nutmeg

And bring your googles.

The first one was a 2005/06 Stratos Pro, the second one is labeled "Head S Ltd". I do not know the vintage. To my eyes they were identical except for the coloring (black vs. transparent yellow). Both featured Head's standard semi-moldable liner. Not the type you put in the oven, it either self-molds over time from or you can use a special fan.

I measured ~MP 27.5 and originally bought a 27.5 sized boot (same shell size as 27). I could not use it. It seemed to be a workable tight fit in the shop but they were too tight. - I lost the feeling in the big toe after a couple of hours, and this did not go away quickly after taking off the boots again, it took days. I only used them three times. (Should have tried with thin socks for couple of days. ;-) I was very lucky and found an affordable new MP28 Stratos on e-bay which I am still riding. They have not packed out a lot after ~100 days.

I totally agree. The whole thing takes too long. They go down the same hill 10 times (Qualification, eight final, quarter final, semi final, final. each red and blue.) And just when stuff finally should get exciting (semifinal) they add in a ranking run (losers of quarter finals) that even the racers don't seem to be interested in. (More than once the second player did not do the run.) Plus after semi-finals there were *huge* waiting periods. I lost my patience at this point and switched to the Ski Race. Compare to a Ski GS. Skip the first heat and start of the second one and simply watch the best 20 runners in second heat. 35 minutes, with a short break between #16 and #15. See all the best doing their best without huge waiting periods and uninteresting stuff. PGS also suffers from the fact that it can only be done on wide, rather (compared to the skiers, afaict on TV) easy slopes. I would love to see them run something that at least looks a little bit more spectacular.

Exchanging the regular heel and toe-receivers of the Race Titanium against the ones for Intec Titanium would work fine. However I somehow doubt this is going to make sense economically. Replacement parts are expensive. The prices of F2 Intec front slider + F2 Heelholder Casing Race + F2 Intec Heel Holder as listed on http://www.carversparadise.com/ add up to EUR 122. (I am not sure whether all these parts already come in pairs or whether this would just upgrade one binding.) For comparison ebay currently has a set of 08/09 intec titaniums *with* heels for EUR 169.

I have got a http://www.bebt.de/images/hotblast.jpeg Hot Blast 160 SL (iirc 2004/5 vintage). It seems to be a rather good match for my weight (about 63 kg) just a little bit on the stiff side. Lots of fun on crowded days. I think official guidance was 60+ for that length. cu andreas

The average is not that high this year, gone snowboarding 29 times yet, adding up to 173,475 m (569,143 ft) of altitude. Highscore: 11,272 m (36,981 ft) a single day (i.e. riding from 8:50 to 14:00 hours). I do hope to add another 5 days though unless my ankle (and the weather) keeps acting up.

I am riding like this with F2s. I have yet to find any con. The bindings flex a little bit didfferently but I do not feel it when riding. Iirc Bruce is using a setup like this, too. (must be good then ;-)

As Coloradoking says. You'll need to adjust these nuts to set lean and spring preload. Your boots should have come with a tiny tool to turn them (a hex wrench attached to almost square flat piece of metal) but a regular flat screwdriver will also work. HTH

I agree that EUR 1000 is expensive for a snowboard. But I think it is a "reasonable" price for the most expensive board offered by a specific manufacturer.

I think listing USD prices is a little bit misleading for this kind of product, where the consumer takes the FX risk. We in Europe would not pay USD 1300, but EUR 1000. I guess any European snowboard is going to be expensive from a US point of currently, due to to shipping/custom/FX. (FWIW this goes the other way round, too, e.g. Donek Axess would end up at EUR 680.) The pro team is SGs top model, according to http://www.sgsnowboards.com/ it costs EUR 1000. The Full Race T is EUR 900, non-metal boards are cheaper (Race 650, Speed 500). I do not think that is *very* expensive for a niche product, produced in a first world country (Austria afaik). For comparison a Burton Custom X is listed at ~EUR 680.

Are you wearing a helmet? I thought the neckpiece would interfere with a helmet.

http://www.carversparadise.com/ - Afaict they have all the parts your were searching for.

That only holds for hard surfaces doesn't it? So it probably would only be true if you were running on solid ice. A regular slope is deformed by the snowboard riding on it. Also there is usually some loose material around.

I guess they are pretty much identical to the Intec RS (or the Carve RS respectively) which are still sold today. All plastic and probably more flexible than the Titanium line. I have never tried them, though. http://www.f2-snow.com/htdocs/bindings-intec-rs.php?setsub=11&setnav=23

I have always been riding with regular glasses and OTG goggles (Scott unlimited). Occassionally I have got fog on the glasses, if I somehow manage to redirect the breath to my face but shortly lifting the goggles usually quickly fixes it. You should not have pressure on the glasses from the goggles, either they are not compatible with your glasses or the strap is too tight. Crashing and losing goggles + glasses is a bitch, though. ;-)

It was cut a little bit short, but the time I had was good. (5000m) After doublechecking the other binding I cannot see how I could have lost the bail without breaking it.

Today at noon upon exiting the chairlift I suddenly found I had lost the rear bail on right (rear, since I riding regular) binding. (See Image.) I have no idea why, I did not realize something was amiss until the bail was completely gone. I wonder how this could happen, the remaining pieces are not damaged afaict and with about 62 kg I should not be able to break 6mm of steel (F2 race titanium. non-intec). I am just very grateful I have got a replacement at hand, a F2 Intec Titanium I got for the my new board.

I take them out after every ride. It is rather easy with the Head Stratos.

I've gone from round to angular this season, and the nice thing about it is that when I lean the board against a wall it is absolutely stable.

The stratos features a thermofit liner, i.e. it has small areas in the heel and tongue that conform to the shape of your foot through body heat, or by using heat hoses (quote carvers almanac). This is not a fully head-moldable "Thermo Flex" liner. Putting it in a convection oven will probably kill the liner.

Each manucturer seems to have a different way of measuring. Deeluxe's 27 was ok for me (I had too much heel lift, so I did not buy them), but I needed 28 in the Stratos. - The 27.5 I rode a couple of times was too small and gave my toes lots of pain. (BTW should I try to sell the 27.5 now on *bay or is it already too late at this time of the year?) No, they don't need to be drilled, you just need to replace the heels with intec heels. Yes, it is, boots, bindings and heels are sold separately.

Thanks to all of you for telling me your thoughts on this. After weighting your opinions (and taking in account my requirements) I intend to go for the shorter board. have fun, cu andreas

Sadly the only photography connected with my snowboarding is an X-ray of my left wrist (nothing broke though). ;-) I ride what my local resort has to offer, no gates, mainly red with a little bit of blue and some black (steep) on the way home. The slopes are quite crowded here usually so I need to able to have at least some fun with small, tight turns. The main reason I am looking for a new board is that I want switch to one that is more difficult to ride initially but offers more grip when the slope is hard or even icy. thanks, cu andreas

Hello, I am pondering getting a more interesting board for next season (I am currently riding 97/98 Hot Spirit 158) and will probably get a Hot Blast. However I am yet undecided on the length, http://hammersnowboards.com/products/hotsnowboards/blast.php suggests the 167 for me (1,76m), but as I am quite slim (~60kg) I guess the SL160 should be long enough for me. Any thoughts? thanks, cu andreas