Performance and Comfort
Too often one has to be sacrificed to achieve the other, especially
when it comes to setting up a hard boot and plate binding system. Proper
set up will allow you to carve solid lines and do so in total comfort.
A friend, who was ready to sell his board because he couldn't get it
wired, won't part with it now after having it tailored to his needs.
That's the good news. The bad news is that most bindings currently available
do not easily allow for the delicate set up required to achieve these
goals.
Generally, the stiffer your boots and bindings are, the more critical
it is to have the canting and lifting set up properly. Each year the equipment
has gotten stiffer but little has been done to inform riders about how
to get it all together for maximum enjoyment. Certainly there are personal
preferences involved but there are also some general trends emerging and
we'll let you in on the secrets of how they affect your riding.
Binding Angle
Since most modern alpine/race board widths are quite narrow,
binding angles in the range of 50-60 degrees plus are a necessity.
The idea is to use a binding angle that allows uniform performance in
both toe and heel turns. Too high an angle and you lose power in your
toe turns. Oppositely, too low an angle and you lose your heel turn.
What are the magic numbers? Like everything else its a personal thing
but 55-60 degrees on your front foot and your rear foot 3-5 degrees
less, will be a good starting point.
Stance Width
Most bindings allow for some sort of stance width adjustment,
this is good. Taller riders will usually have a wider stance than smaller
riders. The trend is to go wider than in previous years, this gives
more front / back stability and lets you gain more control over your
board through added leverage. Widths are generally around 18" for
smaller boards (160 cm range) and go up to 19"-20" for longer
G/S type boards. Some racers are using 20"-21" on their longer
race boards. Since this is usually an easy adjustment to make, experiment
and find out what’s right for you.
Lifting
This is where things start getting tricky. The front foot usually
has toe lift while the rear foot has heel lift. Doing this
allows you to use a wider stance while still maintaining a lower position
while riding. By changing the amount of toe vs. heel lift you can shift
your weight forward or back as required. More toe, less heel - weight
shifts back. More heel, less toe - weight shifts forward.
The lifting also affects your edging, especially if you take
it to the extremes. Too much toe lift on your front foot and
entering a heel turn becomes difficult. Too much heel lift on
your rear foot and exiting a toe turn becomes difficult.
If you
have very stiff boots or would like to ride in a lower position,
more heel lift will allow you to bend your rear knee and get lower. Also
check your boots for forward lean adjustment. In a natural riding position
your front leg should be more upright and your rear leg slightly more
bent. These adjustments will aid in achieving this more natural position
when used in combination with toe / heel lifts.
Canting
Canting requirements vary depending on two reasons:
1: Binding angles
2: Personal body structure
In days of old when boards were substantially wider, this allowed for
lower binding angles where you would stand more across the board
than you can on the more modern narrow designs. What happens
when you rotate your feet and hips more forward is that the angle at which
your legs meet your hips diminishes the farther forward you go. The farther
you go, the lower the angle and less canting that is required.
The
other factor to allow for is personal body structure. To figure
this out you need to check if you are straight legged, bow legged or knock
kneed. To do this simply place your bare ankles together and stand straight
up. If your knees don't touch, you're bowed. If your knees and ankles
touch, you're straight and if you can't get your ankles together
you're knock-kneed.
So again what are the magic numbers? Assuming that the bindings
are in the mid 50-60 degree range the canting should be as
follows.
• Knock Kneed: You will need 1-2 degrees of inward canting. Leave
one binding flat and cant the other one inward.
• Straight legged: You lucky devils, you can usually get by with
no canting. Just ride both bindings flat.
• Bow legged: You suffer the most, if you can put 2 or 3 fingers
between your knees when you're ankles are touching you will need 1-2
degrees of negative canting. Leave one binding flat and cant
the other one outward.
While riding, you can tell if you're canting is correct by feeling the
pressure in the tops of you're boots. If you feel excessive pressure on
the outsides of you're legs (common on bow legs) you should remove the
canting or try negative canting. If the pressure is on the insides of
your legs (common for knock kneed) you need to cant slightly more inwards.
Don't forget to check you're boots, they may have a canting adjustment
and this might be all you need to get balanced.
Having all this knowledge is great, but how do you adjust you're bindings
accordingly. This is the really tricky part. As mentioned previously,
most bindings do not allow for these delicate adjustments and the available
canting plates you can add, don't even get you in the ballpark most of
the time. If you're buying new bindings try to get ones that allow for
these adjustments. If you can't find any or want to do something with
your old bindings, the good news is that almost anything can be customized.
This usually involves installing some type of plastic blocks (high density
polyethylene works well) under some part of the binding and installing
longer screws. Since there are such a wide array of bindings and no kits
readily available, you're pretty much on your own. Find a friend with
a bandsaw, drill and lots of spare time and see if you can work something
out.
The final words: IT’S WORTH THE EFFORT! Everyone who's been set
up properly has been amazed at the increase of comfort and performance.
It could well be that if you're not totally satisfied with you're current
gear a little knowledge and effort to set things up properly may be all
you need to attain the next level of performance.
Look at it this way, even if it takes a couple of hours to get it done
right, you'll be able to enjoy it every day you ride for the rest of your
life – and that's an investment that's hard to beat!
– Bruce Varsava, COILER
COMPOSITES 
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