Horseman

Yep, for Fin-tec heels. M5 it is, then. Thank you for the quick reply.

Would anybody know the correct size T-nut for use in the UPZ? Thanks.

Chris was great with getting my order set and following up on schedule and delivery. Took pictures of my board before shipping to make sure I was ok with it. Very happy with the whole experience. And the board, Metal WCR 173, is really something. Turned out to be a very straightforward way to move my riding up a notch.

I was supposed to be back at work after a week of vacation but the weather report made me extend by a day. Definitely worth it. Spent the day in the woods on my soft set-up. Great snow, not the wet cement that hit Portland. And lots of it. Smile on my face all day.

I have them with OS2's. Effective vibration dampening without introducing flex/play. If you're in soft snow all the time it might not make a difference. Here on the east coast it's a different story. I would get them again.

Happened to me last year. Take the sole plate and toe block off the base. Secure the toe block in a clamp. Grab the sole plate and turn.

I would say that footbeds treat the symptom and not the cause. Our bodies have all been used and abused to varying degrees throughout our lives and the result is usually some degree of misalignment or assymmetry in our structures. A friend of mine was reluctant to get footbeds for running because of the "treating the symptom" outlook. But I had to tell him to just deal with the reality of the situation. If you are committed, you can start to deal with the underlying causes through various means (chiropracty, rolfing, etc.) but being structurally screwed up is not wrong, it's just a fact of life for everyone to a greater or lesser degree.

First, another thumbs up for Erik. Made me footbeds last year and the difference was significant. The price was slightly below competition and taking the time, materials and equipment into consideration I don't think the hourly rate was anything more than one would expect to pay for a professional service. Further thumbs up for being THE on mountain resource for technique, binding setup, boot work and everything else carving related at Sugarloaf. Second, I agree with D-Sub that it's not necessarily about comfort. For me the difference was in performance. Solid feeling, groundedness, or something like that. Basically, I felt like I was floating in my thermoflexes until I had the footbeds. The liners were extremely comfortable, but I felt like I was riding on them instead of the board.

Well, certainly not a carver's dream. Good for putting in your time in tough conditions, though. That which does not kill us... Standard late season. Needed the right combination of time of day, temperature, snow coverage and aspect to the sun. I'd say Ram Down did the best job of softening up w/o piling up. If one had strong skills then they would have enjoyed the challenge. I'll be up the next two weekends and then my season ends.

It should be noted that Ross' AM has a 19cm waist and I'm wondering if people were imagining a 21.5cm waist when replying. It will float well enough at speed, but the higher binding angles make the surfing action harder to pull off. I had the same experience with that board last year. Once the powder was cut up/piled up, though, the AM was awesome for banging through it. But for those very rare mornings of fresh east coast powder I put on my soft setup and head for Ripsaw, Misery Whip, Choker, etc. I would then bring out the AM in the afternoon to blow through the piles (if I hadn't sold it to you!). And then use a carving board the next morning after they've groomed it all out. I'll be up this weekend.

I just went through this with Head Stratos. Bought a 25 and 26 to do a direct compare. 25 had one tight finger on shell test and 26 had a good two fingers. In this case the 25 is the only option. It's all about how it fits in your heel and around your ankle. If that's not firm then you will have no control and at best it will cause you to use your hips and arms to turn instead of your feet and at worst you can, in fact, injure your foot. I would keep the shells and work on liner options. The Head liners are only moldable in the ankle, not the toes, but they will pack out. How much pain between now and then is hard to tell. And while the shells are whole sizes the liners are half. So if you have a 26.0 liner you may find a 26.5 liner gives you that little extra room. Thermoflex liners are also an option. I have ridden head boots with them. Comments about heel lift and footbeds are also valid. The heel lift pulls your toes back a bit and the footbed supports your foot so it doesn't flatten and widen in the boot. And when all that is done, you can still have the shell blown out as necessary. If you are in NYC and have the cash then I highly recommend the Surefoot footbed. Easy and very accurate and a bargain when compared to other footbed options. The machine is topnotch and takes a lot of the trial and error out of tweaking in the footbed fitting process. Unfortunately, you, like me, do not fit perfectly in to an off the shelf boot so there may be a little work getting it right. Based on what I know (which does not include seeing the look of pain on your face when you wear these things) I'd say that while your shells may not be the perfect size to start, they are the right choice.

Just as there is no perfect board for all conditions, there is no perfect binding angle for all conditions. The differences you feel between 45 and 60 seem reasonable. Maneuverability/balance at the lower angle and carving power at the higher. It would seem as though between the 45 and the 60 there is a lot of room for compromise. 50? 55? Pick something in the middle and see where you find the most benefits of each with the fewest trade-offs. And just a warning about doing too much tweaking and not enough riding. Especially in the beginning (and I am still in the beginning myself) it's easy to tweak angles/cant/lift on every run searching for the perfect set-up when the fact is that your body is not experienced enough to recognize the perfect setup even if you lucked into it. Some adjustments will be so far out of whack that they are just wrong, but by and large make a small adjustment of just one or two parameters and then live with it until you really understand what it is doing for you (or against you). Sounds like you're making great progress.

I'll be ordering up my own Donek FC1 shortly and I'll be going with basic black. The outline of the FC is pretty badass and black makes it look even more so. Also, I'll be going with the Olympic construction so a solid topsheet is required. The factor influencing the Olympic decision, along with those noted in previous posts, is that it will simply make is easier to be better. Particularly out here in the northeast where ice is the norm. As Sean pointed out when I spoke to him, people can tear it up ice on the normal construction, but you have to look at who those people are and decide what it would take for you to be that good (if ever). So I'm shellling out the $250 so I can get just that much more enjoyment out of my time on the slopes. Might seem like expensive insurance but price/value is always an individual determination.

Overall I am very pleased with my Flows. They are very easy to get into and out of at the top of the lift and the bottom of the run. I never have to sit on my butt. More difficult in the woods in powder, but for me that might comprise <5% of the times I'm getting in or out so the trade-off is easy. I find they provide a very solid strapped-in feel without pressure points. Bottom line: I bought them for ease of entry exit but keep them for their feeling of solid control. Note: I have the pro-xfr and the aviator boot which is the stiffest combination. I have never used any of the other models.

I agree the sizing is retarded. I have Pro-xfr in a large with the Flow Aviator boot in a 9. They fit fine. 9 is probably on the fence between M/L and L if you are dealing with a Flow boot (which I would describe as perhaps less bulky than some others). If it's a different boot in a 9 or larger I would be inclined to go with a L.