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Highback Angle/Lean - What's Your Preference?

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#1 · (Edited)
Highback Lean - What's Your Preference?

Just as the title says, what angle/lean do you use for the highbacks on your bindings?

What is the best setting for Carving / All-Mountain?

I've always ridden them with no lean/90* angle, but am toying with the idea of adding a bit of forward lean to see if it helps with carving. I'm curious what people's thoughts are on this.
 
#2 · (Edited)
It helps a lot! You just need to find what works best for you and your stance. Trick is to increase forward lean gradually one notch at a time until you find what angle is the most effective for your carving without being uncomfortable.

My angles vary between 24° to 30° on the front foot, and 3° to 9° on the rear foot, depending on which board I'm riding. But I always rotate the front hi-back so it is as close to parallel with the heel edge as I can get it, and run one more notch of forward lean on the rear hi-back than the front one. That's what feels best for me for carving.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply Mig. I currently have both of my highbacks rotated to be as close to flush with the heel edge as possible. I was thinking of going to the 1st notch on each of the highbacks to lean them both forward a bit, but perhaps I should go 2 notches on the front (left) and 1 notch on the rear (right)?
 
#5 ·
angle of the bindings or the highback lean (not highback rotation)?

the highback lean is not set in stone and should depends on conditions as well as if you need to bend knees.

some bindings like old Burton Cartels and Union Trice has forward lean at the upmost position already.

riding powder you want to take off the forward lean as u don't want it to dig in.

riding pipe u want forward lean

jibbing no forward lean

mt crude and choppy terrian mixed somewhat forward lean , more on the front then back.

no lean is more relaxed, just bend ur knees.
 
#8 ·
I edited the title to say lean. I believe that perpendicular to the heelside is the correct setting for the highbacks in that regard. At least that's what I have seen/read mostly.

As I said in the original post, I am asking in regards to setting things up for carving / all-mountain riding. I don't do any pipe and I'm not doing any jibbing... I'm curious about what is best for riding hard, carving, digging trenches in the snow. Being on the East Coast, I don't get to ride powder much at all, normally it is groomed and often times hard-pack.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Stance angles are : are +18 -9
I have used +21 -6 and it works, but i get a little bit more edge response with the 18.

Tried fwd angles... carving is way better, but rear knee feels some strain and jumping/landing feels sketchy on the knee.

I use fwd lean. A couple of notches. Usualy just match the lean in the boots... i set it back to about 1 notch less lean on powder.
 
#19 ·
Usually always at +18/-6, 23.5" wide, and F1 forward lean. This is across all of my boards from pow to softer twin. Used to always be at F2, but my new boots have some lean to them as they get tightened. Also used to rotate my Union highbacks, but I've put them back to normal and seem to like it better.
Like has already been said, more forward lean is good for hard carving and aggressive riding aimed at harder snow conditions. Softer snow and pow or jibbing you'll probably want to dial back to 0 or 1. I'm pretty much always at 1 on the binding and combined with my boot it feels like F2 overall.
If you crank it up to much you might feel some calf bite from your highback or cramping under your arch/ball of foot which can be pretty unpleasant. Just try a different setting on each run, you should feel the differences pretty quickly. At the end of the day it's all about what feels most comfortable to you.
 
#22 ·
Great topic! When I was learning to ride on the wide, cambered Arbor. I needed a TON of forward lean on my L Cartel's to have any feeling of control! (…you all know the story, No Nuthing sales person sells a Wide board to the ignorant NooB in a 10.5 boot!) :facepalm3:

This thread got me to thinking tho,.. after I got riding the Arbor dialed in, I have gone with the same extreme Highback FWD lean on both my reg width boards as well!

Now I am aware that my problems with washing out on heelside carves & scarves is likely a technique problem, but could too much fwd lean make that more likely as well?

I was having some difficulty today with my transitions from toe to heel feeling very sketchy. And I'm riding some of the best snow I've seen in 20 months!! :D

Some of this I attribute to a combination of "Flat Light" vertigo as well as being fairly rusty still after so much time away from riding! But I've ridden in flat light before without this much balance & turning trouble. Shit, last night I slammed HARD after scorp'ing a switch tail roll 180! I got up looking like a Fat Old POWdered Doughnut!! :laugh:

…Hell!! Maybe I've got a Toomuh!!! :blink:
Facial expression Internet meme Photo caption Cartoon Forehead

(…then again, maybe I just SUCK!!) ;) :rofl3:
 
#24 ·
So I took people's suggestions and tried it both at the 1st click down on both bindings and then the 2nd click down on both bindings. Unfortunately I only had the time to do 1 run with each setting. I'm not sure if I noticed any difference to be completely honest. Currently they are both left on the 2nd click of forward lean, so I'll give that a shot next time out again and see how it feels with more use.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I doubt you would notice a 1 click difference...
Try 4 clicks, if too much dial 1 back at a time until it feels ok.

Or go with 2 clicks and get used to it. Then set it up to 4 clicks and see if it feels annoying, if it does try 3 clicks... and so on.

I go 4 clicks on Burton genesis and about 2 clicks on everything else (Now, Ride, other Burton bindings etc). Burton are true 0 or so to start with; Now are not standard at 0, they start with some lean already.

Fwd lean only sucks when you're super tired and just want to coast down and chill...... a lot of lean doesn't really let you. I guess thats good cause it keeps riding on top of it... when you're tired and relax is when some ppl fall and eat it. Oh it also sucks on boxes/rails etc.

I also dial it 1 or 2 clicks back when in powder.
 
#26 ·
A few weeks ago I bought some Rome 390 Boss bindings. These are my first bindings with forward lean. Previously I've had a pair of reaaallly old burton custom bindings probably from late 90s to early 2000's. If they do have a forward lean, I don't know how to change it.

Anyways, For my Rome Bindings I only have it set one click forward. I have no problem turning from/to either side. I mostly do some all mountain, playing in the tree line with natural kickers and low drops, as well as small jumps in the park and just starting to play around in boxes. It feels good all around to me.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Yep.
Fwd lean is not something you need, but more something you like or not. You'll be able to ride either way. That's why adding or removing 1 click is barely noticeable. But once you get used to having fwd lean, taking it off is noticeable. I dial it back in powder and it feels nicer.

Also, on rockered boards it makes little difference, if any.
 
#30 ·
Hey Chomps, what cambered Arbor are you riding? I have been messing with my setup on a Yes PYL/Cartel combo. Didn't have much forward lean at first. Started this season with a new pair of Burton Ion, which is much stiffer than my old noodled out burton boots. I dialed in more forward lean now....F3. Getting the feel, as the ride is different.
Its just that I also have an Arbor Steepwater, and am waiting to pull the trigger on some Diodes, and was wondering how much lean you have. I am going to have to experiment a fair bit I thing before getting the right setup...:nerd:
 
#31 ·
When I was learning, my buddy who taught me told me to put max fwd lean. I can't remember his exact reason but I think he said it would help me and I never questioned him.

To this day I still ride with pretty much max fwd lean regardless of my bindings, boots and or board combo.

I played around a bit with taking the lean off, however didn't notice enough of a difference and didn't feel it made my riding any better, so I continue to ride with a lot of lean. Mind you when I say "played around", it's only for a few runs here and there, not days and days of A and B comparison riding to make a science of it.

Personally I felt more of a difference adjusting my angles than adjusting my fwd lean.
 
#34 ·
I've cranked my Malavitas up to F4. I find it helps with heelside carving and forces me to get my weight down over the board more into proper riding position. It was little uncomfortable at first as I've always rode with less but now I don't think I could go any lower.
 
#39 ·
Went to the 3rd notch last night and gave it a shot. Didn't notice too much different other than it being a little more cumbersome getting things situated to strap in. I'll give the 5th notch a shot next time out and back off if need be.
 
#43 ·
I forgot to report back that I went with the full forward lean last week. Why didn't you guys have me try this sooner?:grin:

I'm a big fan.

I feel like I am more connected to and can feel more of the features in the snow. Yes, it sounds dumb, but it feels true.

I have noticed some added foot pain, but I'm just sticking with it, I figure my feet will get used to it at some point (I hope). No added calf or leg soreness that I can tell, but I haven't had a full day of top-to-bottom runs where I'm pushing it all day. Either way, I like it with the forward lean maxed out. I have tried it on a bunch of different snow conditions - fresh powder, hard-pack and even slushy spring-like conditions. I'm a big fan so far!

One thing I have noticed is that its a bit more of a pain to get strapped in correctly and get my boots seated in the heelcup the way I want due to the forward lean on the highback being more than the boot, but it just takes a little bit more fussing around to get it in there and situated. No big deal.
 
#45 ·
Not sure which bindings you are running ?
But some definitely won't let you go all the way cranked.

Haha, yeah, that's a bitch sometimes to get the heel all the way back in the cup.

Haha, that's why I have a system.
Every single time I strap in.
1) Build a little ledge by pushing the snow forward, while just the front foot is binded. I don't EVER sit down in the snow.

2) Clean the snow out of the rear binding, have to do this because of the way I put my foot in the binding.

3) Put my toes in the bindings, a little bit behind where they will find their final resting place, with my heel up, like I was standing on my tippy toes.
Then push my heel straight down, causing my toes to move forward a little bit cause they were back a bit to start.

4) Fire up a big bomber.

5) Ride

This happens every single run off of every single chair, usually I only have to make the little platform once, & it stays there all day.


TT
 
#46 ·
I actually changed up quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. What I think I noticed the most other than the highback lean was my positioning of my bindings along the width of the board (changed this yesterday). Here's a list of the changes I made:

1 - Changed highback lean, tried everything from 1 to 5 (on 5 for now) after always riding with no lean.
2 - Widened my stance - went up one set of holes on my back binding into the "Setback reference" location and moved by front binding up 2 sets of holes. Stance was ~23.5", now it is ~24.5"
3 - Paid attention to toe and heel overhand - I felt like my magnetraction on my new Jones Flagship was causing me to catch hard on some of my turns, sending me airborne into my next turn when I did not expect it (throwing me almost). After fixing the binding locations, I think that was the problem. I think I had too much overhang on my toe and it was not even, causing one edge to "catch" more than it should on some turns.

The stance width and highback lean I played around with separately. I noticed a large difference with the highbacks all the way forward (5), but did not notice a huge difference until that 5th setting. On the 3rd notch it made a little difference, but not a large one.

The positioning of the bindings in regards to the width of my board seems to given me a little better balance and ability to turn/carve a little harder and smoother. I felt like I was able to dig deeper trenches yesterday. There were a few spots where I was able to keep my speed up and so some nice hard carving and not wash out at all or mistakenly throw myself into the next turn.

So, if anyone hasn't done any of these things... do it! Play around with them separately if you can, try and give each setting a good run or 2 before changing also. If you like your stance as-is, be sure to document how you have things, but don't be afraid to change it up and see if there are other settings you might like more.

I'll probably tinker some more, but I'm digging my new settings.

+21 / +6 binding angles w/ ~24.5" stance width & max fwd lean.
 
#50 ·
I have Union Contacts and and have it set to second last position forward lean, so almost full. I can definitely feel the board and binding and boots a lot more and feels much more responsive to me. I like the way it feels, like I'm locked in. I also noticed I gotta jam my boot in there a little more because of the forward lean but its no big deal. Sometimes getting out of the bindings at the end of the run can be funny cause the boot gets stuck in there. I don't sit down either, fuck that. Dig a little trench in for the board to hold on heel side.

I'm wondering though if max forward lean is the same across all bindings? I'm guessing its not and maybe varies by manufacturer as well.
 
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