Guest Eric M Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Hey, I'm a new rider, only been snowboarding for 1 season, but next year I'm looking to get into hardboot carving. I was thinking I might try to look for gear now, with end-of-season sales coming up and all. Problem is, I'm totally clueless as to what I should be looking for. Any gear suggestions for a beginner? Possibly importantant information: 6'3, 180 lbs, shoe size 12. Any advice on anything - boots, bindings, decks - would be appreciated. And does anybody know a good carving instructor in Colorado? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Here is your instructor search: http://www.bomberonline.com/community/instructor_lookup.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philistine Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 If you can make it down to All boards sports in Boulder, it's well worth the drive. www.allboardssports.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfell Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Get in contact with Chuck Bolden (you can email him through this site his name here is dragon fly jones) he's at Eldora and can give you all the direction you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack M Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 to help you get started... http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/welcome_center.cfm and we sell gear here too! http://www.bomberonline.com/store/index.cfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eric M Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Thanks for the replies, guys. I will definitely be checking out the carving gear at Allboards. I live in Boulder, and I know a couple guys there through slalom skateboarding. I just haven't been in yet to seriously check out the carving gear. I'll drop Chuck an email. I've been riding at Eldora quite a bit this season. Is he an instructor, or just a guy who carves? I've read the newbie articles here on Bomber, lots of good info. I'd still like to hear from people things like: what kind of board did you start out on? What boots/boards/bindings are a good deal for the money? What brands are best (in your opinion), and what brands should be avoided, either as a beginner or in general? Anything else I should know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 Hey Eric, I went the route of "I'll get some cheap gear and see if I like it" I'm hooked so bad I wish I didn't have to work, 'cause I would ride every day if I could. Any way,drop the coin on the bindings and the boots, you can transfer the bindings as you get new boards, and the boots you can keep til' you wear them out. I would buy used boards until you figure out exactly how and what you would like to ride Welcome to the dark side, mario ps. go for the td 2's, and check out the boot deals here at bomber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 I'm not an expert like Jack or the Phils, but I would be happy to offer some advice so that hopefully you won't repeat the same mistakes I made. 1) Excellent call on getting instruction early. I spent a year learning bad habits, another year unlearning them, and now in my 3rd year trying to learn good ones I went to a SnowPerformance camp realy on in the season and things really started to click afterwards as I put together what I learned at the camp. 2) Boots: You don't need to spend a lot of dough on the boots themselves, but please do consider having them fitted. Many recent threads cover this. A good bootfitter is worth their weight in gold. 3) Decks: Everyone will steer you away from getting too big a board; I would like to steer you away from getting too small a board. If I could do it over again I would pick something ~170 cm in length with a ~11 m sidecut. It's short and tight-turning enough so that you will be able to carve on a modest variety of trails, but not so short that you can't find the sweet spot or too tight-turning that you don't get to enjoy and feel the carving sensation. No specific recommendations, but buy used until you figure out what you really want. Oh, and be prepared to feel like a beginner for the 1st couple days on hard boots - but then get addicted quickly :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ-PS Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 I remember making the same post years ago when I was getting into hardbooting. Since then I have watched the recommendations waver according to what the popular opinion of the time was. In fact a few years ago the "popular opinion" was bigger is better. And everyone was going bigger. One bloke even bought at 228cm board. Now you can find a lot of guys getting into slalom boards again because it forces good technique. Basically there isn't a right way to start. Some people will tell you to blow coin on boots, some bindings, others boards. Some will say to start small, start large, start soft or start stiff, there is just a lot of variables. But since you asked....here's my 2 cents. Talk to Michelle at Bomber about boot size. From every post I've read or from my own personal experience, her recommendations if followed turn out perfect. Most of us have already made the mistake of buying a pair of boots by our street shoe size. After a few days of riding it is painfully obvious that we should have gone down two-three sizes. Even if you don't spend a lot, take the time to find a good bootfitter and get it done right. Boots are the best way to spend money for a newbie, because if you're not comfortable, you can carve the mountain til it bleeds and your day could still suck. Next go after a pair of used bindings. Most of the Bombers and Cateks sell for 125-150 for an older pair. Remember these are machined pieces of metal, they don't tend to degrade rapidly (read: break) as other manufacturer's bindings can. After that comes the fun part, choosing your knife. Here is where no amount of information can achieve a perfect fit. The best solution I have heard is to try a bunch of boards. Get with some of the guys here and see if they're nice enough to let you try out some of their quivers. The second best option (though expensive) is to talk to one of the custom board makers. Research: Prior and Donek they are a bit different. There are also reviews on them in the review section of BOL. The third option is to keep trying cheap pieces of junk on eBay and as you increase your ability to carve also increase your expenditures per board. Once you reach the mecca of carving you should be able to ride any board in any conditions and be able to tell what its strengths, weaknesses, and desirable conditions for the perfect ride on it. Or you could just buy some cheap stuff and a season pass go out and have fun learning. That's what I did 16 years ago and I'm still learning and more importantly still having fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eric M Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 So since my last post I've been in to Allboards to check out their carving gear, and I came out with more questions than when I went in. (I need to go back when Bola is around...) It's great to have a shop in town where I can check this gear out first hand! So here are my questions: first, boots. I'm thinking the deeluxe Lemans looks like a reasonable boot to start out with. Agree? Allboards has them for $400, here on Bomber they're on sale for $289. That makes me think $289 is a pretty good price. Am I likely to find boots any cheaper than that? Keep in mind I have big feet, so used boots in my size will probably be hard to find. In street shoes I'm usually a 13, my softboots are US 12/Mondo 30.0. Also related to my big feet, I'm thinking a wider carving board such as a Donek Axis might work better for me, rather than riding at extreme angles on a narrow race board. Is that reasonable thinking? Any other big-footed carvers have opinions on board width? Lastly (for now), bindings. I've seen a lot of recommendations for the trench diggers and cateks. What are the differences between these bindings? What are the differences between the TD1's and TD2's? Thanks again for the replies, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Dold Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Hey Eric, sounds like you're on the right track. The Axis is a great board to start carving on. I have one and I wish it had been my first board period, let alone first alpine board. I think it's MUCH better to start on something that can be used all over the mountain, like the Axis, so you can accumulate more miles on it and get used to alpine equipment instead of having something you only use part of the time when conditions are just right. The nice thing this style of board is that it's relatively easy for beginners, but doesn't get boring as you progress. Even boardercross boards are a lot of fun on plates, as I recently found out when Fin let me demo an F2 Speedcross. I had so much fun on that thing. Jack talks about boardercross boards too in his "Soft, medium or hard" article. Other good similar boards include the Prior 4WD and Coiler All-Mountain. Don't know about that particular boot, but Bomber is where I would buy, they are good about returns and overall service. They will make sure you end up with the right equipment. The Cateks and Bomber TD-2s are about equal in Value and impressiveness. Cateks: More adjustable, but more work to get set up and more work to move from one board to another. Bomber TD-2: Slightly less adjustable but easier to set up. I personally recommend getting two 3-degree disks for some adjustability in cant and lift. Bomber TD-1: Less cant positions available than TD-2, still a good binding especially if found cheap on Ebay. If you go the step-in route, I think the TD-2 is safer because the heel receiver has notches that let you see if the boot heel pins are locked into the binding more easily than TD-1 or Catek. I really recommend stepins, even for beginners. They aren't necessary but sure nice to have. I second Mike's advice on not getting a board that is too small. He's right on target with the length and sidecut, if you're average-sized. I made the mistake of getting a board that was too short early on, and it was so squirrely and unstable that I sold it soon after. Mike, you're moving to Bend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonerider Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Originally posted by Steve Dold Even boardercross boards are a lot of fun on plates, as I recently found out when Fin let me demo an F2 Speedcross. I had so much fun on that thing. Jack talks about boardercross boards too in his "Soft, medium or hard" article. The Speedcross is not a softboot BX board, it is a "wide all mountain cross-carver for plates" according to the F2 website. I wouldn't point this out except for the fact that if leads to some incorrect implications about freeride/BX boards (hence I apologize for my nitpickiness). I mean there a lot of people who would tend to put plate bindings on anything - doesn't mean the board is good starter alpine/plate setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Dold Posted April 9, 2005 Report Share Posted April 9, 2005 Oh, OK. I think the name having "Cross" in it made me think it was a bordercross board. It seemed a little narrow for a boardercross board, now that I think about it. What it really reminded me of was a Burton Coil, but a little nicer-riding. Maybe stiffer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 Hey Eric Jack Pearce has a pair of SB413 which are quite similiar to the LeMans, for $100 or so http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5700 there ya go. get you started off affordably Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted April 10, 2005 Report Share Posted April 10, 2005 oh...woops. heh...probably grab the 700s linked above if you can! Theyre now called "Indy"...top of the raichle line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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