This good/bad to race with?

[Harmless]

trying to get together some other race set ups for the upcoming year but dont know if itd be any good.

renntiger 185, td-1 with my own gaskets, sb 123's.

bindings to stiff? boots to soft?

[zenyogi4]

Nice GS board, add booster straps to your boots for better response and you've got a good start to begin racing. Good Luck

[Harmless]

well i was thinking about taking the my burton race plates and getting the upz-rc10's.

is it mainly just a preference thing?

[Scuff]

You could do just fine with that setup..

though there is probably a better combination out there.

First let me ask - what race experience have you had?

What races are you planning to do? NASTAR? USASA? FIS?

What someone deems as "good" gear, doesn't necessarily mean that it's an appropriate match for you.

It is *SO* difficult to make board recommendations on-line - especially

with the limited information you've provided. Do you have any videos posted of you riding?

That would at least help someone at least make an educated

guess as to whether you would be able to handle a 185.

Remember that being able to control the board is just the first step - and being able to turn through a race course can be a much greater challenge.

As a fellow midwest rider, I know how small/narrow/crowded some of our

"hills" can be. :) I say all of this, not to question your skills.. but with

Your Safety in mind - Nobody here wants to turn you into a human missile.

Boots:

I had to hunt through your previous posts - but I see posts that you're ~200lbs.. I'm 220, and currently using the Track 700's -

I ride hard, so I've actually T-Bolted the sides for additional stiffness. I think the 123's would feel really soft for me.

My old UPZ boots were much stiffer than the Deeluxe boots - too stiff and unforgiving for my liking most of the time.

If you're still in "Learning" mode - I would not really recommend the RC10.

td-1 with my own gaskets,

Eek.. This makes me a little nervous.

Try looking for some TD2's or TD3's, or some F2's or Sno-pros.

Most of our Junior racers are on Burton Plates, Bomber TD3-SW, and F2.

Hoping to switch everyone to TD3's in the next couple years, because they offer great adjust ability, and there are spare parts available.

All of the best gear in the world will not help you without some real-world experience going through a course.

If you're in the area, we train 2 x a week for SL and 2 x a week on GS throughout the season.

Then consider making the trip over to Minnesota this Winter and race one of our USASA races. You'll see/meet lots of

alpine snowboard racers of different ages and skill levels riding all sorts of different gear.

It's also a very humbling experience getting your best race time stomped by a 14 year old. :) (It can happen..)

If it's not a race weekend, we'd love to have you out to carve with our Buck Hill carving group - I'm sure we could give you some

recommendations on what gear would be appropriate. I might even bring out a board for you to try.

Cheers,

~Coach Karl

[Harmless]

Ive raced nastar for two years now and am now start usasa this upcoming year in raging bull and chestnut. My past two year at nastar ive raced with a burton speed 160 w/ burton race plates and oxygen kryptons. ive just out grown the oxygens and the burton doesnt like the speeds of a gs to much. i thought of using the 123's cause they felt of the same stiffness and have been sitting in my room all summer.

[Strider]

Hello there,

Scuff has it right with the observations that it is really hard to recommend stuff online. I coach and race in WI and have ridden with the MN crew at a few MWES's. I'm not as big as he is, but I rode 123's for about 8 years and they worked great for me because I liked a lot of flex and it fit my riding style. I did add a BTS system with blue springs, and also a fourth buckle where the useless power strap was. That said, I switched to the HEad Stratos Pro last year because I have wide feet and I was sick of fixing buckles on the 123's. At first they seemed too stiff, but after making the BTS mods posted here and riding for awhile they work great and I get a lot more power. So, lesson on boots is, you'll porbbaly be fine on the 123's if that is what you're used too, but it won't hurt to go stiffer as you get more familiar with the set-up.

That 185 is a big board for around the midwest with our short narrow runs. I've ridden Chestnut on my 180 Coiler and it's a great hill, but I really have to work the board to get the short radius turns sometimes to avoid all the moving obstacles. Make sure you gt a lot of practice on it before you start doing full speed runs. Work on varying your turn shape, and also on your skidded emergency turns. Once you have that it should do fine in the GS courses we usually see here, although they can be tighter than what you'd see at a hill out west.

I'd also second Scuff ont he TD1's. They are a fine binding and I rode them for quite awhile, but I wouldn't make your own mods to them. If you really want the full suspension get a set of TD3's, or even used TD2's. I ride the TD2's with the suspension kit (same as a TD3 basically) because I got them long before the TD3 came out and the difference from the TD1's is huge.

I'll be at Chestnut for one of my sons ski races Jan 7 and 8 if you want to ride some. I'm also at Tyrol Basin in WI all the time coaching and riding so stop on by if you are in the neighborhood. We've got a large group of hardbooters there just like the MN guys and its always great to ride with others for tips, and for fun.