First day on Catek Olympics and other stories

[Derf]

Yesterday was my first for a couple of things:

-First day of the season

-First time plates on softboot board

-First time on Catek Olympic

Like some of you know, I finally got some real bindings to replace my Burtons on my freecarve board. So I installed the Catek bindings on my Nitro GTX 166. My stance was 18" / flat. I always wanted to try some lift, so I set the bindings with 3 degrees toe lift front/heel lift back. Since I was adding lift, I widened my stance to 18-3/4". I then had a spare pair of Burton plates, so I put them on my beater/loaner/rock softboard (Burton Air) with 18" 51/45 flat.

So yesterday evening I went to St-Bruno (I know it's small, but it's the nearest and cheapest). Conditions were groomed packed. I first took out my Burton Air to see how it would ride with plates and to get back in the season on a softer board. It was crappy: too soft, too small radius, too short running length, too shallow angles. I didn't expect a miracle either. I only did one run with it.

Now the interesting part, my first ride on Catek bindings. When I got off the lift, the first thing I noticed is how the setup is stiff! I have to note that I am wearing Burton Furnace boots. I took my first run with both boots in wlak mode. I felt like a beginner, lots of side slipping. Then I took my second run, front boot locked, rear in walk mode. It went a little better but I felt my knees were too close together. I then went inside and readjusted my stance. Next run was great, both boots locked, seperated knees. On the subsequent runs, one thing I noticed is how you can rail turns more solidely on these bindings compared to my Burton plates. I feel much more confident with these, but it's not magic, I still have the same two problems that I need to work on: I stand up too much between turns and I have some difficulty controlling my speed without sideslipping all over the place when I start to go fast. To sum it up: great bindings, but need some getting used to.

On a side note, my Catek mod works fine for now, but I had some slippage issue due to undertightened cant screws. I'll have to do some more testing...

[Fleaman]

Hey derf, if you post some pics of your catek mod, maybe we can help solve your problem. Not just because I am really curious. :D

[Derf]

As soon as I will have access to a digicam I will post details and pics.

[Jack M]

Derf,

This is totally random and maybe I'm off base, but having "known" you for however many years here, I get the impression that you are the type of person who won't buy something new until you have completely used up the item you are currently using. Is that accurate?

My grandfather, who lived through the depression, is the same way. I mean no disrespect by this, it's just an observation I'd like validated or invalidated.

[Derf]

Derf,

This is totally random and maybe I'm off base, but having "known" you for however many years here, I get the impression that you are the type of person who won't buy something new until you have completely used up the item you are currently using. Is that accurate?

My grandfather, who lived through the depression, is the same way. I mean no disrespect by this, it's just an observation I'd like validated or invalidated.

I could say it is partially accurate. I could go on for quite a bit on this matter but I'll keep it brief.

I buy stuff when I really need it, this means if I have something, I wait until it is used up to replace it and if I don't have that thing, I stop and think "Do I REALLY need it?". Several thing come to mind:

-Bicycles: I ride two bikes, a mountain bike and a city bike. I do about 4000 km a year on my city bike (even more when I was a bike messenger). I replaced it two years ago because my other one was 1991 and it was so worn out, it was not worth replacing parts. My mountain bike is a 1994 Rocky Mountain. It is old but it has been upgraded several times and it rides well enough so I don't need another one.

-Snowboards: I have two snowboards, a 1991 Burton Air and a 2000 Nitro GTX. The Burton does not get any use since I moved to alpine permanently in 2002 and little use since 1997 when I started alpine. I keep it as a loaner/beater/rock board. The Nitro is the one I use all the time. I only ride 5 to 10 times a year, so I feel I have not reached the full potential of the board. Getting new bindings was the next step (after reading and discussing it here with other members), which I took. I bought used bindings (2004 Catek) because it was the only way to get good bindings at a reasonnable price. To get back to the board, even if I have not reached the full potential of it, I have found some limitations: last year I boarded with it on a snowy day, so the runs were full of bumps, crud and powder. Something softer, maybe wider would have helped, so I'm thinking about a second alpine board for these conditions (all mountain or BX type). The test on the Burton Air was to see if I prefered something wider (24 cm BX) or something narrower (21 cm AM). Another board would be useful, but it can wait a little as I don't get these conditions often and when I do, sometimes I prefer to go snowshoeing in the powder with my GF.

-Computers: My main computer is an 800 MHz, slow by modern standards. And I am more of a power user than a casual user as I do CAD and video encoding (and a lot of tinkering with Linux). But even if it is slow, it has 512 MB of RAM, 160 GB of HD and I am thinking of putting in a 10000 rpm SCSI drive I found in the garbage recently (it does work and is still under warranty - go figure). It is slow for things like video encoding, but when I start a job for this, I do other things at the same time, so time is not wasted.

So you can see a constant here: I use up my stuff until it has reached the end of its useful life. There a several reasons reasons for this:

-Stuff is made for that, to be used until it dies and is not repairable. I am disappointed in modern things that are not repairable and if you can repair it, it costs as much as getting a new one. I am someone who likes to tinker, modify stuff (little mods) and repair stuff. Some things are worth it, but lots are not. Video tape recorders, CD/DVD players (actually several home electronics) and printers are the first thing that come to mind.

-My financial ressources are limited. I have a decent job (mechanical engineering technician), but my GF is a student. I am limiting my spendings to save up for a house. This proved to be useful at least twice:

1) A little more than a year ago, I moved from Québec city to Montréal, so I had to quit my job but was promised another one. Four months later with no development on that front and no income, I had to look for another job. During that time, I lived off my savings without being in financial trouble and I still had a decent amount of money in my bank account.

2) When I had an accident with a van last year and my car was totalled, I was able to buy another one (used) without taking a lease or a loan and still had money in my bank account.

All this is because I spend carefully. This is not because I had moeny when I started working, I started at 0$ (economies and student debts combined). Some will say that I limit my enjoyment of life by cutting too many things. I don't. As sports, I do cycling, snowboarding (expensive sport), snowshoeing, hiking and archery. As hobbies, I tinker with computers, watch movies, listen to music and so on. Not too limiting, I enjoy life quite much. I just don't spend on unnecessary things.

And another thing: as you may know, I am pro-environment/recycling and so on, so all this fits in. I tried to limit myself in this comment, but like I said, I could go on for hours (or pages).

[Jack M]

Yeah, that's about what I figured. You're probably wiser than me when it comes to money matters, but man I can't help but wonder what kind of a carver you would be today if you had gotten on some Cateks or Bombers earlier. (Not that I even know how you ride, but you say you are having some difficulty with the new binders) I just know that the instant I realize my equipment is *limiting* my enjoyment of one of my favorite hobbies, poof, it's on ebay as soon as I can afford the difference, whether I've used the thing up or not. Which unfortunately in several cases can be a longish time, but in the case of snowboarding, for me it's instantaneous and I find a way to make it happen asap.

IMO, the value of a material good can be quantified in a few ways: monetary value (what you could get if you sell it), enjoyment/use value, and gift/donation value. As soon as I stop enjoying something as much as it's worth in any other category, I start scheming how to unload it and upgrade. You may be able to feel satisfied knowing that you got the full use out of something, but how much did that thing <i>cost</i> you in terms of diminished enjoyment?

As for the recycling/conservation aspect, the thing is going to end up in the landfill or recycling bin eventually, what difference does it make whether you're the one that sends it to its grave or someone else?

Not trying to antagonize here, just curious.

[Fleaman]

I know this is going off topic (like all threads here, I like it) but I am with Derf. These days people tend to be more throw away than fix it types. I am more of the fix it type. Instead of buying stuff I make or repair it if possible (Homebrew lights for my bike, bashrings and other repairs to my boards and other equipmentl like my truck, van, house etc). if I had to pay for each repairman or buy new equipment for each thing that goes broken in my life, I would be in debt up to my ears. I also get a lot of satisfaction in taking things apart and finding out how they work and fix them. You might call it cheap but that is the way I was brought up and it is ingrained in my system. I can't help myself.

But then again if I find that I want something, i will research it for a bit then usually buy it for full price because I want it now, not a year later when the price goes down or on sale.

[astrokel]

Amen to the fixit urge... My attitude is anything new is a good base to start fiddling, improving, tuning, etc. with. My only problem is I can't keep enough tools in my apartment to do all the stuff I would preferably do. Surely there ARE things that just shouldn't be played with too much, but these things tend to be already classics and not to be messed around with anyway mostly because they've managed to avoid fiddlers like me... :) .

Derf, I'm VERY curious what sort of mods you did to the Olympics. I was playing with some additional urethane in strategic places to make the binding a bit more pliant to my needs...

[Derf]

Yeah, that's about what I figured. You're probably wiser than me when it comes to money matters, but man I can't help but wonder what kind of a carver you would be today if you had gotten on some Cateks or Bombers earlier. (Not that I even know how you ride, but you say you are having some difficulty with the new binders) I just know that the instant I realize my equipment is *limiting* my enjoyment of one of my favorite hobbies, poof, it's on ebay as soon as I can afford the difference, whether I've used the thing up or not. Which unfortunately in several cases can be a longish time, but in the case of snowboarding, for me it's instantaneous and I find a way to make it happen asap.

It depends on the rider. I ride only 5 to 10 days a year, which is probably less than you, and I don't have any friends that snowboard. Recently, I met some Montréal riders on Bomber, but it's not always easy to go riding together, especially when I don't ride often. So my progress is limited to what I read here and apply on the slopes when I can go out and ride. As for the type of rider that I am, I figure I am an average rider who needs to ride more and who is in constant evolution.

Material wise, I agree with you to a certain extent. That it the reason I ride 100% alpine, softboot setup is too limiting for conditions here and I almost stopped snowboarding because of this (I do have to agree my soft setup is obsolete, but I did not want to inject more money in it). I did not feel limited in my progress nor my enjoyment by my equipement. My boots are Burton Furnace (some pros still use them), my bindings were Burton (some pros still use them) and my board is a Nitro, as good in my opinion as any other production freecarve board (Nidecker, Hot, Volkl, etc). I bought some Catek out of curiosity to see what all the hype was about and to get something more adjustable. They do make a difference, and I only had 2 hours of ridings with them. And I probably did not express myself correctly, I do not have difficulties with them, I just need to get adjusted, which happens anytime you change something. Like I said, 2 hours is short to get perfectly adjusted to something new.

IMO, the value of a material good can be quantified in a few ways: monetary value (what you could get if you sell it), enjoyment/use value, and gift/donation value. As soon as I stop enjoying something as much as it's worth in any other category, I start scheming how to unload it and upgrade. You may be able to feel satisfied knowing that you got the full use out of something, but how much did that thing <i>cost</i> you in terms of diminished enjoyment?

Agreed, but what happens when you use and enjoy something until it dies or is too obsolete to be sold or even given away? The enjoyment also varies from person to person, don't forget.

As for the recycling/conservation aspect, the thing is going to end up in the landfill or recycling bin eventually, what difference does it make whether you're the one that sends it to its grave or someone else?

It's a little more complex than that. If everyone uses something for five years, then throws it away, the landfill fills up at a certain rate. If everyone uses that same thing for 15 years, or uses it five years, then gives it to someone who uses it another five years, and so on, you agree that the landfill will fill at a much slower rate? And this has direct effect on pollution, production, material consumption and so on. This is much bigger than you think (or appear to think). I could give a couple of examples:

-My diner table: I picked it up in the garbage when I moved where I am, cleaned it and used it for a while. My father gave me his old one since he had the one from is GF who moved in with him. And at the same moment, a friend of mine needed a diner table, so I gave mine away to my friend and got the one from my father. Nothing went in the garbage and everyone got a new table.

-Computer stuff: I just gave my old 4X burner and a B/W printer to a coworker (single mom with three kids) who could not afford these things, so she was happy to get stuff, I was happy to unload stuff and nothing ended up in the landfill.

Not trying to antagonize here, just curious.

No probs here, if you know me, you know how I like to debate things! ;)