philistine Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 I have been painstakingly saving money to get hardboots, bindings and an alpine board. At this point I have a set of TD1's on the way and within a week I will have enough money to buy a pair of Head srtatus pro's. Would it be "ok" to put the hardboot setup on my all mountain board to try it out untill I get a real carving board? Any thoughts? Pictures? ummm... Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hangten247 Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Jim, I don't have any pictures, but I rode (and still ride) my Burton Supermodel with hardboots and plates, I have done so since '95, and have had no issues, and I know others who do the same thing. No, you won't get struck down by a bolt of lightning by the carving gods for doing so yourself. I think the only adjustement you may need to do is to take it easy at first until you get used to it as you will have so much more direct control and responsiveness than you had before, you don't want to launch yourself into orbit on your first turn. It will be like getting new high performance low profile tires on your car after riding around on bald all season radials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MozzMann Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Well how can I answer this without sounding biased. I have NEVER liked conventional strapin Bindings on either of my Burton Customs. I have used Burton Custom SI's and liked them , now as it has transpired an old race friend of Fin's convinced me to try a carve AKA Alpine Race board that he had in stock with "shudder" Burton Race plates, and later TD1's. I asked if I could borrow the TD1's and put them on my custom, man what a difference, the new found power and control I had on the board was amazing. The long and short of it is I'm seriously thinking of not buying a New set of Stiff SI boots for the Customs but swap my new TD2's when I need. I'll be riding at least one day in Aspen with the Custom and the Hardies at SES 05 this Feb . Mozz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 you know...when this topic came up a few days ago, folks mentioned minor adjustments to their boots? but what I want to know is...what would be considered a "soft" hardboot? I 100% prefer the comfort and control of hardboots, and literally HATE softies now, and if I could find a hard setup that allowed me to ride with the same feeling of freedom as softies, Id dive all over it, but...I highly doubt I could ever feel comfortable riding powder in my suzukas perhaps and older, cheap raichle SB? My girl has a pair of 314s...what about those? 3 strap, leave the lever undone? or even remove it entirely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MozzMann Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 I'll add that I ride the Custom in walk mode giving the support and power of Hard and the flexibility of ajustment in the walk spring damping :) . Mozz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daneille Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 The Raichle 413 is considered a soft hard boot. Daneille Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tswei Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Dsub, I have both the Head Stratos and Stratos Pro. I find the standard Stratos to be MUCH softer and use it for my All Mtn and Freeride boards (Coiler All Mtn 177 and Burton Frontier 175). The softer boot gives me much more feel of my edges and allows me to bend lower alot easier. It also has more of a 'surfy' feel in soft conditions, very close to that of a stiff softboot. For true hardpack conditions, I still like the Pros as you need maximum edge leverage to really carve with stability. I was hoping to get down to just one pair of boots, but having both gives me great range of use. Startingate in VT carries both models of Stratos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 What type of board are you riding? Length? I've had a similar experience as Hangten247. I've been riding a 172 Supermodel for powder/off-piste and limited on-piste with plates for the past 5 years. I had to experiment a lot with my binding angles, stance width, and binding position on the board to finally dial in a comfortable set-up. The board carves well on soft groomers and is terrific in powder. On ice and hardpack its performance is obviously lackluster when compared to a typical alpine board. If you are using a shorter or softer board, you may find that the plates/hard boot set-up overpower it. Here's a pic of my board. My bindings are fairly steep in this picture b/c it was taken prior to making adjustments to my set-up for backcountry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Originally posted by D-Sub but what I want to know is...what would be considered a "soft" hardboot? You want the LeMans or maybe the 413: see here for the BOL store summary. I have the old 224 which is I think more or less the LeMans and I find it ideal for all-mountain riding. I used to ride alpine touring boots and I found the 224 even better, as it is fairly soft side to side and has a nice progressive flex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 thanks so far. Im gonna try and find something used, not new. I already have a near new pair of suzukas:) oh...as for powder boards I have an Oxygen 178. Dont know the model. Lookin to dump that too as it is a TANK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 hey...what about an SB123? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-Carves Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 When I converted to carving, I put plates on my Burton Canyon. It worked ok - but later, after getting a Donek, I started to understand how much more flexible the canyon was. I could carve the Canyon a little, but the radius was pretty small, so the turns were awfully tight if I got the edge down. I was given a few cautionary remarks (I posted a very similar post to this one when I did it) about being able to overpower a flexible board with hardboots - which I believe is completely true - I've felt the weakness of the board from time to time. Good luck, enjoy! -C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philistine Posted January 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 A lot of well informed and experienced carvers out there helping out, thanks everyone! It sounds like I've got a go-ahead for mounting plate bindings on an all mountain board. The board I would be using is a Ride Theory length 159. It's extremely felxible and pretty short, I'm sure it's not the ideal board for hard boots but I really can't wait to try them out. Once again, this seems like a really friendly community going on here, glad to be here! Keep the polyethylene side down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hangten247 Posted January 15, 2005 Report Share Posted January 15, 2005 Originally posted by Enzo What type of board are you riding? Length? I've had a similar experience as Hangten247...... ........Here's a pic of my board. My bindings are fairly steep in this picture b/c it was taken prior to making adjustments to my set-up for backcountry. Enzo, thats the EXACT same Supermodel (size & color/graphic) that I rode with plates. I then traded up for the cap construction Supermodel 174 with the tornado graphic, and then traded up for a newer model year Supermodel 173, which I still have now, which is my out west board or a back up board if I don't want to use my Rossi X VAS Race 167. On the "Supers" I ride with angles just high enough to eliminate toe/heel drag. My "Supers" served me well with plates as my primary ride for 8 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wally sipes Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 i have been doing it for the last 5 or 6 years. don't tell anyone how great it is. wally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The other Jacques Posted January 18, 2005 Report Share Posted January 18, 2005 I use Rattrap plates on my Prior 176 MFR with my 324s. I can ride fresh snow off the groomed trails and I can still carve (at lower speeds) on the groomers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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