ursle

I also have a hand made, by the man, very early serial number, 171kessler, got a 7 nastar on it at okemo. The MK is a whole different board than the 158 madd, the 158 madd will come to a stop if you ride it flat, it's tail will stop you it has to be on edge, the MK does fine when flat, it can easily be raced and it will carve the ice and easily make Nastar gates, there's no secret about carving, whatever the board, either you get yourself into a position on the rear edge to get the board verticle or you don't and if you don't you're not going to carve on ice, it's a black and white situation. So Pat, get some real boots(no heel slip, orthotics), some real bindings (lift and cantable) and grab that MK. After you can carve it jump on your Kessler, you'll find the MK is more fun.

That SG is worth 50$ keep it as a rock board, but do walk into the shop at okemo and buy one of the two MK's for 699$, and you might get an employee discount, learn to carve it, it will do great on any Nastar course, and after you can carve it, get a longer race specific board.

Let's put this carving thing in perspective. Racing is ususlly on hard snow or ice. If you're not in a race course and you're on hard snow or ice, you finish your turn across the hill to control your speed, if you're on a race course, you go straight down hill, schusshing around the gates, taking the fastest line possible. Recreational carver vs Racer, same-same, if you can carve ice. Skiers can load a ski and step off it creating a new shorter line to the next gate, alpine snowboard racers use a different line than skiers, but they use the straightest line possible.

http://www.yyzcanuck.com/shop/parts/f2-titanflex-center-disk/ A link to the thick f2 centerplate used on the titanflex, if the regular centerpiece is moving, use this one. I confess, my rear step-in bindings have 4mm allenhead bolts, so, the fronts are easy to move (step-in), and the 4-5-6 wrench moves the rear, I don't want to remove the binding from the board when the board is cold, ever... Wait, how do you move the toe and heel block without removing the binding? They are held with an allen bolt, from below the binding. According to the (show me) picture. The black centerpiece is cnc milled, is it extruded black aluminum or black painted steel, the F2 piece linked to above is steel. A small but significant point, I don't want to remove or install the binding on the board when the the board is cold. BTW, Catek bindings are perfect for dialing in your perfect binding position while "on" snow, on the other hand, hit and miss with F2's and or clones is cumbersome at best. Haven't bought a new set of F2's lately, I remember toe and heel lifts for both bindings, carrier piecies for the lifts, cants and screw length selection's in each new set. Contacting YYZ and getting all the extra parts needed is as simple as conacting Dan at UPZ for buckle replacements and helps to keep the parts in place. KISS

The F2 is held down with a metal plate, and the SG is held down with a phoenic or plastic plate and the SG is stiffer, show me. The F2 needs the toe or heel block to be moved to adjust the binding, while on the board. The SG binding neds to be removed from the board to be adjusted, and that's easier, show me. The F2 weighs less, cost's less, is easier to adjust, is stiffer, parts are readily available, it comes with two lifts, one for the toe, one for the heel, several cants, has a ridge lock system for lifts and cants, and is indestructable, but the SG is better, show me. I'm from Missouri.

The non titanflex F2, which most if not all racers use can be extremly ridgid if tight or somewhat loose if adjusted loosely. The titanflex is inherently "looser" because of the flex pads under toe and heel and the 1" plastic block underneith, but... can also be adjusted to be tight on the boot or some what loose, the adjustment is the front bail with stepin or the front toe block placement with the non stepin. The star wheels can adjust the tightness of the front bail on non titinal f2 stepin's and the front toe block Placement will determine the tightness on regular f2's.

I agree, fill the top not the bottom, foamed liners (foam is pressurized in) would also fill the void, perfectly. I always put a hands warmer sucker under the shell over the liner, on top of my foamed liners. If your heel is held in place toe room is heaven.

Like I said....let's hope the Negitivity on this forum doesn't stop the manufactures from frequenting the forum;)

The G-Style race are 887$ plus shipping, unless there's a US distributer, seem "similar" to UPZ, if that third buckle holds the heel great, I would never buy the UPZ rs8, I prefer the five buckle design, but without holding both boots to compare buckle placement there's no way to know, intec compatable, check their bindings, step-in metal suckers. Don't see anything about liners, wondering where UPZ is sourcing their custom foam liners from, wow, new boot lines, custom foam liners. Mt slope's prices are realistic, let's see mt slope's new liners, hopefully a foam in design, and their step'in solution, let's hope the forum doesn's "shy away" new products;)

Any 162 board is going to much easier to ride than any 176 board(carving), but the question remains, is the op a ski carver, if so, knowing what's suppose to happen is a big step in the right correction, if not, well, definitly time for instruction.

I agree, if the op was a ski racer, 10% of skiers are carvers and all of them are ski racers, they understand how to ride a ski to carve, how to decamber a ski, I'm assuming most softboot riders don't understand a carve, but most hardbooters do. I also agree, the Virus is an advanced carvers board, the op should start with an MK or something similar, shorter, easier to handle but capable of carving.

I'd open up one of those four tops, and see if tnuts are there, if not, well, you have to take all four off anyway, get the tnuts and you'll see how they need to be countersunk or sunk a bit, drilling from the bottom blind will destroy any tnuts that "might "already be there, boots are in great shape. Did a google to see if the boots came with tnuts from the factory, got nothing Stainless is softer but doesn't rust, use blue thread locker when installing. I wonder it those tops wouldn't just come off with vice grips?

I also agree that it's actually a muscle problem, the knees are the point that the tendons and ligaments of the upper and lower legs join, they simply connect the muscles above to the muscles below, the tendons and ligaments are very tight if the muscles are, yes, bicycling is Great for knees, use cleats and make the upstroke as big as possible, balance the leg muscles, the better shape the muscles are in the more the ligaments and tendons can stretch, keep the knees warm, they don't have blood flow like muscles, they will freeze up when cold. Get a triggerpoint roller (EMS) and roll the hips and outer upper legs and rear and front of the upper legs and kneel on the sucker and roll the shins before riding, keep the muscles loose and supple. Yes, you can damage a knee, crack the knee cap, blow out a tendon or ligament, definite knee trauma, but achy knees point at poor muscle structure.

What shells, what liners?

If you're running the stock UPZ liners, that's possibly a problem, I have two pair, my feet have never been in them, Zip fit liners have excellent heel cushion, and excellent heel hold, require no heat molding but yer toes aren't really warm, lot's of intuition choices, be nice to handle them, you want no foam underfoot, it squishes, you do want orthotics underfoot. I'm in a ten year old pair of Custom foamed Conformables, really excellent fit but cold, I put hand warmers under the shell over the liner's on top of the toes and use boot gloves also on really cold days. Critical Critique, none for your video's small cuts, but, making larger turns across the hill would allow time to drop the butt on the rear edge, closer to the ground and push the hips closer to the ground on the front edge, getting the board more verticle. Everyone has a different "vision" of carving, you asked.

When i got my V1 I contacted apex and asked about trimming it, I explained that it was just slapping the board and very loud, apex said "Don't cut!!," I didn't, now I have a V2, no slap. If I were going to cut ' I'd mark my cut, not square, and use a coping saw then a bastard file to clean it up, just like the top edges of a snowboard. If I was going to cut square and was doing 100 of them I'd turn a carbide blade around in a circular saw, go outside, cover my eyes, wear a breathing aparatus, and go to town, if the blade wore out to fast I'd switch to a ceramic-fiber-metal blade $

Are the heels loose or held like glue? What kind or shells? BTW, I love your videos, great turns.

UPZ sells the Snowpro FAST system, step-in. As Mt Slope says it won't be intec, might it be the Snopro system, my question is, do Snowpro bindings come with lifts and cant's or are they ridden flat (a deal breaker) http://upzboots.com/shop/snowpro-step-in-fast-race-small/#

Is your rear binding flat or is there lift, and how about the front?

So, It seems Sidas "got" Conformable away from Surefoot? Now Surefoot sells it's own liner and it's not comparable to the Conformable? Pity, I got my Conformable's at Surefoot and they need a refresh. Ah, Nordica has a good liner. Foamed, custom liners with custom Orthotics are the best tool. Have Zipfit's, good heel hold, not the same overall.

The super secret, hush, hush, hand shake is just like with Virus Snowboards, Email Mt Slope yourself, bur direct, get exactly what you want. Virus...Email Frank, order exactly what you want, save 30-40% and be happy. The shell is one component of the boot, the liner is more important, custom orthotics and a custom foamed liner, like conformable make the difference, last years, well, they outlast two or three shells.

If the skiers were required to "Strap On", 25% would get broken collarbones, or wrists, it's a very demanding sport and injuries are prevented by learning gradually.

I have the UPZ10, with the grey tongue but not the race cuff, wasn't available at the time, I also have conformable foamed liners with a very stif tongue, and yes, the grey tongue is a game changer, as would be the race cuff, but the conformable liners- tongue makes the setup very stiff, your issue may be that you already have the upz cranked forward and they seem upright compared to your present boots, if I understand you correctly. I find my forward lean on the upz to be adaquate, well, the middle buckle limits how far it can be leaned forward, get extra buckles from Dan for down the road.

Pity, Red course always ran faster, shoulda, woulda, couda. Anyway, It looked like the .951 riders were jerking around, vs the DeLux and UPZ riders flowing, it seemed the .951 boots were very stiff like a Ski slalom boot "very stiff" vs a downhill boot, sorta flexible~ Flexon. Or the .951 was more upright? Rider after rider was just jumping and jerking then setting an edge, and the delux and upz were riding smoothly, transitioning from edge to edge. Great carves by all, excellent camera work, pity it wasn't a run on each course, every red course rider had an advantage, easy money for the bookies;)

Yes, the friction effects the snow under the board or ski, yes the skier is faster in a "course", the skier can bend (de-camber) the ski and step off it onto the other ski getting "rebound" on each turn, as well as pressure the tail (drop the hips, push down) for speed, snowboarders can only pressure the tail, yes, skiers also have poles and can skate the beginning of a course, in Nastar snowboarders are give a Handicap to make things equal. Hard to test using a glide course, Aerodynamically, a snowboarder can get tiny and be still. Longer is faster because the riders weight is more spread out and the sidecut is also more spread out, for example, my madd 158 couldn't go straight, the tail stopped it, it had to be on edge, a drag on very thin flat trails, longer absorbes irregularities better, more damp, and longer doesn't necessarily mean only large turns, bending a long board, then "de-cambering" it makes for some tight turns.