D.Roe Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 Hi, Has anyone tried the Donek or Bomber plate on a 200 Tanker? More importantly (for me)... has anyone tried one of these plates with softboot bindings? If so, what was your impression? There seems to be two aspects to converting these plate systems for use with a softboot setup: 1) PLATE WIDTH. Should be wide enough to support the entire binding footprint. Sean seems to have taken care of this with his wider version ("about 24 cm wide [...] looks like that is wider than necessary though, so it is likely to get a little narrower"). My Nidecker 900s are less than 24 even at a 0° angle. Also, Bomber's BX version that Shaun Palmer mounted his bindings on looks wide enough. (Threads: "Soft Boot Carving on a Donek Plate" and "Shaun Palmer takes out the Boiler Plate BX version".) 2) STANCE WIDTH. As a softboot carver, I have (prefer) a wider stance than hardbooters. With my 182 Tanker I ride with a 59cm stance, with my 200 a 60cm stance. Judging by the Bomber installation PDF schematic, it looks like the maxium stance is 55cm. I haven't found an image that indicates the maximum stance for the Donek. Sean and Fin, what is -- or can be made -- the maximum stance width for your softboot plates? Thanks, and kind regards, David D.Roe Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin Posted April 12, 2011 Report Share Posted April 12, 2011 D. Roe, Actually, Bomber has made a small test run of the Boiler Plate for BX/soft boots. Essentially the same thing as the Boiler Plate just wider at the feet to better fit the soft bindings. Also, we made these to the new "softer" model for the Boiler Plate and used the 4mm (rather than 5mm) laminate thickness. To be honest, reports so far have been mixed. Had a few try in BX and a few try just for free riding. The BX crowd definitely has issues with the weight and height. I also think they did not like the fact that the ability to pedal also holds them back for the fine movements they may need in a BX course. Still working on it. But I did get some good feedback from a couple of soft booters who used them on big decks and just ripped all over the hill at speed. True to the plates, they do like to move. The widest we will go on the inserts is about 22" (56cm). If the binding themselves have slots, can go wider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburrill Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 I tried the Donek plate on a custom Saber 164 w/ UPM inserts. Thought it was fantastic. Used it in all conditions. And a couple of different races. Put it through the crash test several times and landed some good size jumps. It survived all the abuse. The whole system worked really well. Its just alot different than no plate. Response is slower and you lose some snow feel. But it made some very smooth carves. I felt like I lost some power to the edges but the ride was so smooth. My favorite thing about the plate was making medium speed carves on blue/black terrain. If I tried to over-power the turn, the plate would kind of cave in onto the board and sort of jam up, resulting in the above crash tests. If you are interested, definetely order one. It may drastically improve your riding. At the very least, its fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hi, Has anyone tried the Donek or Bomber plate on a 200 Tanker? More importantly (for me)... has anyone tried one of these plates with softboot bindings? If so, what was your impression? There seems to be two aspects to converting these plate systems for use with a softboot setup: 1) PLATE WIDTH. Should be wide enough to support the entire binding footprint. Sean seems to have taken care of this with his wider version ("about 24 cm wide [...] looks like that is wider than necessary though, so it is likely to get a little narrower"). My Nidecker 900s are less than 24 even at a 0° angle. Also, Bomber's BX version that Shaun Palmer mounted his bindings on looks wide enough. (Threads: "Soft Boot Carving on a Donek Plate" and "Shaun Palmer takes out the Boiler Plate BX version".) 2) STANCE WIDTH. As a softboot carver, I have (prefer) a wider stance than hardbooters. With my 182 Tanker I ride with a 59cm stance, with my 200 a 60cm stance. Judging by the Bomber installation PDF schematic, it looks like the maxium stance is 55cm. I haven't found an image that indicates the maximum stance for the Donek. Sean and Fin, what is -- or can be made -- the maximum stance width for your softboot plates? Thanks, and kind regards, David D.Roe Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany I put my Boiler plate on a 26cm wide metal BX before I even rode it on an alpine setup. IMO the combo would be great for softboot freecarving, I personally did not have any issues with the height or weight. The fact that it holds an edge so damn well was what made me take it off for race day. It holds too hard and makes it difficult to break the tail loose if you need to dump some speed quickly. On your point about width, a plate wide enough to make full contact with the binding would be rediculously heavy. I ran the normal Boiler plate and had no issues with difference in flex. I run Burton CO2s and Drivers. On your point about stance, I ran a 23 inch stance (58.4cm) on the Boiler plate and had room to go further. Remember you can go wider using the binding baseplate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I shot this video early season riding a 160 incline and Catek Freeride bindings. <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bYRS0kN4fyw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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