Hate to do this -> softies

[2stroke]

Sorry, I hate to do this...

I have searched on here regarding bindings for softboot carving and it seems what info I get back on recommended bindings, I cant seem to find those specific bindings.

What I am looking for is a binding that works for carving for both my wife and myself (not sharing), but first my wife. My wife is an athletic rider that can carve both toes and heels and is getting much better at linking carved turns. She has been wanting to demo boards but I thought she should get bindings sorted out first. She like me comes from a background of skiing and like a positive but not rock stiff interface.

What bindings are BX riders using? Do Flows provide enough support? and is the cable too stiff on the highback? Keep in mind I am a cheap bastard so I would not be opposed to look for back year/ ebay new or used etc.

[Rob Stevens]

Mark Fawcett, a guy who gets the carving done, really likes his Flow setup.

I really dig the Nitro Raiden R9 (old) and Nitro Machine (new).

Both of these bindings are stiff, but comfortable, with well-padded footboards for vibration dampening. The also have ultra low-profile (or non-existant, in the case of the Flow) baseplate heel loops, allowing you to really tip on edge heelside. Bindings like Burtons (a company that doesnt really make a very good FR binding anymore... Not for my weight anyway) have quite thick heel loops which cause drag at higher heelside edge angles.

Stay away from the machined aluminum soft bindings. Total overkill, in my opinion.

If you're doing the boots too, look into the Deeluxe Spark. It has a true Vibram sole (the ice climbing one, not the flexy one on the Burton Driver) and a solid backstay. The lacing system is sh!t, however. I do like normal laces on softboots, so look into the Flows there as well, or a nice pair of 32's.

[Futahaguro]

Everything I read in regards to this, which you have probably read, is the Nidecker ACT are good. Rob's post said Mark likes Flows but the BX'er whom I rode against didn't like them. Too floppy. In the end I would probably hit Craigslist locally and find a few to kick around in and see what she thinks.

I love my Nidecker Carbon 900 with Bomber Power Plates. I would highly recommend the Power Plates because it greatly reduces toe-out when you are carving hard.

[Cousin of Beagle]

I have been carving on soft boots & bindings for over 15 years. 1995 Preston LS (aluminum plate), 2000? Ride RS (aluminum plate), 2007 Burton C60 (plastic plate & carbon fibre highback), 2007? Burton P1 (plastic everything), 2012 Burton Prophecy (plastic everything). The Preston & Ride were solid. Burton C60 is a bit flexy. The Burton P1 and Burton Prophecy are soft, but good enough.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Cousin of Beagle

[Cuban Carving Gooding]

Then don't .

[2stroke]

Sorry Cuban Carving Gooding, sometimes we have to do things we dont like to do...

Thanx for the info. Its not that we cant carve on the equipment we have, just looking for something better short of going hard boots which may be an eventual destination for my wife. She all ready turns better than most on the mountain. Her current set up is burton custom on Ride viva la jennie waara, no idea on what this board is intended. The other problem is her small foot, seems difficult to find performance bindings in a small size. Her boot size is 22.5

[NSSage]

I like the Ride bindings, the Capo or El Hefe binding will be great for carving. My brother uses Burton Cartels for BX on his Donek board and he can carve really well I personally prefer the Ride bindings. I see you are in Southern California, where do you ride?

[2stroke]

I have had season passes at Mammoth for the past four years. Cant remember the last time I went to Big Bear

[maineboarder88]

I like the Ride bindings, the Capo or El Hefe binding will be great for carving. My brother uses Burton Cartels for BX on his Donek board and he can carve really well I personally prefer the Ride bindings. I see you are in Southern California, where do you ride?

+1 on Ride Capo. Comfy and supportive.

[island carver]

Hey GG,

My wife and i just got back from Aspen and we loved it! Im a full hardbooter but shes a softbooter that wants to be carvy or carve in them. So we got her a set of Bomber Power Plates that mount between her Burton 3 hole Feather and her trusty Flow bindings. We then set her angles to forward 20 in front and forward 10 in back (normally shes 6 front and 0 in back).

The Power Plates lift her up higher on the board (about 3/4") plus the new angles equal less boot out. Also, she has a 3 degree cant plate in the rear foot, pitching her back leg toward the front leg slightly(more comfort).

She got faster, started to lean more into her edges, and ajusted well to a big change in gear for her with it being a better result than a negitive one. she wont have to buy a whole new carving/hardboot setup.

Her flows are great for this and she loves them.

They are worth a try. Hope this helps.

[KingCrimson]

Before anyone gives 2stroke any more crap about putting a softie thread, he carves his softies better than a lot of people here carve their new school metal sticks.

My softie carving/BX setup had Ride SPIs, they were very burly and stiff heel and toe but actually very soft laterally and gave a very forgiving feel when ending up in the back seat in moguls or doing dumb stuff like knuckling jumps. Though they are aluminum, I think they are unique in their lateral softness- I agree with Rob that aluminum bindings are generally overkill.

Slopestar, a fantastic socal softboot carver swears by his Flows. He's trying out his powerplates tonight and I texted him to post his thoughts afterwards.

Edited February 22, 2013 by KingCrimson

[Mike T]

I spend a fair amount of time softie carving. I have older '08 Burton C60s, which have a very stiff highback that is attached the the rest of the binding with flexy plastic... so the net effect is that it is very responsive when you pressure it straight back but not very responsive if you rotate into your turns at all. I also have a set of '12 Burton Diodes which are better balanced and more responsive when rotating into heelsides. Haven't really tried much else recently. My wife has '12 Cartels and likes them quite a bit.

[2stroke]

Thanx all for the info. The bomber plates look interesting. My wife has little trouble booting out with her tiny feet front foot @38* edit 30* not 38

Edited February 22, 2013 by 2stroke

[breeseomatic]

Ride CAD are pretty good if you can find them.

[2stroke]

Thanks for the kudos KingCrimson, I have learned how to carve my limited set up but also learned enough that I dont like my current bindings and my wife wants to push her skills farther. I like the idea of the power plates, do you think something like putting on her burton customs as an intermediate step give some perfromance/leverage advantage? Or would that not be worth it.

In other words, what would be the upgrade steps for her?

Power Plates + existing bindings -> upgrade bindings -> upgrade board

Or

Upgrade bindings -> Power Plates -> upgrade board

For me the ooooold CFX bindings have a flexy base and stiff as hell highback. I feel this gives a little to soft of suspension on toes and too stiff on the heels.

[Futahaguro]

Timeless is selling some of his BX stuff, here are just the Power Plates, http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?39566-Bomber-Power-Plates

[breeseomatic]

In other words, what would be the upgrade steps for her?

Power Plates + existing bindings -> upgrade bindings -> upgrade board

Or

Upgrade bindings -> Power Plates -> upgrade board

You can forget about Bomber Power plates until next year, Bomber doesn't have any three hole discs in stock; plus you are potentially introducing cant and lift into the equation.

What does she feel are the limitations of her current setup? If she can get the board on edge and boot out, then the bindings are probably fine, she may need a more carve specific board, the Burton Custom is an all mountain board with a middle of the road flex pattern. And once she gets a stiffer board, you will notice that soft boots and bindings can't drive enough power to the edges. I'm pretty sure with her current setup she could overpower the board. But is she? The next time you guys are going up to Mammoth, let me know. I'd like to soft boot it with you guys.

[trailertrash]

Before anyone gives 2stroke any more crap about putting a softie thread, he carves his softies better than a lot of people here carve their new school metal sticks.

Dude? Seriously, take it down a notch. You are getting diarrhea mouth and a little too big for your britches.

[BlueB]

Huh? He probably saw the guy ride and compared him to few other h/booters he knows...

OP, I like the Nidecker Carbon bindings, but they have the problem of the thick heel loop, that Rob mentioned.

Why adding the Power Plates? It would just make the setup a lot heavier... She would only need them if she had too much rear highback angle and needs to replace that by forward lift/canting. If no toe/heel drag, than she doesn't need extra height. If only height is required, but not lift/cant, then much cheaper and lighter Palmer or Burton risers would do the trick.

As she is from ski background, I think she'd really enjoy the RIGHT h/boots. If you set her with very flexy boots and bindings, like Raichle 121 and F2 Carve RS / Blax / Proflex, she'd have a setup that's just a notch up from soft boots. It sorts out the problem of finding the high performance soft boot/binding in small size...

[leeho730]

One might wait for next year, Salomon Quantum binding looks promising. Full carbon high back, rather thin heel cup. Unsure heel cup would be stiff for carving.

[2stroke]

As she is from ski background, I think she'd really enjoy the RIGHT h/boots. If you set her with very flexy boots and bindings, like Raichle 121 and F2 Carve RS / Blax / Proflex, she'd have a setup that's just a notch up from soft boots. It sorts out the problem of finding the high performance soft boot/binding in small size...

I think that will probably be the ultimate option, but here is a problem with going that route and something that has been brought up in the snowboarding is dying/ how do we promote alpine riding type threads and that is that it is an "all in" proposition. Also buying 5-6oo dollar boots sight unseen and my wife has never hardbooted, at least I have back in the day when HB's was a rental option. I found a place up in Mammoth that demos AT boots, this might be a way to get her to taste it.

My thought / guess on the plates was that the lift gave a leverage advantage allowing greater edge pressure with similar input, but that is a guess, tell me if I am wrong. I imagine that it may slow the edge change as a penalty???

Ill also check the palmer / burton riser options.

I get the softboot / hardboot "tension" much like the ski / board relationship in the early days lets face it "most" softbooters dont know how to turn and that same group that have the bagypants attitude that I dont welcome... Me, I have thick skin, I dont f'n care. And heck its not like softboot carvers are quad / atv riders. LOL

[Mike T]

One might wait for next year, Salomon Quantum binding looks promising. Full carbon high back, rather thin heel cup. Unsure heel cup would be stiff for carving.

A very important concern IMHO, see my above comments re: Burton C60 which aren't exactly about heel cups, but heel cups certainly come into play when you want to rotate into that heelside.

And, nothing wrong with talking softie carving on this forum, IMHO! Carving (hard!) in softies is challenging yet has its own rewards, johnasmo showed be some video of a softie carve run of mine at SES and watching it, I realize just how far I have to go to make my softie heelsides look good.

(John: if you have any interest in posting that vid, I have no pride, would love to hear the peanut gallery's opinion)

[KingCrimson]

Dude? Seriously, take it down a notch. You are getting diarrhea mouth and a little too big for your britches.

I'd love to get diarrhea out of ANY hole at this point with how constipated I am, but that's a different story.

Not sure what too big for britches means, if that's to suggest maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, you're wrong. I'd invite you to come spend a week with me in Mammoth, but I quite literally can't ride.

I don't like the softie hate on these forums because it's short sighted and ridiculous. I don't think Cuban was going anywhere with his post, but it was pretty pointless, and the signal to noise ratio on these forums can already be pretty bad. I don't have anything against Cuban, and I think this is the first time I've ever addressed something at him on the forums. It was just an aside on one of my posts.

Don't you have something better to be doing than posting something like that? And what's with these weird personal attacks? Am I supposed to call you a doodoo butt in response?

[KingCrimson]

I think that will probably be the ultimate option, but here is a problem with going that route and something that has been brought up in the snowboarding is dying/ how do we promote alpine riding type threads and that is that it is an "all in" proposition. Also buying 5-6oo dollar boots sight unseen and my wife has never hardbooted, at least I have back in the day when HB's was a rental option. I found a place up in Mammoth that demos AT boots, this might be a way to get her to taste it.

My thought / guess on the plates was that the lift gave a leverage advantage allowing greater edge pressure with similar input, but that is a guess, tell me if I am wrong. I imagine that it may slow the edge change as a penalty???

Ill also check the palmer / burton riser options.

I get the softboot / hardboot "tension" much like the ski / board relationship in the early days lets face it "most" softbooters dont know how to turn and that same group that have the bagypants attitude that I dont welcome... Me, I have thick skin, I dont f'n care. And heck its not like softboot carvers are quad / atv riders. LOL

That rental shop in Canyon across from where I work actually has Dalbello boots, you could also try to get her in Kryptons if you want to go to the plate route with her.

The extra height helps way more than it hurts as long as it's not excessive.

[carvingchef]

I ride mostly hardboots but i occasionally enjoy softboots and what works for me is Bomber Power Plates, Nidecker Pro 800 and Salomon Malamute, I don't race BX and i don't care about jumps, i just like occasionally to carve in sofboots but i can tell you that BX racers don't necessarily want the stiffest boots/bindings interface, they do a lot of jumping and a lot of turns are banked, I think they prefer a lighter set up but responsive.

the Power plates definitely adds edge pressure and clearance but they make the set up heavier, for me the biggest advantage of the power plates is the cant lift adjustment that you cannot get with any other bindings or riser plates (except maybe Catek fr, good luck with that) edge to edge transition fast or slow really depends on the width of the board more than anything else

I have never seen 2stroke riding but i have seen slopestar riding in softboots and he can outcarve some people I know on hardboots with newer metal board and he can carve circles around me, I have never tried Flow but slopestar swears by them, here is a softboot video, nothing special, just for entertainment purpose

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/58941761" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" width="500"></iframe> the Donek on soft boots from carvingchef on Vimeo.