Straightening out AF700s

[Goremachine]

So I have a pair of AF700s, just put intec heels on, running on Catek Olympic Long Plate stepins on a Donek Axis 182. Before this I was using Burton Furnace boots on Bomber TD1 regulars.

The problem with my new setup is that I find the AF700s to be a much less comfortable boot than the Furnaces, and I'm not really sure why. They are less tight in the ankle, so I'm experiencing heel lift which is screwing with my control of the board, I'm hoping that some heel inserts will take care of that though. Also, the cuff is also less tight, so I'm getting one of the elastic race straps from bomber, hopefully that will help. The furnaces had the booster strap at the top of the cuff which I really liked, so I think the race strap will work just fine.

Finally, the lean mechanism is bothering me. The Furnaces had a pretty standard lean mechanism, unlock for free flex, then lock in one of four forward lean positions. The AF700's have the RAB, which is nice in concept, but in practice I don't like it at all. I like the idea of the dynamic flex, but the problem is that even with the RAB screwed out all the way, the boot is still nowhere near a neutral forward lean position. I want my front boot to be more or less neutral, with my rear boot having both heel lift and forward lean. When I'm riding, I can flex the front boot to get some lean on it, but if it's locked in like that, I end up basically just burning my quads out really fast.

So, if I get the BTS from Bomber, will I be able to get a neutral position from the front boot? Or do I need to modify the shell somehow? I was looking into replacing the RAB with the 5-step Raichle system, but that's not as ideal because then I wouldnt be able to flex the boot since it'd be locked.

Anyone have suggestions?

[Dr D]

I have been fighting mine for a year now and this is what I found. The BTS is awesome. you have to mold the liners and tighten them way beyond what you think you should in the cuff. I actually put in a set of intuitions and love the change. The BTs is very adjsutable and works well once you get it dialed in. IT takes flex pattern and smooths it out so it happens in the spring instead of the plastic. I found the cuff problem goes away when you tighten them 5-6 clicks more than you are now. this will no doubt require a remold to accomplish but they are sloppy until you really tighten them down. I put on a thick sock and tightened them down significantly in the cuff while molding to pack the liner and now with the regular sock I can tighten them enough to bring the cuff reasonable close together in the front. It makes a world of difference in the cuff flex and feel. I put race tongues in before discovering this and now am considering going back to regular tongues. give it a try. Intuition liners and BTS made the difference for me. now I just have to get the shell ground a little for my fat dogs and I will have them nailed.

[James Ong]

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So, if I get the BTS from Bomber, will I be able to get a neutral position from the front boot? Or do I need to modify the shell somehow? I was looking into replacing the RAB with the 5-step Raichle system, but that's not as ideal because then I wouldnt be able to flex the boot since it'd be locked.

Anyone have suggestions?

I have my bts set up with just the long yellow springs. This gets me quite a bit more upright than with the short spring installed.

No problems so far with this, even without the spring seems to be no chance of bottoming out the mechanism.

[Goremachine]

I have my bts set up with just the long yellow springs. This gets me quite a bit more upright than with the short spring installed.

No problems so far with this, even without the spring seems to be no chance of bottoming out the mechanism.

This sounds very promising, thanks. My BTS should hopefully be here in a week, I'll give it a shot and see how it works out. Is anyone else using the Intuition liners? Seems like they have more reinforcement than the old Thermoflexes, might help out with the heel lift.

[neil sunday]

while anytype of thermo liner may provide great fit, there is no substitute for the hel wedge, outside the liner but affixed to the plastic part ofthe sole of the shell... that is the best way to avoid heel lift. this also helps a better fit at the top of the liner/shell, as you are now working on the thinner part of your calf muscle. good luck!

[Jrobb]

while anytype of thermo liner may provide great fit, there is no substitute for the hel wedge, outside the liner but affixed to the plastic part ofthe sole of the shell... that is the best way to avoid heel lift. this also helps a better fit at the top of the liner/shell, as you are now working on the thinner part of your calf muscle. good luck!

Sorry to the thread but:

What is this heel wedge you speak of? I have one foot slightly shorter and thinner than the other one and it likes to lift on toesides I'd like to fix this if possible.

J

[Dr D]

simple little foam wedge you can get from any boot fitter or tognar or the like. It fits well under the orthotic/footbed and also can be used under the bladder itself. they come in several thicknesses and for a few bucks solve a multitude of problems. I use them in mu af700's. they also pull the forefoot back in the boot which can bring it into a wider part of the boot if you are to tight in the toebox. The intuitions are thicker than some of the others and gave me more room to pack out the wide parts of my duck feet while maintaining a snug comfy fit elsewhere. the thermoflexes that came with the boots didn't work well in this respect. Also the intuitions seem to tolerate repeated moldings much better. the thermoflexes start shrinking by the third mold.