Eric Brammer aka PSR Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) On 11/22/2016 at 8:04 PM, erazz said: Slight aside... What angles are you running with soft-boots? I'm running 27-9 which gives me great control but makes it hard to align my shoulders across the board. Should I be running steeper angles? Erazz, Don't try to get your shoulders 'across' your board unless your feet are pointed at least at 40*. Your Hip can only twist so far! You are far better off using the hips to direct power over the toes or heels for each turn with very little rotation (at while on edge, that is: In the air, twist enough to point one end of the thing downslope!). This makes for a distinct bend at the waist in heelside turns, and then an unfolding at the hip during toeside turns. One female Instructor (cute, petite,Hawaiian lady) termed those turns, done deeply and in a rhythm, as 'Porno Turns'; use you imagination as you will, but one of the best Take-aways from an Instructor Clinic I can recall! Do take care to angulate a bit, by lifting the front shoulder early and then through a heelside turn; Then lift the rear shoulder through the toeside turn. Rotation, as such, isn't really needed, but I do like to be sure I can at least SEE over my front shoulder going into a heelside turn. In traffic, I'll use my toeside turn to scope the flow of skiers/riders that're uphill of me, and the heelside I'll use to scout my line downhill of me. Edited November 25, 2016 by Eric Brammer aka PSR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 41 minutes ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said: . Rotation, as such, isn't really needed, but I do like to be sure I can at least SEE over my front shoulder going into a heelside turn. In traffic, I'll use my toeside turn to scope the flow of skiers/riders that're uphill of me, and the heelside I'll use to scout my line downhill of me. mui impotante 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckmann AG Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 1 hour ago, Eric Brammer aka PSR said: and HEAVY like a tank (or 60's vintage Saab!) The model 95 and 96 are lighter than their durability and winter driving capability would suggest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Brammer aka PSR Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, Beckmann AG said: The model 95 and 96 are lighter than their durability and winter driving capability would suggest. Yes, but the only cars I ever owned that I could RIDE MY MONTESSA OVER, and not dent them!! They also gimball off of snowbanks with remarkable agility, provided you've pre-selected the right gear, and your Right Foot {see, Goofy's Rule, Here!} is in it deep enough to pull the nose through! As for lightness, they get Lighter above 75 or so, as the aerodynamic's would pull them to their tip toes! Just don't expect traction at that point... Edited November 23, 2016 by Eric Brammer aka PSR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Slopestar what degree cants are you riding on your power plate setup? Is this your hard charging and carving setup? What power plate cants do you use for Pow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) 2 hours ago, barryj said: Slopestar what degree cants are you riding on your power plate setup? Is this your hard charging and carving setup? What power plate cants do you use for Pow? My custom saber has power plates. I have not used them on pow yet. Pow board is a Fullbag Diamond Blade with NX2-GT 3 degree pure inward canting on both feet. 33/18 at 21.5" centered. As inserts on my soft boot boards are always centered on eff edge. Flow has been good to me and I am on this seasons NX2-GT a season early. my saber is 24.8 waist. 9-11m vsr. Extra stiff and half the rubber of a standard saber. This board is magic. I am in the Ruroc helmet/Blue Jacket/Blue Donek Saber starting at 1:05 My next custom Donek will be a Flux with the same layup. Edited November 23, 2016 by slopestar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtslalom Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Barryj, I find that Ride bindings are my favorite for softboot riding. I have quite a few pairs including the El Hefe's that I have mounted on my Rad Air Tanker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 Slopestar As you know the Power Plates are ordered with 0, 3 or 6 degree cant plates.....are you saying you use 3 degree cant plates on both feet? If your running TD's whats your canting on your hardboot setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted November 23, 2016 Report Share Posted November 23, 2016 3* both feet on power plates i run td3's/ standard and side winders with 6* front foot pure toe lift from 45-60* depending on board and 3* pure canting on rear from 40-55* just got some f2 infection titanium to run on my new to me Kessler 164 wc sl i use Upz 27 with step in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Happy Turkey Day Everyone Hey Slopestar, those are some nice softboot turns on the video! On my carving setup I'm running 3 front lift on toe and 6 Rear lift heel on my TD3 SW SI and thinking I'd run 3/3 on the Power plates for carving. Last winter i was using TD3 SW with a 3F and 6R lift on my Pow board/Moss Snowstick U5.(only because that's what I knew worked on my Carving setup).and that worked just fine......but thinking about these Power plates I think a 3/3 or 0/0 or even a 0/3 would probably provide me a performance boost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west carven Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 howdy barryj I tried 3/3 on the power plates, but my pinky on my front foot had too much pressure so went 0/3 and all is good. I know it's just a me thing, but try all possibilities. could also be a stance width thing as to what works for you. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Checked out the Flow NX2-GT's. They say they have an aluminum base, but that's hard to see. They seem solid enough and the high back Really opens up for real rear entry. I'm so spoiled with my TD3's SW Step In's I'm worried about the time to bend over to flip the highback up and then flip the lever up on the highback.........but I've committed to 2 pair of Power Plates to see how this softboot setup will carve and ride on my Pow setup. You guys were mentioning that the Flow Highback supports should be swapped opposite what they come?? Is that correct?? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 That's what I have done and so have a few others. I feel it on my front foot/heel side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Brammer aka PSR Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, barryj said: You guys were mentioning that the Flow Highback supports should be swapped opposite what they come?? Is that correct?? 2 hours ago, slopestar said: That's what I have done and so have a few others. I feel it on my front foot/heel side. So, when I noted the Tech Nine Bradshaws, the key feature, imho (though they have a few 'nifty' features to them) is the powerwing highback, which, on a cambered board, suddenly makes your heelside initiation much more intuitive. When the lower leg of your leading foot moves FORWARD, and THEN OVER, you get edge response. There's actually something to push against! Back-when, a third-strap-locked-highback binding like Burton's Torque did the same thing. Your Hardboots do that too, only they're better at it! But, there's a flaw in the ointment; Boards today are often ridden Duck Stance, and also, often, are Rockered throughout. That means the T-9 (or long-gone Torque) won't help a lot in establishing an early heelside turn, as the motion of the lead lower leg will only make the board want to nose-press and butter around, not Dig In and Carve. The Flow is designed with that riding style in mind. It has highbacks that 'powerwing', just a lil' bit, INWARDS, not Outwards, as to better CENTER your heelside edge-pressure between the bindings. This means very 'late' turn response for any board using that kind of 'inward' focused highback, and it's very evident on a rockered Twin board. So, IF you're riding a Cambered, or a camber/rocker/camber (like Never Summer, as an example), and Flow bindings, you'll want to switch the highbacks around (left highback onto a right-foot baseplate) to gain a smidge of extra 'early into the turn' LEVERAGE on Heelside turns. Or, just find a binding that has that already built-in as a feature... One more note with entry into Flows; I will, with a conventional binding, give a little 'kick' backwards before I click in my rear foot. That little 'shelf' keeps the board from sliding away (well, usually!) as I buckle in. With the FLOW, you need to kick Forwards, and DOWN onto the edge, fairly hard, before sliding the rear foot in. The Lever is pretty quick, BUT, 'the push' of slapping that closed CAN SEND YOU, on your way, way before you're ready! Edited November 27, 2016 by Eric Brammer aka PSR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) Strictly camber here. i have been rotating high backs and braking base plates for years! Always chalk the heel edge (or toe if you prefer) into the snow to strap in. I do back off the strap when I step out to make getting back in easier and give them a few clicks as I like my softies reefed down nice and tight. i love the rear entry convenience and the power of the "triangle" that flow offers but it's the lack of a heel cup that drags in the snow that is the real feature with flow. The only other softboot binding I use on occasion and absolutely love is the nidecker carbon 900. Also has a heelcup design that doesn't drag in the snow like 95% of softboot bindings out today Edited November 27, 2016 by slopestar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Can you guys clarify the details in "rotating high backs and braking base plates" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Brammer aka PSR Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Barry, the 'rotation' of highbacks is as I've said here, and other places, a bunch of times, built-in to many binding makes and models. It's in the hinge-points (early, early Salomons, like '96-98, an exception) of where the highback meets the frame of the binding. The big curved bit (on most bindings, though, again, there's a few exceptions) that keeps the highback from folding the wrong way, and keeps your heels IN the bindings, that's the 'horseshoe'.Jeff Grell is credited with inventing it in 1983 or so. My solution, then, was simply a rubber strap around the heel to keep my boot in the 'water-ski-style holster' that early Burton's used. 35 years ago, we called those 'Suicide Straps', after the Race (Nationals) that was held at S-6 in Pomfret , VT in '82. Without that strap, I doubt Burton would exist as a company today. But, without Grell's horseshoe, the bindings would also be, um, different. Consider the Sims/Flite/Barfoot folding highbacks to be the first truly useful bindings for snowboards. Burton didn't 'fold', with a hinge, their bindings until 1990. On many Burtons, and most of the more recent Nideckers, the 'hinge point' has a nifty stepped washer gizmo, and complimentary teeth molded into the binding, such that you can move Each Hinge Point a few degrees in relation the the 'horseshoe'. As the highback is moved 'off center', it becomes able to more closely stay parallel to the board's edge. This what you want if you ride with a forward-biased angle, and a cambered board. With other bindings, it is often a set of extra holes either in the horseshoe/baseplate, and/or in the highback, and you can then move the hinges closer to being inline with the board's edge. On the front binding, I often max this out, or nearly so, putting the leading hinge-point as far 'inboard' as possible, and doing the opposite with the trailing hinge-point, pulling it closer to the board's edge. Since I tend towards a 'splay', or differential in my stance angles, my back foot is usually at a more 'across the board' kind of angle, so the highback rotation isn't as severe. There, the rearward hinge will be set closer the board's edge, the inner hinge set a bit away from the edge, both done with a critical eye on whether the Forward lean block is making solid contact, as That will be set at greater lean angle than my front foot. This makes for less ankle bend up front, and more ankle bend at the rear foot. I do That so that I contact the highbacks at about the same moment in a heelside turn, using a hips-forward start to the turn. If I didn't, the leverage on the front would be too much, too soon, and I'd 'chatter-out' mid-carve (ask Gilmore about that one!). Way back in the day, Burton's Tech Manual explained a lot of this. So, should you find a Burton Tech Manual from '93, '94,'95,'96, they might show you what we'd figured out with duct-tape, cellular foam padding, and hand-made wood stop-blocks back in the 80's... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emdee406 Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 I'm fast running out of boot options as my feet don't fit Burtons. Rome used to do a boot I loved about 5 seasons ago, Atomic too...but both are long gone. I'm now in a Nike Lunarendor, with the ability to stiffen them should I need to. But alas it's another boot no longer produced. For bindings I've had success with Rome Targas, but use Burton Diodes on my SBX set up. I'm about to try out the Salomon Quantum bindings on my new Kessler Ride...should be fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 NX2-GT FUSION SNOWBOARD BINDINGS 2017 This is the binding were talking about - Correct NX2-GT Standard?? The cheapest for 2017 models I've found is $399 I have found last years for $247 What are the upgrades for 2017 and are they worth an additional $150 ?? I wear a 11.5 street shoe....... but run tight but comfortable Modo 28.5 in my Track 700's - should that transfer fairly true for softboots Looking at the Flow sizing chart, anything above 26.5 says buy an XL binding - you guys agree?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 (edited) Barryj, definetely go for the XL even if you are on the crossover range between L and XL. The biggest difference between last years and this years NX2-GT is the strap has a completely different material. Hard to see in these pics, but here is a reference. Also you can see that my highbacks are swapped as mentioned above by Slopetool and PSR. Another added benefit of this is a little more material to grab when pulling your back foot high back up. cheers, sandy Edited November 27, 2016 by svr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Hey Sandy Thanks for the info and photos. Just to be clear...swapping the "highbacks" as you guys mention...is just the padded back of the binding - correct? As you have both 2016 and 2017 NX2-GT binding - do you think the 2017 model with "strap with completely new material" is worth the the $399 or go for the 2016 model in XL for $247?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slopestar Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 The strap and ratchets are far more cushioned from 15/16 to 16/17. Expect a redesign in the next season or two. Rode my old nx2gt with the more basic strap. Had a great time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 18 minutes ago, barryj said: Hey Sandy Thanks for the info and photos. Just to be clear...swapping the "highbacks" as you guys mention...is just the padded back of the binding - correct? As you have both 2016 and 2017 NX2-GT binding - do you think the 2017 model with "strap with completely new material" is worth the the $399 or go for the 2016 model in XL for $247?? Yes, the swap is only the carbon padded upper half of the high back (three Phillips head screws). I think both bindings are great, but right out of the box, the 16-17 straps conform to your boots a little better. I do not think that you can go wrong with either binding as my experience with them has been great but also showed me that how my boots fit really impacted my experience with the bindings (I put some more details on that in the bindings and plates link earlier in this thread). cheers, sandy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Brammer aka PSR Posted November 27, 2016 Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 One added bonus on Flow bindings is the Tongue System. Take the time to dial that in (I think I'm correct that you can still order out tongues separately from Flow?) in regards to fit, and perhaps flex. Another thing to note, is that your heel sits on padding, but closer to the board's edge, when compared with traditional front-entry softboot bindings. The 'horseshoe' is in fact in the highback, thus it sits higher up, and doesn't protrude. Good news for riders with bigger feet for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted November 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2016 Slopestar......are you saying the "strap and ratchets are far more cushioned"...... for 2017 ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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