Centering boots on bindings

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Interesting, this is likely a new topic so as to not distract from this beautiful, confusingly-used board.

I’ve always centred the boot over the middle of the binding, then angle bindings until perpendicular over the edges. But in almost no case will I get directly over both toe/heel, so I typically adjust the bindings slightly toe/heel (along with stance angle) to centre the boot over the board edges.

But my boots are always centred on the binding. It sounds like everyone else uses the slots for adjusting stance width, but the binding is always placed on the middle of the board and you offset the boot on the binding to get perpendicular over the edges?

[BlueB]

Yes.

[Jack M]

19 hours ago, ShortcutToMoncton said:

Interesting, this is likely a new topic so as to not distract from this beautiful, confusingly-used board.

I’ve always centred the boot over the middle of the binding, then angle bindings until perpendicular over the edges. But in almost no case will I get directly over both toe/heel, so I typically adjust the bindings slightly toe/heel (along with stance angle) to centre the boot over the board edges.

But my boots are always centred on the binding. It sounds like everyone else uses the slots for adjusting stance width, but the binding is always placed on the middle of the board and you offset the boot on the binding to get perpendicular over the edges?

Centering the boot on the binding and centering the binding on the board is a good practice, but not the only way.  Then both your feet are aligned and levering the board on the same axis.  Due to the hourglass figure of the board, this usually results in your front foot toe and rear foot heel being inside the edge of the board - "underhang".  You can compensate for this by moving the front foot toe and heel blocks forward, and the rear foot toe and heel blocks rearward.  This way you can really geek out and zero in on a stance that minimizes both binding angle and underhang.

John Gilmour of Madd Snowboards stamps his name on this as "Gilmour Bias" but he didn't invent it.  Maybe he was the first to describe it online.  You can search that term here and see his thread about it.  I've tried it (before reading about it) and I'm not sure it amounts to a hill of beans for my riding.  YMMV

[SunSurfer]

Your options are greater if you have smaller feet/boots. You have much more leeway to move your boot backwards or forwards along the binding.

At mondo 29 I'm unable to get my UPZ RC10 boot sole centre mark over the centre of my bindings (Bomber TD3s & F2 Race Intecs).
Instead I adjust using all the options available to get the toe of my rear boot at the board edge, and the heel of my front boot at the board edge (no overhang) while also achieving my desired stance distance and binding angles & splay.
Adjustment options are -
Adjust the binding angle
Move the boot backwards or forwards along the binding
Turn the binding discs so that they run across the board rather than along the board

I figure that in the end I want to tilt the board, and having the toes & heels aligned close to the edge is more relevant to that than the position of the boot over the binding.

[Ladia]

Last thing I care about. My set up.

1 Stand width and position on board.

2 Front foot angle. As I am using Bomber since it came on market I found when the bail straight section is parallel with the edge in spot where front binding is mounted it works the best for me.

3 Back foot angle.

4 Minimum over hang.

5 Boots will not be centered for sure.

 

[BlueB]

3 hours ago, Jack M said:

Centering the boot on the binding and centering the binding on the board is a good practice, but not the only way.  Then both your feet are aligned and levering the board on the same axis.  Due to the hourglass figure of the board, this usually results in your front foot toe and rear foot heel being inside the edge of the board - "underhang".  You can compensate for this by moving the front foot toe and heel blocks forward, and the rear foot toe and heel blocks rearward.  This way you can really geek out and zero in on a stance that minimizes both binding angle and underhang.

John Gilmour of Madd Snowboards stamps his name on this as "Gilmour Bias" but he didn't invent it.  Maybe he was the first to describe it online.  You can search that term here and see his thread about it.  I've tried it (before reading about it) and I'm not sure it amounts to a hill of beans for my riding.  YMMV

I think he actually tries to have front toe underhang and rear heel underhang, for what he describes as "G" bias. 

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Super interesting. I’ve always positioned the binding plates to angle the slots across the board — possibly because standard insert stance width seems to work for me at 19 3/4 on my boards, and I don’t need to adjust width.  I always have my boots centred on the binding, and always move the bindings themselves slightly across the board toeside/heelside in order to get the boots perpendicular over the edge on both sides.

Speaking of that G bias, what is the concern being fixed by using underhang? A body positioning issue or a bootout issue? 

[Jack M]

Here.

https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/40762-gilmour-bias/?do=findComment&comment=415270

 

[BlueB]

1 hour ago, Jack M said:

Here.

https://forums.alpinesnowboarder.com/topic/40762-gilmour-bias/?do=findComment&comment=415270

 

He made a typo in explaining what overhangs. Talks twice about rear boot. 

[rjnakata]

When I rode it, Gilmour bias mirrors the natural foot positioning I gravitated to on a skateboard (longboard) and allowed me a more torso chest forward facing stance.

Also boot centering (over the binding) helped my riding balance-wise, and was more difficult to achieve with smaller boots (M26) and the available on-market bindings.

Edited April 18 by rjnakata
clarity

[Jonny]

JG often seems to have typed so fast and with such volubility (to use a polite term) that the accuracy sometimes suffers. Here's a fairly clear quote:

"OVERHANG IS INCREASING ON ONE SIDE ONLY. Of which ever foot. In this case heel overhang on the front and toe overhang on the rear."

For my size 27 boots and preferred 19ish waist width I can set my rear foot with toe and heel right on the edge at around 55°. Then if I look for moderate 3-5° splay, it'll mean some underhang somewhere on the front boot because the toe is on a wider part of the board. How I distribute that underhang depends a lot on the board but generally I'll try to have equal amounts of underhang toe and heel. I've tried a version of "G Bias" by setting the heel right on the edge which means significant toe underhang on the front foot. It's nice for traversing but that's about it. Might  be nice on very soft snow though, which I rarely get.

I never think about where the center of the boot is with relation to the center of the binding - only about the ends of the boots and the edges of the board.