Centered vs. Set-back riding

[mvhoffman]

I know some prefer centered, I know some prefer set back. What are your preferences and why?

Coming from Head 94cm set back, I'd imaging when I get on my RVL8's I will also prefer set back as I am mainly on groomed runs.

Figured it would be a neat discussion thread...

[sempai]

Slick hard pack and ice - center

Powder, chop, spring mush/slush - set back

[Bad Wolf]

Depends on the boards. I only usually ride set back in powder, but the Ickys seem to perform better in all conditions set back.

[wjeong]

Slick hard pack and ice - center

Powder, chop, spring mush/slush - set back

Yep. My strategy too. However, some boards like the sherpa and osprey handle hard snow just fine set back.

[Bad Wolf]

BTW @mvhoffman, you message box is full and needs to be cleared out to revive new messages, both in and out boxes .

[Wookie]

I know some prefer centered, I know some prefer set back. What are your preferences and why? ...

I had to laugh that there were plenty of answers to the "What are your perferences" part of your question but no answers to the "Why"part.

First for me I prefer to ride centered, with rare exceptions. I ride almost all my boards this way in all conditions except deep powder days and even on pow days I am, typically, stubborn enough to start the day centered and only shift to set back after a few bad tip dives or if I'm getting thigh burn from leaning back all the time.

So .... WHY?

Centered: I default to the centered binding position as it allows for a more skating-like style than a skiing style. What I mean by this is that my body posture can be more upright rather than knees and waist bent leaning forward pressuring the tips as a downhill racer would do on long skis. This style just works for me. It was actually the "secret sauce" that caused me to fall in love with skiboarding. The style is so close to my ice hockey skating style that it just naturally fit with pre-programmed muscle memory. I occasionally have ski instructors remark that I am riding "in the back seat" but the centered bindings under my feet just mean in am well balanced and very comfortable.

Set-back: Why go set-back? For me it's an adjustment to help cope with plowing through powder and deep 3D snow. The slight shift back helps keep the tips up and the tails sink. For others, especially those coming from long skis, the set-back position may feel closer to skiing and fit better with the body positions learned while on long skis.

Depends on the boards. I only usually ride set back in powder, but the Ickys seem to perform better in all conditions set back.

Above I noted "... centered, with rare exceptions" well the Sticky Icky Icky along with their bigger cousins, the Spliffs, are the exceptions.

For the Ickys, there is just something about the construction that makes them perform better, no matter the conditions, set-back. Since RVL8 first released them the majority of riders feel this way. From this you can take away that you should not assume that any position will work best for you. Try boards both ways and see what works for you.

For the Spliffs, I only take them out on powder days so these are set-up to be set-back all the time. Since the Spliffs don't have set-back inserts I actually have an set of risers just for them that has the bindings set-back on the risers. It is my epic snow day emergency set-up that, unfortunately, I don't get to use more than once or twice per season.

[mvhoffman]

BTW @mvhoffman, you message box is full and needs to be cleared out to revive new messages, both in and out boxes .

Cleared

[sempai]

Depends on the boards. I only usually ride set back in powder, but the Ickys seem to perform better in all conditions set back.

Yes, Ickys are the magical exception to the rule.

However, some boards like the sherpa and osprey handle hard snow just fine set back.

They can handle it set back, but not as well as centered. That's been my experience anyway. A person's riding technique has a part to play in it also.

[Tom91381]

I know some prefer centered, I know some prefer set back. What are your preferences and why?

Coming from Head 94cm set back, I'd imaging when I get on my RVL8's I will also prefer set back as I am mainly on groomed runs.

Figured it would be a neat discussion thread...

For me , 100% set back even with a center mount board. I have a a set of risers that we're set back just for the center mount. I am mostly on Stickys and Crossbows.
My reasoning for me as a ex inline speed skater is that when I skated and I needed to turn sharp I had to lean back a little to take the weight of my front wheels , that seemed to stop any friction and made it easier to turn. So in the snow my tips are up a touch and my weight is on the middle to tails of the skis and I use less effort . I ski in California mostly Mammoth were the condition are usually good and soft. I veer away from the icy conditions, it's to dam hard to slow down in them steep sections and I've had my bindings release a couple of times because of the chatter from the pressure of pushing as hard as I can to slow it down .
My style is always changing , from standing almost vertical to recently more leg bend. The set back helps the legs last a whole lot longer then the center mounts for me, a lot less leg burn


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[Steeps]

Set back, as far as possible. This season in particular has been powder, powder, powder, so it's helped me keep my tips up and floating.

I find setting the bindings back (and the boots adjusted to the back of the binding) allows my stance to be more centred (weight wise) and avoids the tendency to sit backseat to try keep my tips up. These are on centre-mount boards, though... so the adjustment back isn't as big as for other boards.

Also, when you're dropping off silly things at higher speeds, the ability to ride out whatever crud is below that little cliff or pillow becomes important. I'd rather fall backseat, sit and (hopefully) recover enough to ride out than go over the bars and into a tomahawk.

I've been riding Spliffs most of the season, which soak up rough snow pretty well with the rocker, and are solid on the tails with the camber. I will quite likely end up switching my DLPs back to more of a centred position if they start getting used for their intended purpose (hardpack during snow droughts), but they saw mostly spring snow, rock drops and moderate powder this year. In those conditions, the setback has helped big time in preventing the tips from catching and diving.

[Toro]

I prefer centered since I really like the feeling of the tail support. Being in the center of the sidecut is something I love about skiboards and the carves just feel amazing that way. While I can see setback as necessary for powder days when the tips really need to be up, I view it as a last resort.


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[mvhoffman]

Thanks for all of the replies so far everyone. I am taking a try at a Binding Freedom project of HDPE risers with a TON of direction from Wolf. I was so used to riding set back with the Heads I rode, I plan on doing it with the Revolts. I am making the HDPE risers with a 3rd row so I can either set the riser centered or set back. The project is coming along great. I will make a thread with pictures once I start to get everything together.

[Bill]

Thanks for all of the replies so far everyone. I am taking a try at a Binding Freedom project of HDPE risers with a TON of direction from Wolf. I was so used to riding set back with the Heads I rode, I plan on doing it with the Revolts. I am making the HDPE risers with a 3rd row so I can either set the riser centered or set back. The project is coming along great. I will make a thread with pictures once I start to get everything together.

mvh, it you're making custom risers and concerned with setback, here's something to think about, although it's sort of the reverse approach compared to a flat riser drilled with multiple setback options.

As an experiment, I’ve been playing around with ultra-short footprint risers/bindings to see if moving the fulcrum point forward (and increasing the length of unsupported skiboard under-heel) has the benefit of setback while maintaining a center mount. A riser that begins to taper just shy of the rear inserts should give tremendous leverage underfoot to help keeps tips high. With limited riding (on local, firm conditions) it seems promising, but will take some fleshing out in real powder conditions to know for sure.

Of course, this is more of thing for 4x4 cm boards like your Revolts. Spruce risers are already optimized this way for 4x10 longboards.

[Bad Wolf]

Maybe because they were so stiff, or even that I’m not that refined, but I couldn’t tell the difference between centered and setback on my KTPs. So, I just ride them set back all season. I guessed it would help on powder days and I wouldn’t have to worry about changing them out.

[macrophotog]

The only boards I've ever ridden set-back are the Spruce Crossbows which is how I prefer them. All others I've owned, I had always ridden centered - in fact never even tried any of them setback.