Head Boots with Bomber Step-In's - ALERT

[Guest Randy S.]

I recently bought new Head Stratos Pros. I'm loving them. I have about 5 days on them and they are getting better every day. I started out with a little pressure on my right instep, but some work by Elite Feet at Squaw Creek made it better and after a couple of days it basically went away. They fit my wide (E) foot really well. I went from a 28 UPS and Raichle down to a 275 Head. At first they felt a little short (toes touching front when walking), but they are perfect now. I'm fiddling with the forward lean and flex adjustment to get them to where I want them. Overall, I like the lean/flex adjustment better than the Raichle and way better than the UPS. One of the best features are the buckles. These are real ski boot buckles. Not stupid ratchet things and not the same as on the UPS (where two buckles on my left boot actually wore through one another when rubbing). The instep buckle has this really cool little lever that pops out then springs back after you buckle. I keep that buckle pretty tight and I can close it with one finger.

One note about fitment with my Bomber TD2 Step-In bindings though. At first I was having some trouble getting the heels to engage consistently. I made an adjustment to the bindings which helped a bit. What I've noticed though is that the outside of both heels (not the insides though) are rubbing against the heel receiver on the bindings. Note the attached picture. I need to get the dremel out (Lonerider, can I have my dremel back?) and shave down a bit of plastic. On the boot on the left, I've outlined in red the part you need to shave down. You can probably make out the scratched part on the boot on the right, where the receiver has worn the plastic. You only need to shave about 1-2mm off and only in the area I've outlined. You can see where the receiver has done the work for me on both heels. Once this plastic was worn down, my problem engaging my heels went away completely.

Overall, these are probably the best snowboard boots I've ever had.

[Guest Randy S.]

Someone asked me a question about the stiffness of these boots. I find them fine for me. They were a little too soft with the stock tongues, but I put the silver, race tongues in and they are fine. I weigh 200lbs and stand 5'10". I've used UPS and Raichle boots before. It is hard to compare, but they seem like the Raichles with the race tongues.

Here's a picture of that cool buckle thing I was talking about in my previous post.

[D-Sub]

odd about the intec thing...it actually looks like theyre designed with a space for the heel receiver.

sure like those buckles!

[Guest Randy S.]

Originally posted by D-Sub

odd about the intec thing...it actually looks like theyre designed with a space for the heel receiver.

They are. They must have measured the heel receiver on a pair of F2 bindings, instead of the beefier one that comes with Bombers.

[markp]

Hey Randy; Great article and photos. You saved me alot of trouble and maybe even an accident. Thank you!!!

[Art]

Had a similar prob with the TD 1s, only not as bad so it seems to have repaired itself. thanks for the warning

[Mike T]

Originally posted by Randy S.

Someone asked me a question about the stiffness of these boots. I find them fine for me. They were a little too soft with the stock tongues, but I put the silver, race tongues in and they are fine. I weigh 200lbs and stand 5'10". I've used UPS and Raichle boots before. It is hard to compare, but they seem like the Raichles with the race tongues.

Randy definitely likes his boots stiffer than I do! I found the Stratos LTD, one model *below* the Stratos Pro, to be so stiff that I coulnd't move in them even in walk mode. I like some lateral flex and ankle action, even more so after carve camp. I am roughly same height/weight as Randy.

Bummer for me, 'cause I love the buckles on those Heads! I've come to the conclusion that I am a Raichle SB-series guy, I hate the ratchets and incessantly-breaking cant adjusters but I love the way they ride.

[Jeffrey Day]

...Are you saying that the cant adjusters on my SB-323 moving all the time is a common thing? I was wondering if it was the way I was riding or something.

Have you heard of a way to make the adjusters more permanantly tightened?

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by Mike T

Randy definitely likes his boots stiffer than I do! I found the Stratos LTD, one model *below* the Stratos Pro, to be so stiff that I coulnd't move in them even in walk mode. I like some lateral flex and ankle action, even more so after carve camp. I am roughly same height/weight as Randy.

mike

what about the next model down, the stratos? the brown/orange ones?

Starting Gate still has em I believe.

[CarvCanada]

just curious - if you have a pic of the back of the boot could you post it? i'd like to see how the forward lean/stiffness spring system works.

Thanks

[Mike T]

Originally posted by Jeffrey Day

...Are you saying that the cant adjusters on my SB-323 moving all the time is a common thing? I was wondering if it was the way I was riding or something.

Have you heard of a way to make the adjusters more permanantly tightened?

There were a few threads on this on the old forum - I believe some people epoxied them in place? I've had good luck replacing the screws with ones that have a 4 mm sockert head, which can be tightened a lot more. Trouble is, you cannot generally get the originally screws out because they do something to the end threads to keep them from coming off - so often one has to wait till they break (or break them menually).

[Mike T]

Originally posted by D-Sub

mike

what about the next model down, the stratos? the brown/orange ones?

Starting Gate still has em I believe.

Never seen a pair personally... sorry.

[Steve Dold]

Hey Randy, what about grinding down part of the heel receiver instead, would that still leave enough material for strength? They're only about $15 each if you want to replace them later.

[Guest Randy S.]

Steve: Why would you do that? Grind metal instead of plastic. There's plenty of plastic left on the boot to grind down.

CarvCanada: Here's a picture of the walk/ride mechanism. Left boot is in ride mode. Right is in walk. Note that I'm goofy and I like my rear foot leaning more forward than my front. You can see how I've adjusted the screw beneath the mechanism.

[Baka Dasai]

Originally posted by D-Sub

what about the next model down, the stratos? the brown/orange ones?

I have a pair of the Blax Stratos, which I assume are the same model.

I found them too flexy laterally. The fore-aft flex can be adjusted with the spring from Very Flexy to Reasonably Stiff, but I never realised how flexy they were laterally til I got a pair of Raichle 423, which improved my riding enormously.

If only the Raichle's had the Blax/Head's nice spring system for adjusting flex and lean.... I guess I should upgrade them to a RAB, but it seems like the RAB has its own problems.

[John Gilmour]

Grind the receiver not the boot- mostly because if you grind the plastic too much it will flex funny- and possibly tear at that point. People have torn heels off of boots...why risk it.

If you grind the receiver you won't weaken it one bit- and you won't have to grind your next set of boots- besides.. who needs such sharp edges on the receivers anyhow?

I have the Head Stratos and they are plenty stiff for my 180lbs- and actually if I could have them a little more flexy that would be alright with me.

What the boots really need is more padding laterally in the boot liners- There is plenty in front- but a lot of pressure is distributed latterally.

My liners ended up packing out in the critical areas in about 20 days of riding.

What would be great would be if they made liners that you could replace with cuffs with new ones.

The other thing about the boots is their massive weight- which is completely unnecessary IMHO- A few ribbed kevlar strips tossed in there would allow them to dump a lot of the excess plastic- and this goes for nearly all the manufacturers.

________

L Platform

[Steve Dold]

Originally posted by Randy S.

Steve: Why would you do that? Grind metal instead of plastic. There's plenty of plastic left on the boot to grind down.

Because cutting plastic can lead to weakness and cracks.

[Baka Dasai]

Originally posted by John Gilmour

I have the Head Stratos and they are plenty stiff for my 180lbs- and actually if I could have them a little more flexy that would be alright with me.

Interesting. I prefer the Stratos for quick cross unders - the extra freedom of the ankle makes it really quick to get from edge to edge. But for long drawn-out high-speed carves the relatively stiffer Raichles gave me something to lean against and really made my turns stick.

(I'm 170 lbs)

Anyway, just goes to show that it's all personal preference.

[CarvCanada]

THanks randy! Looks like some nice boots!

[John Gilmour]

If you've got endless wide trail and a a long stiff board and legs from over 70 days on snow - go for the super stiff boot.

I know what you mean about the cross unders- its mostly that a boot that allows you to get forward faster (note I'm not talking about only transfering pressure to the nose of the board- I mean actually moving your center of mass forward) will allow for quicker edge changes and a more dynamic movement stemming from teh ankles.

In a Long drawn out turn of more than 12 meters with a board with plenty of effective edge...you have lots of time to build pressure in the boots and to manage that pressure- and plenty of time to get prepared to transfer your weight forward for the next turn.

For really rapid movement of weight forward and control during high speed GS with quick aggressive high angle edging- I almost identify with Pogues idea of a flexier binding (faster weight transfer forward) and a stiffer taller boot (more hold when locked in with binding pre-stressed to the max). (though I could never fit into a tall boot). So I guess I'll never be able to prove it to myself .

The Head Stratos isn't a really tall boot.

FWIW, when I shaved down the Receiver and decreased the rigidity a bit in my Cateks I felt less boot deformation during hard turns near the ankle area and the boot was more comfortable because the binding was allowing for a little slop...which meant all the force wasn't suddenly transfered to the boot through the heel.

After about 15 days on snow- I did notice a bit of ovaling of the holes- I don't want the receivers to be made of stiffer metal- but perhaps a pressed TI insert or a harder steel insert might be nice there (or perhaps a steel insert embedded in a high 90a+ durometer elastomer for more shock absorbtion). Whatever the case- I don't think the Ovaling will be a negative thing for the performance.

I like the durability of the Head buckles- I've snagged them on many a lodge chair and they have survived. But I don't like that they stack atop one another and stop boot flex suddenly and force the boot to blouse.

I've always wanted to see the old Raichle Flexion comp style buckles but with thicker guage wire for buckles = no stacking, no breaking.

________

Cr85r expert

[kamran]

I am riding HEADs now too. I will never go back to raichle's. These are the best boots for me (had Burton's and ups old model too)

[Steve Dold]

Hey Kamran, how do they compare to the Raichles, fit wise? Is there more room in the toe area? More width? I wear AF600's now and my right foot hurts like hell in that thing.