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Occasional soft boots: suggestions


Eboot

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I bought an SG Soul so that I can ride with my daughter who is reluctant to switch to hard boots.

I would like to get a pair of softboots for occasional riding, but thought I should look for some suited for carving ‘coz …

Suggestions? Both positive and what not to get.

I have an old K2 clicker set of bindings and boots from about ‘06, but the boot straps have perished.  Are these worth looking to restore?

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2 hours ago, Eboot said:

I have an old K2 clicker set of bindings and boots from about ‘06, but the boot straps have perished.  Are these worth looking to restore?

I rode K2 Kwickers (2019 newer version of the old Clickers). Carve great but was frustrated with the snow constantly packing in the heal especially in fresh snow. I would clear my heal on the lift and try not to step all the way down. That worked most of the time but wasn't tried and true. I sold that set up and went with UPZ XC12 with F2 RS Carve bindings for my powder board. I love this set up and haven't looked back.

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Best advice - find a boot that fits your feet and happens to be stiff.

Riding hard boots at low angles kills my knees.  I rode Malamutes for years, then switched to Head Sevens, and now Head Eights.

Unless you’re absolutely in love with your K2’s, I’d say move on.

 

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1 hour ago, Eboot said:

Boot suggestions?

Lots of choices out there that are great for Softboot freeride/freecarve.

Deeluxe Edge

Burton Driver X or Ion 

Head 8

Nidecker/Flow Talon or Tracer

Salamon Malamute

Vans Verse

DC Judge or T.Rice

Ride Insano

K2 Thraxxis 

It is really going to come down to what fits your foot.

 I used to love clickers, but I would not trust any of your old gear…

I am personally using Burton Driver X and Union Atlas FCs for my traditional setup  as well as Burton Ion StepOn and StepOn X bindings. Love them both for different reasons.

good luck with your search but go with what fits you best.

cheers and pray for snow ❄️ 

sandy

 

Edited by svr
Typo
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7 hours ago, Odd Job said:

Softbooting is just hardbooting in a more sideways stance, most of the time.

whenever I say to my softbooting friends, that the carving tech is mostly the same, they want to rip my eyes out...

 

Edited by slapos
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occasional? anything on the stiffer side of the scale if occasional really. literally anything that's on sale, fits your feet, moldable liner, etc. anything. probably any of the boots that svr mentions. personally, i've been happy with malamutes, insano and my favorite is currently some thraxis; replace the stock liner with SBC, mold, footbed and power strap the cuff. what? it's still a softboot.

19 hours ago, scottishsurfer said:

it actually works fine in hard boots at low angles i did it out of curiosity. As for softboots I'm a fan of the stiffer boot the better.

beg to differ there. tried hardboots once on a 26.5 waist saber riding 45/35. it was slow edge to edge and less balance control due the lack of lateral movement, fore/aft movement and less natural balance of weight when transitioning between turns, control in the turns, etc. besides that, it is fine. i'm not sure the equipment is designed to work like that or the body, but to each their own.

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13 hours ago, Odd Job said:

Softbooting is just hardbooting in a more sideways stance, most of the time.

11 hours ago, BlueB said:

Basically, he just told you to use your hard boots...

@Odd Job sorry - i missed that, the thread started talking about comparative technique and I assumed that this was a technique statement.
I intend to try both especially as I am concerned that the board width will not accommodate my boot at low angles. (25.5 cm and US 11)

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28 minutes ago, dhamann said:

beg to differ there. tried hardboots once on a 26.5 waist saber riding 45/35. it was slow edge to edge and less balance control due the lack of lateral movement, fore/aft movement and less natural balance of weight when transitioning between turns, control in the turns, etc. besides that, it is fine. i'm not sure the equipment is designed to work like that or the body, but to each their own.

I was on the 27.5cm waist soul 159xt 😅

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HB SB difference, Front Back, Lateral support, this is why some HB people here, ride their SB set ups at 30 degrees Max, then go back to 60 with HB, personally I like a Sloppy/Play set up, so HB have too much lateral support for me, though my SB stance is 45 45... I know HB folks who use their HB on SB sticks without complaint...I also hang out on green and blue runs, which provide the resistance for the type of riding I prefer... my daughter in Law is 40 years old, from the Russian Ski Team, she hauls ass everywhere, thru anything, on any Pitch, I never go with her, so really what exactly is your daughter doing that makes you need to change your equipment?

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9 hours ago, dhamann said:

occasional? anything on the stiffer side of the scale if occasional really. literally anything that's on sale, fits your feet, moldable liner, etc. anything. probably any of the boots that svr mentions. personally, i've been happy with malamutes, insano and my favorite is currently some thraxis; replace the stock liner with SBC, mold, footbed and power strap the cuff. what? it's still a softboot.

beg to differ there. tried hardboots once on a 26.5 waist saber riding 45/35. it was slow edge to edge and less balance control due the lack of lateral movement, fore/aft movement and less natural balance of weight when transitioning between turns, control in the turns, etc. besides that, it is fine. i'm not sure the equipment is designed to work like that or the body, but to each their own.

With h/boots at low angles, the key is to have bindings that have a lot of lateral flex and boots that have good forward flex. With a correct setup, they can be ridden even "duck", just like softies. 

Around 45/30 is the ideal hard boot setup for most riding versatility. However, it is important that it works for the given board width and boot size. If you had lots of underhang on your Sabre, that would explain the slow edge-to-edge. 

Edited by BlueB
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3 hours ago, Eboot said:

@Odd Job sorry - i missed that, the thread started talking about comparative technique and I assumed that this was a technique statement.
I intend to try both especially as I am concerned that the board width will not accommodate my boot at low angles. (25.5 cm and US 11)

Blanket statement. I would suggest softboots. I have actually invested in a pair of softboots that actually fit me for this season. Burton Photon Boa Wide for my messed up feet.

 

No softboot will give you the support hardboots has; well at least for me. Might as well learn to ride without the stiffness. So in the end the fit is most important at the stiffest flex you can get, or care to get with a given time and budget. Burton Driver X are still slippers compared to a hardboot.

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7 hours ago, softbootsurfer said:

what exactly is your daughter doing that makes you need to change your equipment?

She is still learning, slow and not interested in chasing me, so i would like to just be able to mess around with her, at her speed. something I find hard to do on my Angrry.  I used to teach in softboots but that was a looong time ago.

But if i am going to buy a softboot setup, i thought it made sense to think through boot selection before buying anything.

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