Jonny Posted December 23, 2019 Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Ok, well, three days isn't much of a sample but I thought it might be worthwhile posting early impressions to see if anyone has some tweaks to suggest. I have the BBP V2 mounted on a well-tuned Donek Proteus 180. The plate (which I bought here lightly used) was fairly easy to set up with the axles slightly outside my stance. I normally ride around 20.25" at 60/57 on my 299mm AF600 so that's how I set it up. First of all, it really does smooth the ride out - not much chop this early in the season but what there was I could just ignore. On ice the feeling is also very smooth and positive, so that's the good part. The not so good - I really can only make one turn - loooong. On the bare board it was much easier to alter turn shape during the turn. With my boots that far off the surface I realized that I could ride much lower angles, and could also move my setup toward the heel side a bit, so I'm now at 54/51 with no significant risk of bootout on snow as hard as we have hereabouts (Western Massachusetts). It's now somewhat easier to initiate toeside just by driving my knees and of course slightly more awkward to commit heelside. I also feel significantly less pop coming out of the turn than I did on the bare board without plate.. The Proteus is a pretty smooth board and offers a really positive pop - like the Doneks of 15 years ago - without the plate. I wonder if there's a tweak I can try as far as technique -or stance/axle placement to retain the smoothness and get some of the tight-turning drive back? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted December 23, 2019 Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 The SG plate 'how to' tutorial talks about the effect of binding placement in relation to the axle at around 4:50 - might be similar on BBP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted December 23, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2019 Thanks Lurch! The systems are basically identical so less setback is definitely worth trying. Not sure whether to just move my bindings up on the plate or move the axles back a little underneath while keeping the bindings at the same spot on the board but I'll stare at it all a while and come up with a plan. Thanks again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted December 24, 2019 Report Share Posted December 24, 2019 Hey J, Couple of observations: "AF600" ?? You talking 10 year old Raichle AF600ts boots?? That was a soft boot 10 years ago and than adding a Plate to this setup will dampen the ride/feel even more....... not sure you will get the pop back with a plate but maybe stiffer boots could help you load up the board more. "With my boots that far off the surface" ?? Need some photos of your setup with boots clipped in to discern what this means. On my board with BP V2 with BP cants and plate I am really no higher off the board than standing in my TD3's SW SI's For best response I ended up moving my stance inwards and then moving the BP axles more under the ball of my foot up front....which is just an eyeball guesstimate at best ......you know adjust, ride, adjust....repeat until your all grins and giggles! Have fun working out the kinks.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted December 25, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 Here's how I have it set up now - you can see the old binding positions in red sharpie - so the axles are slightly closer together than when I last rode it and the stance as a whole is also slightly further forward. I'm a little wider than I'd prefer at 20 3/8" but it's easy enough to tighten that up if I need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted December 25, 2019 Report Share Posted December 25, 2019 Yeah... now I can see your stack height. That is Much higher with that binding choice. You look to be at least an inch + higher than a typical setup! I had a setup like that and that can really throw off everything. Also.....could just be your photo but your rear foot axle looks like it needs to go back under the ball of your heal one full slot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted December 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Yeah - typical issue with Cateks. Every time you adjust the bindings you give an extra half turn to the canting screws, for luck, and before you know it you're a foot in the air and your kingbolt is hanging on by half a thread. I was able to win a centimeter on the front and 5mm on the back just by backing out all the canting screws without altering my cant angles. I see what you mean about the rear axle but I think I'll try it like this tomorrow and get the sense of how it works at its most twitchy, before dialing it back. I may try putting the slider on the back at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.E Posted December 26, 2019 Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 23 minutes ago, Jonny said: Yeah - typical issue with Cateks. Every time you adjust the bindings you give an extra half turn to the canting screws, for luck, and before you know it you're a foot in the air and your kingbolt is hanging on by half a thread. I was able to win a centimeter on the front and 5mm on the back just by backing out all the canting screws without altering my cant angles. I see what you mean about the rear axle but I think I'll try it like this tomorrow and get the sense of how it works at its most twitchy, before dialing it back. I may try putting the slider on the back at some point. Tighten the kingpin first, then adjust the cant and lift screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted December 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2019 23 hours ago, Mr.E said: Tighten the kingpin first, then adjust the cant and lift screws. Sure, always, but therein lies the rub. To adjust the bindings I'll back off the set screws half a turn, then loosen the kingpin. Then I place the binding and tighten the kingpin back as far as possible, then tighten the set screws, but they'll always turn juuuust a bit more than I backed them off, so over time, if I'm not careful, I wind up with that look on the post above. All better now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 I was pretty sure I'd never be riding a plate, but a knee injury that started last winter is still troubling me. Any rough stuff, any bump on a heelside sends a shot of pain that tells me not to push it. If it's perfect plush groom, no problem, until I start running into my own trenches. We've had some crappy, icy conditions over the past few weeks that have made it painful to ride, so started my quest to plate up. I started with some Geckos which were nice, but I was still feeling some knee pain especially with the recent turn to hard riding rough ice. So, after some research on the forum (I've ignored most of the plate threads up until now), I decided to get the 4mm lite. Fortunately, Bomber by Gumbo still has a few available at a reasonable price compared to other plates. I've spent a few times out trying to dial it all in on my REV175. Today it finally all came together. As long as I kept going fast enough to generate some g's, it felt like I was riding a nice groomed hill...almost. Still felt I had to use my best form to stay over my edge on that ice. But, man, I had fun, nice smooth fast turns. Didn't feel a thing. Amazing...Then I began to hear this music in the back of my head...and I was riding like Sigi...with a big smile on my face...through all kinds of crud... Thanks @barryj and @Lurch for posting advice on binding placement. A few mm makes a world of difference. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 Gecko's on the 179 Coiler Revelation...still need to dial in that ride. Tried it with sidewinders (with reg cants & e-ring etc) for a giggle and the stack height was a little scary, but it rode almost as smooth as the Boiler plate, but not with the same confidence. 4mm Boiler Plate Lite on the 175 Donek REV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurch Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 (edited) Nice @bigwavedave! What is your take on how much more effective the plate is at smoothing things out over geckos? Edited January 4, 2020 by Lurch *SG - Ride with Me never fails to stoke. All time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 4, 2020 Report Share Posted January 4, 2020 51 minutes ago, Lurch said: Nice @bigwavedave! What is your take on how much more effective the plate is at smoothing things out over geckos? If the isolation plate is 95%, the Geckos are like 50%. A rough guesstimate having only a few days on them and not exactly the same boards and bindings. But, the Boiler isolation plate is a world of difference. When riding fast enough to get some g force into the board, the rev felt like it was turning like it does without a plate. I had a great time on it today and conditions were such that without it I would have gone home after one run. I would have kept riding if it wasn't mid-day weekend crowds--I was going fast, but felt smooth and comfortable. It's when you go to stop you realize your going faster than you thought. The Geckos feel like they change the flex of the board, but maybe I need to play with them some more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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