There is the Rabanser spring system. My brother's got one, but it takes some time to get one and my brother says it's too stiff, at least with stock springs. Already tried softer tongues? That should be enough.. my wife's got an RC8 with red tongues, and she never complained about it being too stiff. I'm sure you can call Wolfgang for softer tongues or or just drop in in Lambach and get some.

One of the unsolved enigmas in our sport.. how some of us can ride low angles without drag and some can't. Talking about me: Size MP 29.5, I need 21 cm for the same angles. One explanation could be that some (NSR) boards have a lot of taper and wider radii towards the tail.. therefore you have more trouble to run low angles on the rear foot than with classical shapes. The Tant has some taper (specs above), more than the Silberpfeil with its more classical shape, so I'd say that on the SP which is also 1 cm wider you can run lower angles than on the Tantalus. edit: metal, yes.

I don't see any chance to run 58-60° on neither Tantalus (width 17) nor Silberpfeil (18). We're talking about 65-75 depending on your skills/inclination and shoetype/size. Twice the price...what do you mean? Not enough? 1:4 would be more suitable? You cannot compare the two.. If you're buying a Virus you pay the price and eradicate it from your memory immediately afterwards. You fall in love with it, and maybe after a couple of seasons you sell it for twice the price of a non-custom. If it's worth it nobody can tell you because nobody has bought one for sensible reasons.

That's true, Frank doesn't say anything about the SCR of his boards. The Tantalus was always the allround-carver in his lineup, suitable for nearly everyone. I have ridden the Tantalus II for a couple of hours, and I'd guess that the SCR is somewhere around 13-14 m but that's just a rough guess. It's a modern shape (some "NSR" features), not too much camber, a bit of decambered nose, variable sidecut. I have to admit that it was not my kinda board, since I am a tall and heavy rider and prefer wider and faster boards. But the grip level is exactly what you expect of Virus boards. If you like narrow boards it could be just what you are looking for, and definitely top notch. Virus alterntives: If money is not important, you could also have a look at the Gladiator Zylon (same shape), and a lot of people around here are very impressed by the new Black Death III, which is significantly narrower. Faster: UFC narrow and Stingray. Easier: Lightning. Wider: UFC, Scalpel

Guessing from your selection you're looking for board with more or less 18 cm waist width. So I'd say that the UFC narrow would be more suitable than the normal UFC. But keep in mind that the narrow version would probably not float in powder as good as the wide one. The UFC is for sure the faster and more demanding board, compared to the Tantalus. You know that there's a new Tantalus out, with a completely new shape? So the correct label would probably be "Tantalus II Evo III". I rode the new one last year, but cannot compare it to the old shape. As I was told the new shape is significantly faster, with a wider SCR. Great stuff for those who like narrow boards.

UPZ RC8. 4 buckle medium stiffness boot. According to UPZ cheaper shell plastics, but same material as Deeluxe (should not be as resistant against stiffness changes with changing temperatures as the ATB and the RC10). Good boot, can easily be made stiffer and softer with red, black oder grey tongues. Don't know where to buy it in the US.

Liners have been changed a lot throughout the years, but AFAIK the 2011 liners were the same in ATB, RC8 and RC10, so the fit shout be the same in all three because the shell design is more or less the same, too. Maybe a bit more comfy in the softer shells. Tight heels, wider forefoot in comparison to e.g. Deeluxe boot. Wolfgang is constantly working on the design.. maybe there's some changes for next year, esp. concerning the tongue and the fit for bigger calves.

Not in english... I can provide french http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7999&highlight=atb italian http://www.extremecarving.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8518&highlight=atb and german http://www.frozen-backside.de/wbb312/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=3644

Old board, traditional pants, new pic:

My sister-in law has got some ATBs and AFAIK she's very happy with them. Very comfy boots, good craftsmanship. Couple of interesting options, such as heel and toe blocks for touring ski bindings, and cushioned heel blocks. Talked to Wolfgang Aigner (head of UPZ) a lot about them. Actually he designed them for off piste use, and was quite surprised that esp the eurocarvers showed that much interest. The performance of the guy in the vid is impressing. The UFC needs a lot of control, so personally I would prefer to ride it with a stiffer boot. The ATB is really soft, for a hardboot. Using stiffer tongues doesn't make much sense since the shell itself is so soft. The RC10 is quite stiff on the contrary. Good compromise would be the RC8, which is a medium stiffness boot and you can adapt the stiffness with different tongues.

If you decide not to do it, give the UPZ ATBs a try. Quite heavy in comparison to real AT boots, but soft flex (much softer than all the Deeluxes), comfy liners, walk mode, short sole length, good craftsmanship, step in possible. Wouldn't recommend them for on piste skiing though (too soft). edit: sorry, didn't read your last post.

I remember Frank telling me there's two versions. The carbon topsheet version's got only one titanal layer at the base, the titanal topsheet version's got a second one.

Single Titanal layer? AFAIK there's another layer on the base side. The Donek has more than one layer on the top side?

Very interesting review, thanks, Ladia. That's what I wanted to know all winter. So it seems like the 163 and the 183 are quite similar in character (length difference taken into account), and this would be good evidence for the 173 being just the same. Surprising combination of 1. absolutely top notch EC Board with incredible ice grip for the experienced rider and 2. at least fairly good offpiste board. BTW I would recommend at least some sort of dampening layer between binding and board, e.g. I wouldn't attach a F2 Titanium without a dampening plate (simple but fairly good looking plates are offered by virus at reasonable price, but bomber e rings like in TD2 oder TD3 should be sufficient).

I doubt the UFC would be the right board for you. It's a very good EC board for experts, and provides more edge grip than any other board I know, but it needs a lot of experience and it's too fast for you. The Scalpel should be the best Virus for you, since it is known as the most forgiving wide Virus. A testride would be a good idea though.