Looking to find the Lowest Volume 100-110 Flex Race Boot

[Philpug]

Buy a back up pair. Now.

 

[AmyPJ]

Buy a back up pair. Now.

Are they changing? I had a hell of a time finding this pair.

 

[James]

^ I just asked that in a Ouija board session. I got a “yes”.

 

[KingGrump]

Are they changing? I had a hell of a time finding this pair.

They are good for about 250 days. By then something newer and improver will come along.

BTW, I have a turn of the century stone bridge i lower Manhattan up for sale. Would be a perfect fit for you.

 

[Andy Mink]

They are good for about 250 days. By then something newer and improver will come along.

BTW, I have a turn of the century stone bridge i lower Manhattan up for sale. Would be a perfect fit for you.

Which century?

 

[KingGrump]

Which century?

Does it matter?

 

[Andy Mink]

Does it matter?

If I'm going to buy a bridge, you bet!

 

[KingGrump]

If I'm going to buy a bridge, you bet!

Don't believe that question will come up If one is naive to buy a bridge. It's a beauty though.

 

[Triplet]

@AmyPJ , what liner are you using in the STI ?

 

[AmyPJ]

@AmyPJ , what liner are you using in the STI ?

Stock at the moment. First time I've skied in a new boot and haven't felt it getting sloppy after about 5 days.

 

[ScottB]

So yeah, I'm kind of LOVING THESE BOOTS! The more I ski them, the happier I am and the more I realize how hamstrung I have been all these years by shells that were just too big. The lack of the "windshield wiper" movement of my foot inside the boot is really confidence inspiring, and I think I can put into play so much of what I've learned over the years that used to just frustrate the crap out of me because I had so much foot movement inside the boot.

One issue I've had all along but I am even more aware of it now since everything else feels so solid, is the tail on my left ski is washing out and is making skiing crud a real bear.

First off, glad to hear you finally have boots that fit your feet reasonably well. As someone with narrow feet I can relate to your trials.

Next piece of advise is always blame your skis first, not your skills. For sure, rule your skis out as the problem before questioning yourself. The first suggestion I can make is switch skis on your feet and is the problem the same? Both skis or just one could have bad tunes. Next, get your skis tuned properly, which is not always easy to do unless you know a good shop. Do not believe what the shop tells you, get a true bar and inspect the bottoms yourself. I posted how to measure base bevels, check this yourself to make sure. Tail wash out is typically a base bevel issue, or lack of transferring weight from tip to tail as you complete the turn. Its very ski dependent as some skis don't care, other do. I have a pair of Blizzard Brahmas that require the weight shift, most of my skis do care much.

If you really know the skis have a good tune, OK, then you have a knowledgeable person watch you ski and evaluate you. You know what the steps are to address technique, so I won't get into it.

One example I will relate is about a couple I occasionally ski with. The wife (who's an instructor) kept telling her husband his skiing was off. It was, but the cause was his skis weren't gripping well, and when they slipped it kept throwing him off balance. She couldn't explain what was happening. As a Clyde, my skis loose grip often, so I am used to it, and very sensitive to it. I could see he just wasn't anticipating the grip being lost and reacting late to it. We talked and he realized what was going on (and got his skis tuned) and problem solved. He just had to adjust and anticipate it, it wasn't even really bad technique, just awareness of what was happening.

 

[AmyPJ]

First off, glad to hear you finally have boots that fit your feet reasonably well. As someone with narrow feet I can relate to your trials.

Next piece of advise is always blame your skis first, not your skills. For sure, rule your skis out as the problem before questioning yourself. The first suggestion I can make is switch skis on your feet and is the problem the same? Both skis or just one could have bad tunes. Next, get your skis tuned properly, which is not always easy to do unless you know a good shop. Do not believe what the shop tells you, get a true bar and inspect the bottoms yourself. I posted how to measure base bevels, check this yourself to make sure. Tail wash out is typically a base bevel issue, or lack of transferring weight from tip to tail as you complete the turn. Its very ski dependent as some skis don't care, other do. I have a pair of Blizzard Brahmas that require the weight shift, most of my skis do care much.

If you really know the skis have a good tune, OK, then you have a knowledgeable person watch you ski and evaluate you. You know what the steps are to address technique, so I won't get into it.

One example I will relate is about a couple I occasionally ski with. The wife (who's an instructor) kept telling her husband his skiing was off. It was, but the cause was his skis weren't gripping well, and when they slipped it kept throwing him off balance. She couldn't explain what was happening. As a Clyde, my skis loose grip often, so I am used to it, and very sensitive to it. I could see he just wasn't anticipating the grip being lost and reacting late to it. We talked and he realized what was going on (and got his skis tuned) and problem solved. He just had to adjust and anticipate it, it wasn't even really bad technique, just awareness of what was happening.

Thank you, Scott. It's definitely the Indian in this case--my husband has been tuning skis professionally using for 25 years, and let me tell you, I know when there is a tune issue or even when they are due for a fresh grind and edge work. The pair I have been skiing the most haven't been tuned but felt great from day one and have a nice structure on them. I never pay attention to which ski is on which foot. I have been playing around with some upper body bad habits I have (rotating my body left on left turns, left arm drops behind) and that seems to be the main issue. We've had a nice string of bluebird days where the groomers were primo, which gave me the opportunity to really drill some new movement patterns into my brain. The boots sure make skiing a lot easier and WAY more fun!

 

[ScottB]

This video just came out, would have been nice to listen to it before trying to find a narrow low volume boot. The guest speaker seems to really know his stuff and has a lot of experience to back it up.


The Redster Club Sport and STI boots are mentioned.

 

[AmyPJ]

This video just came out, would have been nice to listen to it before trying to find a narrow low volume boot. The guest speaker seems to really know his stuff and has a lot of experience to back it up.


The Redster Club Sport and STI boots are mentioned.

Can’t wait to watch this!
I’m still thrilled with my boots.

 

[AmyPJ]

This video just came out, would have been nice to listen to it before trying to find a narrow low volume boot. The guest speaker seems to really know his stuff and has a lot of experience to back it up.


The Redster Club Sport and STI boots are mentioned.

Ok, since I didn't brave the madness on the mountain today, I watched this video and damn, they should have had me as a special guest! The funny thing is, I've had to figure most of this stuff out on my own; "shin contact doesn't feel right; I'm pitched forward; I'm standing too tall" etc. but it was all overshadowed by being in a shell that was too big.

I still have some alignment issues (lateral) that get into my head at times, but I'm working on changing things up because I'm pretty sure a lot of the issues come from so many years of defensive skiing. Some of them might be easily addressed with moving the cuffs, I just need to experiment.

The issue with the tail on the left ski washing out seems to be sorting itself out as I work on not rushing my right turns, so that was primarily a technique issue. It's been really fun to feel the changes that have occurred by skiing in boots that are such a snug fit. I keep pulling stuff out of the "filing cabinet of tidbits" that my husband has filled over the past few years. He would get frustrated with me because he thought I ignored him or wasn't taking his advice, but all the coaching or lessons in the world can't make up for ill-fitting boots.

 

[AmyPJ]

@KingGrump, talk to me about boots too stiff and issues in crud and powder.
I haven't had these boots in much powder until today. I've been doing pretty well in powder as of late, but holy moly, I couldn't flex my ankles today. Not sure if it was the depth (it was thigh deep in spots) or what. Trying to decide if I should soften the boots a tad.

 

[KingGrump]

@KingGrump, talk to me about boots too stiff and issues in crud and powder.
I haven't had these boots in much powder until today. I've been doing pretty well in powder as of late, but holy moly, I couldn't flex my ankles today. Not sure if it was the depth (it was thigh deep in spots) or what. Trying to decide if I should soften the boots a tad.

If you do not have issue with the flex of the boot on everyday skiing, most likely the issue lies in your powder technique.
Powder does not provide the solid platform you are accustomed to on firmer snow. The usual solid platform we are accustomed to push against with the bottom of our feet to close the ankle is not there.
In powder, I like to ski a more 3D turn than on firmer snow. The 3D turn shape will provide more resistant from the ski/snow interface and provide the necessary force to help close the ankle.
Altering the positional relationship between hip and ankle will also help with the 3D movement of the ski. Deb Armstrong's video on the hip positioning is simple and to the point.

Took a pic from the net to show the path of a 3D turn.

 

[AmyPJ]

If you do not have issue with the flex of the boot on everyday skiing, most likely the issue lies in your powder technique.
Powder does not provide the solid platform you are accustomed to on firmer snow. The usual solid platform we are accustomed to push against with the bottom of our feet to close the ankle is not there.
In powder, I like to ski a more 3D turn than on firmer snow. The 3D turn shape will provide more resistant from the ski/snow interface and provide the necessary force to help close the ankle.
Altering the positional relationship between hip and ankle will also help with the 3D movement of the ski. Deb Armstrong's video on the hip positioning is simple and to the point.

Took a pic from the net to show the path of a 3D turn.
View attachment 193645

Makes total sense about the lack of platform to push against. The visual does not work for my brain but most of Deb’s videos do so I’ll watch that. I was pretty frustrated today!

 

[KingGrump]

Makes total sense about the lack of platform to push against. The visual does not work for my brain but most of Deb’s videos do so I’ll watch that. I was pretty frustrated today!

You are in an enviable position of having a bunch of really good skier around you. Go skiing with them. Mileage and a little advice goes a long way.

Have fun and enjoy the journey.

 

[AmyPJ]

You are in an enviable position of having a bunch of really good skier around you. Go skiing with them. Mileage and a little advice goes a long way.

Have fun and enjoy the journey.

It's getting them on a powder day that's hard. Which, truthfully, days like yesterday and today haven't happened in several years.