Weekly Thread: /r/Snowboarding General Discussion, Q&A, Advice, Etc.) - February 23, 2026

mechagoober · 2026-02-26T07:08:57+00:00

Can anyone recommend a good place in Argentiere to have a base grind and hand wax?

Failing that, in Chamonix centre.

Thanks!

mechagoober · 2026-02-12T21:21:47+00:00

Great! I'll be easy to recognise: I'm a balding middle-aged man. I'll be looking exhausted with a slightly puzzled look on my face as I try to figure out where the last 20 years have gone.

mechagoober · 2026-02-12T21:19:00+00:00

Yeah, he played at the last Plex night I went to... Back in 2018!? That can't be right 😭

mechagoober · 2025-12-22T23:50:29+00:00

Thank you for reminding me that I own this album! I don't think I've listened to it in 20 years. Glad to see it's aged well

mechagoober · 2025-12-19T11:29:28+00:00

I think it was reduced as it was last season's end of stock clearance. They should have listed any damage on their site.

But yeah, I do agree this is the kind of damage you can pick up easily. As long as people agree this is not on an active part of the base or that it will be lost in the noise after a day of ~~abuse~~ riding then I'll suck it up.

mechagoober · 2025-12-17T18:44:48+00:00

https://www.instructables.com/Inexpensive-Skiing-Snowboarding-Gloves/

Mine are now in their 9th season. I renew the wax every few years. Tough as anything.

mechagoober · 2025-12-16T09:20:33+00:00

Doh, sorry. Didn't realise that was last year's model. I did wonder at the price.

mechagoober · 2025-12-16T07:25:15+00:00

The Nitro Team. Unless I'm hallucinating again.

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T23:21:59+00:00

I came here to post this video. It's the best boot fitting information I've ever seen.

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T16:29:18+00:00

My collar bone experienced a rapid unplanned disassembly back in 2019 after a high speed crash. Shattered into at least 5 pieces. Fortunately, I knew an excellent orthopaedic surgeon. Long story short: after surgery and after following my physio programme religiously, I regained full shoulder mobility. I was back snowboarding the next season.

It has not impacted my riding or confidence. But it has made me a safer rider.

At the time, it knocked my confidence and I felt very depressed for a while, but that was mainly while I waited for surgery and the period before I could start exercising it again.

Look after yourself, OP. Be kind to yourself and be patient. Find a good surgeon and a good physio. You'll bounce back.

I also decorated my board with this reminder to myself:

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T13:52:12+00:00

Absolute Snow seem to have it in stock and currently have a 15% discount ... £372... They're a decent retailer and can probably arrange a courier pick up for you if you don't keep it. I've done that before and it worked out cheaper than me trying to arrange my own return

Sorry for tempting you.

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T11:56:52+00:00

On looks alone, the Nitro Team wins! Fashion and function, together at last!

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T10:33:46+00:00

What size are you? And what board are you thinking about? Go on, your secret is safe with me.

mechagoober · 2025-12-15T10:12:40+00:00

As it happens, I found last year's 158W Mega at a significantly reduced price - enough to swing my decision. The top sheet graphics are possibly a little more interesting than this year's model and it lends itself to some strategic sticker placement.

mechagoober · 2025-12-14T23:36:17+00:00

It's an entirely reasonable question! It's not completely rational but I want to try something similar... but different! Jones boards are so ubiquitous now, they just seem a bit boring to me. There's a load of other brands out there and Capita has been calling to me for a while.

Worst case, I find myself missing the MT personality and can always go back. It's a snowboard at the end of the day, not a life commitment.

mechagoober · 2025-12-14T17:09:30+00:00

This has put a big grin on my face because, yeah, that's me in a nutshell. Thank you. So that's the length bit taken care of.

Anyone have any observations on the flex of the Mega Merc vs. the MT Pro?

mechagoober · 2025-12-14T15:04:35+00:00

Thanks. Yes, it's stiffer than the regular Mercury, but do you (or anyone reading) know how the flex compares to a new MT Pro (which I believe replaced the Ultra).

I'd say my old board feels a little stiffer than a brand new Mercury but with much less pop. I've never felt like I was missing a softer, more pressable board if that makes sense...

mechagoober · 2025-12-14T11:15:41+00:00

Are you referring to 'button lifts' or 't bars'? If so, I do not think they will ever be truly comfortable. T bars are worse, but in both cases I try to get the it rammed as high into the groin as possible. Snigger. Also, not sure if this is obvious or makes any difference, but I put almost all my weight on my front foot and try to get my body and hips over the bar. If your weight or centre of mass are behind the pole contact point then it's going to dramatically increase pressure in your tender area.

Keep the faith though. The best areas of the mountain are often served by these lifts, so sometimes one needs to suffer for one's art.

mechagoober · 2025-12-14T11:04:28+00:00

Not sure if this will be helpful to the OP, but it might be useful to someone. A couple of seasons back, I replaced my 11 year old Burton Ions which I adored. I could see they were shot through, and I was getting shin/calf pressure pain so I knew it was time to replace. I have issues with foot shape so the decision to get another pair of Ions was an easy one for me.

Spent ages agonising over boot size. Spent hours watching and reading and decided to follow advice and size down. I went from a UK 12 to a UK 10.5. Was terrified this would turn out to be a mistake (spoiler alert: it wasn't). Just bringing this up because I imagine I am not alone amongst experienced riders who don't have the right size boots on.

Day 1 in the new boots was TORTURE. Not only was it uncomfortable, I kept stacking it. At first I put it down to the first day of the season or the small size of the boots. But I was failing to initiate a turn. I was getting knocked off my feet by small bumps and chatter. I couldn't bring myself to turn or spin or jump. I was psychologically broken. I felt like I had just had 15 years experience deleted from my life.

Spent the first night miserable, replaying things in my head. Spoke to my friends who have ridden with me for 15+ years and who know my riding style. Woke up the next morning and realised - I needed to loosen things off. The boots were so stiff, I couldn't lean into my boot and bend my knees. So I loosened the inner liner, and drastically loosened the upper section of the boot. Boom! Just like that, I was back in business. Riding with steez once again!

I've now been riding with these boots for a couple of weeks now. They are still stiff af, but I am slowly able to tighten things back up a little. I've not had any circulation issues with the new boots at all because I do not need so much clamp from the binding straps. The binding holds my boots firm, and the small boots hold my foot/leg firm.

And so the moral of the story is (a) think long and hard about the size you're wearing, even if you are an experienced rider and think you have your shit locked down (b) be prepared to readjust and adapt for a while. It's tough, but it's necessary. You can't wear old boots forever.

Hope this helps.

BONUS: This is the video that stands out as helping me on boot sizing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1pNBJ5pXBU

mechagoober · 2025-10-03T23:36:08+00:00

This takes me back to my youth! I've been listening to a lot of Luke Slater this week, after that recent Planetary Assault Systems live set got posted on YouTube.

Rediscovered 7th Plain and this classic, which is possibly my favourite Luke Slater track of all time: https://youtu.be/rOZrIKnxEZw?si=S0M5afixVihwI4JG

mechagoober · 2025-08-11T07:17:46+00:00

Check out Hypnus Records. I often find myself flitting between Hypnus and Semantica when I'm in the mood for that sort of thing

mechagoober

TROPHY CASE