zoltan Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Sorry for all the boot questions, I'm trying to learn a lot in a little time. I finally found a LeMans in 27 with Thermoflex liner (if I didn't wear 27 I would have ordered it from Bomber) at the Starting Gate. Could have bought a Suzukas for what I paid. While I was talking with the guy he said that the LeMans was about as stiff as a stiff soft boot. This worries me a little since I'm already riding Malamutes, which are some of the stiffest soft boots around. Did I make a mistake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baka Dasai Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 A LeMans is way stiffer than any soft boot. Not even close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotts.Scheinman Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 arent most hard boots though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 malamutes are softer than any hard boot. Plus in hard boots your instep won't hurt from trying to crank on that stupid strap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike T Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Sorry for all the boot questions, I'm trying to learn a lot in a little time. I finally found a LeMans in 27 with Thermoflex liner (if I didn't wear 27 I would have ordered it from Bomber) at the Starting Gate. Could have bought a Suzukas for what I paid. While I was talking with the guy he said that the LeMans was about as stiff as a stiff soft boot. This worries me a little since I'm already riding Malamutes, which are some of the stiffest soft boots around. Did I make a mistake? I used to own 423's (old name for LeMans) and still have my Malamutes. On many occasions I rode the 423's in the morning and Malamutes in the afternoon, the Malamutes are certainly softer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 With soft boots, it's not so much stiffness, it's the slop. No matter how tight you lace them up, there seems to always be some foot movement. As well, there is slop in the boot/binding interface. I hear guys in shops all the time asking for the stiffest, most responsive boot/binding. I feel like taking them aside and asking - "ever heard of hard boots"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tufty Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Fouled up my back yesterday with my @%^&)@ softboot setup. Pulling my boots on in the carpark, if you can believe that. Went out for a gentle run with the #1 son anyway (after all, I already had the boots on), but only the one - I could hardly stand when I got back. Which meant that I couldn't go out on the planned full-moon snowshoe trek last night or out carving today. Instead I'm stuck in the house drugged up to the eyeballs. And there's the rub. My 'soft' boots are rigid (K2 clicker boots) enough to be a total arse to put on, but so floppy on the piste that you still have no control. My Raichles are easy to put on, no 'heaving' required, and give lots of control on the piste. And if you want them floppy, you could always not buckle them up :) I've tried a lot of soft combos, and I've never found any that are rigid enough on the piste. And I've never found a hardboot that I had to pull a frickin' muscle to put on. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jschal01 Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Depends which year's Malamutes, maybe 6-7 years ago they were REALLY stiff, they've since softened them up a little. There are now significantly stiffer softboots out there, though the flex pattern is going to be different from a softer hardboot. A lot of the poeple asking for the stiffest soft boots/bindings in shops simply view them as a premium item. Burton's C-whatever, for instance (C60 gets to be pretty funny), is too responsive for a lot of uses and a lot of riders (great binding for its intended use though), but a lot of people want it anyway. A lot of people here seem to have some truly serious fit issues with softboots. Softboots are different in terms of use and feel, and I do not advocate trying to use them to replicate what you get out of hardboots -- in fact, for most people on here the stiffest softboot in a co's line will not be the best for them -- but...: while it is easier to heatgun plastic than stretch leather, if you buy them the right size and with a last that fits the overall shape of your foot, you should not be getting slop from your soft boots. You can stretch the leather/synthetic with enough effort to accomodate specific hot points, etc., find someone with a press, heatgun & steam. If you have significant slop, that is more a boot fit issue than an equipment choice issue. For people with foot shapes that are very difficult to fit, you can do more things with plastic at the margin, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Who at the startingate told you that? It certainly wasn't Alan...He is their snowboard boot guy. Maybe Gary? ________ HONDA GL650 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoltan Posted January 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Nuh uh, I'm not telling. I'm not going to get anyone in trouble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 Well I have a softboot setup I've made quite stiff. Out of the box they are never as stiff as a hardboot. Meaning actually I get less forward lean on my softies than on my hardboots however every boot has it's own advantages: For my raceboards I will always use a hardboot For carving on my Softboard my setup is a Proflex Boardercross Binding (never sold to the public) with a Burton DriverX which has two straps added to it so its not sloppy anymore and a Powerstrap at the top working as 3. Strap. This is bombroof. Stiffer in the forward flex than my hardboots (AF600), but softer to the sides. However this is not comfy at all. If I had a hardboot/binding setup with softboot like side flex I would directly get out of them and use plates and hardboots for everything. But at the moment I don't like using hardboots with lower angles than 40°/30°. I'm trying to build myself a very stiff tongue for my softboots so that I won't need the Powerstrap anymore. Goot something in my mind and will try it out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Posted January 17, 2006 Report Share Posted January 17, 2006 I bought a soft boot setup at the end of the season last year. The boots were supposed to be quite "stiff" and the bindings were "top of the line" Salomons. You wanna know how many times I've ridden them? You guessed it...a grand total of once! The one and only advantage those boots have over my Raichles is when I'm walking across the parking lot! They are a royal pain in my arse when putting them on what with all the double lacing and crap. Of course that's after spending twenty minutes untangling them in the first place. The straps on the bindings have to be so friggen tight that they cut off any chance of blood reacing your toes! Even when they are tight you still don't have anywhere near the control of hard boots. Frankly my Raichles felt like a pair of sneakers in comparison and I can put them on in half the time. Let's not even talk about getting the boots in and out of the bindings prior to riding. Step-ins they're not! My days of sitting around on my arse or even bending over to strap in, for that matter, are over! I'm planning on taking them off the Prior Khyber and running Bombers with HARD boots in the walk mode. Miguel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I have been thinking about ways to make a stiff soft boot set-up and it just dawned on me last night that "Roller Blades" used to be all hard boot style but now are mostly a soft boot with a funky plastic supporting binding. Have snowboard bindings ever experimented with this style of binding set-up? Is there any reason that it wouldn`t work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I have been thinking about ways to make a stiff soft boot set-up and it just dawned on me last night that "Roller Blades" used to be all hard boot style but now are mostly a soft boot with a funky plastic supporting binding.Have snowboard bindings ever experimented with this style of binding set-up? Is there any reason that it wouldn`t work? Well many soft step in systems were made very similar. Stiff plastic bottom including stiff highback and then the rest made soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PetePulliam Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I have been thinking about ways to make a stiff soft boot set-up and it just dawned on me last night that "Roller Blades" used to be all hard boot style but now are mostly a soft boot with a funky plastic supporting binding.Have snowboard bindings ever experimented with this style of binding set-up? Is there any reason that it wouldn`t work? My first favorite boot was a 'K2 remote' It was a stiff soft boot with a plastic spine as an exoskeleton on the back. There was a compression strap on the top that glued your shin to the plastic spine, and the plastic connected to the clicker binding in the bottom of the boot. It was a lot like the modern highback bindings, but having the hard plastic spine worked into the boot gave it a superior feel. (IMO, YMMV) By my recollection, K2 sold those for only two years, and that was quite a while ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfinsmiley Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 My first favorite boot was a 'K2 remote' It was a stiff soft boot with a plastic spine as an exoskeleton on the back. There was a compression strap on the top that glued your shin to the plastic spine, and the plastic connected to the clicker binding in the bottom of the boot. It was a lot like the modern highback bindings, but having the hard plastic spine worked into the boot gave it a superior feel. (IMO, YMMV) By my recollection, K2 sold those for only two years, and that was quite a while ago. Yeah Yeah, that`s the style I`m thinking about. They seemed to work well for roller blades I wonder why they never hit the snowboard market with something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Oh I think I still have a pair of these at home. (actually two pairs as one is from my sister). They were produced at Marker. However I don't think they were that stiff - but they fitted very well and had a relatively short sole. Did your one also have that stepin binding with the big lever which looked a bit similar to the heel piece of a ski binding? the boot had two big metall rods into which the binding cklicked in. However I hated the binding as if it was around the freezing temperature it would clog up with snow. I always needed to ask skiers for their sticks to hammer the snow out. The color was ugly. Dark Green binders and light brown/dark green shoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadoken Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 the reason why the super 'stiff' soft boot never caught on was that people didn't like them. Companies that used to make these boots saw little demand and I can somewhat see why. If I was riding close to 0/0 in all conditions including pipe and terrain park, I don't think I would want a super stiff setup as well. For the curious, the stiffest bad-ass softboot I have ever seen is the Nitro Mirage clicker boot. I currently have the Nitro Clicker Aura which is slightly less stiff but not by much. There were quite a few Clicker boots that were on the stiff side and it's a shame they went by the wayside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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