Guest peterk Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 I was reading the on the nose thread with great interest and y'all really got me wondering... how do you tell what the proper settings are for each of the following areas. That thread got me thinking about a lot of things and has me wondering about others not mentioned. I know this may sound like a total newbie question but hey... that's what I am. And I'm hoping it's still early enough to avoid forming all many bad habits :) 1. board length / shape - I assume this has more to do with intended use and the size of the rider than anything else. 2. cant / lift for front and back - having just gotten a cant (I've ridden with nothing front or back so far) this is going to be interesting. 3. binding angles - boot size and board width matter, as does avoiding toe and heel drag. What else? 5. fore / aft of binding (also, is there an easy way to find the middle of the board?) 6. distance between bindings - this and the previous one are something I'm tinkering with so I'd appreciate any guidance. Then again, I just added a cant so I guess I'm tinkering with everything that moves! 7. something I've missed that really matters? And is there somewhere that has all this already layed out as a "start here" template for folks like me? I've seen parts of this in various places but not the whole picture. I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I'm doing, just that I really enjoy doing it and it's always been my experience that doing it "right" (yes, I know that's a personal thing) makes it more enjoyable. In exchange, I will be happy to give set up, tuning, etc advice (or even help in person for folks in the Toronto area) for anyone into bicycles... this I know about. I haven't figured out if I should expect to be embarassed boarding with y'all (not that I think anyone would do that on purpose, just that I suspect my style is "lacking") or excited by the prospect of seeing and learning (and obviously the latter is what I'm thinking is more likely). Be kind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil sunday Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Peter- 1) don't think about it too much... 2) start with a stance that is comfortable, yet stable. i am 5'8" and ride approx 19.5 inch stance in GS and 19.0 inch stance in SL. Wide provides a stable platform. 3) board selection should take into many factors, mostly length is determined by weight and intended use. almost all board companies will have selection criteria on their websites. try and pick out what type of riding you will be doing the most, and fit your board to that particular style. (you'll achieve numerous boards real quick)... 4)angles. i personally ride 54 degree front and rear angles. i also ride with my knees, hips and shoulders in line with the angles of my feet. lower angles mean quicker edge to edge in slalom- that's the reason i do it. just make sure your back foot is not angled more than your front foot, as that will tend to oversteer on heelside turns. ( i know there are exceptions)... 5)binding cants... everyone is all over the place on this one. find something that allows your knees to bend comfortably and doesnt put them smack together- creating a weak "triangle." 6)start mellow with everything, or neutral as possible, and tweak from there. remember- small changes and only one change at a time... 7) good luck, make sure those screws are tight, and let 'er rip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 for the most part it all comes down to preference its gonna be different for everybody length is a fun thing to play with, I have a couple small decks but I would would never give up my 190 and I really hate myself for selling my burner 197 (if you ever see one cheap just buy it!) those long boards are really fun to get laid out on the flipside of that is that small SL decks are really touchy, force you into good technique and are great for those crowded weekends canting, when I was riding cateks I was was always changing them every time I switched boards you can really have fun with that the most important thing I learned was that they allow a much wider stance to stay comfy that is nice with the long boards angles, one thing I have found is that I sometimes need to fine tune where my boot sits on the binding(moving both the toe and heel blocks forward or back a notchor two)to get the lowest angles with out drag on the narrower decks for/aft placement its different with different with different boards, I wish that other companies would do what burton does and mark a reference stance but experiment with it stance width I prefer to go as wide as I can until it starts to feel awkward then I back it off a little it seems to me wider is better to a point on the smaller decks I just don't go below 18.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Dasai Posted January 13, 2005 Report Share Posted January 13, 2005 Originally posted by peterk how do you tell what the proper settings are for each of the following areas? I wish I knew! I'm still experimenting with my setup - binding angles, cant, lift, stance width, etc. But it's not so much a question of knowing what is "proper", as being able to recognise when the particular setup you are using is working. That's probably easy to recognise for people with years of experience riding all sorts of different setups, but when your experience (and riding skill) is limited, it's harder to judge what feels right. Others might disagree, but I also think that snowboarding is a young sport, which means that people haven't yet worked out the best way of doing it. The problem is even greater with alpine snowboarding because there are so few people involved in it, and so little money involved in the racing world. It's the opposite of cycling, which is mature - people have been doing it for more than a century and they really have it worked out by now. Anyway, the <a href="http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/welcome_center.cfm">Welcome Center</a> has some info that goes some way to answering your questions, and the <a href="http://www.alpinecarving.com/">Carvers Almanac</a> has a shload of info, including some <a href="http://www.alpinecarving.com/binding_setup.html">binding setup information</a> that you might find useful. The info in those resources should be enough to get you in the ball park, and from there it's a question of experimentation and your own judgment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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