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abdul

Putting on skis
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california
Just adding to the collective zipfit wisdom... picked up some Corsa 92 liners (leather inside lining) this season to replace my ~8-10yr old Gara liners (leather outside cuff, neoprene inside) which was last in Salmon XMax Race shells (says 96mm but more like 98mm compared to the Redster CS).

Corsa summary is: skis great, not as comfy out-the-box as the old Gara, added full tube of cork into each tongue, and will ski them without socks on.

More detail... Got a skinny ankle and calf, and the Corsa's were put into Fischer RC4 Podium 130 (92mm) and Atomic Redster CS 130 (96mm). The Gara liner had too much volume to fit into the Redster CS 130.
The new design ("stealth" with the outside cuff in plastic honeycomb) seems reasonably thinner than the old Gara design. Had to buckle the top 2 buckles an extra 1-2 notches in my Salomon's (which i didn't like how it made the cuff/flex feel in the Salomon's).
The Corsa tongue doesn't have much cork in it standard - got an extra tube of cork added into each.
Leather inside liner seemed less 'forgiving' compared to the neoprene inside liner. Took several days to break in and mold the cork, whereas the Garas were just a heat-once and comfy from day 1 onwards.
Bare feet in the Corsa leather liner works better for me vs. wearing socks. With socks, my foot seemed to move a little too much against the leather. Barefoot, my foot/ankle feel more 'glued' to the liner and got better support and ski control.
The Corsa "92" liner had too much volume out-the-box to work in my plug boots (e.g. liner is too thick). Corsa liner fits great in the Redster (96mm). In the Fischer Podium (92mm) my foot was crushed as the liner has significantly more volume from the mets back to the ankles vs. the stock 'sock' liner. If you want it to work in plugs, you might need to remove a reasonable amount of cork from the ankles to make it work. For me, i'll use the Corsa's in the Redster's and the stock sock liner in the Fischer's.
 

bazza

In the parking lot (formerly "At the base lodge")
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Alrighty, going to ask here because it seems like the best zipfit thread on the web.
Just bought a set of Zipfits - purchased what I thought was going to be a set of the older model Grand Prix (modern day Gara HV by the sounds of it), but instead got a set of Grand Prix Freerides sent to me. Should I send them back for a refund, or should I be glad I got a newer model than I thought and hold onto them (have made contact with the shop about this too)?

Usage breakdown:
70% time in RX130
30% Technica Cochise 130
---
50% groomers/carving/casual racing
30% freeride/off piste
20% touring

Initially I went the Gara to focus on the more on-piste usage, but now that they've arrived figured the Freerides could cover the usage they'll get nicely - am I wrong in this assumption? I also have the spoilers off my old Lange liners that I was thinking I can put in when riding resort/skiing hard, then pull them out on pow/touring days.

Let me know what you think/if I'm being stupid
Cheers
 

BMC

Out on the slopes
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Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Posts
778
Alrighty, going to ask here because it seems like the best zipfit thread on the web.
Just bought a set of Zipfits - purchased what I thought was going to be a set of the older model Grand Prix (modern day Gara HV by the sounds of it), but instead got a set of Grand Prix Freerides sent to me. Should I send them back for a refund, or should I be glad I got a newer model than I thought and hold onto them (have made contact with the shop about this too)?

Usage breakdown:
70% time in RX130
30% Technica Cochise 130
---
50% groomers/carving/casual racing
30% freeride/off piste
20% touring

Initially I went the Gara to focus on the more on-piste usage, but now that they've arrived figured the Freerides could cover the usage they'll get nicely - am I wrong in this assumption? I also have the spoilers off my old Lange liners that I was thinking I can put in when riding resort/skiing hard, then pull them out on pow/touring days.

Let me know what you think/if I'm being stupid
Cheers
If your foot fits in the Freerides in your boots I think you’d be fine. I’m not 100% across all the differences between models but the biggest difference is the amount of Omfit. If that model has the right amount of Omfit, you’re good to go.

I have an older model Grand Prix “good to go” in a separate pair of boots. I’ve been using the newer Gara in my main boots (Lange RX120) and it’s great. The Grand Prix is to go in my XT Free 120’s for piste skiing…if it all works. First test in a few weeks (I’m in Oz).
 

abdul

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Mar 6, 2022
Posts
76
Location
california
Alrighty, going to ask here because it seems like the best zipfit thread on the web.
Just bought a set of Zipfits - purchased what I thought was going to be a set of the older model Grand Prix (modern day Gara HV by the sounds of it), but instead got a set of Grand Prix Freerides sent to me. Should I send them back for a refund, or should I be glad I got a newer model than I thought and hold onto them (have made contact with the shop about this too)?

Usage breakdown:
70% time in RX130
30% Technica Cochise 130
---
50% groomers/carving/casual racing
30% freeride/off piste
20% touring

Initially I went the Gara to focus on the more on-piste usage, but now that they've arrived figured the Freerides could cover the usage they'll get nicely - am I wrong in this assumption? I also have the spoilers off my old Lange liners that I was thinking I can put in when riding resort/skiing hard, then pull them out on pow/touring days.

Let me know what you think/if I'm being stupid
Cheers
Personally i think the Gara model is better if you want more performance (while still being comfy). Suggest you put what they sent in your boots and see how they fit. Pay attention to how this model fits around the shin and calf. It seems like they've thinned out the upper and back of the liner compared to older versions (while the ankle/heel hold is still good). I think the Freeride has less calf/back of boot support compared to the Gara.
 

chris_the_wrench

Spinning wrenches and throwing spokes.
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Dec 20, 2020
Posts
1,369
Location
Chinook Pass
Usage breakdown:
70% time in RX130
30% Technica Cochise 130
I’ll be curious how this works. I know people move the zipfit liners from shell to shell, but I always thought that was after the life cycle of one shell ended and they moved to a new shell. Im wondering how well they will work skiing one shell one day and another shell the next??

curious if the shell to liner fit will be different enough between the shells that it will effect liner to foot fit?
I have no idea, just wondering….
 

Wade

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I’ll be curious how this works. I know people move the zipfit liners from shell to shell, but I always thought that was after the life cycle of one shell ended and they moved to a new shell. Im wondering how well they will work skiing one shell one day and another shell the next??

curious if the shell to liner fit will be different enough between the shells that it will effect liner to foot fit?
I have no idea, just wondering….
I thought the same thing.

Part of what you get with a Zipfit liner is they conform to the shape of your foot and ankle and to the shape of the boot over time.

Doesn’t seem like a good idea to move them from shell to shell other than when moving permanently to a new boot.

I’d also question whether it’s a great idea to use Zipfit liners (other than the GFT) for touring.

If you’re only using the Cochise 30% of the time, and two thirds of that is touring, it’s probably a better idea to just use the stock liners and leave the Zipfits for the RXs.
 
Last edited:

BMC

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I’ve put some older Grand Prix liners in some Lange XT Free 120’s for when I’m skiing in resort. They’re quite a deal more plump than the Gara, which I use in essentially the same boot last. To be honest when I heated them today I was wondering how I’d go getting them into the boot (even though this was the second attempt). They did go in though. What’s interesting is the neoprene forefoot also seems to be more plump than the Gara. I didn’t expect that. The omfit in the liner shaft was notably more plump. On the boot shaft whereas theGara is buckled on buckle latch 2, I was straining to get the Grand Prix over buckle latch one.

I do expect some more omfit movement to come, but for me at least the Grand Prix, while doable, is at the very edge of fit capability.

Just fyi I do have a very tight race fit in my Langes, but have a very wide foot so use the 100 last.
 

Jb.schulte

Booting up
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New Hampshire
Thats what I suspected. I like the boot and liner enough that when the stock liner packs out I will either replace the liner with another stock liner (assuming Lange sells them) or investigate Intuition liners (although its mighty hard getting interested in those liners after looking at there website....). Thanks.
I expect you've
I am curious as to Zipfits. My current boot is a Lange RX130 LV. I really like this boot. I have a bit of a bowed 5th metatarsal and so had some shell punching in that area and at the metatarsal head. Otherwise my feet are pretty average. I like the stock liner but did mold and inject an Atomic Professional Mimic liner for the boots. With the Atomic liners heal hold is excellent but for me the mid and fore foot areas do not give my that snug "handshake" I like in a boot even with the MV tongue. This requires cranking the buckles done which causes other problems. Consequently I am using the stock liner which provides the fit I prefer. There is definitely more material in the stock liner than in the Atomic in the mid and fore foot areas.

For next year as the stock liner packs out I was thinking of trying a Zipfit. I was curious as to the mid and fore foot build of the Zipfits' and wondering if they have the same type of build as the Atomic Professional liners?
I expect you have moved on from the Mimic liner, but if you have some extra room in the mid and fore foot areas they have an option for a thicker tongue that I believe has extra material in this area.
 

EricG

Lost somewhere!
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VT
I’ll be curious how this works. I know people move the zipfit liners from shell to shell, but I always thought that was after the life cycle of one shell ended and they moved to a new shell. Im wondering how well they will work skiing one shell one day and another shell the next??

curious if the shell to liner fit will be different enough between the shells that it will effect liner to foot fit?
I have no idea, just wondering….

that’s why many of us own different sets of ZipFits. I have a set for each shell in use since they form to foot based on shell & foot shape. I would not want to move the same pair between different shells till the shell is ready to be retired.
 

mikes781

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Just received a pair of Gara HVs. Digging through this thread it seems like some folks don’t bother with the power strap. Although I don’t consider my calves huge the power straps aren’t long enough to really lock the Velcro down. I don’t seem any reason why I couldn’t remove them but was hoping to confirm? I did test fit them and although there were just a few pressure spots they seem pretty close. I can barely buckle the boots though. I was thinking I’d start with heating them with my boot drier, refitting in the shell and let the material move around. I have at least a month before I can get on a slope so I can do that a few times before considering taking any of the cork out.
 

BMC

Out on the slopes
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Posts
778
Just received a pair of Gara HVs. Digging through this thread it seems like some folks don’t bother with the power strap. Although I don’t consider my calves huge the power straps aren’t long enough to really lock the Velcro down. I don’t seem any reason why I couldn’t remove them but was hoping to confirm? I did test fit them and although there were just a few pressure spots they seem pretty close. I can barely buckle the boots though. I was thinking I’d start with heating them with my boot drier, refitting in the shell and let the material move around. I have at least a month before I can get on a slope so I can do that a few times before considering taking any of the cork out.
I found the power straps added hassle with no real benefit. Indeed I felt the boot closure was better without them. in my opinion it’s a definite “remove”.

I’d definitely wait at least a week on snow before considering removing cork by the way. It does move a little more as you ski.
 

Triplet

Chasing the perfect fit, ENTP :)
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Nov 18, 2021
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Sofia
Just received a pair of Gara HVs. Digging through this thread it seems like some folks don’t bother with the power strap. Although I don’t consider my calves huge the power straps aren’t long enough to really lock the Velcro down. I don’t seem any reason why I couldn’t remove them but was hoping to confirm? I did test fit them and although there were just a few pressure spots they seem pretty close. I can barely buckle the boots though. I was thinking I’d start with heating them with my boot drier, refitting in the shell and let the material move around. I have at least a month before I can get on a slope so I can do that a few times before considering taking any of the cork out.
Once you start skiing pressure spots (even very very uncomfortable ones like around the ankle) get better as the cork moves around and fills the voids. The instep area shouldn't be pressured too much thou u don't want pressure over the blood vessels on top of your instep.
 

JaySkier

One more for the day?
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Oct 22, 2022
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Montgomery Center, VT
Hey - another volume question. Looking at the Gara’s for my Atomic Hawx Ultra boots and another pair for my Mindbender 130 50/50 boot. The GFTs I think are going to be too low volume for the Mindbenders. So not sure if I should go Gara LV or HV for both.

I have LV feet and get a long well with the MV Intuition pro liners in my Mindbenders. Hawx’s have the stock mimic miner. Both boot shells are about 100mm last @ 27.5. No matter what boot I have, I always have to add footbed shims (1/8 neoprene) to take up more space as soon as I ski any new liner after a few days, to keep that performance fit. Can’t go down another shell size unfortunately.

So Gara LV or HV? Looking to achieve maximum heel hold as well as the most performance fit I can, in my shells.
 

chris_the_wrench

Spinning wrenches and throwing spokes.
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Both boot shells are about 100mm last @ 27.5. No matter what boot I have, I always have to add footbed shims (1/8 neoprene) to take up more space as soon as I ski any new liner after a few days, to keep that performance fit. Can’t go down another shell size unfortunately.

you cant go down to a 26.5(length) or you cant go down to a lower volume boot? You goto something like a head raptor in a 27.5 and get into a 98mm last.

I had a similar experience with several boots, and thought I couldnt size down(length). I ended up sizing down, they punched the toe boxes for length and im totally stoked i dropped down a size. Thats become my normal size for all my boots since.

just a thought.
 

JaySkier

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I am sure I can go down to a 26.5 shell and have it punched a ton to get it right. I just want to work with what I have at the moment. So wondering if the HV Gara would be best to take up a little more volume or just go with the LV.

A 27.5 feels good for the most part across the board and the shims do exactly what I need them to do for what I am working with. A true 98mm last at a size 27.5 shell be a unicorn for me.

I tour in a Zero G pro tour @ 27.5 and it is perfect. Actually needed a lot of punches on the sides to make it work for my finicky feet. But volume is spot on.
 

JaySkier

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Montgomery Center, VT
Nope, never tried boots stated in a 96 last.

Anyone have any insight on whether to go LV or HV Gara for Atomic hawx ultra 130 or Mindbender 130 LV?
 

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