MS .951 shell work

[Jarcode]

Has anyone punched out their .951s? I just got a pair of these boots and instantly fell in love with the heel lock and extremely supportive cuff. Unfortunately my feet are quite wide and will need at least my rear foot punched out around my small tailor's bunion, was a problem in my 700Ts and I fully expected to run into the same issue in these boots. Just want to make sure there isn't anything too special about the plastic before I give the green light for a fitter to start punching out these very expensive boots.

Tagging @MountainSlope in case they have any input on working with the shells (RD130).

[Mr.E]

They are Grilamid, which is fairly common these days in ski boots. If you have a tech who is used to this material you shouldn't have any problems.

[MountainSlope]

20 hours ago, Jarcode said:

Has anyone punched out their .951s? I just got a pair of these boots and instantly fell in love with the heel lock and extremely supportive cuff. Unfortunately my feet are quite wide and will need at least my rear foot punched out around my small tailor's bunion, was a problem in my 700Ts and I fully expected to run into the same issue in these boots. Just want to make sure there isn't anything too special about the plastic before I give the green light for a fitter to start punching out these very expensive boots.

Tagging @MountainSlope in case they have any input on working with the shells (RD130).

Hi Jarcode, thanks for your message. Mr. E is correct. Our boots are Grilamid. Which shell size do you have? How wide are your feet? We suggest you stand in the shells without any liner. Are your feet too wide just standing in the shells? If not, then it would be better to work with a thinner liner before strething or milling the shells. If your feet are too wide, have you tried one shell size larger? Hope this helps.

[Jarcode]

6 hours ago, MountainSlope said:

Hi Jarcode, thanks for your message. Mr. E is correct. Our boots are Grilamid. Which shell size do you have? How wide are your feet? We suggest you stand in the shells without any liner. Are your feet too wide just standing in the shells? If not, then it would be better to work with a thinner liner before strething or milling the shells. If your feet are too wide, have you tried one shell size larger? Hope this helps.

I ended up taking the boot to an experienced fitter, and left them with the right boot for immediate shell work. They recognized the plastic immediately.

The typical "foot in shell" test reveals typical clearance behind the heel for sizing, but some significant width constraints.

Due to the size of my tailor's bunion on my right foot it was immediately apparent a punch was needed. Sizing wise they had no concerns considering how well my left foot fit. If I went a size up I would probably encounter issues elsewhere because the rest of my foot fits perfectly. I'm returning later to deal with other requests I had (heel lifts, potential liner replacement), and will hopefully be riding with the boot next weekend.

Aside from the above fitting woes, the heel hold in these boots is an extreme improvement over my 700Ts, which is exactly what I wanted when I pulled the trigger on ordering the .951s.

[Carvin' Marvin]

I was in the same boat as you. Perfect boot fit everywhere except for severe pain over tailors bunion. The shell needed expanded right where the latch hardware is. I did it myself via a little grinding then I made this reverse screw shoehorn thing and used a heat gun for heat. It has held for at least 10 days. Probably not the smartest move doing it myself but I’m dumb and like to take chances. 

[Jarcode]

@Carvin' Marvin good to hear. I might have to do two punches though, will be attempting to ride with only the right boot punched once along the entire fifth metatarsal this saturday. In my 700Ts I only ever had pain in my right foot, so I held off on the left for now. I'm also going to make another attempt to use a footbed to prevent any foot pronation in the boot.

Part of my problem is also the high forward lean I opt for in my rear (right) foot. On my 700Ts I actually installed a heel lift inside of the boot so I could use more forward lean without straining my ankle... but that setup likely applies even more pressure to the front of the foot.

[lordmetroland]

2 hours ago, Carvin' Marvin said:

I’m dumb and like to take chances. 

The credo of all the funnest snowboarders in history.

[big mario]

23 minutes ago, lordmetroland said:

The credo of all the funnest snowboarders in history.

I think I know that guy

 

 

 

I might actually be that guy

Mario

[SunSurfer]

9 hours ago, Jarcode said:

@Carvin' Marvin

Part of my problem is also the high forward lean I opt for in my rear (right) foot. On my 700Ts I actually installed a heel lift inside of the boot so I could use more forward lean without straining my ankle... but that setup likely applies even more pressure to the front of the foot.

Binding lift could achieve the same result without having to compromise boot fit.

F2 standard wedges give about 4 degrees. Bomber TD bindings can have 6 degree cant discs. I have custom wedged the toe and heel pieces of my TD3s by an extra 3 degrees as part of experiments with 9 degrees of rear boot heel lift, and for combos of lift and cant for skwal riding.

[Jarcode]

2 hours ago, SunSurfer said:

Binding lift could achieve the same result without having to compromise boot fit.

F2 standard wedges give about 4 degrees. Bomber TD bindings can have 6 degree cant discs. I have custom wedged the toe and heel pieces of my TD3s by an extra 3 degrees as part of experiments with 9 degrees of rear boot heel lift, and for combos of lift and cant for skwal riding.

I'm already running the standard heel lifts in my F2s. I just like to have my rear leg quite bent at higher binding angles... I can go with less forward lean but I feel like it compromises how aggressive I can ride.

Installing heel lift in my 700Ts was also beneficial for my boot fit because the heel hold in that shell is pretty bad on its own. With the .951s I will be attempting to use smaller lifts (and perhaps just one in the right boot).

[pow4ever]

same here; I ride with tons of forward lean; heel lift on the rear (t700) for a long long time.
draw back - shin bang city.  It take me a long time to buckle the rear boot so it's just right but after 2,3 runs the tongue moved and it's back to square one (plus i need to have the top buckles real tight). 

Too many variable == same input; different result.  Bad for progress.

At the end of this season; i backed off the forward lean and just let the laterally stiffness of 951 do all the work and able to achieve similar/better result.  Now i can ride with the top buckle fairly loose(supportive but not cutting off circulation).
IOW instead drive using shin; now i drive more from the feet (lower) and it's much more consistent for me.

YMMV.  

 

 

 

[Jarcode]

Boot fitter just did a small-ish punch on my right boot at the bunion instead of the entire metatarsal, alleviated the immediate crushing but did not provide enough space overall. I will need it punched under the toe buckle which could pose some issues re-mounting it afterwards... and also on the left foot as well.

I added footbeds for the first time in a while, which actually helped the fit in the rear foot. On my left it caused a bunch of pain, and had to be removed on the snow immediately. My rear foot also had a small heel lift installed in the shell, but I might remove that later.

I did attempt to ride with the boot, holy hell are the yellow springs soft. Coming from locked T700s, the flex is insane. The .951s also have a very tight and supportive cuff. Fit around the instep is phenomenal.

Could only do two runs before switching back to the 700Ts. I need to adjust to using footbeds in my usual footwear and inline skates before using them in my snowboard boots, and the .951s feel terrible without footbeds. I also need to adjust to using springs... I installed the BTS kit on my 700Ts so we'll see how that goes too.

The liners are also quite hard and uncomfortable. I'm definitely going to look to replace these things.