kirk
01-16-2008, 01:08 AM
Western Pennsylvania finally got some fresh snow, so I finally had a chance to test out the rear binding mounts on my boards. We just had the first real powder here I've seen in a long time. In fresh areas, it was 6-18" depending on how the wind had blown, and these is huge for here. For the first hour and a half, I rode regular center mounted because I wanted to have the feeling fresh in my mind so I could compare it to the rear mounts. After about an hour, I took my boards off and spent about 5 minutes switching to the rear mounts. I was ready to go.
First Impressions
4cms back doesn't sound like much, but it really is. After strapping in and looking at my feet, I was amazed at how much the perspective had changed. The elongated tip made them look longer than the Revolts. My snowboarder buddy I was riding with even commented that he was amazed at how much a difference it made. I started to skate, and it definatey had a different feel to it. With the shorter tails, skating seemed to be more forgiving. I was ready to go hit some powder.
Powder
As soon as I hit my first powder stashes, I was blown away. I really hadn't expected there to be much of a difference, but it was huge. I was expecting to get that usual feeling where I want to lean back really far, but it never came. Having a longer lever in the front of the board really dampens the ride and makes powder riding require less thought. It was so much fun to ride powder with this setup that it almost became the first day I didn't hit the park. I normally don't get inquirys about my skiboards, but I had a ton today. A lot of people seemed to be really intrigued at how well they were performing in powder. I actually had an older guy on a lift ask me what they were called, and then he actually said "those aren't the same as those skinny things some kids ride are they?" That really impressed me...
Park
Even with the best powder I've seen in a long time, I had to hit some park. How did the setback perform in the park? Rails - terrible. As amazed as I was at how great it helped powder riding is how amazed I was that it hurt sliding rails. I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but I had to really focus to feel comfortable on rails. My only guess is that with center mounting it grips rails on both sides holding it place. With the setback, I seemed to be fighting against myself to balance good.
They didn't have any hitable jumps, but they did have a quarterpipe to test them on. On the quarter, I really didn't notice much change. They may have felt slightly more squirrley on landings, but almost a negligable amount.
Groomers/Carving
On the groomers that had powder, the setback was awesome. I didn't have to think at all about changed in snow from powder to ice and back to powder. The extra lever really helped in this respect. For places where the snow was partially packed but still soft, these things carved great. It felt like the stability of riding center mounted in harder snow, and was really fun. I was able to get some pretty decent carves in softer snow where normally I would have to worry about my tips slowing up.
The only downside was how the setback affected harder packed snow. In these places, I really didn't like the setback. On hard snow, I love to do big, laid out carves, and I absolutely hate skidding. With the setback, the boards have a much greater tendency to want to do skidded carves which I hadn't expected. Some people will love this for those who like skidded turns, but I'd much rather carve when I can.
Overall
I am really glad we got the extra inserts in these boards. It made my powder experience MUCH more enjoyable today. This was possibly the best time I ever had in powder, and the setback was the main contributing factor. However... I really didn't like the way it affected riding rails and I hated the tendency to skid instead of carve on hardpack.
Personally, I will stick to center mount about 90% of the time, but I will definately be mounting my bindings back from now on when there is fresh powder to be hit. I was really suprised at how such a little change affected the ride, and I'm glad the option is there.
First Impressions
4cms back doesn't sound like much, but it really is. After strapping in and looking at my feet, I was amazed at how much the perspective had changed. The elongated tip made them look longer than the Revolts. My snowboarder buddy I was riding with even commented that he was amazed at how much a difference it made. I started to skate, and it definatey had a different feel to it. With the shorter tails, skating seemed to be more forgiving. I was ready to go hit some powder.
Powder
As soon as I hit my first powder stashes, I was blown away. I really hadn't expected there to be much of a difference, but it was huge. I was expecting to get that usual feeling where I want to lean back really far, but it never came. Having a longer lever in the front of the board really dampens the ride and makes powder riding require less thought. It was so much fun to ride powder with this setup that it almost became the first day I didn't hit the park. I normally don't get inquirys about my skiboards, but I had a ton today. A lot of people seemed to be really intrigued at how well they were performing in powder. I actually had an older guy on a lift ask me what they were called, and then he actually said "those aren't the same as those skinny things some kids ride are they?" That really impressed me...
Park
Even with the best powder I've seen in a long time, I had to hit some park. How did the setback perform in the park? Rails - terrible. As amazed as I was at how great it helped powder riding is how amazed I was that it hurt sliding rails. I'm not sure exactly what caused it, but I had to really focus to feel comfortable on rails. My only guess is that with center mounting it grips rails on both sides holding it place. With the setback, I seemed to be fighting against myself to balance good.
They didn't have any hitable jumps, but they did have a quarterpipe to test them on. On the quarter, I really didn't notice much change. They may have felt slightly more squirrley on landings, but almost a negligable amount.
Groomers/Carving
On the groomers that had powder, the setback was awesome. I didn't have to think at all about changed in snow from powder to ice and back to powder. The extra lever really helped in this respect. For places where the snow was partially packed but still soft, these things carved great. It felt like the stability of riding center mounted in harder snow, and was really fun. I was able to get some pretty decent carves in softer snow where normally I would have to worry about my tips slowing up.
The only downside was how the setback affected harder packed snow. In these places, I really didn't like the setback. On hard snow, I love to do big, laid out carves, and I absolutely hate skidding. With the setback, the boards have a much greater tendency to want to do skidded carves which I hadn't expected. Some people will love this for those who like skidded turns, but I'd much rather carve when I can.
Overall
I am really glad we got the extra inserts in these boards. It made my powder experience MUCH more enjoyable today. This was possibly the best time I ever had in powder, and the setback was the main contributing factor. However... I really didn't like the way it affected riding rails and I hated the tendency to skid instead of carve on hardpack.
Personally, I will stick to center mount about 90% of the time, but I will definately be mounting my bindings back from now on when there is fresh powder to be hit. I was really suprised at how such a little change affected the ride, and I'm glad the option is there.