The Never-Ending Zipfit Discussion

[givethepigeye]

My season is likely over, ended with a couple sunny Spring days in Aspen. I did have some issue with the ZipFits that had not occurred prior - either with stock Lange RS liners or ZipFits. Inside, rear heal pain. (See photo of right foot- sorry). And yes, my heel to instep parameter is LARGE, that isn’t a phot trick. Seemed to maybe be where footbed and side of liner come together. Removed footbed, put it in my pocket and skied for a while - seemed to be better.

not sure if the liner has fill down that low and maybe that would help? I did dremel the lip down a bit to make a more smooth transition- maybe it was my skiing. Anyway, won’t be able to really solve until next year. Just looking to see if anyone has had similar issue.

 

[AmyPJ]

My season is likely over, ended with a couple sunny Spring days in Aspen. I did have some issue with the ZipFits that had not occurred prior - either with stock Lange RS liners or ZipFits. Inside, rear heal pain. (See photo of right foot- sorry). And yes, my heel to instep parameter is LARGE, that isn’t a phot trick. Seemed to maybe be where footbed and side of liner come together. Removed footbed, put it in my pocket and skied for a while - seemed to be better.

not sure if the liner has fill down that low and maybe that would help? I did dremel the lip down a bit to make a more smooth transition- maybe it was my skiing. Anyway, won’t be able to really solve until next year. Just looking to see if anyone has had similar issue.

View attachment 130782

What were outside temps?

 

[SBrown]

My season is likely over, ended with a couple sunny Spring days in Aspen. I did have some issue with the ZipFits that had not occurred prior - either with stock Lange RS liners or ZipFits. Inside, rear heal pain. (See photo of right foot- sorry). And yes, my heel to instep parameter is LARGE, that isn’t a phot trick. Seemed to maybe be where footbed and side of liner come together. Removed footbed, put it in my pocket and skied for a while - seemed to be better.

not sure if the liner has fill down that low and maybe that would help? I did dremel the lip down a bit to make a more smooth transition- maybe it was my skiing. Anyway, won’t be able to really solve until next year. Just looking to see if anyone has had similar issue.

View attachment 130782

I had that problem once ...the edges of my footbed were too narrow/high/ sharp and digging into my foot. Didn't feel good. I think it was in my Zipfits, so perhaps the increased heel hold was too much increased. I can't remember what I did except remove some material from the footbed. I haven't been wearing my Zips lately -- I think the problem was fixed? hmmmm. Maybe I just stopped using those. Sorry, not much help, except I do remember the pain, and lowering the edges of the footbed.

 

[givethepigeye]

What were outside temps?

Warm, like skiing slurpees. Maybe 50 up high, probably 60is low.

 

[givethepigeye]

I had that problem once ...the edges of my footbed were too narrow/high/ sharp and digging into my foot. Didn't feel good. I think it was in my Zipfits, so perhaps the increased heel hold was too much increased. I can't remember what I did except remove some material from the footbed. I haven't been wearing my Zips lately -- I think the problem was fixed? hmmmm. Maybe I just stopped using those. Sorry, not much help, except I do remember the pain, and lowering the edges of the footbed.

I thinned it, will try lowering as well, which probably is more better, since w/o seemed good. Thanks.

 

[AmyPJ]

Warm, like skiing slurpees. Maybe 50 up high, probably 60is low.

Mine hurt my styloid process on one foot when it’s really warm. But my husband’s feet also get sore from his stock liners when it’s really warm. I’m suspicious that the warm temps caused the problem, that being said, it’s obviously not ideal and something you need to prevent going forward.

 

[Noodler]

So I've got 2 days in now on my new pair of ZipFit Gara liners. I had been skiing my Nordica GPX 130 boots for much of this season using the old ZipFit liners that are very broken in (almost 250 days on them). I had forgotten just how much stiffness/performance new ZipFit liners can put back into a boot. My GPX 130 shells feel like they've increased in stiffness a couple flexes with the new liners in them. They feel so much more "substantial" now. Honestly it's just what they needed with the warmer Spring temps hitting now. I hate when my boots start "mushing out" when it's warm out.

 

[Brad J]

Mine hurt my styloid process on one foot when it’s really warm. But my husband’s feet also get sore from his stock liners when it’s really warm. I’m suspicious that the warm temps caused the problem, that being said, it’s obviously not ideal and something you need to prevent going forward.

Well the last tree days skiing has been high 40's to mid 60's and my heel was also getting sore, upon further inspection I noticed the tongue only had OM fit at the very base of the tongue. I moved it back to the lower shin area and the problem was temporary solved until the last 2 hrs skiing steep bumps in temps in the high 50's low 60's. Heels started to get a little sore and I checked the tongue again and it was all in the base of tongue again. I have over 250 days on the liners and am thinking, First, move and add more OMfit to the tongue and refit the liner to the shell. any other suggestions .
These few days are the warmest days I have skied in a long time so its my first experience with this problem with Zipfits.

 

[Noodler]

Well the last tree days skiing has been high 40's to mid 60's and my heel was also getting sore, upon further inspection I noticed the tongue only had OM fit at the very base of the tongue. I moved it back to the lower shin area and the problem was temporary solved until the last 2 hrs skiing steep bumps in temps in the high 50's low 60's. Heels started to get a little sore and I checked the tongue again and it was all in the base of tongue again. I have over 250 days on the liners and am thinking, First, move and add more OMfit to the tongue and refit the liner to the shell. any other suggestions .
These few days are the warmest days I have skied in a long time so its my first experience with this problem with Zipfits.

Definitely add more OMFit to the tongue.

 

[silverback]

Wow, long thread!
After all that reading let me confirm.
My racer son needs liners in his 26.5 Lange plugs. (92 last)
His feet are US 11-11.5 so pretty snug fit.
questions:
1. Do I want World Cup neoprene model? If not which one? Corsa? Sidewinder?
2. Will it fit? Does it have too much forward lean?
3. The talk of optional leather inside…I don’t see anything about it on the zipfit website. Is that no longer a thing?

Thanks

 

[NAC]

First, I would like to say one thing about the word liner. I don' like it. In Norway, we call it inner boot. Especially when you have a thing that sofisticated as Zipfit, the word liner don't do the justice.
I would choose Corsa. I have a older Lange, SuperComp 92 last. I tried the World Cup, but it was just too much for the shell. Thomas May let me exchange to Corsa. I have used Corsa three months. The OMFIT has moved, so I need to add more, but that was no surprise, as my feets are very low in volume. Regarding the forward lean, I have not noticed a problem. One thing though, Zipfit makes your boot stiffer.
The Corsa have leather inside. The leather makes the foot more glued to the boot. It is a bit fiddling to put it on, but no big deal.

 

[cem]

Wow, long thread!
After all that reading let me confirm.
My racer son needs liners in his 26.5 Lange plugs. (92 last)
His feet are US 11-11.5 so pretty snug fit.
questions:
1. Do I want World Cup neoprene model? If not which one? Corsa? Sidewinder?
2. Will it fit? Does it have too much forward lean?
3. The talk of optional leather inside…I don’t see anything about it on the zipfit website. Is that no longer a thing?

Thanks

in a 92mm lasted shell, unless you have a foot with the volume of a pencil then the Corsa is the model to go for, it is designed specifically for that type of boot. the corsa is leather lined no option for neoprene (the leather is thinner so takes up less space in the shell)

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Welp the leaves are finally changing and the mornings are abit crisper! Yay!! Im going into my second season with my zipfits but its my first after a summer break(bought them last winter).

Do you have a preseason ritual you do with your liners before a new season? A light baking and fitting??

-Chris

 

[AmyPJ]

Welp the leaves are finally changing and the mornings are abit crisper! Yay!! Im going into my second season with my zipfits but its my first after a summer break(bought them last winter).

Do you have a preseason ritual you do with your liners before a new season? A light baking and fitting??

-Chris

That's a really good question. I'll be putting mine on to see how they feel for sure. I don't recall doing anything special with my previous pair other than letting them warm up in my heated bag then putting them on. But those with more experience have better ideas.

 

[Brad J]

I just put them in my heated boot bag and put them on and ski .

 

[Wade]

Posting here instead of starting a new thread as it seems like this is covering a lot more than just which model.

I bought a pair of Garas a couple of years ago without really having a need for them. They were practically brand new and were a fantastic deal so I jumped on them. I bought new boots last year and while I’m happy with the stock liners for now, also wanted to try them with the Garas.

I heated them up to go through the initial fit process and noticed the soles had started to separate a bit. It was quite possibly (probably?) my fault and I may have inadvertently used an incorrect temperature,

Anyway, here’s how they look now. Has anyone else had this issue? I actually had a similar but not as severe issue with another pair of Zipfits which wasn’t from overheating - those ones just separated a little over time.

Any thoughts on how to repair? I’m thinking shoe goo or similar, but it’s an awkward shape and a soft material and I’m trying to figure out the best way to make sure I get a repair that gets the sole back flush with the upper and holds up over time.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Any thoughts on how to repair? I’m thinking shoe goo or similar, but it’s an awkward shape and a soft material and I’m trying to figure out the best way to make sure I get a repair that gets the sole back flush with the upper and holds up over time

Id add a few dabs of shoe goo myself but be careful if you bake them again, most likely it would drip in your oven. I would also make sure to use some of the anti-friction tape on your inside of the boot and boot board to keep the friction down and keep from peeling back more.

-Chris

 

[cem]

Posting here instead of starting a new thread as it seems like this is covering a lot more than just which model.

I bought a pair of Garas a couple of years ago without really having a need for them. They were practically brand new and were a fantastic deal so I jumped on them. I bought new boots last year and while I’m happy with the stock liners for now, also wanted to try them with the Garas.

I heated them up to go through the initial fit process and noticed the soles had started to separate a bit. It was quite possibly (probably?) my fault and I may have inadvertently used an incorrect temperature,

Anyway, here’s how they look now. Has anyone else had this issue? I actually had a similar but not as severe issue with another pair of Zipfits which wasn’t from overheating - those ones just separated a little over time.

Any thoughts on how to repair? I’m thinking shoe goo or similar, but it’s an awkward shape and a soft material and I’m trying to figure out the best way to make sure I get a repair that gets the sole back flush with the upper and holds up over time.
View attachment 142061
View attachment 142062 View attachment 142063 View attachment 142064

rough up the edges and clean with solvent, then use barge or another shoe makers contact cement (that's what they are bonded with in the first place) use match stick or similar to keep the surfaces apart until the glue has gone off, do a section at a time rather than all the repairs, when the glue has gone off flash heat it for a few seconds and press the two surfaces together

alternatively a good cobbler may strip the entire outsole and re-bond it for you

 

[Phatboy64]

So I have read through the whole thread and have some questions. I m getting ready to pull the trigger on a pair of ZipFit Corsa's. I was waffling between the Gara LV's and the Corsa's.

I am going with the Corsa's due to the fact that I have a tight shell fit and am looking for more volume from the instep forward.
I know the Gara has a little more volume out of the box but I figured I could add more cork if needed around the ankle.

I am looking for any feedback on the Corsa's before making my final decision.

 

[Wade]

rough up the edges and clean with solvent, then use barge or another shoe makers contact cement (that's what they are bonded with in the first place) use match stick or similar to keep the surfaces apart until the glue has gone off, do a section at a time rather than all the repairs, when the glue has gone off flash heat it for a few seconds and press the two surfaces together

alternatively a good cobbler may strip the entire outsole and re-bond it for you

i ordered the Barge contact cement when this was originally posted and it just showed up yesterday.

i re-read this post, watched a couple of videos and went at it.

it came out perfectly! Really easy to repair this way, and the contact cement is super sticky after drying so once I pressed the sole back against the upper it stuck tight and there was no need for clamping.


Thanks @cem !