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Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 snowboard bindings - "The holy grail of skiing"

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  • Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 snowboard bindings - "The holy grail of skiing"

    First off, I have to say the Blunts are amazing. The performance in a 88cm board is very impressive. Drifting/Slarving and flat spins are super easy and yet it just as easily lays down tight carves. (Note: I always used risers. They might be more difficult to get on edge without them.) They have pretty decent float in powder for a medium sized rider, although some weighting of the tails are useful when you don't have enough speed or steepness of inclines. I also found it useful to lean back in the slushy chopped up stuff at A-basin yesterday, but didn't need to as much in softer chopped up snow from earlier in the year. Edge hold on ice is pretty good too. And they are so maneuverable and fun.

    I think I'm just echoing everyone else's raves at this point, since so much has been said about how great they are. They really do live up to the hype. At their length I found there are more fore/aft adjustments needed by the rider, but only a little more than say a traditional 99cm skiboard.

    I'm very happy with them - especially given their size. A true game changer in the sport. Thanks Greco!

    Their size leads me to the second part of the review. I've always ridden releasable bindings because I have short legs and have worried about spiral fractures, but the appeal of snowboard boots was very tempting, and after riding the Blunts I felt comfortable giving non-releasables a try on such a short board. Enter the SBOL Modified Snowjam 540s.

    I'd like to thank everyone involved in making this cool product a reality! I know Greco, Jack, and Bill had a lot to do with this and Bee at GGO has developed a similar product. I'm sure there are others as well. Thanks to Greco for always providing excellent customer service and for his commitment to the sport. He helped me out a lot as I ventured into this new territory as I had absolutely no idea how snowboard bindings worked.

    After shopping the end of season sales online and trying a lot of different boots and sizes (Zappos worked out well for this with their free returns for my hard to fit short wide feet), I ended up with DC Ceptors. They are an 8 out of 10 on their stiffness scale. No boas, but that brought down the price.

    I was so excited when I finally got to try out the snowjam bindings on my Blunts, and then . . . major disappointment. I didn't have the control I had with my old spruce risers with ski boots. I even fell on very routine actions. I thought I might end up missing out on the soft boot fun. However, I wasn't ready to give up the dream so easily.

    I remembered just how much my stance was corrected by my bootfitter with custom inserts for my ski boots, which cost a lot but were definitely worth it for my crazy weird feet. When trying on boots I put my custom inserts into the snowboard boots and it did help my stance, but I found a pair of superfeet that seemed to be doing the job and were more comfortable, so that's what I rode on. So, the first step was to go back to the custom inserts.

    The next issue to address - the medium snowjam bindings were very tight with my size 8 DC Ceptors at the hinge of the highback. My guess is that this is because DC makes a wider boot, which of course is why I bought them, and the shape of the snowjam highback makes it curve inward a little at the hinge. The fit of the boot in the binding was so tight that the only way to get the boots against the highback was to step back into the bindings and force them through the highback hinge. I think this worked okay in theory and on carpet, but on snow, I don't think I got them far enough back, and because of the tightness of the highback hinge, ratcheting down the straps didn't help. So, I got out my dremel and shaved off a few millimeters on each highback hinge so that the boot had room to move back, but the highback was still structurally sound.

    Back to the slopes I went, thinking I addressed the issues. Nope. I fell right away.

    I looked at my boards and the left board was still pointing inward, not as much as with the superfeet inserts, but still significant. I then adjusted the snowboard binding to a 2.5 degree duck foot stance on my left board. I also noticed that I was not getting enough support leaning back - more of an issue in the slushy chop than before - so I added more forward lean than I already had set. (Thanks Jack for the post about how to adjust the bindings and Slow for the duck foot thread.)

    Given my history so far, I wasn't expecting much at this point, but those simple adjustments made a world of difference. I now had great responsiveness in a comfortable and light set-up. I was having fun on the Blunts again - even more than with my ski boots and spruce risers. Perhaps it is the "feel" that Jack talks about. Your feet are more engaged, but I think that also means that they have to work a little, while in ski boots, your feet don't do much (at least I don't think they're supposed to).

    All that to say, I'm now totally sold on this combo - Blunts with snowboard bindings and boots. It took a bit of experimentation and tweaking, but it was well worth it - even more so when I was walking back to the car. As Greco says in the product description for the snowjam bindings, "The holy grail of skiing".
    favorite setup: Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 bindings

  • #2
    I forgot to list some of the "symptoms" that were fixed with the adjustments.
    • Drifting and flat spins were more difficult (probably fixed with inserts, duck foot adjustment)
    • Instability when not turning - cruising, stopping, ... (probably fixed by all of the adjustments with the forward lean and the duck foot adjustments making the most difference)
    • Catching an edge on the non-dominant skiboard when carving. I often put most of the pressure in a carved turn on the downhill skiboard and before making the adjustments the uphill skiboard would often catch an edge. (I'm not entirely sure which adjustments fixed this one.)
    favorite setup: Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 bindings

    Comment


    • #3
      Great post Cmbruin !
      I think you have brought up very important points. Some folks have gotten on a softboot snowboard binding and ridden it a few times and given up. The important thing is to fiddle around with adjustments to the binding until you get it just right for your style of riding . Boot fit in the binding is critically important as you point out .. if the boot is not seated correctly back against the highback and within the support wings, the binding will not work well at all . Often as you point out , a zero stance on the binding will make you in toe too much and adjusting the binding to give you a duck foot position will help to center the boot facing forward .. or may even help correct an anatomic in toeing stance . The forward lean adjustment is critically important as well. If you ride without putting in some forward lean , the binding will feel very odd and not seem like it is giving the rider the rear support of a standard hard boot set up when leaning back . The reason is that most plastic ski boots have a significant forward lean built in to their design. I am very happy that you did not give up on the whole soft boot idea and stuck with it and tried out the various adjustments to get the system working just right for you . This is a critically important point as more folks buy and ride the set up and compare it with their previous hardboot set up.

      I am also super glad that you got the Blunts with the Sbol Modified Snowboard binding . I really think that is a match made in heaven . The boards are perfectly matched with the binding and help the rider to understand how a soft boot snowboard binding set up is NOT just a second best way to ride skiboards so you can wear comfortable ski boots around the lodge ... but actually a new and powerful way of riding in itself ! For me , as you point out , it is all about the new sensitivity of my foot to the terrain in a soft boot which is dulled with a hardboot set up , and especially the way I can fine tune moving from slide to carve depending on feeling the terrain underfoot . I tried the Blunts with my hardboot set up with nice non release Receptor bindings but it was nothing like the way I feel in my SBOL modified snowboard bindings, Matched with a super manuervable , responsive , zero cambered wide little board like the Blunts , the feeling is pretty amazing .with the snowboard binding and boots.... ..
      Boards :
      Blunt Xl, DLP, Spliff, Condor, Rockered Condor , Slingshot, Sherpa, Icelantic Shaman
      Boots
      K2 BFC 100 Grip walk sole , Dynafit CR Radical AT boot, Ride Insano Snowboard boots
      Bindings:
      Zero Pro Non release Binding
      Modified Receptor Backcountry Bindings (Bill Version and Slow Version)
      Spruce Riser with Attack 14 GW /AT binding
      Custom Risers with Fritschi Backcountry Bindings (Jeff Singer version 1, Bill version)
      Rocker and Sbol Soft Boot Bindings.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks Jack for reiterating the key adjustments to be considered for snowboard bindings. My primary motivation in posting my experience was to be another case study in what could be done fairly easily in order to make the snowboard bindings shine and how those adjustments or lack of them affected my experience. I'm glad you were able to elaborate on them more fully to help get the points across.

        Yes, the forward lean adjustment really is critical. I added some forward lean and thought I had it matching the forward lean of the boot, but I needed to increase it more due to the flex in the highback. I wasn't even aware of how much I used the back of my ski boot for stability.

        I totally agree that the snowboard binding and boot set-up, when properly adjusted for the rider, has a different and in many ways a better feel than hard skiboots. The comfort part was one of the main reasons I was initially interested in snowboard bindings. However, after reading your posts I was intrigued that you didn't see it as a compromise for comfort but rather a set-up that had it's own distinct advantages totally separate from the comfort aspect. That's what sold me on taking the plunge. My ski boots are fairly comfortable when riding (not so much walking), so the comfort benefit alone wasn't compelling enough. Now that I've figured out a set-up that works for me, I totally agree. After my initial issues, I was just trying to get it to perform as well as my hard skiboots with the spruce risers, but after making the needed adjustments, to my surprise (really my initial hope/expectation) I was having so much fun on them that I didn't want to go back to my hard ski boot set up at all. The comfort part is merely another benefit, but not necessarily the primary reason. As you said, combined with the Blunts, "the feeling is pretty amazing"

        While it can take a bit of time to get all the adjustments correct, having so many ways to make adjustments actually allows it to be more flexible in fitting the set-up specifically to rider preferences, styles, and in my case rider anomalies.

        Thanks again for all your posts on the topic. They were all very helpful in understanding the keys to making snowboard bindings work and knowing what can be adjusted. I couldn't have done it without them. Maybe there should be a sticky thread for the topic of snowboard binding adjustments to make it easier for others to find.

        I think the innovations with the Blunts and snowboard bindings when paired together truly moves the sport into a new and unique riding experience. Thanks again to everyone involved!
        favorite setup: Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 bindings

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by cmbruin View Post
          Maybe there should be a sticky thread for the topic of snowboard binding adjustments to make it easier for others to find.
          Not just a sticky, but a central thread dedicated to soft boot set ups. The are dozens of threads in the forum going back several years with lots of great information about soft boots and bindings. The search function is fairly limited when it comes to identifying all the different projects out there. Sometimes Jack will put links in his posts to other threads on the subject, and that is really useful. I have recently spent a lot of time looking through the old threads and sometimes end up with several windows open as I follow the links.

          It's a lot of work, but it might be nice to gather all the soft boot threads into one place. Perhaps a dedicated sub forum they can be moved to? I have a feeling this subject will continue to grow in interest and it would be really valuable to have all the information readily available.

          Can we do that, make a sub forum dedicated to soft boot projects?
          Just these, nothing else !

          Comment


          • #6
            You're right Bad Wolf. It took a long time for me to find all the soft boot / snowboard binding threads and to find them again. Even bookmarking threads didn't work well enough. I ended up copying the most pertinent info from each bookmarked thread into a separate doc. We do need a better way to access some of the newer resource threads. Your Blunt Central thread was very helpful when I was researching them. Thanks for doing that! It would be good to be able to create something like that more easily, maybe tags on the threads, or sub categories under the Skiboard Gear section.
            favorite setup: Blunts with SBOL modified Snowjam 540 bindings

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by cmbruin View Post
              You're right Bad Wolf. It took a long time for me to find all the soft boot / snowboard binding threads and to find them again. Even bookmarking threads didn't work well enough. I ended up copying the most pertinent info from each bookmarked thread into a separate doc. We do need a better way to access some of the newer resource threads. Your Blunt Central thread was very helpful when I was researching them. Thanks for doing that! It would be good to be able to create something like that more easily, maybe tags on the threads, or sub categories under the Skiboard Gear section.
              The Blunt Central thread was easy to do because I could just edit in the links to new threads as people started them. I had to go back a little way to find the first sightings and reports of the boards, but it was really just a work in progress.

              Getting all the soft boot threads together would require the ability to make a sub forum and them move entire threads. And of course the time to do all the research. Still not too big a project though and I think it would be a great benefit for the soft boot community.
              Just these, nothing else !

              Comment

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