Helvetico Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 I'm a softbooter (hardboot-curious, though) in the market for two boards: a very fast, stable piste carver and a longboard for powder. Because I live in Switzerland, I've settled on the Rad-Air Reto Lamm 164 and the Rad-Air Tanker 182...thanks to the advice I received after posting in this forum. So here's my quandary: there are no new Rad-Air boards anywhere. I called Harry in Zurich and he said they've got last season's, but I can get a better price on boards that are even older, yet unused. Question 1: Have there been any significant design changes for the aforementioned models over the last five years? Sure, all board makers tinker, but are the changes worth several hundred francs? Question 2: I'm breaking in a pair of Salomon Synapse Wides (nothing else will fit my EEE-width feet). Which bindings should I get? I'm considering Nidecker 900's and Salomon SPX 55's. I'm thinking of buying one set, switching it from board to board, and possibly picking up a pair of hard boots and bindings for the Reto Lamm. Question 3: Does anyone make wide hardboots? And I don't mean kinda wide, I mean Neanderthal-width feet.relevant biomorphic data: height: 1.80; weight: 80-82 kg.; riding style: fast and straight down the mountain. Thanks in advance for your responses. Love this message board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 I think they've improved them, but my 5 year old Tanker works great and I got it cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted January 12, 2006 Report Share Posted January 12, 2006 Helvetico, here are my thoughts on your questions: #1. Yes, they have changed significantly over the last five years...especially in weight. Changes include shape (sidecut and taper),flex, core design, and materials. I have each years models of the 200 Tanker (here is a simple discription of each: 99-00 Millenium Tanker, 00-01 DKM with honeycomb stringers, 01-02 carbon stringers, 02-03 white model had new core construction and 3-d topsheet, 02-03 LTD Ed Crown has titanium inserts 4000 grade base stainless steel edges and a very light carbon/kevlar core, 03-04 Crown had a light core and changed flex pattern, 04-05 Ralph Castelberg model with black topsheet had changes to flex and sidecut and core, 05-06 Ralph Castelberg model has red topsheet and improved lightweight core changed shape and flex and available with two base colors grey or red). They all are fun to ride, but each of them performs a little different. #2. Both bindings are good choices (or the last couple years SPX-5's). If you can, I would take your boots into the shop to test them. #3. Not sure, sorry... I ride the same style as you and am similar in size and the tankers are awesome for almost all conditions (tight trees being tricky, but still possible). I don't think that you can go wrong with an older model or a newer one, but the newer ones are pretty sweet and I do not ride my older ones much anymore as they are part of my collection now. Hope that helps and maybe we will see you this winter when I try to get back over to Stuben in April for the Longboard Classic. cheers, sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Helvetico, your question made me curious to go and ride my older tankers again so I took four different models of 200cm Tankers to Baker and made a few runs to compare them (models were the white topsheet/blue base 01-02, 02-03 LTD Crown, 04-05 RC 200, and the 05-06) and here is my update for you. 1. While all of them excel in powder and really like to charge through the crud and can carve amazing turns in corduroy, the the 05-06 was just soo much more responisive and lively when riding in all conditions and it was much easier to feel terrain changes through the board/binding interfce and it absorbed chatter better than any of the others. It had been awhile since I rode the other models so I wanted to run a fair test and let you know what my thoughts were on how they performed. I had a great time on all of them and of course got the million questions about how long the boards are and are they hard to turn...but bottom line is the changes from the earlier models to the new ones are pretty significant and anyone who rides/rode an older one should try to at least go out and ride one of the new ones to see and feel the difference. cheers, sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Sub Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 sandy are you riding with plates? sorry if I missed that info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svr Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 D-sub, Not right at the moment (using Rad-Air RS-4's and Salomon Malamutes)...I am in the market for a new set of hard boots to meet my backcountry requirements of hiking and riding, just haven't quite found the perfect setup yet. I used to use a pair of burton race plates with Le Mans boots on one of my tankers, but was not happy with them out of bounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 I`m 80kg`s and 188cm tall, 29 mondo boots. First year in hardboots. I`m riding an LSD from 01-02 (Ithink). This one. http://www.norskdesign.no/gfx/Large/radair.jpg It was an exception buy for me, I`m so happy riding it with hardboots. I have just got myself a 02-03 Tanker 200, the white 3D topsheet model, really cheap and as of yet unridden. I could have got the following years model but it was near twice the price. The weight difference between these two is alot, if your a weight weeny then you probably won`t like the White one. My only concern with the light weight models is breakage, I don`t know how relevant/true it is but for me, stronger is better. I tend to do some really animated high speed crashes:smashfrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tilledog Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 I`m riding an LSD from 01-02 (Ithink). That's an 02/03.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 :o Oh.......so now at least I know! The white tanker i just bought was marked as an 03/04. But I`m really unsure after reading sandys descriptions of each model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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