Helping me choose my 1st set of gears

[rsi]

Hi all carvers, I ride soft boot and now I am really into hard boot carving board, I think I am ready to switch.

First of all I am an experienced snow border, I think I can carve really well on soft boot (yes I mean carving with pencil thin S lines), I can carve on all green and most blue runs, I can do cross over and cross under turns, in some steep run I think I am starting to do cross thru turns.

I am roughy 168CM/60kg and I am currently riding a 158cm camber burton board, I know the board I ride is longer than the recommended length for my height, but I don't do park or jump, all I wanted is to carve, and I am quite happy with the board. :p

Now I am ready to switch, can anyone help me with these questions?

1, What board should I choose as a beginner? And length? (I am into carving, not racing).

2, What is a good boot for beginner?

3, As a beginner, is it good to get the plate system? Or better to add it on later?

Thanks a lot.

[lonbordin]

1) Welcome to BOL

2) Find Sunsurfer http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/member.php?7136-SunSurfer

3) Borrow equipment... make choice later. :)

Good luck!

[lowrider]

You've got some fellow carvers down under contact them for info on gear locally. You will get lots of info but the best is try before you buy. Not easy for you in New Zeland. Boots are # 1, bindings that give you the correct flex and a board that you are comfortable on are things only you will know once you have found them. Any chance you get to try on a boot do it if only to confirm the correct size for your particular foot. Post an ad in the wanted for any NZ member with gear for sale concentrate on boots first. What area do you ride ??? Contact Sunsurfer and Leeho once you get the hang of it they might let you try their plates.

Edited March 29, 2013 by lowrider

[Michelle]

rsi, we're got some great resources here http://www.bomberonline.com/resources/newcarver/new_carver.html to get you started. Browse around, and once you feel like you've got a good handle on what is going on with the equipment and which direction you want to go, feel free to send me an email.

Sunsurfer and Leeho are great resources too! There are a few of us down there, I'm sure these guys can point you in their direction.

We're here to help you with questions! Welcome!

[carvercutie]

Hi Michelle,

I'm new to the sport, as well. I ride a Rossi all-mountain, 148, and am 5'2", about 100 lbs. My carving board is an older Burton Alp, 152 cm. I have ridden a 156 and feel very comfortable. the faxct that you do well on camber, and aren't interested in parks is a good sign:). I just bought my first pair of hard boots- Head- new, 500.00, "used"- maybe once, if at all, 100.001 A steal. need to have them fitted, though- I've tried them twice, but only for 3-4 runs at a clip. They hurt! What angels do you currently ride on the soft boot set up? that is the first thing I did in soft boots- up the angles. I find the high angels, and the skill set it requires to turn at these angels, trumps the equipment change in terms of learning to carve- especially if you are already used to camber. I had 55, 40 on the Apl, but it felt "weird"- I usually ride all mountain at either 30, 15 or 15, 9. I brought the rear binding down to 30 recently and will try it this weekend. Turn initiation for me was harder at the high angles. I'm thinking the best approach is to change one variable (equipment, angles) at a time. As far as boots, in my size (23), there were not any options, so I grabbed the first reasonable pair I could find. I like them (they are very well-regarded), but I still think at my weight, I could use more forward flex. Nothing's perfect!

[Michelle]

The boots are a steal, but if they hurt then something is not right. Not sure where they are hurting, but you can probably work with the liners a bit and get them to fit better.

Higher angles on your soft boots will get you going more towards a carving set up. Generally speaking people ride with a 5 deg offset on their back foot vs their front. In other words, if you are a 55 on the front, a 50 might feel better. changing one variable at a time will also help so you know what is working and what is not.

The BTS system might help with the flex http://bomberonline.3dcartstores.com/BTS-kit_p_106.html. you could get the softer springs which will hopefully soften the feel of the flex a little. They won't fit the head boots out of the box, but if you do a search here you should be able to find the thread where customers have modified them to fit. Let me know if you have more questions!

[kipstar]

Hi all carvers, I ride soft boot and now I am really into hard boot carving board, I think I am ready to switch.

1, What board should I choose as a beginner? And length? (I am into carving, not racing).

2, What is a good boot for beginner?

3, As a beginner, is it good to get the plate system? Or better to add it on later?

Thanks a lot.

I'll give you my advice, for what it is worth (i.e. not so much! :_)

1. Go for a decent board that might be a challenge the first day or so, but once you get on top of it, it is a joy to ride; for that you need to clearly decide if you want a board for handling groomers mostly (pure carving board) and how wide those groomers are (dictates sidecut radius) or something more all mountain. Personally, I would always go for a supreme carve board, and switch back to softs or manhandle the board if you are riding ungroomed. If your budget allows, you can always ride a super cheap rock hopper for early season I guess, which might be a little on the shorter side. NZ snow being pretty average and there not being so much of it when it falls (plus being wet and gluggy), I'd say a decent carving board will handle almost all the powder days and slush days as well.

First off, what you hear guys riding in Japan, USA....I don't know if you have ridden there but the runs are far more open, the grooming better, the snow quality a LOT better on average and with less crowds than the north island. South island maybe a little better. In a big snow year NZ is fine, but when it is average or less than average, north island you need a shorter more manouverable board IMHO than say Mammoth Squaw or Vail. Also in flat light, if you have a slightly shorter board it can make life a little easier in NZ since you can carve it in control at slightly lower speeds.

Assuming you want the macdaddy carving board, given your height and weight, I'd guess if you are on Whakapapa/Turoa type terrain, that something around 166 - 171 is going to be close to the maximum you can realistically handle in the first couple of years although the first couple of days might be tough. Something like a Donek FC, Ogasaka ARM R, Coiler, Sigi Grabner FC etc or similar. You can ride older technology boards, but there is a pretty decent gap between a good modern shape board and the older style. Depending on your boot size you will probably want a waist width around 195-205mm if you are around a 27mondo size foot; again with NZ variable conditions running slightly flatter angles than USA is not a bad plan.

You might be able to troll trademe for an old school nitro scorpion, oxygen proton or similar as a rock hopper and possibly even with bindings; I would not spend more than $120NZD on such a board as it's not going to be your main ride...you are better off to spend most of your effort getting a really decent board. I know of a kiwi guy with a Sigi Grabner Full Carve 170 for instance that he brought back from overseas which has been ridden only 3-4 days so it's basically new...that would be a pretty decent ride if he would sell it. If you want a piece of junk learner board, I have one of my old nitro scorpions 155 lying around in NZ somewhere with a cracked edge on it; fine for learning a couple of days on, $10 and it's yours (its somewhere in Auckland it think). You will see the massive difference between the scorpion and the SG or whatever else you get. If you get a clunker, get a 4 hole pattern clunker, and avoid the asyms, you want to avoid using 20 year old bindings if you can as they aren't reliable.

Get decent bindings. F2s, Bombers, this is the bit of your linkage to the board you only need to buy once, so get a decent set. you can PM me again I might have some stuff you can use or buy depending on your boot size.

Personally, I would not bother with a plate; it is doubling the price of the board, and I've watched dudes riding with plates; they help in certain conditions but add weight and it's probably something to think about once you are cranking good turns both sides in a variety of radiuses and know how to ride through ruts/chop etc; if you can afford it the new school shapes really are worth the 3X price vs. a old generation burton factory prime, nitro scorpion, etc - they allow you to ride maybe 2X longer with less effort.

Bootswise, you will probably need to either super troll trademe for snowboard specific boots like raichles - should only get a boot with 4 buckles skip the mountaineering 20 year old boots, plus you may need to add thermoliners, or get some closeout/end of season boots and try to manage the GST if you import them; better still get someone to handcarry across from USA if you can; raichles or UPZ seem to be the two options; you can't really go too wrong with either, maybe try not to go for the most stiff set up as it will be a bit brutal to switch from softies to that; UPZ the RC10 for instance you can set up a softer tongue...indy you can use the BTS with soft springs...

If you can outline

- where you plan to ride

- how many days you do a year

- where else you ride (in USA? Japan? that funny place in Albany?)

- boot size

that would probably help to determine what stuff you are best to buy. For sure, NZ is a place that suits hardboots way more than softies; I remember back in the day when a guy called Greg Prouse, a windsurfing RX7 driving speed lunatic whose name escapes me and a few of us used to all be riding around Whakapapa and Turoa; the variable snow, icy early morning runs and narrow little trails etc really suit hardboots well. Great fun.

For what it is worth, I grew up riding in NZ, and I'd say the board I have now (a SG180) is probably pushing the limits of what you could ride in the north island on some runs productively (the last time I rode it until I tore my ACL I actually was getting the board to turn in the sorts of radius you would need to ride in NZ, but I weigh more and have a bit more leverage height wise than you) ; around 167 - 170 with a sidecut something like 13-15m would be pretty perfect once you got a good handle on riding.

PM me if you want more info; the ppl on bomber are also super helpful, just need to separate out a few comments which are not applicable for North Island riding.

[Hans]

If you are addicted it doesn't matter what you buy, it's like sailing and windsurfing which I have done also: you cant have enough gear. If you're a good snowboarder and money is of no concern you can buy everything you want. In alpine gear, everything is good. There are no bad boards. If you want to try first, buy yourself a board second hand which hasn't been used by a competition racer often. Just think about what you want out of a board. Boots: well that's the most important part of the gear, if they don't fit, you are in pain, you will have no fun. If you have difficult feet, let you make yourself some foamed liners. Choice out of two brands: Deeluxe (small to standard forefeet Track 700), UPZ (UPZ RC10): wide forefeet, big toebox. If you made custom foamed liners, I prefer the UPZ boots: easier in and out. Don't be afraid for long boards, (over 180), they are fun to ride. You can write and read pages about this subject, don't! Boot fit: most important. Board choice: you have to experience, binding choice,: same.