tylerkat89

I feel stupid for asking this but;

I know that you need constant pressure on both the straps and the highback, but I noticed that when I have my highbacks straight up (no forward lean), there is a little space between my calf and the highback. Should I try to angle and tweak them so they're touching my calves or is this normal? It doesn't feel like I'm loosing any performance as my turns still get initiated and such, so I'm curious to know if this is normal or not? I can imagine that extra bit of space could make me lose my balance when trying to press something

arrrmaty

The point of a highback is to be able to apply pressure to your heelside edge. The more forward lean you have in your highback, the quicker you are able to push your board onto your heelside edge. If you are traveling at higher speeds and carving deeper dynamic turns then you would want more forward lean. In the park you don't want any forward lean. Why wouldn't you want any forward lean in the park, you ask? Think about it, when you're sliding a box front-side, do you want your heel edge to be innitiated? Nope, unless of course you want two broken arms and/or wrists. Having your highback straight up allows a lot of movement before engaging your edges, which in turn is more forgiving in the park. This is the same reason why park boots and binding have a lot of flex- to allow more forgiveness.

Hope that helps

tylerkat89

I already know that. Strap up and tell me how your high backs fit, does it completely touch your calf? I still engage heel side like normal, which is why I'm curious about the space. And I already know altering my fwd lean alters my performance from mountain to park, and since i'm doing park i don't want fwd lean...leading me back to my question...Is the space normal when the high backs are straight up, or do i need to adjust/tweak em a little? When I say adjust/tweak I do not mean adjust fwd lean

bseracka

It's purely personal preference, like rotating the highback. You'll have to tinker with it and see what you like.

The space is normal, it's also normal to not have space. My park setup has more fwd lean dialed in because I'm using a urathane hb, while my groomer board has a small space because the edge to edge transition is quick on that board so it helps avoid over turning.

tylerkat89

Okay, that makes sense and makes me feel better then. I guess it's about preference at this point then eh? I was curious to try and tweak em by changing the position where the high back screws into the binding itself (the hinge area). Will it be bad to have on side of the binding adjust forward, and the other side (of the same binding) further back? Basically...can I twist the highback to make it touch my calf, or will that have negative results?

arrrmaty

The highback doesn't have to touch your calf, the only thing that matters is that your heel of your boot is all the way against the heel cup of your binding and that it doesn't lift up when you put pressure on youre toes. Unless your highbacks have a lot of forward lean then you will get seperation between your boot and highback, expecially on toe-side turns. If your boots are a different brand than your bindings you may see more gaps just due to the fact that manufacturer's of bindings produce their bindings to fit their own boots. Sorry, I misunderstood your original question, I wasn't trying to make you feel like I thought you were dumb or anything

tylerkat89

It's coo, no insult taken... now I understand that I wont have to worry as long as my heel is snug in the heelcup!

But you're right on one thing:

That lean space saves your ass when jibbing. On Saturday, I completely forgot my foot beds to my Rome 390 Bosses. All day I had to figure out the necessary adjustments. Went to backside on this wall type feature...as soon as I hit it, I lost balance and ate the metal corners into my knee...left a nasty welt/gash/bruise. I look at my bindings to try and play it off like it was my hardware's fault.....and sure shit my foot wasn't in the heel right and the high back was actually folding forward even while strapped in....good times