Plate bindings.

Does anybody freeride with hardboots anymore?
Remember the blond kid with the pornstar wife doing backflips in a pink
jumpsuit ?what was his name?anyway if anybodys done it (hardboots) what
was it like?grg.

Look down 3 threads and you'll find at least 4 of us who ride
hardboots. In my case, only sometimes.

LeeD wrote:
Look down 3 threads and you'll find at least 4 of us who ride
hardboots. In my case, only sometimes.

Are you riding a freeride board or a alpine board?

Does anybody freeride with hardboots anymore?

Yeah - me and several of my riding buddies. We all prefer the control at
speed, and find them more comfortable, etc. I tend to freeride on
something like a Donek Axxess or a Coiler AM, which are hybrids between
alpine boards and more traditional freeride boards.

Yes, riding switch is tougher in this kind of setup, I've seen some folks
ride swicth in hard boots better than I do in the normal direction so yes it
can be done.

I've never been much of a park/pipe rider, but I probably do better at the
park on plates than in softies, I just feel more comfortable charging at a
booter in a more forward stance...


Mike T



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That kemper rider back in the day (blond, playboymodel wife)blew his
knee out on a half pipe iin his hard boots.do you really feel it in the
knees at the end of the day?

Zdat DamienSanders, brother of CrisSanders, who's model
AvalancheIceRocket164 I occasionally ride?
Sure, when you lock out your ankles, the next joint that takes the
load is the knees.
Lotsa plate binding raceboard riders I know only ride from like
9:30AM to lunchtime, then switch to softer, more forgiving softies and
freeride boards.

Sure, when you lock out your ankles, the next joint that takes the
load is the knees.

Hard boots allow you to lock out your ankles, but it's not necessary, and it
is discouraged my many modern race coaches. A little ankle action helps
you release one edge a bit and start your next turn sooner. Any hardboot
with ankle flex springs or an aftermarket kit such as this:

http://www.bomberonline.com/store/boots/BTS_kit.cfm

makes it easier to get some ankle action into your turns.

Lotsa plate binding raceboard riders I know only ride from like
9:30AM to lunchtime, then switch to softer, more forgiving softies and
freeride boards.

I used to do that... until I learned the aforementined race technqiues,
which give you all the power without being so locked in. My current plate
set-up and technqiue is plenty forgiving to ride hard all day... and I'm not
in that great of shape these days.


Mike T



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wrote:
That kemper rider back in the day (blond, playboymodel wife)blew his
knee out on a half pipe iin his hard boots.do you really feel it in the
knees at the end of the day?

You're thinking of Damian Sanders who used to ride for Avalanche. I'm
not sure how he wrecked his knee, but it could have something to do with
layed out 50' back flips...

I ride hard boots all the time. My main board is a 172 cm all-mountain
alpine board with 21.5 cm waist, but I also have a 200 cm freeride board
with 24.5 cm waist. My rock board is an old Burton Asym Air, 164 with
25 waist. I have no knee troubles.

Neil

wrote:
Does anybody freeride with hardboots anymore?

With the advent of the Internet, hardboots are beginner to make a
comeback as people now can learn and buy plate bindings and hardboots
easily now despite the fact that most stores don't carry the gear
anymore.

The early days of hardbooting was before my time, but it seems like
hardboots are gaining momentum... especially since people noticed them
in the Olympics (we'll see if the interest lasts). So the current
preferred stance angles (60-50f, 55-45r, 3-5 splay) are much nicer on
the knees than the old school setups.

Most people are riding on alpine decks (although many are on
"all-mountain" alpine decks that are the alpine equivalent of
freeride)... but there definitely a bunch of people on freeride decks
such the boards by Rad Air (Tanker or Reto), Donek (Incline), Prior
(ATV), to name a few.

Does anybody freeride with hardboots anymore?
[...] what was it like?grg.

(1) Yes. You probably don't see me as I'll be riding the bits of the
mountain outside the park mostly, plus I'm generally going quite fast.
That's what it's all about: speed and control. There's a reason it's
called race kit.

(2) This week was pretty good, with my hard boots and places on me
Burton Fish. I rode with some fairly good pro riders: some of 'em could
even keep up through the trees ;-)


There's one way to find out "what it's like" and that's to try it. Or
try to catch up with someone riding hard and fast and ask 'em.

I don't compromise with loose set-ups though: I ride the stiffest boots
I can get with the best boot/ binding connexion. That floppy stuff's
just great for sideslipping, I guess.

The ski/ snowboard industry's funny about stuff like this. In olden
days, skiers laboured with something called "rear entry boots". They
were technically inferior to ordinary "4 clip boots", but almost
everyone rode them for years. Those of us who didn't were sneered at,
unless we were riding rings around the fashionable guys of course.
Anyway, that one came and went... I'm not saying that the same thing
will happen with soft gear, but it's worth bearing in mind that not
everything people ride is based on what works best.

After all, how many people have tried both? Pretty much everyone who
rides hard has. You work it out ;-)