Salomon boots and bindings not compatible!

[Guest suziewong]

Hi,

I recently bought a SMALL pair of women's Vitane Salomon bindings. I also upgraded my boots a few weeks later to the Salomon Fusion F20 Womens boots. (Size 5 UK - 6.5 US). I chose the F20's because they were the best boots I had found for reduced heal-lift.

Although I didn't have my bindings with me when I bought the boots, I was advised that they were completely compatible with my Vitane bindings. I figured that Salomon boots and bindings were sure to be compatible...

When I rode the two products together for the first time, I discovered that there was a big gap between the boot and binding. I found that I had to do the bindings up increasingly tighter to stop the movement which was occurring as a result of the gap. It has now got to the stage where I am experiencing a lot of pain after just one run because if this. This is ruining my riding experience and my confidence.

I'm now looking at the flow bindings to relieve the pressure caused by the strap ins but have found their smallest size is still too big for my boots. I don't want to change my boots. After trying 101 pairs on - these were the best.

I've considered doing some home DIY on the bindings to 'make' them fit but I'm not sure that's a good idea!

Has anyone else heard of this problem and do you know what the solution is?

I'd really appreciate some advice as I love boarding but this problem is really putting me off going up the hill each day...

Thanks!

[wavechaser]

Hi,

Forgive me if you already know this, but the salomon F-series boots are a much smaller exterior size for the same given foot size than the regular salomon (and most other brand) boots. For instance, a Salomon Synapse boot (Men's) 29.0 takes a size Large Salomon SPX4 binding (my setup), but if I had bought F20 or F22 boots instead, I would have had to buy the size Medium binding. If you bought both from the same shop, they should have known this - if they didn't tell you that, then they owe you a binding exchange I'd say. I am a little upset with my Salomon setup in that the heel cup has worn a small hole in the covering on the side of the boot on my back foot after only one month's use (15 or so days) - but Salomon is great about warranty replacement...I'd give them a call about your problem if the retail shop won't help you (don't have the number handy, sorry). I plan to call them about my boot wear soon. Good luck!!

[lonerider]

I find your experience very surprising because it is pretty much universally accepted that the boots from a company will fit the bindings of the same company (Burton&Burton, Salomon&Salomon, Northwave&Drake). In particular I personally and several people I know ride several combinations of Salomon boots and bindings and they all fit extremely well with the caveat that all the riders at men and none of them rode such small boots which might be too small for the bindings as wavechaser mentioned. I find it hard to believe that Salomon would make such a basic mistake though,

You said there is a lot of "space" where is the space located. Between the boots and the highback/heelcup? Between the boot and the ankle strap? Or between the boots and the toestrap? Or the worse... is your boot much narrower than the binding such that you have a lot of pressure ontop but they is lot sof space side to side?

Would you be able to post photos? From what I can tell, you can adjust the forward lean and rotation of the highback (you might be able to move it closer) and you can adjust the angle of the ankle/toestraps (doesn't look like you can shorten the straps).

P.S. To all, obviously... getting custom fitted, heat molded, super comfy hardboots is *a* solution, but let's try to solve the problem with the given equipment :)

[skatha]

I'm guessing these are soft boots....

Maybe look to a youth binding-I agree the shop should work with you because they obviously didn't know what they were doing. Maybe email the techies at Salomon, they have a great website.

I currently have Burton bindings with the capstraps-very comfy. I know they work well with Salomon boots because I have a friend who rides Salomon soft boots. Check out the women's Lexa bindings(Burton)-capstraps and women specific sizing, too.

Online Burton dealers include backcountry.com and usoutdoors.com

[wavechaser]

Just to clarify - I'm 99% sure this is the problem here. As lonerider said, the boots from a given company will fit that company's bindings - that is correct. However, the Salomon "F" series ("F" is for FUSION) boots are different than others. They are liner-less one-piece boots, with the advantage having a smaller sole length for a given size - i.e. a 29.0 Salomon Synapse has a 13 inch sole length, but a 29.0 (same exact size) Salomon F20 boot would have maybe a 11" or 11.5" sole length. If you look on the bottom of salomon boot boxes, there is a chart for matching the boot and binding sizes. A size 10.5 Synapse matches a size LARGE binding but a size 10.5 F20 requires the MEDIUM binding. Now the chart shows a size 6.5 US Women's F20 as matching a size small Salomon binding, but are you SURE that is what you got? I've seen plenty of shops where a binding was taken out of a box and put back in the wrong size-marked box, especially by late in the year! And I found that not all salespeople are even aware of the sole-length difference with the F-series boots.

I guess the lesson is always bring any related gear when buying other gear, to assure a matched fit - clothes or hard goods or both.

Check out the Slalomon website at http://www.salomonsports.com/

There is a contact form there - or call Salomon North America at 971-234-7001.

Again, best of luck to you in solving this!