The boot thread

[MarkusM]

i used to spend an hour walking in the sauna with my new boots laced up as tight as i could.
i guess it part new gear ritual part placebo and part "heat" molding =P

[ad1105]

Modding bindings is total child’s play compared to what some of us have done to dial our boots over the years.

I would love to know what you guys have done to mod your boots in the past! (serious)

Heat molded liners, swapping liners out for newer/older ones, foam shims, j-bars, custom insoles, combining insoles, lateral/medial supports, metatarsal foams, putting in heating blanket material, heel lifts, swapping internal ankle harnesses...

Then boots got better. Now I just throw in my insoles and ride.

[kimchi]

Mine isn't quite as extensive as @pow_hnd's, but I have an ankle wrap on the liner of my touring boots, and a bit of boot fitting foam on the tongue of the shell. I also wrap a Voile strap around the top, but that's a very specific issue with these boots design (they got a stretch neoprene section for touring that doesn't secure).

[Spenser]

I have a few tognar bits on my DC transcend liners. I have pads on each side of my ankle to generally reduce volume around my lower foot, and then on top of those I have C pads for the ankle bones. Added a piece a bit above the heel where your leg gets skinnier around the Achilles, also to reduce volume in that area to provide more hold. For insoles I still just run superfeet because they still work best for me, and for about 10 years now I've used a thin, flat foam insole underneath to slightly reduce vertical volume, as I have a low volume foot. It also reduces the need to crank laces quite as tight, which can sometimes lead to a sharper angle at the ankle. Also adds a bit of damping. A lot of modern boots are going for a thinner sole with "more board feel," and I don't really like that. Then of course I have my Burton tongue stiffeners, which I genuinely don't know what I would do without. I added a couple strips to the back of them, I think to help keep them in place, although they didn't really move before. Must've made sense at the time.

In Burton, I would pretty much just use J bars and the flat insole "spacer." Despite the foam in the transcends, they still feel better in general, without the mods.

Some people might think - well if you have to do all these modifications, doesn't it mean your boots don't actually fit you very well? I would say to them - if you don't do any modifications and you feel your boot fits super well, you are most likely missing out on some untapped performance that you aren't even aware of yet. You should still find a boot that fits excellent, or as best as possible, out of the box.. these mods aren't - or shouldn't be - and attempt to make a poorly fitting boot fit well enough. They should be taking an already good boot to a higher level.. or sometimes a boot that is excellent in almost every way has a kink or two that can be easily fixed.

Heat molding liners alone doesn't come close to what you can do with just a bit of thin foam. It also helps prolong the usable life of a boot… a lot of the time we feel we might want new ones before the materials are actually broken down. Foam can bring back a bit of what you lost after a lot of use. And again with the tongue stiffeners - if not for them, I would be getting new boots way more often because they get a bit too soft after a half or full season. I wouldn't even ride the transcends without them, because they are definitely not a stiff boot. Still don't know why DC says they are an 8.

Why not start extra stiff, you ask? I'm not a big fan of my experience with taking that route. I don't like the boot for a period of time, then I like it for a while, and then I still end up wanting to use the stiffeners. Once I get to the point of stiffeners, the boot is about as broken in as it will be, or close, and they pretty much live there until the materials start falling apart. The best luck I've had is getting a boot that I have to break in just a little, and then use the stiffeners early, and that's pretty much where they live for their usable life.

[pow_hnd]

these mods aren't - or shouldn't be - and attempt to make a poorly fitting boot fit well enough. They should be taking an already good boot to a higher level.. or sometimes a boot that is excellent in almost every way has a kink or two that can be easily fixed.

this

Heat molding liners alone doesn't come close to what you can do with just a bit of thin foam.

this as well. I don't even bother heat molding, it's a carry over from the ski industry with hard shells. I'm not saying heat molding doesn't have some benefits, but I feel it skews much towards comfort than it does toward performance of actual fit.

Especially as it sounds like Spenser and I are in the same boat. Low volume feet. No amount of heat molding will take up space inside the shell/liner to keep my foot in place. That's why you see all foam on my liners, to take up space and footbeds and then shims under the footbeds as well.

Why not start extra stiff, you ask

Any old crusty boot fitter will tell you the stiffer a boot is the harder it is to make it fit correctly. That's why I rock the same boot as Spenser T-rice/Transcend. ( I also like my boots not too stiff personally ) It's easy to get them to fit right.

[pow_hnd]

Current back up boot situation.

Four pairs of T-Rice and one pair of Transcends ( essentially the same boot )

IMG_1332.jpeg (2.78 MiB) Viewed 1550 times

[Spenser]

I also never heat mold. I don't recall feeling any benefits for myself in the past, now that I think about it. A couple days or a split or two does way more for me

[kimchi]

I generally don't heat mold and am usually find after 3-4 days. But I really wish I'd heat molded some 32 TM2 XLTs I bought a few years back, those things had a GNARLY break-in period and were still kicking my ass after 10 days. They were finally starting to get workable after ~12.

I am going to heat mold a set of used Adidas Acerras I just bought. Less of a mold, and more a "reset" since prior owner told me he heat molded them and rode them 2 days.

Wouldn't normally buy used boots, but I've been hunting for 2 years to find a set of Acerra 3ST boots in size 10. Finally found a random set on Craigslist in Bellingham. Worst case scenario I can pull the liners out of one of my other boots, but I hope I can use those liners as well.

[unsuspected]

I generally don't heat mold and am usually find after 3-4 days. But I really wish I'd heat molded some 32 TM2 XLTs I bought a few years back, those things had a GNARLY break-in period and were still kicking my ass after 10 days. They were finally starting to get workable after ~12.

I am going to heat mold a set of used Adidas Acerras I just bought. Less of a mold, and more a "reset" since prior owner told me he heat molded them and rode them 2 days.

Wouldn't normally buy used boots, but I've been hunting for 2 years to find a set of Acerra 3ST boots in size 10. Finally found a random set on Craigslist in Bellingham. Worst case scenario I can pull the liners out of one of my other boots, but I hope I can use those liners as well.

Im interested what you think about the quality of the Acerras and flex after some days of riding.

[kimchi]

I generally don't heat mold and am usually find after 3-4 days. But I really wish I'd heat molded some 32 TM2 XLTs I bought a few years back, those things had a GNARLY break-in period and were still kicking my ass after 10 days. They were finally starting to get workable after ~12.

I am going to heat mold a set of used Adidas Acerras I just bought. Less of a mold, and more a "reset" since prior owner told me he heat molded them and rode them 2 days.

Wouldn't normally buy used boots, but I've been hunting for 2 years to find a set of Acerra 3ST boots in size 10. Finally found a random set on Craigslist in Bellingham. Worst case scenario I can pull the liners out of one of my other boots, but I hope I can use those liners as well.

Im interested what you think about the quality of the Acerras and flex after some days of riding.

I've started riding some older Acerras (the "ADV" version, before "3ST") and put up 3 days on them. They were previously ridden but weren't even fully broken in when I rode them. They're a little stiffer than I'd prefer "new". I think after like 10 days on snow they'll settle into a nice 7/10-ish flex. I liked them enough that after I rode them for the first time, I started hunting for a backup pair. For foreseeable future I see myself on Acerras most days, and probably Tactical on pow days or pure park days.

In general I've had bad experiences with the quality of Adidas. I expect ~100 days out of boots, my Tacticalsalways get bit creaky around like 40-50 and I wouldn't push them past 80. I warrantied my first set of Tactical Advs due to a liner delam, then had to glue / sewed some repairs at home on next set of Tactical ADVs and Tactical Lexicons. Both those were probably warranty-able issues, but my first experience with Adidas customer service was so bad I didn't bother.

That said the boots ride great and fit my foot basically perfect. I'll keep riding them until I find a boot from an endemic company that works just as well.