What part of the set-up needs the most work?

[alpinegirl]

randy. thanks

been there, done that. i am very happy with the fit right now. i just found that throughout the process that i wanted the buckle to be in a different place because i felt as though if the function of that buckle was to help hold the foot back and in the heel pocket, that that goal would have been better achieved had the strap been placed in a slightly different location. it seriously would be about a 1 cm difference, though still hard to achieve given the close proximity to the boot cuff.

but yeah, footbeds, heel lifts, j-shaped padding and more padding around the ankles.... it's been a long time coming. having had diabetes for 20 years, i have passed the point of compromise on boot fit. the fit is fantastic now, but again, i still long for a little extra hold right there. i want the buckle on my boots to pull my foot back adn down, into the heel cup, and not just push down. and i want it to be studded with rubies so that whenever things get icy i can click my heels together three times and chant "there's nothing like snow"

random: how do you go about finding a good bootfitter?? i had been hearing only horror stories about bootfitters losing their motivation to do quality work while watching ski racers demolish each other's boots with power tools. so i found a need to look outside of my area.

[lonerider]

Originally posted by Randy S.

Alpinegirl: If you take your boots to a good bootfitter, they should be able to help make them fit so that your heel stays put. This is more a function of bootfitting than the boot design. Even with the plethora of ski boot options, many people still need help holding their heel down. Its almost certain to be an issue with snowboard boots, given the lack of options we have. Two things work best for this. One is getting a good custom footbed made. The other is adding strips of padding on the outside of the boot, around your ankle. Some of the online shops sell this bootfitting padding.

I don't disagree that boots could use some engineering help, but I wanted to point out that you can find help with your problem. Good luck with your bootfitting. -Randy

Hey I had the exactly same problem as you... I would get heel lift because of my skinny ankles and if I tightened the second buckle it would just crush my instep (top of the foot) instead of locking my heeldown. I went with Randy S. to Surefoot bootfitters and got my liners molded and got some custom footbeds. They feel great in the shop, but I've yet to try them on the slopes. I haven't tried them out yet. I will let you know. The nice thing about Surefoot as that they do bootfitting for the lift of the footbed, so I can continually get my boots adjusted for free. They also have a bunch of locations that all honor the same deal.

[NateW]

Boots have the most room for improvement, mostly because there's only three to choose from. Raichle is the biggest brand, but I have come to dislike their buckles (hard to recreate the same fit day after day) and cant adjusters (they break).

So I have UPZs coming for this season, maybe the grass is greener on the other side. But I had to buy them with non-moldable liners, which I fully expect to throw away. I guess I shouldn't complain until I try them, but I think I'm tool spoiled by Thermoflex and Intuition to ride anything else.

I was talking with a custom boot builder the other day... Foot length? Width at the toes, middle, heel, ankle, and calf? Cuff height? How many buckles? And what buckle style? Want intecs with that? They told me to expect UPS to drop 'em off in 8 weeks. Then I woke up.

Bindings/boards, it's a tossup...

On the one hand I'm quite happy with my TD1 SI's and expect no complaints with my new TD2 and Catek Oly SI's. On the other hand I had trouble with every other binding I've owned - the expensive ones let go when they shouldn't and the non-expensive ones just break. Failure is unacceptable for that sort of equipment, yet not unusual. But like I said, all-metal $280 SIs work great. But all the other products desperately need improvement.

As for boards, I have no complaints about performance and I love the fact that I can have one made to order. But I kinda wish they were lighter and more durable. I'm not sure what can be done about that, barring some kind of material breakthrough. Lightweight and perfectly resilient cores and fibers would be awfully nice. :)

I just noticed Jon Dahl's suggestion for machine Raichle cant adusters. Brilliant. What would those cost, Fin? Anyone here know where to find a photo of Raichle's 'race' adjuster? It was a simple two-position design that should be machinable without too much trouble.