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The Never-Ending Atomic Ski Boot Discussion

ScottB

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So as I posted previously, I have the Club Sport 130 and the World Cup 150. I feel there is too much room in the ankle area on the WC 150 vs the CS 130. Should I use something like the picture below to take up the extra volume in the ankle or the pads that look like donuts for the ankle area?

My wife used those to cure a heel hold down issue. The doughnuts are made for ankle bone issues with the shell. If you want ankle and heel you might do both, depends on exactly where the extra room is? If all over, do both. The pads you showed, tighten the heel fit and push you forward a little, so tighten the instep fit. If its just the fit around your ankle bones, the doughnuts are made for that.
 

HootSki

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My wife used those to cure a heel hold down issue. The doughnuts are made for ankle bone issues with the shell. If you want ankle and heel you might do both, depends on exactly where the extra room is? If all over, do both. The pads you showed, tighten the heel fit and push you forward a little, so tighten the instep fit. If its just the fit around your ankle bones, the doughnuts are made for that.
Yes the heel feels fine. I just want a little more snugness in the ankle area so I will try the donuts. Thank you.
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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So as I posted previously, I have the Club Sport 130 and the World Cup 150. I feel there is too much room in the ankle area on the WC 150 vs the CS 130. Should I use something like the picture below to take up the extra volume in the ankle or the pads that look like donuts for the ankle area?
I'm more a fan of this style of pad rather than the one you posted. The one you posted will push your foot forward into the front of the boot, whereas something like this will just reduce volume around your ankle.

Liner Plus Pad.png
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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Matt,
Older son is in Florida for college, can’t take him to get fitted. Took my younger son to REI to get fitted last week. Boot fitters there are very inexperienced, would not trust. Only had Ultra 120 in his size 26.5. Tried on for 15 minutes, fit very tight but was able to buckle down. One foot hurt but the other was tight but ok. 120 flex was stiff but he thought was ok. Fitter thought prime or magna would be better but had nothing in his size. REI had only one magna 110 in his size at another store in all of California and ordered, went to pick up yesterday, opened the box to find Nordic’s boots inside, return! This is my issue, no stock in size needed locally to even try on and honestly no good boot fitters in Southern California.
I have very wide flat problematic feet. Tried many different boot fitters and boots with bad results when younger and gave up skiing for a long time. Found out about Footloose in Mammoth. They got me in the widest boot at the time, Strolz black with Svenfit, still wearing for over ten years. Only thing that worked for me.
My sons feet’s are not as wide or flat as mine but are not average either. Called Footloose to check inventory of their boots in model and sizes needed. They don’t have any 26.5 in prime or magna and in 25.5 only very soft flex. Not planning on going up mammoth til Presidents’ Day weekend but by then Footloose will most likely be out of inventory in my sons sizes.
Do you know of any good boot fitters in Southern California, store with inventory to try on prime and magna in different flex’s? Spoke with very respectful boot fitters in Vermont about 130 flex in Atomic boots. He said you can soften the flex to more like 110 if you adjust the screw in back of boots. My sons have been skiing since they were 5. Believe they will like a 110 flex to start with but believe they will like the 130 flex as they get use to it. Thinking about prime 130 in 21 or 22 model year. Definitely going to get custom footbeds for them. Do you recommend any specific? Can you remold Mimic platinum liner and boot in a year or two if their feet grows a little?
Thank you very much Matt!
Hi John,
As a boot-fitter in my former life, I totally understand the challenges/frustrations you & your boys are experiencing. I also understand the logistics about where you are all located, working around college schedules, etc. - it's not easy.

Shops in the southern US (usually) don't have the boot-fitting expertise that shops closer to the mountains do. And most of stock is already gone at this time of the year (especially this year with all of the supply chain issues that every brand is facing). Unfortunately, the odds of you finding the right boot at this time of the year, in your location, is very low. Additionally, I really can't give you good advice over the internet as to which boot or size your guys should be in. You can imagine the challenges of figuring out which size suit will fit over the internet, while not knowing someone's measurements, not being able to fit them in person, and not having proper tailor nearby. It's even more difficult with ski boots because a boot-fitter can't make a boot that is too big become the right size. So going wider than he needs, or longer than he needs will absolutely create a problem for both of them. They might get lucky with picking an Ultra or a Prime in the right size, but it will be blind luck at this point until the boot-fitter can see him in it and watch him flex it.

Here is the best course of action if you want the highest success rate of finding the right boots for your sons:
-Right now you simply don't have enough data to make an informed decision about which boot to buy. At the very least, you should get them to a good boot-fitter and go through a complete fit assessment. If you can't do it locally, do it where you plan to go skiing. Just like a good suit, a body needs to be analyzed and measurements need to be taken- foot length, width, instep height, heel-to-instep perimeter, ankle mobility, calf size, etc. and more. After that, the boot-fitter needs to see your sons' feet in the plastic shells in order to say yes/no about an Ultra or a Prime or a Magna. If any of this is not possible, pulling the trigger on any boot is not in your favor. But, once you have that data, it makes searching for the correct boot a lot easier.
-The best time to buy boots is in the Fall (September/October). If you wait until after Christmas, the chances of finding the correct boot in stock is always going to be very low. People start shopping for boots in August/September and most of the "must have" gear is gone by January, even during a normal inventory year.

I know this is most likely not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth about buying ski boots or at least maximizing the chances of finding the correct boot. Doing it differently is obviously possible, but the chances of finding the correct boot begin to diminish greatly. It's a fairly common problem that people get boots online, take them to a boot-fitter for the fitting, only to find out that they aren't the correct starting point and no amount of money or time can make them right. I just don't want you to end up in that situation.

As for custom footbeds, it's not so much the brand you should look for but the person making it. Don't get a custom footbed from a shop that can't do basic boot-fitting. The two usually go hand-in-hand. Liners can also be adapted (to a degree) when feet grow & change shape. The shell is usually going to be the main deciding/limiting factor when it comes to that.
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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Thank you. Where can I purchase this style of pad at?
Good boot-fitters either make their own or if you have an Atomic shop nearby, Atomic makes this pad kit that is only available at Atomic shops (not online).
Pad Kit Box.jpg
 

joshuagb

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I just wanted to share my experience about buying a pair of Hawx Ultra 110 GW with the Mimc liner at a well known chain ski shop in Atlanta last week.

I had hoped to have the option of the 120 or 130, but with a trip coming up I opted for the 110 since it was available. This shop is listed as an Atomic dealer on the Atomic website, but not as a shop offering master bootfitting or memory fit. Despite that, they do indeed have the Atomic ovens and liner air blowers there and offer shell customization like punch outs.

The boot fit OK out of the box, but while doing a shell fit, I could tell I might need a little extra space in the bunion area. The bootfitter (super nice guy btw) put the boots in the oven and the liners in an airblower. He didn't have any of the Memory Fit pads, and reasoned with me that if a bony protrusion or bunion needed extra space, it would likely create that space while heat molding. The bootfitter also didn't use the special Atomic shoe horn or the stocking shown in the videos. I don't think this bootfitter had gone through Atomic training because he asked me to put a dowel rod under my toes during the heat molding (but I opted not to and instead stand on a flat surface since I had at least caught that part in the Atomic videos). He buckled the buckles not on their loosest setting, but maybe one notch above the loosest setting that would close. I tested how tight it was but opted to leave it alone. At the end of molding time, he put on the Memory Fit cooling wraps. I know the best way to heat liner and shell at the same time is with two ovens (and they had another oven there from a different boot company), but I've also read this airblower+oven method is ok.

I think the process worked out ok. Despite not having the Memory Fit pads, it seems like I gained enough space to address any hotspot concerns. This was my first time going through the heat molding process, but I could tell immediately once putting on the warm boot and liners that this was going to be a much better fit. Once I got home, I was re-reviewing the Memory Fit process outlined in the dealer manual and I saw the part about not flexing during the heat molding process. I didn't flex continuously during the heat molding, but I think I might have flexed two or three times just to make sure my heel was fully seated.

So now I'm wondering if it might have inadvertently added some slop to the screwed connections by those several flexes (again, the bootfitter didn't tell me to flex or not to flex). I picked up the boot a few hours later looking for evidence of any loosening of the screwed connections. The ankle canting adjustor seems ok, not obviously loose but I detect a minor amount of rotation at that connection point if I flex the boot with my hands really hard. Otherwise not sure what else to look for here.

Also, the bootfitter offered to add the other bolt to the boot, which I let him do. His impression was that it allowed the boot to achieve its 110 flex, but elsewhere I read that it actually makes it a 120 flex.

Thoughts, Matt? TIA

Just to clarify, since my original post was long and rambling, my main question was whether anything in this non-standard process I described (the few flexes I did while the boot was hot, not using the shoe horn or the black stocking, not adjusting the cant before heating but after) might have somehow spoiled the boot in a way that I can't detect? What do you think @onenerdykid?
 

Decreed_It

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hey @onenerdykid love love love my 19-20 Hawx Ultra 120s - I'm ready for a touring boot and wondering what your recommendation would be - this would be toward the AM/freeride side and I'd love it if they could also be used w/ gripwalk/mnc bindings in-bounds. I.e. looking for an everything boot - my 'touring' will be side and beginner back country stuff - day trips, nothing epic.
 

chris_the_wrench

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@Decreed_It I haven't put a ton of time in my hawk xtd 130, but they are working out real well for me. Im willing to carry abit more weight up for abit more oomph on the down....
Just to be clear, these aren't my resort boots...but I have skied them a few days on the lifts to get the fit sorted out.
 
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onenerdykid

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Just to clarify, since my original post was long and rambling, my main question was whether anything in this non-standard process I described (the few flexes I did while the boot was hot, not using the shoe horn or the black stocking, not adjusting the cant before heating but after) might have somehow spoiled the boot in a way that I can't detect? What do you think @onenerdykid?
Sorry, I spaced on replying to your original post. While the fitter didn't follow the steps word for word, the process can still work out just fine- and this seems to be what happened in your case. You were right to trust your instincts on not elevating the toes of a heated shell, that would have been really bad. But if things fit and flex fine, it sounds like everything is ok. If you elongated any of the mounting positions, you would have lots of play in that area. No play, no problem.
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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hey @onenerdykid love love love my 19-20 Hawx Ultra 120s - I'm ready for a touring boot and wondering what your recommendation would be - this would be toward the AM/freeride side and I'd love it if they could also be used w/ gripwalk/mnc bindings in-bounds. I.e. looking for an everything boot - my 'touring' will be side and beginner back country stuff - day trips, nothing epic.
As others have said, the Hawx Ultra XTD 130/120 would be the way to go. It has the same fit and geometry of the boot you love, so it's an easy transition into finding the right touring boot.
 

TDCSPRINGS

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I shot onenerdykid a message but also hoped someone here might be able to answer my question. I am adding the second bolt to a pair of Hawx Prime 120 S boots and there are two small spoiler looking pieces in the bag with the bolts. It looks like these would slide down between the upper and lower shell (on the inside) directly above the two spine bolts. It does somewhat push the lower shell inwards making it a tad more difficult to get into. Anyone know what these pieces are for, if I have them in right or if I even need them? I appreciate the advice from other Hawx owners that have done this before.
 

Decreed_It

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So my guy is out of stock - can anyone recommend a good (best?) Atomic dealer/fitter in Park City? I may need to order online and then have them fit there but want to try for local stock first. 26.5 seems popular.
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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I shot onenerdykid a message but also hoped someone here might be able to answer my question. I am adding the second bolt to a pair of Hawx Prime 120 S boots and there are two small spoiler looking pieces in the bag with the bolts. It looks like these would slide down between the upper and lower shell (on the inside) directly above the two spine bolts. It does somewhat push the lower shell inwards making it a tad more difficult to get into. Anyone know what these pieces are for, if I have them in right or if I even need them? I appreciate the advice from other Hawx owners that have done this before.
Messaged me on a different forum :roflmao: I was looking here and I was quite confused haha.

But just so everyone has the answer to your question: the black shims are for setting the forward lean in the 13° position. You select this forward lean setting for when you have a limited ankle range of motion, have a larger calf muscle, or are coming from a more upright boot and liked the way it positioned your body.
 
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onenerdykid

onenerdykid

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So my guy is out of stock - can anyone recommend a good (best?) Atomic dealer/fitter in Park City? I may need to order online and then have them fit there but want to try for local stock first. 26.5 seems popular.
Check in with these shops:
SLC - Sport's Den
PC - Jan's or Jackson's Basecamp
 

TDCSPRINGS

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Messaged me on a different forum :roflmao: I was looking here and I was quite confused haha.

But just so everyone has the answer to your question: the black shims are for setting the forward lean in the 13° position. You select this forward lean setting for when you have a limited ankle range of motion, have a larger calf muscle, or are coming from a more upright boot and liked the way it positioned your body.
Thanks brother! I appreciate the information. Its great having you as a resource around here and the other forums you support.
 

Quandary

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@onenerdykid, If recooked my Hawx Prime shells then allowed them to cool would they more or less go book to the out of the mold shape? They have beed punched in certain areas and I would like to get them back zero point if possible.
 

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