What flex for me?

[SITO]

Hi drcr,

Yes all the f2 bindings, have lift and canting, they are on plastic, not as good as bomber or catek, but they are cheaper, and work good.

Sito

[harald]

F2 Race Titaniums also offer toe and heel lift and canting. But as Pokkis and other say, you do not need it for EC. Till now I have used F2Race Titaniums myself and am now mounting them flat. This winter I will try TD2s also flat.

[drcr]

Sweet. Maybe I could find a really good deal on some TD1 on ebay then. What about the X-bones? Which would be better, TD1s or Xbones?

Hum, I'll have to look at how much a custom width&sidecut Prior would cost. I believe the 4wd is a little softer than the axis (I believe I read that at alpinecarving.com). Would that be a good or bad thing?

Shallower means bigger radius. Alot (most) of all mountain boards run a 10.5-11m radius.

OK, is your 13m radius board makes your board more 'hourglass' shaped or less 'hourglass' (i.e. more rectangular) shaped than a 10-11m radius board? I assume radius is refering to a circular path the board will carve therefore larger meter radius = more linear/less hourglass edge? Sorry I sound like such a total noob. In other totally unrealted contexts the same terms can be used to convey totally different meanings.

Thanks

[SITO]

Hi drcr

TD1 and race titanium are better than x-bones.

X-bones only are recommended until 83kg more or less, they are on plastic and only have one center bolt in connection with your board.

Sito

[pokkis]

I think that standard 4WD or Axis would be totally fine, but IF you like spend extra money, i would spend that for rather for 13 meter radius than adding some millimeters to width.
Please note that TD's specially step-ins are very rigid binding which means that they are not very forgiving. Some beginners/people like it, some dont. But they will last forever except step-in heel piece which will wear out and needs to be replaced some phase.
Race titan has great price/functionality ratio and they are nice if you are not too heavy rider.
X-bone is most flexiest of these but also cheapest, if you are smalish they might be ok too.

[frunobulax]

@drcr: Ah, yes, to put it short, 10m is more hourglass than 13m.

[drcr]

Sweet, thanks guys!

The xbone would be find for me weight wise as I am ~65-68 kilos. I'll probably buy which ever I can get cheaper after lurking ebay.

Why would you want a board with a higher radius? I mean something like the Donek FC has a pretty significant 'hourglass' shape. Hum, come to think of it, the Swoard has a pretty high radius cut. Perhaps it is because in EC you're going close to perpendicular while with most freecarving boards/styles you usually aren't getting anywhere near that steep?

[DW]

drcr, As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong) as you approach vertical with the board the radius of the turn actually changes. So elegantly put, the radius of the actual turn on the snow is a function of your orignal board sidecut radius and angle with which you have it in relation to the snow. I have seen the equation before on the bomber boards but the gist is as you get more vertical the radius of the actual turn gets smaller. The comment that the EC guys made (again correct me if I am wrong) was that they tried both bigger and smaller radius sidecuts and 13m gave the best time down on the snow without needing a football field wide space to make a turn in. With this being said you may likely be able to EC with a 10.5-11m board but the turn will be a smaller radius then the 13m board. I do agree with pokkis that if you can afford it, to get the bigger radius. Width of the board will have to do with what angles/boots/bindings you end up with. I personally use TD 1 Step In's. They are probably a bit stiffer because of the side pins, but I love not having to fuss with the bails. I would tend toward a set of metal binding (whichever you chose) but that is me .

DW

[drcr]

Thanks DW.