New Guy!!

Hello All! Thought I would stop in and introduce myself. Names Rick and I am what I like to consider a born again boarder. I was in the U.S. Air Force for 6 years and in my travels around the world I had the chance to experience a lot of things, snowboarding being one of those experiences. I was in South korea for a year and took many a trip up to Dragon Valley Resort where I pretty much learned to ride. After my year there though I had to PCS (move to a new base for those who don't know military acronyms) and was relocated to my home state of sunny ol' Florida. While I love it here it doesn't make good for any kind of winter sports whatsoever if ya know what I mean. So basically I have been the last 5 1/2 years or so without even seeing snow although wakeboarding and skydiving have filled in quite nicely for the lack thereof. I just recently booked a trip to Winter Park, Co. and am beyond stoked about it. I dug my board out of storage, took it to a local ski shop (we have them in florida!! never would have guessed it!) had it waxed, edges cleaned up, and everything ready to go. I do have a question if anybody has any advice on the subject. I never really learned much about adjusting my bindings and what is supposed to do what. I can figure out the gist of most of it like the boot size adjustment and such but some things (forgive me for not knowing the proper names) such as an adjuster on the back of the binding that raises and lowers the angle of the back, what exactly is that adjustment for?

My gear includes:
A Burton Floater 64 board
Burton Ruler Si Boots
Burton Custon Si Bindings

Well thats about it, about me in a nutshell. Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any advice given. It would be a real help to have a better understanding of my gear before i take to the slopes this time around.

Thanks again,

Rick

Hi Rick, welcome to the forum. Nice to have you aboard here When is your trip coming up?


The adjustments are -I think- meant for the purpose you are using your board for. Has to do with carving and/or jumping when your feet need more room. However for a more professional explanation I'd wait for our more experienced members here - who, I am sure - will react when seeing your question

an adjuster on the back of the binding that raises and lowers the angle of the back, what exactly is that adjustment for?

That adjustment is called the canting. Less canting means more ankle movement (freestyle type moves). More canting (highback going more forward) can give more support on landings and quicker (using your ankle instead of your feet to initiate/do) heelside turns.

Most bindings allow for degree adjustment as to the angle of your foot on the deck. Duck stance for easier fakie/switch, spinning,ect.... Forwarding the toes for narrower footprint for carving with less heel and toe drag. Some decks carve better when pressure is applied to certain areas. This can be achieved through the degrees on the baseplate.

Some bindings allow centering of the boot on the base plate.

Thanks PerryOBray. Although I knew that I found it hard to explain

Thanks for the replies guys, and thanks PerryRObray for that explination.
Do you know any websites maybe that go in depth on what settings are best for what situations. I know most of that is personal preference but i'm sure that has to be some general guidelines you can follow to start from. Seeing that I don't get to go that often i don't get much of a chance to tinker and see what I like better.
Breezz- My trip is coming up on the 16th of the month. I will be staying in downtown Denver and taking the Ski Train out to Winter Park the first day, driving out the second. 11 more days!!! Can't Wait!

Thanks again guys for your help!!

Rick

I'm searching the web for a comprehensible schematic or explanation, Rick - no luck so far. Wow, in just another 10 days. I can only imagine how excited you must be

Settings may actually mess things up when not in unison with the design of the snowboard.

Non directional, directional twin tips (usually with stiffer and shorter tails), and higher speed near slalom type (do they still make these?) decks may function much better individually with completely different settings. Eg, duck for non directional, toes forward for higher speed type decks. A twin tip non directional might carve better ducked than a higher speed deck ducked.

I tend to have at least 2 types of snowboards. Both with very different settings to get the most out of the deck.

A point apparently rarely mentioned is that there is a heel side and toe side to most newer snowboards. On non directional decks (nose,tail and flex have no noticeable differences) I know of no functional reason to be of a concern (except the toe and heelside matter). Most decks have a directional shape and flex. On directional snowboards the heelside/toeside edge configuration is extremely critical for maximum edge hold. This means your heels need to be on the heel side of the deck.
My experience has shown when lining the deck upright vertically and looked at from a distance, one edge usually has the narrowest part of the waist lower than the other side. This lowest narrowest part where the edge is, is where your rear heel will go near..

Some companies make a deeper sidecut on the heelside. The newer serrated edges may require a different analysis..

Post edited by: PerryRObray, at: 2008/02/08 19:26

Rick will be leaving in 9 more days, I hope he will see this excellent explanation you gave him here before that, PerryRObray