Warm days, soft boots

[Don Boyajian]

My boots are a Lange RS130. I love them; but I love them most when it's like 0-15 degrees out. When it gets warm out - like over 30, they get quite soft, which is typical. My question: what do folks do to stiffen up boots on warm spring days? I just buckle up tighter, but I really just think that makes my feet hurt. Is there any type of retrofit for boots that can help stiffen them up on a spring day? I don't mind skiing them on spring days, but sometimes it gets so soft that it can aggravate a bump on my heel that can end up digging into the liner and shell, from overflexing. Thank you all.

 

[Tony Storaro]

My question: what do folks do to stiffen up boots on warm spring days?

Buy another pair of stiffer ones.

 

[RickyG]

The only boot I can think of that will not be effected by the normal heat range of the great out of doors is a Dodge boot. Carbon fiber.

 

[cantunamunch]

Pulse Labs out of Revelstoke sell a boot stiffening front spoiler. It works but doesn't erase temperature effects on boots. Also adds rebound, at all temps.

Pulse Boot Lab & Ski Co. Online Store

Pulse Boot Lab Custom Ski Boot Fitting Revelstoke Banff Canada Pulse Proflex Ski Boot Accessory

pulserevelstokeshop.com

 

[Don Boyajian]

Pulse Labs out of Revelstoke sell a boot stiffening front spoiler. It works but doesn't erase temperature effects on boots. Also adds rebound, at all temps.

Pulse Boot Lab & Ski Co. Online Store

Pulse Boot Lab Custom Ski Boot Fitting Revelstoke Banff Canada Pulse Proflex Ski Boot Accessory

pulserevelstokeshop.com

Thank you!

 

[KingGrump]

Ski smoother.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

My boots are a Lange RS130. I love them; but I love them most when it's like 0-15 degrees out. When it gets warm out - like over 30, they get quite soft, which is typical. My question: what do folks do to stiffen up boots on warm spring days? I just buckle up tighter, but I really just think that makes my feet hurt. Is there any type of retrofit for boots that can help stiffen them up on a spring day? I don't mind skiing them on spring days, but sometimes it gets so soft that it can aggravate a bump on my heel that can end up digging into the liner and shell, from overflexing. Thank you all.

I totally now what your talking about. My Raptor "140" ski great for me with one of the spine bolts removed for most of the year making them a '130', but as soon as it warms up that 140 bolt goes back in. Can they put another bolt in that boot spine???

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Pulse Labs out of Revelstoke sell a boot stiffening front spoiler. It works but doesn't erase temperature effects on boots. Also adds rebound, at all temps.

Ive been looking at those for my touring boots, you ever tried them yourself?

 

[cantunamunch]

Ive been looking at those for my touring boots, you ever tried them yourself?

Yes.

They mostly did what I asked them to but in the non-touring boot application I wound up using them *inside* the clog instead of between clog and buckle way they are in the pic.

 

[cem]

I am not one for buy this product or that product to solve boot fit issues but in this case if you want the boot to be stiffer on those warm days i would just get a set of pulse proflex plates, put them in for spring and just take them out in the colder months, you just need a long and short screw, your lange RS130 has a screw on tooth plate so you already have the short screw, the longer one supplied with them takes care of the long screw

 

[Jilly]

I've been thinking about this thread after the last day of skiing was warmer. So when you bought your boots, what was the temperature in the store? How was the flex then?

 

[cantunamunch]

I've been thinking about this thread after the last day of skiing was warmer. So when you bought your boots, what was the temperature in the store? How was the flex then?

The shop here has an adjacent ski carpet ramp; pretty much all boots suck at 70F+ compared to their 10F selves, unless they're almost completely crystallised with age.

 

[David]

Pulse Labs out of Revelstoke sell a boot stiffening front spoiler. It works but doesn't erase temperature effects on boots. Also adds rebound, at all temps.

Pulse Boot Lab & Ski Co. Online Store

Pulse Boot Lab Custom Ski Boot Fitting Revelstoke Banff Canada Pulse Proflex Ski Boot Accessory

pulserevelstokeshop.com

It looks like it's nothing more than their version of a Booster strap.

 

[KingGrump]

It looks like it's nothing more than their version of a Booster strap.

Tuna is actually referencing the Pulse Proflex product from the site.
I know skiers that had them installed in their boot and they appeared to function as advertised.

 

[David]

Tuna is actually referencing the Pulse Proflex product from the site.
I know skiers that had them installed in their boot and they appeared to function as advertised.
View attachment 167311

I'd like to know how that works. I followed the link and they just look like a power strap to me.

 

[KingGrump]

I'd like to know how that works. I followed the link and they just look like a power strap to me.

The Proflex is not the power strap. It's the yellow plastic piece in the green boot.

 

[Philpug]

I've been thinking about this thread after the last day of skiing was warmer. So when you bought your boots, what was the temperature in the store? How was the flex then?

Remember too, when in a shop, you don't have the leverage of being in a ski.

 

[Andy Mink]

Remember too, when in a shop, you don't have the leverage of being in a ski.

I've often wondered why shops don't have an old pair of skis with demo bindings so you can press into the boot without falling over. Granted it's 70° in the shop but at least you'd get a baseline comparison.

 

[Philpug]

I've often wondered why shops don't have an old pair of skis with demo bindings so you can press into the boot without falling over. Granted it's 70° in the shop but at least you'd get a baseline comparison.

Some do, it is a slight step but you still aren't going to create the forces like you do when you are skiing.

 

[LiquidFeet]

I'd like to know how that works. I followed the link and they just look like a power strap to me.

The discussion is referring to the orange shim placed in front of the tongue in the image below.

I can imagine this thing inserted into a soft-flexing boot, with a skier who has lots of dorsiflexion. When the skier loads the front of the cuff while turning (in my imagination), the skier's forward-tilting shin will tilt the tongue forward, and cause the ProFlex to tilt forward along with it. But the shim won't bend. So the entire ProFlex insert as a unit, including its lower part, will tilt forward. That tilt will press the front edge of that lower part downward, grinding down onto the top of the clog, and potentially causing pain on top of the foot.

I'm talking about imagination, not experience. Can anybody here talk about using this shim to stiffen a boot and say whether it caused pressure and/or pain over the instep?

I'm also wondering how effective this insert can be. The forward-flex stiffness of a boot is a function of the spine's ability to flex forward under load, not the tongue's ability to flex forward. The stiffness of the plastic body of the boot surrounding the heel/ankle also plays a role in determining the stiffness of the flex. If that plastic resists deformation, the boot will be very stiff in flex.

I'm a little skeptical of this product since it focuses on the tongue, and I'm hoping someone who has actually used it can post.