Sinecure Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 I was talking with someone over the weekend about increasing the angles on their soft boot setup as sort of a transition to carving and possibly hardbooting. I suggested that he not exceed ~30 degree angles on his soft boot setup because he'd start losing lateral support above those angles. I also suggested he rotate the highbacks around to the right (he's goofy), to give him some added support on heelside turns once he increases angles. Was I talking out of my a$$? What would the collective here say. I haven't ridden softies in ages so I was just sort of repeating what I thought I remembered reading here on BOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photodad2001 Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 I'm probably going to get a lot of people disagreeing with me, but I ride 45 front, and somewhere between 25 and 30 rear. Been riding that way since 89 when I got a sims blade and they previous owner had drilled the board to fit different bindings. The old wire bail system that Sims had at the time was ultra lame. I've gone flater, but I ride with my my upper body pointing straight down hill and flater angles upset my knees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimo Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 If your setup hurts, decrease your angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtslalom Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 I ride about 45 front and 48 back on both my soft boards. This is about as far as I will go when riding soft boots. I don't know what kind of boots you ride in but my Burton Ruler boots are rated a 6 out of 10 for support. I can't believe they are only a 6. They are the stiffest soft boots I have ever been in. I can't even imagine what 9 or 10 would feel like. Soft boots have come a long way since I was last riding freestyle back in the late 80's and early 90's. My opinion would be to ride angles that feel comfortable to you. As for losing support because of high angles, you're kidding your self. It really depends on the booots. I feel as if I'm "almost" riding hard boots when riding my set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furi Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 <snip> As for losing support because of high angles, you're kidding your self. It really depends on the booots. I feel as if I'm "almost" riding hard boots when riding my set-up. I'm not sure about support because I agree that soft boots have certainly come a long way. My 32's provide me with a ton of support and still feel good to flex. I think the problem is that higher you increase your angles the further away you are placing your heel and toe from the edge. At some point when you increase your angles enough you are probably sacrificing some leverage on the toe/heel side edges. Granted this is assuming a typical 25cm + waist width freeride board and average boot sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEJ Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Ran my asym alp 45-45 with Burton comps and 3 buckle bindings for a few years. Angle is all about reducing or eliminating overhang. No need to go any further than no overhang. Being at the edge, with no overhang, is what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furi Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Ran my asym alp 45-45 with Burton comps and 3 buckle bindings for a few years. Angle is all about reducing or eliminating overhang. No need to go any further than no overhang. Being at the edge, with no overhang, is what you want. exactly what I was trying to say :) Just couldn't articulate it well enough. My buddy wanted to increase his angles last week while we were out riding (him on softies) and I told him why bother? He already had no hang so there was no point in angling them over anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEJ Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 Actally it will hurt performance. Too much angle moves your pressure points away from the edge. You lose leverage and power. Some people ride fine that way, but I think that's a comfort thing, not a power thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtslalom Posted February 25, 2008 Report Share Posted February 25, 2008 I think the problem is that higher you increase your angles the further away you are placing your heel and toe from the edge. At some point when you increase your angles enough you are probably sacrificing some leverage on the toe/heel side edges. Exactly right. Any more than about 45, you really start to lose the toe/heel ankle flexion and rely more on lateral knee movement. That lateral knee movement is best when using hard boots. I guess it's all a matter of how you ride. I like to use a combination of both lateral knee movement and ankle flexion. If you are more of an ankle felxion rider who likes to drive your turns via ankle flexion, it would probably be better to ride with a lesser angle stance, say maybe 30 - 20 degrees. if you are more of a mix betwen ankl4es and lateral knee movement then maybe a binding stance around 40 or so degrees might suffice. If you really rely on driving your knees laterally then stick to hard bootin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I find that much above 33 and I really lose power on heelsides. Salomon Malamute boots with several different bindings. Rotoating the highback on the front boot helps some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr D Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 forward until they don't get boot out on the board. I find that 45/ 45 is the hardest work but still very doable. Above that it gets easier again but the technique changes. I have been riding a surfrodz 19cm waist at 80/77 with good results. I can ride a stiffer stick that way if I use the catek free rides. I ride my madd Bx at 45/45 with switch Ntypes. the biggest factor is not going beyond the edges if you get to inboard from the edges with your heels and toes you lose power very quickly. to outboard and you boot out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I find that much above 33 and I really lose power on heelsides. Salomon Malamute boots with several different bindings. Rotoating the highback on the front boot helps some. Amen to that! allot of people here run angles that are counter productive to their leveraging the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegtal Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I've got Burton C60 bindings and Burton Ion boots on a Santa Cruz Duo GLX 159 and ride +6/-3. It feets me perfectly. I started from +18/+12 but really felt uncomfortable and powerless. In the case of Burton C60 and probably a lot more soft bindings, I think they're designed to work with very moderate angles. I felt the loss of carbon highbacks benefits with higher angles and couldn't find the perfect Boots/Bindings compatibility. So I'd say +12 max on the front… and I wouldn't try to look forward hardboots settings to feel more comfortable and efficient but improve my softboots carving technic skills. That's a personal experience so it may not work for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 After a long time riding around 35/20 switching to really short boots (cutting away stuff from the liner and stretching the outer) I now ride around -5/20 (no significant overhang on boards around 25-26cm middle width with Mondo 26.5 boots) with softboots and find it much better than higher angles. Going above 35 on frontboot I rather switched to hardboots on the same board. Without having hardboots I would maybe advocate 40° on front boot as maximum that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnfusion Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 I ride Burton SI-X bindings with Driver SI boots and when I ride my Burton Fusion I ride a 35-38 front with about a 30-33 rear and have no problems. I just bought a 164 Burton Alp and am riding a 54 front and 51 rear on it and have no problems on my heal side turn but am getting a lot of chatter on my front side turn and some wash out. I ran into a fellow Bomber on the hill and he explained to me that the chatter could be due to my not pressuring my edges evenly through the turn and sure enough I found out that I was not when I started getting chatter. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I ran Burton Torques and an Asym Air at 66 and 45 for a couple of years till I switched to harboots and plates. Still ride the same angles unless the board is over 20.0 cm waist. I changed binding angles every other run till I found one that works. Coincidently these are exactly the same angles that my feet end up when sliding down an icy slope and coming to a stop. It's what works best for me. Was teaching a guy this weekend and had him start at 50 and 35 on the Torques. He was linking a few turns first run. Second run he was consistantly linking multiple turns. Highly recommend these angles for a beginner. PS. I'm a bit pigeon toed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ESPI Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 With regular 2 strap bindings, I run 38/28 F/R and have no problems. In my 3 straps with locking highback, I run mid 40's front and high 30's rear. Its all abotu where you feel comfortable. On a couple my boards, I can run high angles because of the shape of them. Others, I can run 60 degrees front and 40ish rear, but it is all in how you ride, and the response and strength in your legs and snow conditions. In powder the other day, it was much better with a "T" stance for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I ride Burton SI-X bindings with Driver SI boots and when I ride my Burton Fusion I ride a 35-38 front with about a 30-33 rear and have no problems. I just bought a 164 Burton Alp and am riding a 54 front and 51 rear on it and have no problems on my heal side turn but am getting a lot of chatter on my front side turn and some wash out. I ran into a fellow Bomber on the hill and he explained to me that the chatter could be due to my not pressuring my edges evenly through the turn and sure enough I found out that I was not when I started getting chatter. Good luck. that's the stiffest softboot setup around, too much for most people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrol Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I'm probably going to get a lot of people disagreeing with me, but I ride 45 front, and somewhere between 25 and 30 rear. Been riding that way since 89 when I got a sims blade and they previous owner had drilled the board to fit different bindings. The old wire bail system that Sims had at the time was ultra lame. I've gone flater, but I ride with my my upper body pointing straight down hill and flater angles upset my knees. That's the angles I used to ride right before I got my first heardboot setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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