# Upgrading Equipment and would like some advice



## Guest (Jun 29, 2008)

Rome Agent paired with Rome 390's bindings.

I have personally rode on ice with this board yet, but I heard it holds up pretty good.


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> the Face at Mt. Hood Meadows which is about a 40 degree slope on solid ice that is clear blue after freezing rain


Only after a freezing rain? Lucky bastard. Seems like I see blue ice every day after 3pm around here 




Snowolf said:


> I would tend to stick with boards that are a bit stiff with good dampening of vibration. One of the most annoying things about ice is the rough ride.


Seeing as how you're already on a Ride board, you might want to try the Concept TMS, the '08 replacement for the Timeless series. The dampening on the Timeless is top notch, I don't even feel rock hard corderoy under mine, but it's still a stiff board with lots of pop. A long effective edge will help hold you onto the hill, but as Snowolf said: if your edges aren't sharp it really doesn't matter what board is between you and the ice.


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## Guest (Jul 2, 2008)

mpdsnowman said:


> Its hard to narrow it down to one or two brands. I like to think all mfgs products will do fine. Heck u can go in the park and destroy any mfg board in an hour if u wanted too..


i'll second this opinion & also agree with getting your board tuned with an 88 degree side bevel for a sharper ice knife.

icey conditions were a plenty on my local hill a few seasons ago, almost every week was an ice rink! i mostly road my burton floater, yes, a powder board. the extra length (167) helped w/ holding an edge down & cutting some turns vs. scraping around.

most recently i spent some icy days on my true courage 159cm & it did just fine.

but i've also ridden my 154cm store brand twin tip w/ 90 degree edges on ice - a frozen lake with just a 1/4" of snow in many places - while snowkiting. i was able to hold an edge fairly well, even with ~30knots of wind in a 9m sail. at first the wind would send me chattering down wind a bit on my heelside edge, but i stayed out for a 4 1/2 hour marathon session & was able to hold better and better lines on the icey snow - better due to working out ideal angles of attack for the kite & board directions.

just goes to show that pretty well anything, even while under additional load than good old gravity, can be pressed into holding an edge on icy conditions.

that said, pic a board that fits your riding style, height, weight etc best & then get it tuned up with an 88 bevel. 8)


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2008)

Hey All. Thanks for the tips. We were looking at the Roxy Envy or Roxy for my wife. It has magnetraction and I have heard good things about that. Anyone else heard anything about magnetraction.

I am kind of trying to decide if I need a new board and bindings or just a binding and boot upgrade this winter. I demo'ed a Burton Custom ICS and the bindings had a toe strap which was nice. my SPi only have the front strap that covers the top of my boot. I felt the binding with the toe cover gave me some extra control. 

Any thoughts on this?


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2008)

toe cap straps are great, but before you make a binding decision - if you've never stuck your boots into a pair of flows, check them out... personally, i absolutely love them. Flow Snowboarding Location Selector - the top covers make for a nice even pressure over your foot, and you can crank 'em tight (but comfortable) so response is nothing short of awesome. you move, your board moves - no strap stretch lag.


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2008)

Do you have any suggestions on the model to take a look at?


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

The NXT models are nice from Flow. I have a pair of the NXT AT's from a couple of seasons ago. Quite happy with them, though I don't have them mounted right now. Last year at the dealer demo days I took out the team binding. I thought it was best binding I demo'd last year (tried over six new models), it's expensive but very very nice. 
Union, Rome, and Flow were the top 3 bindings I tried last year. The K2 Auto does get honorable mention but they had a recall last year. I would wait another season and let them work out the tech on that one.


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2008)

personally i ride the flow FSi pro model bindings - i selected them based on peer reviews for the right combo of stiffness, flex, and range of motion for snowkiting. they suit me just fine on the slopes, too. i'm a heavier rider at about 230lbs these days & they're not too soft for me, nor are they highly rigid. here's a google link i found to the ones i sport on my deck: Flow Pro FSi 2006 - Mens Snowboard Bindings @ ABC-of-Snowboarding

my bro rides with one of their carbon fiber models from a couple years ago & he doesn't seem to mind that they're super stiff... but from online reviews, i'd steer clear of full carbon fiber - from a couple horror stories i read, they're so stiff that some people have broken their ankles on landings! nooot my cup of tea.

really, it just depends on how high of a back & how stiff you want to go - which is determined by the type of riding you do. if you're a powder guy, go for a higher back. if you're a park jibber, go low so you can moooove. if you're on a tight budget, go with a plastic model - even they hold up pretty damn good. if you buy used, just don't bother with the oooold school aluminum backed ones - the backs tend to bend/warp out of shape under load from a bigger guy, which is so not cool in my books.


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2008)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the help guys. I will take a look at the Ride Concept and the flow bindings. I am still trying to determine if I should upgrade my bindings and boots and stick with my Ride Havoc board or upgrade the Board+Bindings and keep my Salomon boots.

Tough call.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2008)

Actually Lib Tech is where you should go for help in the ice. They came up with a tech a 2 seasons ago called magne traction which is made specifically for icy conditions. Instead of 2 contact points near the nose and tail, magne traction gives you 7 all throughout the sidecut of the snowboard. Its freaken legit. You can really feel the difference while riding too. You have so much more control in your turns and after riding this on ice you most feel comfortable without the magne traction. Dont get me wrong you can do perfectly well on other boards but after riding this last year I am really sold on the tech. For bindings I'd stick with ride. Their aluminum base tray I feel is the most responsive and durable which is what you need while riding in the ice.


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