Soft boot plates/risers?

[ShortcutToMoncton]

So are soft boot risers/plates still a thing?

I’m still rocking my near-20-years-old Palmer Power plates. They are not that stiff or responsive but they work and they’re light. I tried a board with VIST (?) soft boot plates last year and found them to be noticeably heavier and a bit of a drag on the lift. 

I know Apex started making soft-boot plates but has closed down. I thought Donek was making them at some point a few years ago. But in looking around just now and checking some websites I can’t really see much of anything for sale.

Are they a thing of the past? If not, what are people using?

[svr]

30 minutes ago, ShortcutToMoncton said:

So are soft boot risers/plates still a thing?

I’m still rocking my near-20-years-old Palmer Power plates. They are not that stiff or responsive but they work and they’re light. I tried a board with VIST (?) soft boot plates last year and found them to be noticeably heavier and a bit of a drag on the lift. 

I know Apex started making soft-boot plates but has closed down. I thought Donek was making them at some point a few years ago. But in looking around just now and checking some websites I can’t really see much of anything for sale.

Are they a thing of the past? If not, what are people using?

JayseyJayAnderson, Virus, Bomber by Gumbo, and Kessler still make them.

I have a set of the Apex Gecko Stealths, two pairs of Donek Risers, and a pair of the JayseyJay risers.

I actually like the feel of the JJAs the best as the Gecko’s and the Donek’s feel like they isolate me too much and I want risers not isolation plates.

I love the Bombers for the cant and lift but hate the weight.

hope that helps

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I love that Virus’ risers are the same price as a Coiler snowboard. 

[Sunan]

I used a pair of FTA plates from Act Gear, the parent company of BC Stream. They work pretty well on my Gray Desperado Ti Type-R 160W. 

[ShortcutToMoncton]

On 9/30/2022 at 6:19 PM, Sunan said:

I used a pair of FTA plates from Act Gear, the parent company of BC Stream. They work pretty well on my Gray Desperado Ti Type-R 160W. 

Tried to look it up but can’t find anything besides some images that’s not completely in Japanese! 

[Pigbrogg]

I own both the Virus Isolator and the OJK plate. OJK plates are plastic plate system made in Japan, it works "okay," but don't expect performance to be like the fancy Allflex. It's just a riser to reduce dampness and toe drag. Virus Isolators are the newest plate system on the market, I believe. It does everything you want from a plate, reduces toe drag, dampness, better acceleration and saves your power. The OJK costs you around $100, including shipping, the Virus Isolator is about 500 USD plus shipping is quite big of a price gap. 

Link for both plates:

https://shop.virus-snowsports.com/collections/zubehor/products/virus-isolator-carbon-new

http://joint.shop-pro.jp/?mode=cate&cbid=1847849&csid=0 

On 9/30/2022 at 3:18 PM, ShortcutToMoncton said:

I love that Virus’ risers are the same price as a Coiler snowboard. 

Have to say it is actually worth the money.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Pigbrogg

[ShortcutToMoncton]

“Better acceleration”? How does the soft plate give better acceleration? 

[Pigbrogg]

1 hour ago, ShortcutToMoncton said:

“Better acceleration”? How does the soft plate give better acceleration? 

I don't quite remember how Frank explained, but is basically like a spring, when you push down it absort and store the energy.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Interesting. Nothing at all about acceleration on their website so that seems like the type of fluff claim that never made it past the lawyers. Just like with alpine plates I do have reservations on “save your energy’ claims when adding almost 3lbs of board weight here but hey. 

On paper and in pictures it looks almost identical to Apex’s Gecko plate from what I can tell, but would have to see it in operation.

[Atom Ant]

I'd call BS on the spring effect.  Ridden a lot of risers- a lot.  Dampening - sure l, leverage - yep.   Much else- not really.  Bombers do provide a large advantage due to lift / canting options and that makes them unique, but you have to get over the insane weight.

 

[staples156]

I bought some bomber power plates in 2015 since my old burton risers had cracked and at the time I booted out without some form of riser. The power plates worked well for eliminating bootout and were solidly built, but were also super heavy. The changeable inserts and cant adjustment was nifty, but I never tinkered with it much so I didn't find a huge benefit from it.

Now I ride a 29.7 waist Donek Flux so I don't have to worry about bootout and use my board without power plates or any other kind of riser and I much prefer that setup.