Deeluxe vs upz

[Xavier Kennedy]

Upz vs deeluxe!!!!

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

I think this is really an issue of foot shape as much as anything else.  Raichle/Dee-Lux do have an advantage in that changing the boot flex is as easy as a tongue-swap. But, the shell-wrap tongue on UPZ's is also modifiable, and the straps have finer adjustment, which makes for a more comfortable fit overall. 

If walking without slipping is a virtue, then, UPZ wins...

[Corey]

You can change between 4 different tongue stiffness with UPZ.

UPZs are deadly slippery on any smooth surface! 

But I completely agree about the foot shape point. Pick the ones that fit your feet best. 

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

9 hours ago, corey_dyck said:

UPZs are deadly slippery on any smooth surface! 

Ah, yes, on wet stairs... I forgot about that. Ended up stair-skiing into the Green Door Pub one night!

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

Oh, and, Corey, thanks on the clarification on UPZ tongues. I could recall they had 2 flexes, and mine had been 'shaved' to reduce stiffness by the previous owner (this was 18 years ago) which let snow/moisture in, and made them 'fold' in a pinch at the ankle. I put new tongues in, then sold them.

[drschwartz]

Love my UPZ's, used to ride Deeluxe. But I agree, this is totally about the shape of your foot, and how it fits the shell. Liners can help a bit, but if there isn't enough room across the forefoot, no liner in the world is going to solve that.

Also know that the various models of Raichle's have different forefoot widths.

Edited April 22, 2017 by drschwartz
Typo

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

What Really Pissed me Off was having to 'Punch out' Raichle/Dee-lux shells I've had for, um, awhile, because working on a flat cement floor for 6-8 yrs' had made my feet grow Hugely to the Side, up just behind the big-toe, but, also made my little toes curl Outwards!. Any 'older' molded footbed, or liner, became obsolete within a season, about 3 years back. This really F.U.p'ed my riding in shells, and in certain softboots. Eventually it will require surgery to fix, and, trust me, an N.H. manufacturer will seriously resist the idea they were ever to blame (yet, my feet stayed in the same form 20 yrs. prior? ; how coincidental, and odd). I may, then, also need to look back at UPZ or Northwave[?] for the future boot. Or, go to Dodge, and create something better-yet, newer; of course, I'd need funds... and a Maserati as compensation, too....

 

 

Edited April 22, 2017 by Eric Brammer aka PSR

[LeeW]

I've never got to try out Deeluxe so I've been on those UPZ boots (the older red boots with gray stiff-a.f. tongue). They're good for me at least. My feet are wide type. 

And yes, they're slippery as hell especially when ski DIN are inserted. No, I have not use those UPZ boots for racing/carving since I hung up racing way back in 2006 or so.

Now? I -might- give it a shot... just a bit of a major hassle to convert the DIN sole out and step in back in via the UPZ boots. -_-

[SunSurfer]

On 4/22/2017 at 3:49 PM, Eric Brammer aka PSR said:

 because working on a flat cement floor for 6-8 yrs' had made my feet grow Hugely to the Side, up just behind the big-toe, but, also made my little toes curl Outwards!. Any 'older' molded footbed, or liner, became obsolete within a season, about 3 years back. This really F.U.p'ed my riding in shells, and in certain softboots. Eventually it will require surgery to fix, and, trust me, an N.H. manufacturer will seriously resist the idea they were ever to blame (yet, my feet stayed in the same form 20 yrs. prior? ; how coincidental, and odd).

 

 

You, and your connective tissue, were 6-8 years older. You don't mention anything about the loading that may have been placed on said feet and how that may have changed over the years as well.
Growing older is a pain in the neck, & feet. Our bodies change, they don't stay the same.

[Eric Brammer aka PSR]

2 hours ago, SunSurfer said:

Growing older is a pain in the neck, & feet. Our bodies change, they don't stay the same.

Yeah, so I'm 53 today... As for 'loading' on my feet, I put way more strain on them doing the odd 'summer' job (in which, I alternated from Instructor/Coach to a variety of warm-weather jobs for 22 years. Trust me, pushing a stuck rollercoaster train out of a swale is a bit more work than punching in CNC Coding) than walking around on the flat floor of a Machine Shop. There may be a hereditary component, as arthritis runs in the both limbs of my family tree. But, having run a similar boot for, over 15 seasons, then suddenly finding that one must now stretch the shells another 3-4 mm in width at the fore of the boot, yeah, that's an eye-opener. My footbeds no longer supported the forefoot, as bones had spread enough to not fit where they'd been comfy the previous decade. Many of my sk8 shoes don't fit, either. I sk8ed on VANS shoes since the 70's, used them as my primary Luge Brakes (Gummy soles that're thick, but don't 'grab+skip' when footbraking!), but I can't wear them now for more than 10 minutes at a time. This occurred rather quickly, in the span of a few years; those few years were working at one particular shop within the corporation, and it was the one shop that didn't put down padding near the Lathes/Mills, forcing the operator to work in an uncomfortable station 8-10 hrs a day. This one shop also had the continuous issue of oil on every flat surface; the root cause there was that Maint. was putting the air-filters in backwards, so the evacuators were spraying a fine oily mist all the time. After 3 incidents where employees fell hard enough to be injured (usually right after mopping!), corporate finally investigated. By then, there was a greenish film (we turned Copper, primarily) on the tops of every machine. So, IMHO, I would like to think I'd still be able to do many of the things I did as a younger man, but my feet payed a steep price for my employment at this one shop.