Corey Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Has anyone else noticed the questionable softboot equipment on the slopes lately? Maybe it’s just our local little hills, but the rental stuff is horrible. They’re mostly step-in bindings, can’t remember the brand but they had rigid metal pins that stuck sideways out the sides of the boots. Yesterday I noticed that the guy in front of me in the lift line could lift his toe almost 1” before the board started moving. Then I started paying attention and all of the rental stuff had this much play in the step-in system! Then the regular-footed people riding goofy-setup boards and vice-versa. Not only rentals, but also people’s own boards with the bindings set up properly but pointing the wrong way on a twin-tip board. i.e. the tail was noticeably longer than the nose. I noticed about 15% of boards set up this way when looking down from the lift. What the heck? Are people just getting dumber? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrol Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 What the heck? Are people just getting dumber? no... I think they're pretty much, "same as it ever was" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Transistor Rhythm Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I've rented equipment on a company skiing trip in France, the ****tard had set me up with at least 2" boot out on a WIDE freestyle board (small bindings on a euro 45 size foot!). Only noticed it when I was on top of the mountain. So I got down and I went back. The other guy at the shop immediately recognized the problem and fixed my bindings. So I trusted it would be allright. WRONG Again at least 1" of boot out. After another time having to return twice before I had a setup that wasn't outright broken at Bottrop Alpine Center I decided it was time to buy my own equipment. I imagine people get hurt of even die because of *******s like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ak_rider Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 I know the step in your talking about, we used to have them here at ALyeska until we became a burton ltr resort. I saw the same crazy amountof play in the rental step-ins. I wish I could say things were better now, but when I'm teaching I often get people coming out with rental boards where the bindings are on the wrong feet, or better yet, a 6 yr old kid with tiny feet walks out with a board with large bindings on it. I think if resorts want to stop this crap from happening, they need to step it up and pay a decent wage to people who work in rentals. Really, would you care if someone was set up correctly if you were making minimum wage and could barely afford to eat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Yesterday I had a young female student, athletic, 170 tall, at least 9W boot size. Sportceck sold her a 144 narow noodly board and small bindings. They've set the bindings with 0 overhang at the heel and 2" at the toes. Stance way too narrow for her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingbat Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 My mountain rents those same step-ins. The slop goes away once they pack up with snow.;):p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Really, would you care if someone was set up correctly if you were making minimum wage and could barely afford to eat? Yes, because I agreed to do a job and agreed to the pay rate ahead of time. "Buyer's remorse" doesn't apply on a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnisiWaya Posted January 19, 2009 Report Share Posted January 19, 2009 Wow I hope those are not the SIS rossi/osin/emory boots and bindings. By the Way Boris if I have not already thanked you Thank you so much for the parts kit. LOL Now if I can just finish designing my new back brace and get DR approval I'll be set to go on hard and softies. The SIS system is one of the hard pin out the side of the boots systems. the other two were shorter lived and had all kinds of failures like the K2 and even worse the P(B)Utron (intentional miss spelling of Jakie's marketing company) step ins with tyheir plastic load bearing parts. Putron literally ruined the step in market world wide. Even in Europe were they had a 40% market share. the SIS system can be set up wrong but you actually have to be trained to set it up wrong as the way things fit together naturally always somjes out right. and the ball of the foot and the heel are toatally locked down on the borad with less lift than any stap binding can accomplish. Thats why I use them and collect spare boots and parts. With the Euro style (Non park) Highbacks you have the equivalent of and old three strap racing setup. Your boot is actually locked down on the board harder than with a set of Putron plate bindings and hard boots. The stiffer non park version of the Rossi and osin boots look like soft boots but are as stiff after ten years as my 2 year old Technica ski boots. Stiff enough that my surgeon allowed me to use one of them instead of a walking cast when I learned how to walk again after shttering my heel (11 screws and a metal plate). Chase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pebu Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I've got the rossi sis. No slop at all. As far as step ins go I think they're some of the better ones. No snow clogging or anything. I could stand my boots to be alot stiffer, but that's just cause they're super old and broken down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted January 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I think they were SIS. No idea how they could get that much slop in them... How about personal boards getting mounted backwards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utahcarver Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 First, yes, people are getting dumber. More importantly, the snowboarding public is getting even more dumber because of their exposure to ads in TWS, new graphics on the same boards year after year at Zumiez and other plastic banana shops. Reverse camber? Really? Ever hear of Winterstick, Sims, or Burton? It used to be called rocker. It worked for a while and went away. Great for deep pow, though. Now, to market to a new crop of uninformed masses, what's old is new. Anyway.... Like Pebu, I use Rossi SIS and have for years. Admittedly, I've met a lot of folks who are turned off by what PSR called years ago, "...a screen door latch" type of engagement. The main reason I use them, aside that I get them for free, is that I got tired of strapping traditionals on deep pow days. I can pop into the baseplate on the fly and away I go. In over 10 years of using them I've never released due to a failure in the binding. The few times I've come out have been a direct result of my own impatience and not clearing the baseplate of snow. I use a boot that has an internal high back and an Emery F5 (external high back) that is the stiffest soft boot I've ever worn. As to Corey's observation about riders having the wrong binding setup, Rossi SIS rentals have a baseplate that 'spins' with the release of a latch/button that allows the shop folks to quickly make a board goofy or regular foot. I can only imagine that besides some of the ski shop techs getting it wrong, there are probably some newbies using these that think they might know more than the guy in the shop. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I got a guy who's reawlly into the Step-Ins. He once asked me if I knew any shop that deals with them, and I exclaimed "Are you kidding me? Those are long old relics. I dont think you'll find 'em, but rental shops, it wouldn't be surprise me." Dunno if he's got luck to get 'em or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueB Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Thank you so much for the parts kit. LOL Hey, no worries, Bro. Just get well enough to enjoy them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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