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The Atomic Professional Series

Skeeze

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Appreciate the link, but it shows “not available on atomic.com” for me
 

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ScottB

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I didn't notice that, does the same thing to me. I guess you have to make arrangements with a store. I bought mine through a local store, I have not received it yet, but hopefully soon. With COVID, who knows and I am not going to blame Atomic if delayed.
 

ScottB

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@onenerdykid, I will be looking for new ski boots this year for my wife. See is currently in 2013 Lange RX100 womens boot, size 27.5, not LV, so 100mm last. They have never fit her really well, loose in the heel, her heel lifts, and hard for her to buckle properly (some need to be super tight and others loose, I actually have to buckle her boots for her). (insert joke about Love and a good bootfitter means never having to buckle your wife's boots again) She wears a size 10.5 womens shoe and has a wide fore foot and a narrow heel. Very wide calfs, and I believe a fairly low instep. In her Langes, she has a footbed, heel lift, and I still had to add padding around her ankles to keep her heel from lifting. I assume heel lift is mostly about to high an instep in the boot and too wide a heel pocket for her feet.

We will start with a custom footbed, and I would like to get her into a new pair of Hawx boots with the re-designed shell and maybe even the new pro model. Her Langes are heavy, and she will appreciate the weight reduction of the Hawx. I would like to keep the cost down, but I feel its probably worth paying retail to have a bootfitter figure out what the best shell size and width is for her. I'd like to have a game plan to start with, and I am thinking she might need a Ultra shell (either men or woman's) that is heat molded to stretch the fore foot to give her enough width. With her heel lifting issue, a medium width might not be snug enough in the heel pocket and instep. If the Ultra is just too tight, a med. width with a professional liner might just work great, although it would be the most pricey.

Does this sound like the right approach and discuss the options early with the bootfitter as we go through the process?
 
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onenerdykid

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Hi Scott - my initial thought is for her to try on a Hawx Prime 115 W or 105 W and see how that is for a starting point. Even though the Ultra W boots have a removable cuff spoiler to gain more volume, they've got a pretty tight cuff and I fear that an Ultra won't be able to work with her calves. The Prime W boots have a more open cuff to start and also feature the removable spoiler to gain more volume if needed. See how that goes first before trying on an Ultra W. If she & the boot-fitter like how the Prime is working, then it's always possible to kick it up a notch with a Mimic Professional liner.
 

Mac-O

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So I guess that I am one of few lucky one that have both bought and fitted my Hawx Ultra 130 Professional. Did it in Åre, Sweden at @areskidsport a couple of weeks ago.
I have skied Hawx Ultra 130 (the white/red) for three season and it is going to be very interesting to experience both the new liner and the new shell.
There are still a month away before we can ski here in Åre - but I can describe how I experienced the foaming process.

The hole process took under one hour and included a switch to the low volume tounge (the white one). The foaming process was, compered to old fashion way, super easy.
And the bootfitter (Ville) was - as he described it - very calm compered to traditional foaming since more or less nothing can go wrong.
And it is not painful at all for me either. A very smooth and calm process..:). And after 24 h of hardening, I fine tuned the buckles and the liner feels like a glove and ready to ski a hole day!

I will get back with a new report when I have skied in the boots!
 

ScottB

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Thanks ONK, what you are saying makes sense. Her biggest complaint is her heel lifting. Its still happening currently in her Lange's but the extra padding I put in around her ankle last season made it tolerable for her. For years it bothered her and her skiing. What should we try if the prime allows her heel to lift? I would rather see her boot fit properly so that doesn't happen, then add a heel wedge or add on ankle padding. Can you give some feedback on instep fit in your different boots and if I am approaching this correctly? Does the Ultra have a lower (tighter) instep fit? One thought I had was the professional liner, as you mentioned, to take up volume and to add a thicker tongue to take up volume. Then there is the Club Sport 110 option, I know from personal experience the CS has a snug instep fit, its about as snug as my foot will accept without being too tight.
 

ScottB

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So I guess that I am one of few lucky one that have both bought and fitted my Hawx Ultra 130 Professional. Did it in Åre, Sweden at @areskidsport a couple of weeks ago.
I have skied Hawx Ultra 130 (the white/red) for three season and it is going to be very interesting to experience both the new liner and the new shell.

I will get back with a new report when I have skied in the boots!

Looking forward to hearing your results.
 
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onenerdykid

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Thanks ONK, what you are saying makes sense. Her biggest complaint is her heel lifting. Its still happening currently in her Lange's but the extra padding I put in around her ankle last season made it tolerable for her. For years it bothered her and her skiing. What should we try if the prime allows her heel to lift? I would rather see her boot fit properly so that doesn't happen, then add a heel wedge or add on ankle padding. Can you give some feedback on instep fit in your different boots and if I am approaching this correctly? Does the Ultra have a lower (tighter) instep fit? One thought I had was the professional liner, as you mentioned, to take up volume and to add a thicker tongue to take up volume. Then there is the Club Sport 110 option, I know from personal experience the CS has a snug instep fit, its about as snug as my foot will accept without being too tight.
As soon as you try a Prime or Ultra, I’ll bet it’s a pretty clear direction which way to go. Ultra is lower volume than Prime, in every aspect, shell & cuff. My money is on Prime + a Mimic Professional liner vs. Ultra Professional for her. But, it will honestly come down to trying both shells and seeing which one is a better match for her. I have very strong doubts that a CS would work for her.
 

Moose32

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Anyone figure out a source for the Pro dual strap that doesn't require shipping to a store? I don't live near any shops that I think can order it and given I'm not sure when they'll be in stock, would prefer to not order to a store in Tahoe...
Yep, my experience with Atomic is you have to go through a dealer for even the smallest of parts. With Lange, you call and ask for Kevin and the part ships the next day - but no such workflow with Atomic that I’ve seen.

Maybe others can point out a way to do get parts from Atomic without using a dealer.
 

Phatboy64

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I was lucky enough (with a little help) to get a pair of the new MIMIC foam liners. So, I figured I would share my experience with the foaming process and thoughts on the liners.

Me, I have been skiing for a long time and like most of you I have had experience with all different make, models, and types of ski gear over the years.

My situation going into this; I have a new 2022 Tecnica Mach 1 130 LV boot in a 26.5. The fit with the stock liner with no shell mods was as expected, very tight with some “hot” spots. Specifically, the instep, I have a high instep, and this has always been an issue with Tecnica boots for me. It was also very tight at the throat of the boot, again a common issue for me. There was also persistent pressure on what I believe is called the fifth metatarsal, the small bone on the outside of the foot about 2/3rds back.

The process; First and I think that is the most important part, started with a conversation with me and the fitter, talking about my current shell, footbed, what was working for me what wasn’t, and what I was expecting to get out of the new liner. I told him about my instep and other pressure points. Based on this conversation he felt the liner would address my concerns and no shell mods were needed at this time, but we could adjust if needed. We went on to discuss the process and what I should expect.

Next, we did a fit check with my foot in the liner and adjusted the tongue to my shin. Next was putting the toe cap on and placing a small piece of “fitting” foam on the Meta bone that I mentioned earlier. This would help create the necessary void when heating and foaming the liner. My sock went over everything.

Liners then get placed in the “oven” and heated. Once heated, feet go in the liners and then in the boot and buckled up. After about 8 min the boots come off and the fitter inspected the liner to determine if we are good to move on to the next step.

At this point, and I feel this is critical, we discuss in detail what kind of fit I am looking for. Specifical how tight of a fit I was looking for around my ankles. I was looking for a very tight fit. Knowing this helps the fitter determine how much foam to inject. There are three marks on the syringe that are based on boot sole length that the fitter uses as a general starting point.

This is very important; I was told what to expect when the foam gets injected and that it will feel very tight but not to worry.

So, feet in the liners, liners in the boots, unbuckled, we start the foaming process one boot at a time.

You can feel the foam being injected, and it felt very tight especially on the inside of my foot near the arch and around my ankles. This is were I was glad we had the conversation regarding the pressure and what to expect. If we had not, I would have told him that it feels tight and should stop. I can see how a person getting fitted not understanding this could lead to someone not getting a tight fit.

Once we reached the point that we agreed enough foam is injected the buckles were buckled and I was told to flex back and forth for about 5 min. This helps the foam move into place and fill the voids correctly.

Next, we did the second boot. Once complete I removed the liner, toe caps, fitting foam and put the liners and boots back on.

All I can say is “wow”, and I don’t mean to be corny. The fit was perfect, no instep issues, no hot spots, heal hold was nice and tight as requested. I don’t know exactly how to describe it probably because I have never had such a good fit, but I would say it feels like strong, firm, warm handshake. For me it is the perfect balance between a firm fit and comfort. No regrets, I would do this all over again. The quality and overall build of the liner is top notch.
 

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Quandary

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This is an interesting read ^^^ it should be noted that in a previous post onenerdykid outlined the process for foaming. He said that "The liner comes out of the oven, it is foamed as soon as it goes into the shell, while the Mimic material is still warm. Everything cool and hardens together".

This description clearly differs from what your boot fitter did, interesting.
 
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onenerdykid

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@Phatboy64 - thanks for sharing your experience and that the fit is everything you expected. That's awesome.

It is a little weird that they had you stand in the shell for a few minutes prior to foaming, but as long as the liner is still warm things will turn out totally fine (as you experienced). When I made the "How To" video for Mimic Professional, the boots were out of the oven for about 20 minutes before we foamed them (due to multiple takes and whatnot). The ideal and official process flow is to take the liner out of the oven and immediately foam it in the shell.
 
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Phatboy64

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I think in my case they wanted to check the the pressure point that I had on the side of my foot. But as you said the fit came out perfect…..very happy.
 

mdf

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Yep, my experience with Atomic is you have to go through a dealer for even the smallest of parts. With Lange, you call and ask for Kevin and the part ships the next day - but no such workflow with Atomic that I’ve seen.

Maybe others can point out a way to do get parts from Atomic without using a dealer.
I can understand a business decision not to undercut the dealer network.
I'm wondering if a store can order it for you and have it drop shipped to you. The normal store markup might even be enough to make it worth their while, or you might have to offer them a small handling fee.
 

ScottB

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PHatboy64,

It makes sense they wanted to check if the shell needed work before foaming due to pressure points. What I found interesting is the boots were un-buckled when adding the foam. They must have wanted to get a lot of foam in the liner without having much resistance to pushing it in. Then you buckled the boots and "squished" the foam around to shape it to the shell and your foot. As long as the foam doesn't harden immediately, it seems like it works fine. It seems like they are working against two principles in this fitting. If the boots were buckled up they could only push so much foam into the liner before it filled the shell based on how you buckled it. With the shell unbuckled, they could push as much foam as they wanted, and when you buckled it you would apply pressure to the foam that varied based on how tightly it was buckled. Seems like a neat trick to get a tighter fit than buckling the boot and pushing the foam in.

It didn't follow the official Atomic process, but I would guess this shop was experienced at foaming boots and knew what they were doing. Glad it worked out so well for you.
 
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onenerdykid

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What I found interesting is the boots were un-buckled when adding the foam. They must have wanted to get a lot of foam in the liner without having much resistance to pushing it in. Then you buckled the boots and "squished" the foam around to shape it to the shell and your foot. As long as the foam doesn't harden immediately, it seems like it works fine. It seems like they are working against two principles in this fitting. If the boots were buckled up they could only push so much foam into the liner before it filled the shell based on how you buckled it. With the shell unbuckled, they could push as much foam as they wanted, and when you buckled it you would apply pressure to the foam that varied based on how tightly it was buckled. Seems like a neat trick to get a tighter fit than buckling the boot and pushing the foam in.
Re: unbuckling vs. buckling - we do say to pump the foam in with the boots unbuckled and then close the buckles once the desired foam is pumped in. This allows the foam to enter/fill properly and then buckling the shell holds everything in place because the foam is trying to expand further and literally push the shell out. It might not come across in the French version of the "How To" video that was posted (at least for me it doesn't because my French is limited only to swear words) but it sounds like they did that as we prescribe.
 

Phatboy64

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ONK, I received the Dual Straps ( very nice quality ). I have mounted numerous Booster straps so am familiar with making holes in both the boot or the power strap to make sure they are mounted correctly. In the pictures below the boot on the left has the strap mounted with the holes that ship with the dual strap. The boot on the right I adjusted (not mounted) to better center the elastic on the strap. As you can see the boot on the left has the strap off center. I am not sure if that is by design or not. My question is is it offset by design, if not does it matter.
 

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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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ONK, I received the Dual Straps ( very nice quality ). I have mounted numerous Booster straps so am familiar with making holes in both the boot or the power strap to make sure they are mounted correctly. In the pictures below the boot on the left has the strap mounted with the holes that ship with the dual strap. The boot on the right I adjusted (not mounted) to better center the elastic on the strap. As you can see the boot on the left has the strap off center. I am not sure if that is by design or not. My question is is it offset by design, if not does it matter.
Like a Booster, you normally don't line them up fully centered, usually a little "short" of center because as you tighten them, they become centered. Is this your experience once you are in the boots?

But if they are slightly off center, it's not really an issue. They will still function properly.

I think you will enjoy tinkering with setting how active they can be vs. how direct they can be. It's a pretty cool.
 

Tom K.

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Been out of touch on this for months -- biking season!!! -- but checked in at my shop today and they think they have liners coming in. No specifics yet.

Any guesses @onenerdykid? NW MT location.

Thanks!
 

Phatboy64

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If anyone is looking for the dual strap the shop i use have a few in stock. I would be more then happily to facilitate getting someone a pair.
 

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