Any Wide Boot Brands?

[Eastsiiiide]

Are there any? Deeluxe for example is one-width-fits-most. 

[SunSurfer]

Look for threads from new carvers requesting advice. Quite a few since the beginning of the Northern winter. Jack M(ichaud) has ridden lots of gear and has no particular axe to grind.

[Aracan]

Used to be that UPZ were considered to be relatively wide in front, narrow around the ankle. Deeluxe the other way round.

[Jack M]

3 hours ago, Aracan said:

Used to be that UPZ were considered to be relatively wide in front, narrow around the ankle. Deeluxe the other way round.

I meant that UPZ has a wide-ish forefoot, narrow ankle/heel. T700 is at least as wide in the forefoot and has a roomier ankle/heel. I put my foot in a 425 once and it felt narrower to me.

 I had to have my UPZ‘s stretched for width in front. I did not have to do that with T700s or Mountain Slopes. The UPZ‘s and mountain slopes have awesome heel hold. I had some heel lift in the T700s which many people report unless they have high volume ankles or arches. 

[lonbordin]

The Koren S5 boots are the widest out of box I've put on my feet. Their size range is very limited. I think they call their largest shell MP28

[Eastsiiiide]

On 1/27/2022 at 4:18 AM, lonbordin said:

The Koren S5 boots are the widest out of box I've put on my feet. Their size range is very limited. I think they call their largest shell MP28

Aha. They are probably 'asian fit' then, awesome.  And I have short feet, ftw.  No removable heel, but otherwise great.

This Korean webshop is the only place I've found them for purchase so far http://www.s5.co.kr/ $644 plus a lot more to get to the US I'd guess, if it's even possible--I've never purchased anything directly from Korea, so have no idea. 

I see that user slapos got a pair two years ago via facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miunole but I don't see any info on that page about purchasing.  I guess you'd send a message and ask about it directly?  Also I don't facebook. 

[lonbordin]

3 minutes ago, Eastsiiiide said:

Aha. They are probably 'asian fit' then, awesome.  And I have short feet, ftw.  No removable heel, but otherwise great.

This Korean webshop is the only place I've found them for purchase so far http://www.s5.co.kr/ $644 plus a lot more to get to the US I'd guess, if it's even possible--I've never purchased anything directly from Korea, so have no idea. 

I see that user slapos got a pair two years ago via facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miunole but I don't see any info on that page about purchasing.  I guess you'd send a message and ask about it directly?  Also I don't facebook. 

I don't know... mine came from @slapos.  

I've been dialing them in this season.  I'm hoping to update that thread shortly.  

[slapos]

I contacted Minuole directly and he send them to me.

But in the end they cost much less then 600 bux...

Have a word with him direct.

[Eastsiiiide]

I see Head Stratos boots for sale here and there for fairly cheap, and someone here said they have a wide toebox. Anyone have thoughts on them? Can you still get heel spring kits for them?  It's not clear to me that the ACSS system is still available, and that's what I read was compatible with Stratos back in 2012.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Eastsiiiide
Nvr mind I decided not to get stratos. Just ordered deluxe 700Ts

[Jonny]

If you have a good fitter almost anything can be blown out to fit. My guy stretched my Deeluxe 425 Pros from 98 to 108/110mm. Incredibly comfortable - I buckle up in the morning and unbuckle at the end of the day.

[Topboost]

17 minutes ago, Jonny said:

If you have a good fitter almost anything can be blown out to fit. My guy stretched my Deeluxe 425 Pros from 98 to 108/110mm. Incredibly comfortable - I buckle up in the morning and unbuckle at the end of the day.

I agree.  I have very wide feet & I had my 425s blown out for me.  

[Eastsiiiide]

Thanks for all the data and advice! I ordered some deeluxe 700s, size 25 for my 25.5 feet.  Fingers crossed they work out.  

So now do I need a spring kit??

[SunSurfer]

1 hour ago, Eastsiiiide said:

So now do I need a spring kit??

Short answer: Yes

Long answer: Without a spring kit boot shell flex will determine how easy it is to flex your ankle(s). You may find you want different amounts of flex between front and rear, and even toe and heelside in the same boot.

[Jonny]

9 hours ago, Eastsiiiide said:

Thanks for all the data and advice! I ordered some deeluxe 700s, size 25 for my 25.5 feet.  Fingers crossed they work out.  

So now do I need a spring kit??

Not necessarily. I used springs in my previous boots but the 425 seem perfect with the front locked fully upright and the back locked nearly at full flex. I'm done for the year but next year plan to try the springs on the back foot only.

[Odd Job]

Fwiw I don't use springs. If something happens to your boots with Bomber BTS on it; Deeluxe will not honor warranty. So I'd at least use the Deeluxe brand springs if I went with that route.

 

I want to try Mountain Slopes eventually since I'd like to fine tune the rear boot forward lean (I would ideally want it between 3-4; I keep it at 4 on the forward lean adjuster).

[Eastsiiiide]

So much useful info, can't thank y'all enough. BTW the main boot I have used over the years, at least for backcountry (snowshoe/snowboard) is a Dynafit TLT4, but sized up a full size (26.5) to get more width, so they've always been a compromise in terms of fit. 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Eastsiiiide

[Eastsiiiide]

21 hours ago, Odd Job said:

 I'd at least use the Deeluxe brand springs if I went with that route.

Huh I didn't even realize Deeluxe sold their own springs.  Alpine gear shopping in the US feels challenging and often involves google translate...  I guess if you're in Austria or Switzerland you just pop round to the corner alpine snowboard shop to browse the latest gear and chat with some international competitors about what brand of wax they like.  I ordered my Deeluxe boots on ebay from the *one guy* I've found so far who consistently sells new original stock Kesslers and other alpine gear, from the US, not shipping direct from Europe.  He had this lone listing for a pair of Deeluxe in one size only, and bingo they happened to be my size, so I stopped thinking and grabbed em. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by Eastsiiiide

[pow4ever]

While you look for wide toe box boots.
Also pay attention to heel hold.  You do not want heel lift.  boot fitter can use foam/all sort of trick to help with that.  volume of liner all come to play.

I have wide toe and narrow heel and try all brand of boots and they all doesn't fit well out the box.  Work with boot fitter is the way to go.  Best of luck; the journey is worth it

[bobdea]

Head!

[Eastsiiiide]

On 2/1/2022 at 10:24 AM, bobdea said:

Head!

Thanks Bob. Do you still use Head?  I now have both UPZ (RC12) and Deeluxe (700) in my possession and have issues with both of them.  

Edited February 20, 2022 by Eastsiiiide

[SunSurfer]

As far as I know, Head Stratos Pros are no longer made, and haven't been for many years. I rode a second hand pair for a while till the shells started to crack. Old plastics become brittle even without use. I now wear UPZs RC10s.

The Heads accommodated my wide forefoot but I had issues with poor heel hold down. There are also fundamental design issues that affect the ability of the cuff to move when the boot is buckled. I modified mine to try to deal with both of those issues.

My UPZs now have aftermarket mouldable liners and the shells have been stretched to make more room for my big toes on both feet. My riding techniques has also evolved/improved in a way that makes heel lift much less of an issue.

Suspect using one of your new pairs and optimising with a bootfitter is your best option rather than trying to find a pair of HeadSPs.

[Eastsiiiide]

Thanks SunSurfer, much, much appreciated. I ask about the Stratos because I have found two pairs for sale, and they have some features I like.  The UPZ's are narrow directly beneath the ankle bone, on the medial side of the sole just ahead of the heel, which I think is a difficult place for punching or grinding the shell (?).  Additionally the heel-over-heel offers no advantage that I can see for my short feet (unless I get a super narrow custom board I guess?), but creates a lot of ramp I don't want.  The inside of the boot is not flat underfoot either, confirmed by filling the base of the boot with water.  So I'd be wanting to get them flatter underfoot, but with my high-volume feet there is less room to add material under the sole of the foot, so that might leave removal of shell material underfoot as the only alternative (grinding the plastic vanes that make up the 'footbed' of the shell), which I have to say is daunting.  If they had a removable bootboard this would be a non-issue. They do come with a spring system, which seems like value added, and indeed may be, but I get the impression that most people end up doing spring mods anyway, which may include replacing the spring system entirely (true?).  I will say they're a beautifully crafted boot that I would love to use, but right now it is feeling like an uphill battle to make them fit and function the way I want, and it's annoying to battle a design I don't even want (heel-over-heel) with lifts and lean and possibly canting just to deal with that 'feature'.  By contrast I can take an old pair of ski boots and make them fit beautifully and carve decently with just a bit of toe and heel shim in the bindings. So if snowboard boots were shaped like plain old alpine ski boots instead of weird high-heel shoes with a mid-tarsal inflection I'd be all set, ha. 

The Deeluxe 700s are also an impressively constructed boot.  They feel like they have a wider, flatter fit, and they have less ramp. They're sitting here new with tags and thermo liners, but as far as I can glean from the forums, they're clearly not for everyone, particularly for freecarve vs racing.  So for a noob to modern equipment, that seems like an iffy starting point for my first pair of snowboard-specific hardboots.  I could spend a lot of time making them fit and putting springs on them and then end up asking "why did I put so much effort into these asymmetric racing boots, just to do all-mountain recreational freecarving at a busy resort with highly varied snow conditions/terrain?". 

So I was looking at the old Head boots and thinking: low internal ramp, removable heel for intec, wide fit...  But on the other hand aren't they an earlier version of Deeluxe 325 or something?  So perhaps best bet is to go with Deeluxe, but not the 700s? 

And yeah, I looked at Mountain Slope .951 and Korean S5's, they look fantastic, like super fantastic, but jeez, I'm all excited to try my shiny new step-in bindings and not have to fasten a toe bail while sliding on ice or during traverses anymore!  

Thanks for reading, any input appreciated!  

Edited February 20, 2022 by Eastsiiiide

[Mr.E]

Head and Raichle developed concurrently, but separately. Raichle became Deeluxe. Both the 3xx series and 700's were produced under Raichle then evolved into the current offerings. 

At the end of the day, it's likely you are going to have to pull the trigger on the best starting point and then spend some time with a fitter or tinkering. A good fit is generally going to trump the intricacies of how these differ and the product features. If you can get a good heal hold and then punch to fit, odds are good you can make them work for you.