The boot thread

[YukonCornelius]

Did Burton discontinue the leather Ions after last season?

sure seems like it, i was hoping to replace my '23 leathers this season as they are getting a little soft

[AyAyRon]

Yes. Some Burton employees don't feel safe around leather.

[g3greg]

Yes. Some Burton employees don't feel safe around leather.

This is my favorite post ever

[jclinares]

Just came back from a trip to Las Vegas, and took the chance to go try on boots at Powder and Sun, and Sin City Snowboards. Unfortunately, didn't find one that would really fit what I want, so I'm still in search of new boots. Main issue is that neither shop had the stiffer freeride boots from the brands they carry, which makes sense for Las Vegas, but complicated things for me.

Still managed to get a few insights on the ones I tried, in case anyone's curious:

1. Ride Anthem are pretty comfortable, but they feel really soft. The heel hold actually feels really nice, for a mid-range boot.

2. The Bataleon Acid are way stiffer than their 7/10 rating would indicate. The design looks pretty slick and streamlined, and the boot feels lightweight, with high quality components. Probably would have bought it except that I had a very noticeable pressure area on the top of my feet, all along the base of my toes.

3. I'd tried the Thirtytwo Lashed before, but put them on again just to see if things had changed. Felt pretty much the same, which is to say they didn't fit my foot and they were softer than I like. The Crab Grab collab looks cool, though.

4. Anyone know what's up with Nidecker's sizing? I usually wear size 10.5 or 10, but I tried the Kita Hybrid in size 10, and they felt pretty roomy. They didn't have the 9.5 for me to try, but it felt like I could downsize half a number and been fine, which I hadn't experienced before.

Other than that, I'd prefer the double BOA Kita, but I really liked the boot: stiff, comfortable, material quality seemed good, no noticeable pressure points on a short-ish try at the shop.

Didn't buy it because I was worried about them feeling too big as they packed out, and I do prefer double BOA over hybrid lacing.

[ninja_nate]

I pulled the trigger on the Nidecker Ejack Kitas and Nitro Bfox Veture Pros but both are getting returned. :/

The flaw for the Kitas is the heel lock was sub par for my foot. The boot feels like good quality all around except for the internal ankle harness. It was tough to loosen for taking the liner out and when you went to tighten it, I wasn’t able to tighten it enough to seat my heal into the boot. After getting everything tight I still had quite a bit of heel lift. This was my top boot going into my search since it ticks so many boxes for me - light, small footprint, asym liner wrap and it looks dope - so I’m pretty bummed. Sizing wise, I would say they fit true to size - I’m a 275 mondo and the 9 was a smidge too small but the 9.5 fit just right.

I ended up liking the Venture Pros the best out of the 2 but the 9.5 was too small and my foot was getting a hot spot from the ankle molding in the liner. Quality on these felt real nice and I’ve always preferred lace up boots. Plus, I really liked my previous Nitro team boots except for the TLS lacing system that always loosened up after a run or 2.

I think I’m just going to go an entirely different route now. I tried on the K2 Ortons at my local shop and really liked the fit and feel.

[scrub]

After 3 days on my Burton Photon speed zones, I think I like them. I have to make sure the plastic bit from the internal lace is in the right place or I get a little hotspot and once the liners break in I may have to add some J bars on the front foot boot. The upper half of the boot fits me way better than the 32 TM2s I've been wearing for the last few seasons and I'm not sure how much it's the new snow-specific SuperFeet vs the greens I was using or the sole of the boot but my feet are less fatigued at the end of the day.

I'm kicking myself even more for now for not buying Ion leathers when I had the chance!

[Vailsucksass]

How does the nitro venture pro lace up compare to the Burton SLX? In the market for new shoes if the price is right and they look pretty rad wonder how they are for those of you who have had experience with either
Obviously the nitro is half of the price of the slx
Thank you

[jclinares]

I pulled the trigger on the Nidecker Ejack Kitas and Nitro Bfox Veture Pros but both are getting returned. :/

The flaw for the Kitas is the heel lock was sub par for my foot. The boot feels like good quality all around except for the internal ankle harness. It was tough to loosen for taking the liner out and when you went to tighten it, I wasn’t able to tighten it enough to seat my heal into the boot. After getting everything tight I still had quite a bit of heel lift. This was my top boot going into my search since it ticks so many boxes for me - light, small footprint, asym liner wrap and it looks dope - so I’m pretty bummed. Sizing wise, I would say they fit true to size - I’m a 275 mondo and the 9 was a smidge too small but the 9.5 fit just right.

I ended up liking the Venture Pros the best out of the 2 but the 9.5 was too small and my foot was getting a hot spot from the ankle molding in the liner. Quality on these felt real nice and I’ve always preferred lace up boots. Plus, I really liked my previous Nitro team boots except for the TLS lacing system that always loosened up after a run or 2.

I think I’m just going to go an entirely different route now. I tried on the K2 Ortons at my local shop and really liked the fit and feel.

Shame those didn't work out. I just tried the Kita but they didn't have the 9.5, and the 10 felt too roomy (I'm right in between 27.5 and 28 mondo, so it depends on the fit of a particular model, for me); but I really liked everything else about them.

How stiff are the Orton compared to the Kita? Would you say they're pretty similar? My only try with the Ortons was a size 11 that I knew was going to be too big, and I wasn't able to get a good feel for them.

[ninja_nate]

Ortons were stiffer than the Kitas. I found the Kitas to be pretty similar to my Ride Fuse so a good medium-stiff flex IMO. I ended up pulling the trigger on the Thraxis. I tried them at the same time as the Ortons and felt the Thraxis had more forward flex so went with what felt like a softer boot comparing the 2 in a shop. Plus, I liked the ankle BOA vs ankle lace that the Ortons have. Triple BOA is kinda bonkers haha.

I really wanted to like the Kitas too. For whatever reason I couldn’t get the ankle lace lock tight enough to get a good heel hold. Could’ve just been user error though - I’ve been on the Fuse with the ankle BOA for ~5 seasons and might be too accustomed to the more locked in feeling of it.

I pulled the trigger on the Nidecker Ejack Kitas and Nitro Bfox Veture Pros but both are getting returned. :/

The flaw for the Kitas is the heel lock was sub par for my foot. The boot feels like good quality all around except for the internal ankle harness. It was tough to loosen for taking the liner out and when you went to tighten it, I wasn’t able to tighten it enough to seat my heal into the boot. After getting everything tight I still had quite a bit of heel lift. This was my top boot going into my search since it ticks so many boxes for me - light, small footprint, asym liner wrap and it looks dope - so I’m pretty bummed. Sizing wise, I would say they fit true to size - I’m a 275 mondo and the 9 was a smidge too small but the 9.5 fit just right.

I ended up liking the Venture Pros the best out of the 2 but the 9.5 was too small and my foot was getting a hot spot from the ankle molding in the liner. Quality on these felt real nice and I’ve always preferred lace up boots. Plus, I really liked my previous Nitro team boots except for the TLS lacing system that always loosened up after a run or 2.

I think I’m just going to go an entirely different route now. I tried on the K2 Ortons at my local shop and really liked the fit and feel.

Shame those didn't work out. I just tried the Kita but they didn't have the 9.5, and the 10 felt too roomy (I'm right in between 27.5 and 28 mondo, so it depends on the fit of a particular model, for me); but I really liked everything else about them.

How stiff are the Orton compared to the Kita? Would you say they're pretty similar? My only try with the Ortons was a size 11 that I knew was going to be too big, and I wasn't able to get a good feel for them.

[bagis]

My 22/23 TM-2 are totally done. Has anyone tried this years TM-2? Is the fit the same? I would like to try some boots but here in Finland you can find Motos and Lashed to try if you are lucky.