Binding set up?

[Crob203]

Going snowkiting in March, a while away I know! But wondering how do people angle their bindings? Ive got a burton freeride and normally have about a 20-30 degree angle on each. Same for kiting?

 

Chris

[hooly]

I've only done a few days of boarding and a few hours of snowkiting...

 

You should play around with some different stances. I've got my board set up in close to a duck stance... +15 +3, which makes it feel a bit more like a mountainboard when riding switch etc. I had a couple of days downhilling like that last year and I prefered it to a 'normal' stance even for downhill

 

But if you are used to snowboarding in a more conventional stance you should try that too, you might get on better

[neilj37]

I was adviced 15deg both for duck foot stance

[hooly]

I was advised that 15 degrees each side would bugger ones knees forthwith, have you ridden much in that stance and do you find it okay?

 

ps. I'm just going to be downhilling for my next few outings anyway so have set my stance accordingly... snowkiting in feb hopefully

[sonicseal]

15 degrees duck stance is a good starting point for bi-directional snowkiting.

I did read some conflicting reports and medical arguments somewhere about it straining the knees. Found no problems in real life.

 

Biggest strain has to be from stressed tight muscles, not relaxing enough.

[Lem]

I ride 12 deg duck - never had a problem. In fact I ride downhill this way quite often now, makes riding fakie easier.

[neilj37]

I was advised that 15 degrees each side would bugger ones knees forthwith, have you ridden much in that stance and do you find it okay?

 

ps. I'm just going to be downhilling for my next few outings anyway so have set my stance accordingly... snowkiting in feb hopefully

 

Never snowkited in my life so this is the first time

[cstowell]

Try setting the bindings up with about the same stance as you like on your mountainboard. You'll be more familiar with the way things feel, you're muscles/joints will also be familiar with the angles, so it'll take less effort to fide like this, plus you're less likely to injure yourself. It's usually a light duck stance anyway - so just about what you're looking for if you're riding both ways anyway.

 

Once you've got a few hours under your belt then you can tweak things according to how you feel. If it feels okay then just leave it...

[weejock100]

Has anyone tried snowkiting with kiteboard/mtb footstraps. I mean for just playing around when there's snow at home. I have an old board I got for free cos the binding screw-ins are buggered and have stuck a wooden board on. I'm now planning to screw some old kitesurf straps onto that (probably on blocks so I can fit in with winter boots). Any reason why this shouldn't work? I'll be snowkiting in a pretty small area so I like the idea of being able to drop the board like on a mtb or on the sea.

Comments/experience appreciated.

 

C

[cstowell]

It'll be hard work on your ankles. You kinda need the high backs to lean against to get that toe edge up when riding heelside. I don't see why it won't work, but it won't be comfy for sure....

[bonnylad]

Not been snowkiting (yet) but when riding powder, anything more than -6 on the back foot gives me serious thigh burn and twists my knee till it hurts.

 

I'd experiment with 12 to 18 on the front to maintain toe edge control and 0 to -6 on the back, whatever feels comftable is best.

 

what length is your board?

[cstowell]

The issue with snowkiting is that you spend as much time riding fakie as regular. So unless you're just tootling around then you'll appreciate an even duck stance.

 

Sure, a setup like this will work for regular riding in powder, but that's not snowkiting is it ?

 

Even out the stance so that angles are equal on both feet, that way the load on your legs is even and the board has the same feel in both directions.

[bonnylad]

I imagine most snowkiting activity requres heel edge control and not so much font edge, so less of a front foot angle won't be a problem right?

Would a duck stance of say +6 front and -6 back work?

 

I'm going to Banff in March, taking kites

[Neptune]

It won't make too much of a problem, but remember that you are still travelling forwards, so feet pointing in the direction of travel is more comfortable. I would still recommend at least +10 duck for each binding - the knee argument is for normal downhill riding - which snowkiting is not!

 

I recommend +15, but experiment and use whatever you find the most comfortable!

[cstowell]

I'd definately agree with Neptune with the 15 degree duck stance over the 6 degree. However if you kite landboard a lot then setting the stance to what you're used to plus a few degrees is a good start. Your muscles/joint will be conditioned for that stance already.

 

Once you have a few hours under your belt then try a few degrees more and a few degrees less, your preferred stance will be obvious, and it's easy enough to sort out while out in the snow if you have a compact screwdriver in you bag, just loosen all the screws in the baseplate and twist the binding around a couple more degrees, tighten and give yourself 15-20 minutes to adapt to the new feel before making any further changes.