Suzuka/Indy or Head?

[thebionicman]

Which route would you go? I really lean towards the Heads because of the buckles. I am pretty new after just finishing my first season on the hard boots, 15+ years on soft boots.

I currently have an older set of Burton Reactors on SnoPro Race bindings. I am thinking of the upgrading the bindings to TD2 SI.

Thanks for the help.

And I would like to ride fairly aggresively. And most of my time is spent on the small hills of the midwest.

[Guest Mark Jeangerard]

I am also interested in the ansewer here as the Suzuka is looking pretty tasty.

After reading the boot fitting threads, am I too believe that I may want to go a size smaller than my foot measured with my weight on it?

[mnovak]

Dear 6 million dollar man:

I got the Head Stratos Pros partly because I was impressed with the look of the buckles too. Thinking back, I am not sure that I would have made the same decision again and might have probably gone for the Suzuka or Indy. I like how the Heads ride, but the buckles are not that great and need fiddling (you turn them clockwise or counterclockwise for micro-adjustment) to get the fit right -- they don't seem as strong as they look and I have had to tighten up the bolts holding them to the boot after less than 10 rides. More importantly, there is only 1 forward lean position and lean adjustment affects the forward flex spring. You have to adjust both forward lean and flex at the same time which is lots of "screwing" around (bad pun!) and is certainly something you don't want to do on the hill since you need to use small tools to move the mechanism. The Deeluxe has the 5 position lean adjuster which looks much easier to use. I also don't know how well the Thermoflex/Intuition liners would work in the Heads, but they definitely work in the Deeluxes.

Anyways, I'm keeping the Heads, but just my 2 cents that the buckles (and general looks) are just one aspect of the boots and it might be best to consider all the other features as well before dropping your dough.

Hope this helps!

[Guest Randy S.]

Dear Mr. Majors (or should I call you Lee?),

More important than features is fit. In my experience, the Heads fit my wider foot better than Deeluxe. Overall, I also prefer the construction of the boot. The liner is high quality, the buckles are awesome and the walk/ride mechanism works well. It does take a little fiddling around to get the lean/flex adjustment set, but once its there, it stays there. I like set-it-forget-it settings like that.

Try both boots on and then decide which fits your foot better.

Oh, and the Heads come w/ two tongues so you can switch to the harder ones if you prefer. Start with the soft ones.

[kamran]

I'd second everything Randy says (well, just in this thread ;) ). Purchasing the HEADs this season was the best decision I made to improve my ride.

[mnovak]

I agree with the other posters on fit being of primary importance. I got the Head also because I have wide feet. Would have required some real fitment work to get the Suzukas to fit comfortably.

[bschurman]

Just another option out there that is not carried by bomber but is a great boot is UPZ. They will fit the wider foot and I love the forward lean/spring mechanism on them. They have spring on both toe and heel side with 5 locking positions in between. The buckles are great too. I don't like the liners much but get the Thermoflex in there and they are the most comfortable boot I have ever owned. The price is pretty good too at $399.

All the info is here. <a href = "www.upzboots.com">www.upzboots.com</a>

One more thing is that Dan Yoja is great to deal with and I am sure that fit is guaranteed too.

Just one more option to consider.

->Ben

[thebionicman]

One concern that I have is that the Head's are good for a wide foot. I don't have a wide foot, at least I don't think I do. So maybe I should lean more towards the Suzuka's.

[neil sunday]

I have a wide foot and just left the Raichle AF700 For the Head Stratos Pros. I only have 5 days of training in on them, but I can tell you what I did to make them work.

1) raise the AFC Cuff all the way to the top, as the HEAD boots without raising the Lateral Cuff is about .75 inches shorter than the AF 700. Without raising the cuff, I felt like I was folding the boot over at the end of the turn, or when pressuring the rear of the board.

2) Crank the Forward Flex spring about 10 notches to the free up the flex. this will give you a good forward flex. this was one of the most important things i did.

3) add BOOSTER straps instead of the little, cheesy HEAD POWER STRAPS that come with the boots. BOOSTERS are so much nicer.

4) Replace the soft toungues with the GRAY harder ones. this make s the boots feel like it's got some "meat" to it. you will not fold the boots over during toe-side turns.

All in all, though-- it's taken me 5 full days to even consider the HEAD boots worth it. the first four days I hated them. I wanted to replace them with my rotten, stinky AF 700's. Now, I'm almost happy with the HEAD boots. They seem more responsive than the Raichles.. The ThermoFlex liner of the Raichles was more comfortable than the liner inthe Heads, however it seemed a bit small for guys with big calf muscles. i had a hard time getting the thermoflex wrapped tight around my entire shin-calf. the Head liners with the tongues fot no problem, however- you may want to add padding to the tongue at the flex point , as this was a "hot spot" on my first 5 days.