700T, digging the new colors

[b0ardski]

liked the 425 too but too stiff for me

 

 

[Beckmann AG]

What's old is old.

 

 

[Corey]

I got to handle one of the new 700T boots (like pictured above) at Bomber headquarters in February.  It was nice!  The buckles are much more sleek and lower profile than the old Deeluxe buckles.  Note that the toe buckle is the conventional direction instead of backwards.  

Needs BTS in gold to match.  That would look pretty cool!  

[Neil Gendzwill]

Does the 325 have the same new buckles?

[Jack M]

7 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

What's old is old.

Shut up, Bruins colors are always in style.

[seachange]

Does anyone know where I can find reviews on the Track 700? I am ready to buy new boots and can't justify the insane cost of the .951's so looking for reviews on the Track 700 and the UPZ RC11. I am primarily a free carver with occasional racing and an easy to fit size 27.5-28mp. Using Bomber TD3 SW on 20cm waist boards. And yeah, I hate that the 700's do not have a spring system like a BTS! How do they expect to sell these with that old school forward lean adjust??

Edited December 7, 2017 by seachange

[st_lupo]

On 12/6/2017 at 2:51 AM, Jack Michaud said:

Shut up, Bruins colors are always in style.

With all the Colorado folks here I’m surprised that no one has pointed out that those are actually Buffs colors. 

[billyt.]

Most of those Colorado folks are from someplace else? Now if the 700 was orange and blue, like the Bronco's, you would get them and possibly some NY Met fan too!  Not loving the black and gold.

[big mario]

5 hours ago, st_lupo said:

With all the Colorado folks here I’m surprised that no one has pointed out that those are actually Buffs colors. 

Meh, not all of us are buffs fans

[bruincounselor]

20 hours ago, seachange said:

Does anyone know where I can find reviews on the Track 700? I am ready to buy new boots and can't justify the insane cost of the .951's so looking for reviews on the Track 700 and the UPZ RC11. I am primarily a free carver with occasional racing and an easy to fit size 27.5-28mp. Using Bomber TD3 SW on 20cm waist boards. And yeah, I hate that the 700's do not have a spring system like a BTS! How do they expect to sell these with that old school forward lean adjust??

The 700's are a decent boot. Mine are a few years old and came with a moldable liner. I wish the heel hold was better, but otherwise the fit was good. I had to use spacers to take up some volume for my flat, skinny feet. The BTS should be required - it improved the boots 100%. I trust that once things are sorted at Bomber the BTS will return as a new option. Post up a wanted ad and see what happens.

[seachange]

Thank you bruincounselor. So I take it the 700 can be easily retrofit with a BTS system?

[Jack M]

21 hours ago, seachange said:

Does anyone know where I can find reviews on the Track 700? I am ready to buy new boots and can't justify the insane cost of the .951's so looking for reviews on the Track 700 and the UPZ RC11. I am primarily a free carver with occasional racing and an easy to fit size 27.5-28mp. Using Bomber TD3 SW on 20cm waist boards. And yeah, I hate that the 700's do not have a spring system like a BTS! How do they expect to sell these with that old school forward lean adjust??

Until Bomber BTS kits are available again, there is a Deeluxe version available at YYZCanuck:

http://www.yyzcanuck.com/shop/parts/deeluxe-lean-mechanism-spring/

I recently switched from Track 700s to the RC10.  Out of the box, the RC10 is significantly softer in every way.  If your foot is not a perfect fit for your shell size, the stock liner will "squirm" inside the shell.  This has been reported by several users.  My foot measures 28.4cm, I'm in a 28 boot, and I got the squirm.  UPZ boots come with a spring system, Track 700s do not.  The stock rigid forward lean adjuster on the T700 is simply wrong.  It prevents the ankle hinge from hinging at all, so any flex comes from you deforming the boot.  The Track 700 comes with a good moldable liner much like an Intuition Power Wrap. The UPZ liner is moldable, but I wasn't inspired to try that.  I switched to Power Wraps which made a big difference.  Much better fit and performance.  In addition to fitting better, they also stiffen the boot, which is welcome.  After that I still needed more so I went to the stiffer gray tongue.  This was a big improvement too.  The standard black is simply too soft for me.  Felt like riding in walk mode.  This year I'm on the stiffest dark gray tongues and I'm loving them for hard carving.  For all-mountain riding they're almost too stiff.  I got the stiffer RCR cuffs, but I haven't tried them yet.

The fit of the UPZ is better for me, I get zero heel lift.  I would get heel lift in the T700s even with molded liners, and I would have to add those stick-on X-pads on the back of the liners.  They helped, but didn't completely solve the issue.  T700 heel lift seems to be a common thing.  I also broke a number of T700 ankle hinge bolts.  I would replace them but then the plastic of the boot itself around the hinge began failing.  I'm 5'11" 190.  If you're lighter you might not have that issue.  Other than all that, the T700s ride well and I enjoyed them for years.  With BTS red (stiff) springs installed I never felt a need for the race tongues.  I'm liking my UPZs better though.  The heel hold down is a significant improvement.  The overall fit is more racy, which is more performant, but I have to unbuckle them at the bottom of every run.  It's worth it though.  I've had them punched out for more width at a shop.

So I guess if you want a boot that you can just take out of the box, mold the liners and start riding, the T700 is probably closer to being that, but you'll still have to replace the forward lean selector.  If you're willing to spend more for aftermarket liners and possibly stiffer tongues/cuffs, I think the UPZ has greater potential. I can see why more racers ride UPZ than Deeluxe.  I'd love to try the .951 but I just got the UPZs last year, and I like step-ins.

[billyt.]

it would be great  to try them on for fit before buying?  With the UPZ heel being tucked under more than Deeluxe, change your setup or effect your riding?

[Jack M]

12 minutes ago, billyt. said:

it would be great  to try them on for fit before buying?  With the UPZ heel being tucked under more than Deeluxe, change your setup or effect your riding?

Yes, I had to change from a 3 degree cant/lift disc under my front foot to a 6 degree disc.  Stayed with 3 degrees under the rear foot.

[DonPablo]

1 hour ago, Jack Michaud said:

The overall fit is more racy, which is more performant, but I have to unbuckle them at the bottom of every run.  It's worth it though.  I've had them punched out for more width at a shop.

 

I don't know if my UPZs took any of the punching I did since their made of such flimsy plastic. I find it interesting I moved the opposite way, from UPZs to Deeluxe. Out of the box I couldn't see anyone wanting to race with UPZs cause they are so soft. I did the same as you, the stiff gray tongues, power wraps which makes the boot perform much better. I don't think the stiffer cuffs do anything since all the flex comes from below the cuff. Whatever they have going on in the heel of the Deeluxe liner is weird, but I think I got my Deeluxes working pretty well although I've only been on the snow once with them so far.

[bruincounselor]

BTS is very easy to install: push out the two pins and drop it in. The adjustment takes time to get right: Spring rate, preload, and lean are all adjustable so some tweaking is inevitable. I ended up trying a few different spring rates for toe/heel flex before I settled on what works for me - I am using different rates for each.

[billyt.]

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

 

I don't know if my UPZs took any of the punching I did since their made of such flimsy plastic. I find it interesting I moved the opposite way, from UPZs to Deeluxe. Out of the box I couldn't see anyone wanting to race with UPZs cause they are so soft. I did the same as you, the stiff gray tongues, power wraps which makes the boot perform much better. I don't think the stiffer cuffs do anything since all the flex comes from below the cuff. Whatever they have going on in the heel of the Deeluxe liner is weird, but I think I got my Deeluxes working pretty well although I've only been on the snow once with them so far.

with step in bindings being rigid, I like the softer flex from my boots,(Deeluxe Lemans).  ski/snowboard hardboots, are not going to feel like bedroom slippers.  As long as they are warm, give me good support while carving on hard snow and hold up, while still looking good, I will be OK with them.

[ursle]

Let me point out the difference between the R8 and R10 here, the 8 having four buckles.

On a hard snow day I was enjoying my R10’s with grey tongs and hard custom liners, especially the back edge, suddenly, no more back edge (heel), got to the bottom and looked down, the middle buckle had broken, no more fantastic heel hold and stiff platform to work against.

[Corey]

I switched from old Deeluxe 700s (white with red tongue) to UPZ RC10s.  They felt about the same stiffness, though that year of 700 was regarded as pretty soft.  I don't want any stiffer.  Different strokes for different folks.  

I have skinny ankles and very high arches.  My feet moved a lot in the 700s, even while my toes were mercilessly being smashed into the toe box.  UPZ locked my heel down much better, but it took a bit of work to get the top of my foot comfortable due to the high arch.  

3 hours ago, Jack Michaud said:

Yes, I had to change from a 3 degree cant/lift disc under my front foot to a 6 degree disc.  Stayed with 3 degrees under the rear foot.

I measured my UPZ boots in a TD3 step in binding with a 6-degree cant ring oriented to give almost pure toe lift - the footbed is sloped slightly towards the nose of the board.  I can't recall #'s, maybe 1 or 1.5 degrees of heel lift?  

[Jack M]

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

 

I don't know if my UPZs took any of the punching I did since their made of such flimsy plastic. I find it interesting I moved the opposite way, from UPZs to Deeluxe. Out of the box I couldn't see anyone wanting to race with UPZs cause they are so soft. I did the same as you, the stiff gray tongues, power wraps which makes the boot perform much better. I don't think the stiffer cuffs do anything since all the flex comes from below the cuff. Whatever they have going on in the heel of the Deeluxe liner is weird, but I think I got my Deeluxes working pretty well although I've only been on the snow once with them so far.

Hmm, I didn't get that impression about the plastic.  The punching I had done definitely worked.  The UPZ website doesn't list a complete separate boot called the RCR, so it would appear that you build a RCR boot out of RCR parts (tongues, cuffs, ratchet strap) but the lower shell is the same.  True that out of the box, UPZs are too soft for racing and my idea of freecarving.

[Jack M]

28 minutes ago, ursle said:

Let me point out the difference between the R8 and R10 here, the 8 having four buckles.

On a hard snow day I was enjoying my R10’s with grey tongs and hard custom liners, especially the back edge, suddenly, no more back edge (heel), got to the bottom and looked down, the middle buckle had broken, no more fantastic heel hold and stiff platform to work against.

If by "middle" you mean the ankle buckle, the 8 has that same buckle too.  I don't feel a need for 5 buckles, but it doesn't hurt.  It looks kind of badass I guess. Skiers are like "whoah, 5 buckles!"

[pokkis]

I switched few years ago from Deeluxe SaltLake to Upz RC10 due i got bored colors. Upz has working spring it just needed Palaus to use.

Later i updated to softer red tongue and DGSS springs to get them for more flexy. Now they are fine for carving and racing. And rasta colors are great 

[ursle]

19 hours ago, Jack Michaud said:

If by "middle" you mean the ankle buckle, the 8 has that same buckle too.  I don't feel a need for 5 buckles, but it doesn't hurt.  It looks kind of badass I guess. Skiers are like "whoah, 5 buckles!"

 

 

look at the placement of the middle buckle on the 10, and how it’s lower on the 8, yes the 8 has 4 buckles, but the one holding the heel down isn’t places as efficiently 

[Jack M]

Ah, I see. I was thinking of  this year’s AT8

 

[seachange]

Does anyone have feedback on the UPZ RC11's? I am looking to order a pair this week. My concerns:

- Are they any stiffer than the RC10's?

- Is a stiffer cuff (grey) advisable for aggressive free carving?

- Is the stock liner sufficient or is an upgrade the way to go? If so, any recommendations on a liner?

- Is the fit true to size? I am an MP28.

- Any other recommendations for this boot when ordering?

THANX!

Edited December 12, 2017 by seachange