Buying a board for this season. Questions, please comment!

[drcr]

My mondo size is 26.7cm. Do I really want to round down to 26?

Looking at getting a pair of Raichle SB 413. Not sure if I'm going to go for the Xbone bindings just yet. Know of any North American vendors of the Blax Stealth 2? What about TD2s?

Oh, and Sean said widing the Axis from 21.5 to 23 would be of trivial importance.

thanks for all you help Rob.

[rcrobar]

Hi DrCR

26.7 ... round down for sure. The actual shell size for a 26.0 - 26.5 boot is the SAME, only the liner is changed. The liner of the smaller size has more padding to fill in the extra space. If you jump to a 27.0 shell, the boot length is a full 1 cm longer. Keep your boots as short as possible.

For me the waist width is a really big deal. I bought a Prior 4x4 a few years ago. Every time I put my size 28.5 boots and see my toes stick out past the edge I wondered why I didn’t spend a few more dollars. Boot out was a regular thing, I ended up selling the Prior.

If you end up buying a Swoard (Hopefully we will all be able to this season!!) I wouldn’t buy an AllMountain board. Buy a board that is designed mainly for the powder as a second board. A Swoard and a powder board and you are really set for the mountain.

Sounds like you are having fun figuring out the Alpine game:)
Rob

[drcr]

Interesting. Hum, what stance angles did you use on the 4WD? I assume your Sword size is 175cm with it's 33.3cm width?

Boot size difference: 28.5 - 26 = 2.5cm. Perhaps 21.5 would be just find for me and something larger would be important for you with your larger boot size.

The bummer with the Swoard is that the exchange rates with from USD to Euros is really, I mean really bad right now. Wasn't ~ 1:1 when the Euro first came out? Even with the rebate, I'm still paying almost twice the cost of something NA side. Man, I want to get one. The economy is swinging back up now (good old cyclic capitalism) so hopefully the dollar strength will grow.

Powder board, Swoard, wouldn't I want another board for higher speed stuff?

Yes, having lots of fun.

DrCR
________

[rcrobar]

Hi DrCR

You are asking great questions, but you have to realize the answers can take several years of Alpine riding for you really ‘feel’ the answers. I can sense your enthusiasm and confusion, we have all been there.

I had a close friend who went through exactly what you are going through right now, information overload after surfing the net for Alpine info. I gave him the same advice I gave you a few posts back. Don’t get too hung up on all the ‘techy’ info out there, you need a season or two of mileage on plates and hardboots first. Ride and experiment as much as you can.

I hesitated to give you such specific advise a few posts ago, because I don’t know your skill level, the kind of snow conditions you see most often or sheer stubbornness to figure out the alpine thing when alone and on the mountain. So I decided to be very conservative in my advice.

Each year you will see some guy selling brand new high end carving gear on Bomber, (ie Donek Freecarve, TD’s and top Raichles) that have been used 5 or 6 times. You just know that the guy saw someone carving beautifully, he loved what he saw, he spent big bucks on the gear, then was frustrated with the drastic change from a short freeride board with softies and low stance angles to a stiff, narrow carving board with high angles ... it’s a BIG jump. Look at the state of Alpine boarding today as a result.

My wife is only into snowboarding because she is guilty by association .... to me! She is a pretty good novice/intermediate rider, but only in fair weather conditions and a few times a year. I bought her a Volkl Spline 164 BX board (23.5 Waist and 8.5m sidecut radius), X-Bone step-ins, Raichle 224's and set her stance angles at 30F and 15R. She LOVES her set up, her feet don't hurt and the board is very easy to turn in any snow conditions. If I would have put her on a narrow apline board with high angles, she would not be a snowboarder and I would be going to the hill alone!

So take it slow, we don't want to loose you back to the dark side of softies:)

Rob

[pokkis]

Dont take too big boots, that is general rule number 1, and unfortunately you will breake rule number 1 anyway
So dont take too expencive boos in first hand, next year you will take one size smaller ones anyway
Board, dont take too stiff board, slightly softer is better for first board, this does not apply for Swoard cause they are not available .
Even learning to board is lot easier than sking, it will take certain ammount of runs, so be prepared that you will not be running like J&P at end of season.
And dont take these advise too personally/seriously, these are general advice for all new carvers I'm bad boy of instructions

[drcr]

So take it slow, we don't want to loose you back to the dark side of softies:)

Roger that. lol

I just didn't want to find the X-bones we're too stiff, after all you want a 'soft'/damping but strong bindings for EC (or at least that's what I'm gathering).

pokkis, what do you mean about taking a smaller boot next year? You mean me squeezing into a 25 sized boot (my mondo is 26.7)? Also, I believe the Prior 4wd is a little softer than the Axis. Assuming they're the same width (I don't have time to look up the 4wd width right now), should I do with the 4WD instead?


Thanks guys!

[pokkis]

I meant that you propably end now to 27's and will switch next year to 26's
btw when you order your 4wd or Axis, you can ask them to make it slightly stiffer or softer according your own feeling.

[drcr]

Oh, I'm going for 26s.

btw when you order your 4wd or Axis, you can ask them to make it slightly stiffer or softer according your own feeling.

Wow, didn't know that. Yet another factor to consider.

[drcr]

Hey Rob, will I need heel add ons for the Raichle SB 413 if I get the Xbones? Just checking.

[rcrobar]

Hey DrCR

You can get the X-Bones from Bomber in both standard and step-in. If you get the step-ins, you need to buy the heels. Using the standards will save you a bit of cash.

Another thought for you. I bought a Volkl Spine from a 'big box' sporting goods store for $199 Candian, maybe phone a few of these places. Also check out the Burton Fusion when looking on e-bay etc.

What about the Donek Incline? Read what ur13 had to say about it, very experienced guy and he loves it. I like the width.

http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/s ... eadid=3120

SB413's, standard X-Bones, and an Incline. You could have a lot of fun on this combo, your riding will progress and it won't cost you a fortune. Down the road, this will be the set up you use to help your buddies get into Alpine:)

Cheers
Rob

[pokkis]

Forget Incline if you think seriously about carving, take alook of picture in Incline page of Donek, that tells about board, sorry.
I agree that if you are good carver you can carve on Incline too, but when learning, that is not right tool. There is good thread in German side of this forum about carving on doors
But yes with your body weight X-Bone is option and it is cheap.

[drcr]

Way ahead of you on this on rcrobar--though I think this is the only occation this entire time lol.

In regards to the Axis vs. Incline...
http://www.boardreviews.com/reviews/sno ... frames.htm

Axis 172, 2003
It's not as fast edge-to-edge as my Donek Freecarve is, and requires a bit more effort to carve. (see review of that board under 2002 Doneks...) It does, however, carve far better than any freeride board I have ever tried (using hardboots on the freerides boards of course) including Salomon FRS and Donek Incline which are known to be excellent carving freeride boards.

Cash aside, would there be any disadvantages in getting the step-in Xbones over the standard? It would be a little longer right? Oh, and even though the Xbones standards aren't 'step-ins, there really isn't a lot to strap is there. I mean, maybe just a second to flip over the rear wire bar thingy (thingy is the technical term I believe lol).

[rcrobar]

Standard vs Step Ins.

The main advantage of the standards it the ability to control the lateral flex (side to side wobble) by loosening or tightening the pressure you need to close the bail. Yup, they are longer which is an issure if you have a rear stance angle of say 12.

I really pondered advising you one way or the other. The softness of the X-Bones step ins and the SB 413's I thought should flexy and forgiving.

Getting in standards.

I've seen new guys have a REALLY hard time getting the toe lever done up, especially when their back foot is at 40 degrees. This is why I said step ins. But once used to it you can do them up without stopping once off the lift.

Snow Pros, X-Bones, Burtons any of them with a toe lever will work great. Find the cheapest deal you can and it will work great.

I have to agree with Pokkis as well on the Incline. At times the advice is based on the cheapest deal, then the best carving board, then the easiest board to turn to get you going on plates.

I think that an AllMountain board is the way to go with the stock width, you can grow into this board ability wise. (Boot Out is my issue and may not be yours.) Later on you can upgrade bindings, etc.

Thanks for the Donek review link. Easy on the techy terms too. lol

Rob

[drcr]

Standard vs Step Ins.
The main advantage of the standards it the ability to control the lateral flex (side to side wobble) by loosening or tightening the pressure you need to close the bail. Yup, they are longer which is an issure if you have a rear stance angle of say 12.

"They' meaning step-ins? Could you clear up the antecedent for me. Thanks! I really appreciate your advise and experience.

Thanks for the Donek review link. Easy on the techy terms too. lol

Oh yes, very technical. www.boardreviews.com has overhauled their interface since the one posted, with a few more reviews. Think of it an an epinions for boards.

[rcrobar]

They meaning any standard toe bail binding is about 1cm longer than any step in binding.

My pleasure helping if I am able to. Many have helped me along the way and you will do the same in the future. This is the spirit of the carving community:)

Rob