Stance: centered? Front seat? Back seat?

[slopestar]

We all know angles are certainly a preference but no one really talks about where they mount up from tip to tail. I have a theory and it has worked well for me especially since I have ordered custom boards allowing me to place the inserts where I want them.

My formula is this;

1.Find center of effective edge/tip to tail.

2.From there locate my preferred width. 20-20.5" alpine or 21.5" freestyle/BX

3.Hope inserts allow bindings to be centered.

4. Set angles

Really simple and has worked well for me as I am front foot heavy/dominant.

Interested to hear opinions and ideas. I know that being in the back seat(setback) really feels weird for me. I can't understand how some of these kids are riding these pow boards with no tails...

Edited October 12, 2015 by slopestar

[slopestar]

Meant to post this in carving community. Little help here as I can't delete it.

[Jeffrey Day]

You know, when I started carving, I too would run my bindings centered on the effective edge of the board. But at some point, I started to install the bindings centered on the inserts. I don't if I had talked to carvers/friends or the manufacturers, but it made it easier just to install centered on the inserts.

[Corey]

I center on the inserts. There's a reason the manufacturer put them there. The new-school tapered VSR shapes have more nose than tail and ride well.

Bruce from Coiler said that he moves his bindings forward if a board feels too stiff for him. Or, rearward if it feels too soft.

I moved my bindings back about 4 cm after lots of soft snow at SES a couple of years ago. After I got home I thought my board was broken - no pop out of turns, just a boring ride. After moving them back, all was good again. I tried going more forward but the nose felt really soft.

[ExcelsiorTheFathead]

I either ride centered or a little forward on VSR boards when I want to tighten up the ride a bit.  Some Doneks have 1.5" of setback, which is more than the 1" which seems to be more common (although I am sure there is a good reason for it).  When i had a Donek built for me I asked for only 1" of setback and thought it was fine.  I knew several guys who rode their Doneks with their bindings shifted forward.

[slopestar]

My doneks have inserts centered. It stems from the Burton three hole boards I rode the most. Always had at least one insert exposed behind both bindings

[Beckmann AG]

I'll mount the front binding in a likely spot and  ride one footed on easy terrain to evaluate neutrality; then mount the rear and move the bindings forward and back until the response feels 'centered'.

Edited October 13, 2015 by Beckmann AG

[slopestar]

I like that theory Beckmann.

Edited October 13, 2015 by slopestar

[ursle]

Remember when madd was the first board to mount more forward, it was their secret, then virus, again, the secret.

Mounting is your decision, more forward, easier for smaller turns, more reward, larger turns, and stability, me, I'm forward;)

[breeseomatic]

Center of inserts for almost everything I ride.  If I'm on a powder board, then I may put the bindings as far back as possible for the float.

[lordmetroland]

...more forward, easier for smaller turns, more reward, larger turns, and stability, me, I'm forward;)

 

Should that "reward" be "rearward?" Just making sure I'm understanding this?

[ursle]

Using an iPad, it has its own agenda, yes rear ward, just like skis, mount forward for slalom, middle for gs and in the BACK for downhill, theoretically on the same ski.

[Mike T]

I start centered on the inserts and move them if it doesn't feel optimal.   Out of my Coiler quiver, I ride my NSR+ 180 forward of centered and my VSR 170 back of centered.   The NSR+ was a one-off so Bruce had not fine-tuned the stance placement (if takes more than one board of a particular design even for him...) and the VSR 170 was a very early instance of the model, so not surprising.   I know he moved the inserts forward on the NSR GS line several years back - my newer 183, I ride centered.    

[philw]

Centre on inserts. I mostly ride powder boards, and the inserts are usually already "set back". Actually the boards tend to be tapered and may have other fancy features, so it's best to assume that the designers know how it's supposed to work.

 

Mostly that's entirely sufficient. You don't want to "get in the back seat" on a powder board.

 

There is an exception, which are the powder boards sold as "twin". From memory the T-Rice stuff and the Salomon Sick Stick are like that. They're probably for park rats. With those I found I did have to move the stance back to make them work. Once you're back a bit they're no longer twin and work reasonably well in powder. Dedicated powder boards work better.

 

As far as "no tail" boards, I think that's the wrong way to look at it. Just ride the reference stance and don't think about it. I wonder if there's not an analogy with a windsurf board, where you may have 2.5m of board, but the bit which matters most of the time is the 30cm you're actually standing on.