Softboot Binding/board Suggestions?

[Puddy Tat]

I'm looking for all-mountain softboot binding and board suggestions.

I've got three boards

1. Dedicated carver (currently an O2 F-67 , with TD3 Step-ins, UPZ RTRs, 58/58 angles) (173 cm Schtubby on order for Fall '09)

2. All-mountain (Burton Kelly Slopestyle 171cm, Nidecker ACT 1 bindings, Burton Freestyle Softboot 12/-6 angles)

3. Screwing around (Nidecker Nano 132cm, Nidecker Campus bindings, Burton Freestyle Softboot, 12/-6 angles)

edit: I've got a US size 11 to 11 1/2 foot the UPZ RTRs are a Mondo 28; my Burton Freestyles are a size 12 (which are the smallest I could fit into). The overall boot length of the freestyle is ~32cm (this is slightly longer than the actual sole of the boot).

When I want to have a dedicated carving day I go to the hardboots, however when I'm in the softies I like screwing around and getting all jibby with it even though I admittedly suck at freestyle.

The problem is that even in the duck stance I ride in softboots its still fun to layout carves on groomers but everytime I start really enjoying the carving as soon as I push the board past about 45 degrees on heelside the heel cup of the binding lifts the board edge out of the snow. This proceeds to dump me on my butt and impact test my helmet. This is generally followed by a round of me cursing about how much softies suck. In 30+ days of riding this season this has happen twice so far this season; once on the Kelly board and once on the Nano board. In spite of laying it out on the carving board I have yet to have this problem in HB (of course there is no boot overhang).

To bring my feet and bindings within the board edges I have to push the bindings angles past 45 degrees, which becomes useless for screwing around and getting all jibby.

In the near future I'm going to replace my all-mountain board, and right now I'm seriously torn on whether to go with a wider alpine board and hardboot set-up or find the widest all-mountain softboot board I can find. I like the carving, and I like screwing around but I am getting really tired of slamming myself everytime I start to enjoy the carving in softies.

This whole thing pisses me off because I'm held back by an equipment limitation rather than a technique limitation. It's like I have to remember not to carve just because I'm riding softies.

First Question

So what binding has the highest heelcup, and least increased bulk from the heel of the boot, but still allows enough lateral flex to have some fun.

Second Question

What's the widest all-mountain softboot board around 163-167cm length? And what is the waist width?

[bobdea]

what size foot do you have?

[Puddy Tat]

Added above. Interesting enough, I noticed that the softboots have almost the same overall length as my hardboots, meaning that the softboot and binding is close to 2.5 cm longer than the hardboot.

The softboot in the binding measures ~34.5 cm.

[bobdea]

weird, 28.5 boot equals 10.5 to 11, got a width issue?

first, I'd get a better softboot and softboot binding

no, they do not have to be cateks fr2s and salomon malamutes. There's cheaper options that work as well if not better most of the time.

Most of the high end bindings are pretty decent these days, I ride catek but I really like the burton stuff, Ride, nidecker and few others.

for boots, go stiff but don't feel like you have to have the stiffest. I like the burton driver and ion.

with a board, there's some really wide boards out there, I can't ride anything wider than 27.5 and be happy in a 11 boot, I prefer boards that are 27.....

the tanker 167 wide might be the ticket. Also, there's a mess of offerings in the size range you suggested. burton, never summer, ride, lib tech and a bunch of others all make great wide boards.

don't be afraid of a bigger board either. my favorite softboot board right now is a tanker 177. can go everywhere. for days when it's deep I have a bigger board the 187...

[newcarver]

You might want to look into Venture Snowboards. www.venturesnowboards.com They make all their boards in 3 widths. From 24, 26, and 28 cm wide. They also make a lot of lengths up to 180cm for freeride softboot setup. They are made in a small factory in CO. Very good quality and performance. Look for a soft binding that doesn't have a large heel cup piece to limit heel overhang. I've got Head PX10's. They have a heel cup that is strong but thin (aluminum). Stay away from plastic as they beef the heelcups up and stick out more.

[bobdea]

You might want to look into Venture Snowboards. www.venturesnowboards.com They make all their boards in 3 widths. From 24, 26, and 28 cm wide. They also make a lot of lengths up to 180cm for freeride softboot setup. They are made in a small factory in CO. Very good quality and performance. Look for a soft binding that doesn't have a large heel cup piece to limit heel overhang. I've got Head PX10's. They have a heel cup that is strong but thin (aluminum). Stay away from plastic as they beef the heelcups up and stick out more.

on most bindings the heel cup is not a issue, your boot hits the snow first anyway.

burton is like that

[teach]

I have Burton C60s (large) , size 12/13 boots on a narrowish board (Arbor Crossbow 166) with angles like 30-35 degrees. My heel cup drags in a big way when I dig in. It doesn't usually cause my edge to release, but it slows me down. What caused me to notice was that the little metal-look trim where the ankle strap screws onto the heel hoop snagged the snow and in a day or two just ripped off completely. (Those bindings were new just a few weeks ago.) On ice this isn't a problem (my boot and heel cup hit at about the same time, around 75 degrees, probably more like 60 with the board flexed.) I like my Northwave Decade boots. Burton boot don't fit my feet--I have the wide front foot/narrow heel/high arch type foot. You may try different soft boots and find others fit well at a smaller size, and are less bulky (even for their size). Thirty-two TM-Twos are pretty compact and stiff.

[bobdea]

I have Burton C60s (large) , size 12/13 boots on a narrowish board (Arbor Crossbow 166) with angles like 30-35 degrees. My heel cup drags in a big way when I dig in. It doesn't usually cause my edge to release, but it slows me down. What caused me to notice was that the little metal-look trim where the ankle strap screws onto the heel hoop snagged the snow and in a day or two just ripped off completely. (Those bindings were new just a few weeks ago.) On ice this isn't a problem (my boot and heel cup hit at about the same time, around 75 degrees, probably more like 60 with the board flexed.) I like my Northwave Decade boots. Burton boot don't fit my feet--I have the wide front foot/narrow heel/high arch type foot. You may try different soft boots and find others fit well at a smaller size, and are less bulky (even for their size). Thirty-two TM-Twos are pretty compact and stiff.

big foot with a narrow board!

your board is too narrow, not a issue of binding really.

Most bindings made have someone who rides low angles on a board that is wide enough in mind. anything else and yoursetup may not be ideal

[ShortcutToMoncton]

There was a Donek Sasquatch for sale in the Buy and Sell recently for a reasonable price. That board might be a good all-mountain option for you.

greg

[bobdea]

There was a Donek Sasquatch for sale in the Buy and Sell recently for a reasonable price. That board might be a good all-mountain option for you.

greg

yes, that's a good place to start on a budget, I really the tankers and a few others much better though.

you might find a sasquatch with my name in the base even.

[Donek]

As a little heads up on what we'll be offering next year (actually as of now). Custom shaping will be coming down dramatically. We're basically eliminating the fee for a custom shape. Anyway, we can accomodate your shoe size and length without any problems. Carve specific, freeride, jib/freeride, whatever you like.

[Dave ESPI]

[bobdea]

As a little heads up on what we'll be offering next year (actually as of now). Custom shaping will be coming down dramatically. We're basically eliminating the fee for a custom shape. Anyway, we can accomodate your shoe size and length without any problems. Carve specific, freeride, jib/freeride, whatever you like.

ooooohhhh really?

you might of just killed my tanker fetish!

[bobdea]

Is this a waste of time or what? Puddy Tat has arrived he doesn't need used $hit, you can figure that out with his current setup. I don't understand the binding question at all unless his Act 1 is the wrong size. Call Sean at Donek for super wide performance decks or his buddy Klem at Venture.

woah, just noticed what binding he's on, great binding!

one less bird to kill.

I kind of agree with bola on that point, good wide boards are cheap enough that if buying new is possible it makes perfect sense to do so.

[Donek]

ooooohhhh really?

you might of just killed my tanker fetish!

We've discussed adding such a model to the line for a couple years, but have simply failed to get to it. With the new software I've written, it will take about 5 minutes to generate the cnc code for a new shape like this.

[tex1230]

How big can you go, Sean? (length)

[Fatmarmot]

AS a board choice i would highly recomend the G-force razor www.gforcecarving.com. It is a board specifically designed for soft boot carving and all mountain riding. I tried one at the Aspen SES and loved it. Gforce has a rep in Aspen. His name is Ben Whitaker ben@gforcecarving.com , try contacting him.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Is this a waste of time or what? Puddy Tat has arrived he doesn't need used $hit, you can figure that out with his current setup. I don't understand the binding question at all unless his Act 1 is the wrong size. Call Sean at Donek for super wide performance decks or his buddy Klem at Venture.

The Sasquatch was new, never-ridden. Not a bad all-mountain pickup for less than $300 I would think?

greg

[bobdea]

AS a board choice i would highly recomend the G-force razor www.gforcecarving.com. It is a board specifically designed for soft boot carving and all mountain riding. I tried one at the Aspen SES and loved it. Gforce has a rep in Aspen. His name is Ben Whitaker ben@gforcecarving.com , try contacting him.

those are doneks right?

could do a custom width, be perfect

[tex1230]

those are doneks right?

yes Gforce made by Donek

[Rob Stevens]

Nitro Raiden: Thin, aluminum heel cup.

Flow: No heel cup. Somewhere on here is a Catek binding, modded with a Flow highback. Expensive? Yes. Heavy? Sure. Does what you want? Very likely.

Board: Wider. Obviously.

On the subject of the Burtons (or most soft binders): Heel cup drag bothers me too. I ride duck, but carve, so what I did was cut the heel cup out of the binding and bolted the highback directly to the side rails of the baseplate. It was two bolts per side, as there was still the original mounting point plus the two new holes I drilled.

The result was a binder I could really lean over, but couldn't fold the highback down on. Loading the chair one day, the seat cracked the higback and that was that.

I have since bought a pair of Burton C14's off EBay that will get the same treatment. My personal observation was that even though the heel cup is pretty thin on the Burtons and that Bob is right that as far as stock ones go, they're some of the best, you'll still boot out way before the point I would with the modded binding. Another thing. Because I ride at 28 degrees on the front, I only had to do this to the back binding, which I run at -4.

[Puddy Tat]

Thanks for the help. And I apologize for not getting back to respond. Was working 16hr days at the beginning of the week and catching up on sleep at the end of the week.

A pair of flow bindings sound like a good option for the Nidecker Nano.

I'm liking Nidecker ACT1 bindings, and a Sasquatch in the mid 160 range would seem to be a good option to put under that binding. Anybody got any info on how they ride. I hear good things on here about Donek's alpine gear, but would be interested in info on how that board freerides.

Thanks

Dave

[Donek]

Thanks for the help. And I apologize for not getting back to respond. Was working 16hr days at the beginning of the week and catching up on sleep at the end of the week.

A pair of flow bindings sound like a good option for the Nidecker Nano.

I'm liking Nidecker ACT1 bindings, and a Sasquatch in the mid 160 range would seem to be a good option to put under that binding. Anybody got any info on how they ride. I hear good things on here about Donek's alpine gear, but would be interested in info on how that board freerides.

Thanks

Dave

It's a very carve oriented freeride board. It's typically not great in the park or tight trees. If you want it to be, I can modify the flex pattern to make it more park and tree friendly. Everything is adjustable as mentioned earlier.