The Atomic Professional Series

[ScottB]

Compared to the Langes I came out of, the Atomics do have a narrower toe box, but I have narrow feet, so I am good. Ditto KingGrump

 

[Tom K.]

Without reading through 36 pages, is the Dual Strap available in the aftermarket yet?

Since late-ish last season in the western US.

 

[Jeronimo]

Welp, I did it. Took the plunge on Saturday to get into a pair of Hawx 130 Pro's. I've never felt this level of heel hold and performance in a boot before. 10/10.

That fitting process was something else though, jeez. For anyone else that gets an Atomic Professional Liner... trust the fitter when they are pushing the poly into your liner. I freaked and thought it was going to be too tight, little did I realize that once I was actually BUCKLED, all that material he had just pressed into the liner move around nice an evenly. I could have had him press one more click in. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

 

[JCF]

Where did you get those fitted ?

 

[Jeronimo]

Where did you get those fitted ?

I found two places. There's a guy at Rodgers in Lincoln, NH who knows how to do it, but I avoided him because he came across as smug and didn't listen to much of my feedback. Money down I'm sure he would have done a fine job fitting them. Ultimately though, I ended up calling up Ken Jones Ski Mart in Manchester, NH and spoke to a guy named Anders there. He was the candidate they sent to the 8 hour Atomic clinic on how to fit the professional liner. At first I thought he was a little aloof and I had some doubts, but he undeniably knew what he was doing. He listened to my feedback (perhaps a little too well) which calmed me down because I had read so much here that I kinda knew what to expect going into it. It always throws salesmen off when I know more about their product than they do

 

[Rudi Riet]

I found two places. There's a guy at Rodgers in Lincoln, NH who knows how to do it, but I avoided him because he came across as smug and didn't listen to much of my feedback. Money down I'm sure he would have done a fine job fitting them.

The folks at Rodgers are definitely great fitters (I've used them before, great work done in a timely manner) but they're super accustomed to dealing with brash young FIS and academy racers (read: lots of ego run amok) and at this point in the year they're definitely on the burned out side. But I trust them and they do listen - you just need to meet in the middle and go from there.

 

[Brad J]

I had a great experience with Rodgers two weeks ago . His name was John , good guy , very professional. Boots fit and ski great

 

[ScottB]

I had just the opposite experience with John and will never go back to Rodgers again. To each his own. To be fair he was the only one I dealt with and swen (I think) was the person recommended to me

 

[Jeronimo]

I had a great experience with Rodgers two weeks ago . His name was John , good guy , very professional. Boots fit and ski great

I had just the opposite experience with John and will never go back to Rodgers again. To each his own. To be fair he was the only one I dealt with and swen (I think) was the person recommended to me

Neither one of these reply's surprise me.

 

[charlier]

@onenerdykid
Two questions - way too many pages to read.
(1) what are the differences between the ‘22-23 and ‘23-24 models for the ultra 130 professional model. I can order 2022-2023 boots - not out of stock.
(2) can I slightly soften tbe boot by removing a rear screw, or will I have to remove the cuff and slightly shave/dremel the saddles.

I weigh 140–145 lbs and packed out my 2022 Hawx Ultra 130 boot in less than two seasons. My feet measure 26.7 and 26.8, width, 92 and 95mm.

 

[onenerdykid]

@onenerdykid
Two questions - way too many pages to read.
(1) what are the differences between the ‘22-23 and ‘23-24 models for the ultra 130 professional model. I can order 2022-2023 boots - not out of stock.
(2) can I slightly soften tbe boot by removing a rear screw, or will I have to remove the cuff and slightly shave/dremel the saddles.

I weigh 140–145 lbs and packed out my 2022 Hawx Ultra 130 boot in less than two seasons. My feet measure 26.7 and 26.8, width, 92 and 95mm.

1. There is no complete Professional boot for the 23/24 season- the demand is simply not there, mainly because most people want a different flex than a 130. We will continue to offer Professional Dual Straps and Mimic Professional liners on their own for you to upgrade the boot of your choosing.

2. You can slightly soften the 130 by pulling out the top screw, but it won't turn a boot that is too stiff into the correct flex. It just changes the "off the top feel" of the flex pattern. To truly soften a boot, you need to soften the lower shell.

3. It sounds like you should keep your 2022 Hawx Ultra 130 and just get the aftermarket Professional Dual Strap and Mimic Professional liners, or switch to something lower volume like a Redster CS.

 

[charlier]

1. There is no complete Professional boot for the 23/24 season- the demand is simply not there, mainly because most people want a different flex than a 130. We will continue to offer Professional Dual Straps and Mimic Professional liners on their own for you to upgrade the boot of your choosing.

2. You can slightly soften the 130 by pulling out the top screw, but it won't turn a boot that is too stiff into the correct flex. It just changes the "off the top feel" of the flex pattern. To truly soften a boot, you need to soften the lower shell.

3. It sounds like you should keep your 2022 Hawx Ultra 130 and just get the aftermarket Professional Dual Strap and Mimic Professional liners, or switch to something lower volume like a Redster CS.

@onenerdykid thanks for the thoughtful response. Good call on a Redster CS (130) - these boots fit perfectly without modification. I would probably purchase the softer 110, although sourcing grip-walk soles are not easy. I still might try on 2023 Ultra 130 professional model, size 25.5, and look carefully at the shell fit. With super narrow lower legs, I have used booster straps for many years.

 

[Plztrzaindd]

Here's my report on the Zipfit Gara after skiing them for approximately six days.
Realistically the Gara is a bit too high volume for the redster if you're in a tight fit, particularly in the heel area where there isn't much cork, just the 'leather' behind the heel is probably a bit too thick. It's also difficult to get full closure on the shell, at least right out of the box. I went from 3-4 notches tight on the buckles, to the loosest buckle with the micro adjust all the way out. The zip fits are substantially stiffer than the professional liners and not entirely in a great way. On a cold day they are absurdly stiff and really take away from the suspension of the boot. On a warm day, high 20's through 40's they are a significant improvement. With the professional liners the boots become very soft on warm days. To me they feel more like a 115 or 120 flex on a 35 degree day and the fit becomes much less precise. Once I was able to ski the zipfits on a warm spring day, they became 100x more comfortable and I got the desired stiffness and fit precision. I really hope that this translates to when temps drop again. I was also able to start tightening the buckles more as temps increased and the liners broke in more.

I did add 1 tube of cork to the tongues, I think they could use a bit more in the tongues as well as some in the outer ankle area. I pronate quite a lot so this might not be an issue for everyone. Overall they are a significant improvement in terms of precision despite some draw backs with the stiffness on cold days. I'm hoping this improves over time. I believe that the difference in precision is partly due to the professional liner packing out a fair amount but I'm unable to verify this because I can't remember 100% how precise they felt on day one. For reference I only have about 60 days on the professional liners.

Overall I would only recommend the zipfits to people who have plenty of skier days each season due to the pretty intense and time consuming fitting process. There were basically 4 'wasted' ski days of faffing and pain. I think this could be even longer if you are skiing in colder conditions. I heated the liners before skiing once, if you're able to do this every day you might be able to have more success.

 

[AnonymousSkier767]

@onenerdykid Was there a supply chain thing where all the Pro boots this year only got the "S" size dual strap? You said in another post that 26.5 and above got "M" but my 26.5 and even a 27.5 pair that GregL was gracious enough to unbox had "S" installed on it. Also no keeper bit for the extra strap length?

This was where the "S" buckle hit on my boot and it felt like it could scootch a bit more over into the notch in the plastic.

(also shoutout for your unlisted video showing how you wear this strap. I was struggling trying to figure out what the "theory" is because I couldn't find anywhere demonstrating it, and all the reviews and promo stuff don't show much. "how am I supposed to tuck it under the plastic overlap if it's so short? put it over everything like a power strap? how does the elastic help if it's on top of the shell?") I'm still questioning a bit if I'm supposed to leave the top buckle somewhat loose to let the strap do more work.

 

[onenerdykid]

@onenerdykid Was there a supply chain thing where all the Pro boots this year only got the "S" size dual strap? You said in another post that 26.5 and above got "M" but my 26.5 and even a 27.5 pair that GregL was gracious enough to unbox had "S" installed on it. Also no keeper bit for the extra strap length?

This was where the "S" buckle hit on my boot and it felt like it could scootch a bit more over into the notch in the plastic.

(also shoutout for your unlisted video showing how you wear this strap. I was struggling trying to figure out what the "theory" is because I couldn't find anywhere demonstrating it, and all the reviews and promo stuff don't show much. "how am I supposed to tuck it under the plastic overlap if it's so short? put it over everything like a power strap? how does the elastic help if it's on top of the shell?") I'm still questioning a bit if I'm supposed to leave the top buckle somewhat loose to let the strap do more work.

Just the first few pairs back in 21/22 were made with the "S" length, the vast majority of serial production got the correct lengths. Any straps made in the 22/23 season will have two sets (4 total) of holes per size, so straps are S/M and M/L. Like Booster straps, you can always create your own mounting holes that make sense for your specific leg shape. The elastic/velcro portion of the strap should be roughly centered on the tongue/center of the cuff- that's your gauge for proper positioning, not where the cam buckle rests. The elastic loop in the back is only there to keep the boot looking pretty on a retail wall, they usually come off once people start trying the boot on and using it. If you were to always thread the strap's tail into this loop after tightening it, it would be very annoying to make adjustments on strap tension.

1. undo the velcro completely.
2. thread the tail of the strap through the cam buckle & tighten things down. The elastic strap/cam setting should always be tight.
3. experiment with the velcro strap tightness. Tighter velcro = less suspension & damping and a more direct/responsive feel. Looser velcro = increased suspension & damping and a more forgiving feel.

 

[AnonymousSkier767]

Just the first few pairs back in 21/22 were made with the "S" length, the vast majority of serial production got the correct lengths. Any straps made in the 22/23 season will have two sets (4 total) of holes per size, so straps are S/M and M/L. Like Booster straps, you can always create your own mounting holes that make sense for your specific leg shape. The elastic/velcro portion of the strap should be roughly centered on the tongue/center of the cuff- that's your gauge for proper positioning, not where the cam buckle rests. The elastic loop in the back is only there to keep the boot looking pretty on a retail wall, they usually come off once people start trying the boot on and using it. If you were to always thread the strap's tail into this loop after tightening it, it would be very annoying to make adjustments on strap tension.

1. undo the velcro completely.
2. thread the tail of the strap through the cam buckle & tighten things down. The elastic strap/cam setting should always be tight.
3. experiment with the velcro strap tightness. Tighter velcro = less suspension & damping and a more direct/responsive feel. Looser velcro = increased suspension & damping and a more forgiving feel.

Weird...maybe Evo is still working through 21/22 stock and labelling it as 2023, because I'm not seeing the 4 hole sets (I found this guy's photo that shows a dual pro strap with 4 holes). I definitely got a "S" on 26.5 (and GregL checked a 27.5 also with S) and I don't see 4 holes unless they're hiding:

(edit just unscrewed the strap

This was where I got with the fitment after cranking the elastic down enough to flatten out the "Professional" lower strap (the earlier photo with the buckle was taken 5 seconds after this photo):

Eyeball guestimate does it look ok? The "end game" is how 'outraged' I should be in getting a M strap in the upcoming season unless this one looks good enough.

 

[KingGrump]

Eyeball guestimate does it look ok? The "end game" is how 'outraged' I should be in getting a M strap in the upcoming season unless this one looks good enough.

IMO, close enough.

Do you feel things can be improved with moving the strap over 1/2" or so? If so, move it. Doubt it will impact your skiing much though.

 

[Tony Storaro]

IMO, close enough.

Do you feel things can be improved with moving the strap over 1/2" or so? If so, move it. Doubt it will impact your skiing much though.

Agreed. But in my eyes this looks a bit short. Not unskiable but not perfect.At least from this point of view.

Can we have more pics?

 

[ScottB]

I would leave it where it is. It is about 1/2" off center, but since it stretches (both when tightening and when flexing) it will still work fine as long as the dual portion is mostly on the front of the boot. I don't think you have any room to re-center the strap, the holes will be off the web on the left most hole (looking at top picture). I have a 29.5 Redster CS with this exact strap as an aftermarket order. I ordered the wrong PN and got the size small by mistake. I had to drill new holes about 1.5" moved to get it centered. Changed the holes to go through the nylon part on both holes. It works still. So its all what you feel you can live with. Here are my pic's.

 

[Tony Storaro]

I would leave it where it is. It is about 1/2" off center, but since it stretches (both when tightening and when flexing) it will still work fine as long as the dual portion is mostly on the front of the boot. I don't think you have any room to re-center the strap, the holes will be off the web on the left most hole (looking at top picture). I have a 29.5 Redster CS with this exact strap as an aftermarket order. I ordered the wrong PN and got the size small by mistake. I had to drill new holes about 1.5" moved to get it centered. Changed the holes to go through the nylon part on both holes. It works still. So its all what you feel you can live with. Here are my pic's.

View attachment 201669 View attachment 201668

Yes, he can always change the strap at a later time if he finds it difficult to live with. Which i doubt will be the case.