xray

Something I was thinking of as well. Take a good AT boot as a basis and build snowboard specific elements on them....

What would make a perfect snowboard hardboot? AT boots look great to me. Great buckles, much better liners, better soles. What would you adjust to make the even better fitted for snowboarding? Shorter sole? Longer cuff? Torsional flex? Stiffer? Forward lean adjustment? One remark I would like to place. With all the different ski boot manufacturers making dozens of models even for the smallest niches, the argument that alpine boarders as a group are too small seems a bit ridiculous to me. Just look at all the different AT boots there are alone, and AT is not mainstream. A dozen brands (Scarpa, Dalbello, Black Diamond, Salomon to name a few) all with at least 4 or 5 models.... would make sense to have a new, high quality, up to date, made to nowadays boards, purpose made hardboot. And to me that just isn't DeeLuxe...

@philfell, looks like you're the expert.... ;-) Allthough I know you've been indoors some times I think I might have an edge on you here.... @gburgess Indoor slopes are generally a little bit less steep. Generating speed, something each good racer knows how to do well, is more important than controlling speed. Outdoors it usually is the other way around, controlling (the highest) speed is key. That doesn't say you don't have enough speed to make a decent turn. It does say that round course do not work as well since they kill some of the downhill speed. One might say that the importance of generating speed even has impact on the board you would like to ride indoors. A little stiffer is better here since they generate speed more easily. The snow isn't dirty all the time. New snow is added frequently and every season all old snow will be removed and a new layer is created.

I raced, didn't qualify and helped the organization with the time scorekeeping board during the finals. I saw every run. Some very interesting ones I might say!

Right now not only pureboarding have an asy but Virus, a German boardcompany have some asy prototypes as well. Build in the latest Kessler fashion (ptex topsheet and titanal dampening). http://www.virus-snowsports.com/

Justin rode well, really well. He pushed Bozetto almost over the edge with his strategy of a fast and hard direct line!

Actually Phil, the snow wasn't that old......indoor snow is just different. Good having you in Zoetermeer and Landgraaf and once again, you sure spend way too much time on this forum! I was cocommenting for dutch TV and had a monitor with great shots right in front of my nose. Klug for sure had the speed to be in the finals but both final runs just had too many little mistakes at unnecessary spots. He really was ruling the lower section with the last noll though. Justin could have beaten Benjamin Karl, he really let him slip away. So steady up to that point. For the rest, for us dutchies always great to have the World Cup circus in our country.

You forget the Tomahawk Phil....It for sure is a real option.

Having ridden both glass (range of FP's) as well as metal I sure prefer metal. However you just can't copy shapes. Metal asks for different considerations and shapes. I've had early titanal Tomahawks that were too stiff for instance. Kessler not only ruless because of the titanal however. There's more special stuff in the boards than just the titanal. The have this special kind of weave that helps improving the characteristics of the metal.

It's simple for him. Haven't seen him riding as well as he did in Landgraaf for a long time. Clean sweap. He was 0,4 sec per qualification run faster than anyone else. On that course it's almost unreal. He found the Kesslers better on hard snow. Didn't like them that much in soft snow though...

Tomahakws also use titanal plates... and their recent boards are pretty awesome!

Goltes are not all soft and wide and are pretty good freecarve boards! Tested one last year but I'm spoiled riding the latest Tomahawks...

Latest quote from my source... "boots early next year. We're working hard to improve the boot and finalize everything."

Started on hardboots somewhere in 1990 or so just because it looked right, after my first couple of carved turns I was hooked!

Sources, sources... If it isn't true I will have made a fool of myself here (and some other places). So far my source is pretty reliable so I hope it will come true what they've told me. The will not be named Burton anymore since they dropped alpine but the boot will be the same.

As soon as I have them I will post them!

Bram, drop me a mail or check www.soulboarders.com! Carving is still very much alive in the Netherlands and I have some good suggestions on spare parts and boots too!

Or you can wait a couple of months for the new branded Burton Fire's! Yes they will be on the market again!

My resume with some personal opinions after reading all: Lousy scraping, let alone some good brushing thus too much wax able to pick up dirt. Good brushing often is more important than the waxing itself. Mediocre testing method (N=?) Waxing surely does work if done properly. You can really feel it, I can! Expensive waxes don't make a huge difference. Funny thing is though that IMO for racing it is only half as important as everybody thinks. Most racers, except the very very good ones, make more mistakes (small and big) that cost valuable time than they can make up with a perfect wax job.....

34, Marketeer

Indoor! Trained a little (carefully) again on monday...

The Kesslers play an important role in the swiss team but it is also the was the group acts that they get the results they have. Kessler doesn't even deliver boards to certain people.... Some top WC riders have to order their boards through other persons....

Phil, I fully agree with you, Tomahawks are excellent. Built quality is top notch, materials like base (great!) are top of the line and finish is superbe. To make it even better, they ride great as well, very good grip,very good edge to edge and very very stable whilst still giving a good rebound! :thumb: Neil that 2nd run was way better until the crash which accidentally led to a subluxation as well (dislocated arm). The last part of the turn lying on the ground did it unfortunately. P.S. Expect an official website of Tomahawk online soon!

SUPER THANKS! Big thumbs up!

I've been riding the speed physics since they first came on the market (97?). Before that I was riding TD1. On a nice groomed course TD1's rule but the bumpier it gets, the less forgiving they are (hence the TD2). The speed physics are stiff and direct but more forgiving than TD1's,that's what I liked about them and still do, stiff but forgiving and good dampening. In all the years I rode them there was only one series that sucked, the transparant blue with red. The plastic was too hard and just broke,leaving the centerdisc alone on the board. Only recently I broke on my oldest set one of the screws that holds the speed hook on the baseplate, check those every nog and then just to be sure. Bottomline, I love them and will ride them for some time and since there will be new 'Burton' hardboots the only part that made me worry (no more speedhook ready boots) is solved as well!