The Never-Ending Zipfit Discussion

[Landez]

When buckled the fit over the instep and shin is perfect on the left and very close on the right. A little more cork in the right tongue would make it 100 there too. The problem is the length of the liners. A shell is not made of concrete, no matter how hard you buckle the boot or how stiff the liner is it will move if there is space lengthwise.

There is no shop involved, the recommendation is from Zipfit themselves per mail.

 

[BMC]

Yeah it’s hard to make recommendations over emails having never seen a persons foot.

The mondo for the liner not matching the mondo for the boot is not something I have experienced. Nor have a had any sliding of my foot/liner. But I do wonder if the boot is too big? If you fit in the liner and your foot is sliding around in the boot perhaps the boot is too long for your foot?

But the best answer may be to get thee to a good boot fitter, preferably one who does Zipfits

 

[Landez]

The recommendation has nothing to do with my feet, it is for a 28,5 Gara HV in a 28,5 Shift Pro 130 where in hindsight it should have been a 29,5 liner. Or the 28,5 in a 27,5 shell.

I've had 27,5 boots before but could never make it work in the long run even with countless forefoot width punches and toe grinds. My feet are 29,3 cm long. Could it work with a thinner material Zipfit? maybe but I don't really feel like going down that road again.

What about something between liner and bootboard that creates extra friction without damaging anything?

Where I live there is no one that carries Zipfits. There is no bootfitter either that does anything more than what you tell him to do.

 

[BMC]

The recommendation has nothing to do with my feet, it is for a 28,5 Gara HV in a 28,5 Shift Pro 130 where in hindsight it should have been a 29,5 liner. Or the 28,5 in a 27,5 shell.

I've had 27,5 boots before but could never make it work in the long run even with countless forefoot width punches and toe grinds. My feet are 29,3 cm long. Could it work with a thinner material Zipfit? maybe but I don't really feel like going down that road again.

What about something between liner and bootboard that creates extra friction without damaging anything?

Where I live there is no one that carries Zipfits. There is no bootfitter either that does anything more than what you tell him to do.

The only thing I can think of then is more Omfit.

I think Zipfit are being brave in offering to recommend specific liners on-line. As demonstrated in your case, there’s just too much that can go wrong when you don’t have the person’s foot and boot to look at. In my 3 26.5 liners in 26.5 boots I’ve had no similar problems and not heard of that problem before. I can’t account for your scenario at all, but don’t doubt you’re experiencing it. Sorry.

 

[abdul]

View attachment 202319

Gara HV 28,5 in a Shift Pro 130 28,5

When fitting these they were very tight on top of my feet, even so I had to fiddle with the liners to make the shell close properly. I re heated the right liner to "massage" some cork away from the bottom of the tongue to get rid of a pressure point.

After some walking around at home and one day skiing hard the fit is crazy good. I keep on breaking them in and only really thinking of adding a little more cork to the right tongue, that's it.

But the last weekend skiing these (now a total of about 20 days) they started to feel quite sloppy in the foot part, shin part still feeling great. It's this unstable feeling like the liner is sliding back and forth in the shell.

I come home and compare them to the stock liners only to discover that the Zipfits are way shorter, like one full size almost!!

View attachment 202321

Disappointing to say the least, is there anything I can do to make it work or should I just give up on this combination?

i have the same length difference if i compare my Atomic CS 130 liner with my Gara LV liner the way you have (both 27.5). My zipfit fits great in the shell with no movement. (funnily, my Corsa liners are the same amount LONGER than the fischer podium liners) Also, the neoprene stretches so the liner is plenty long enough for a 28 shell size (the zipfit toe is curled up and will flatten with your foot in it).

I think there is something else going on... if you're skiing in warmer spring conditions, the cork will move more than normal, and it does feel like there is more room and/or it feels like it is packing out. I have about 40 days in my Gara's and last week in my first proper spring skiing conditions the liner felt like it needed more cork for the first time in the ankles (when i first got them i got a bunch added into the tongues). Warm spring skiing probably shifts the cork around a lot faster than normal (as well as getting the liner to mold to the shell faster).

If they skied great the first 20 days, there's no reason to "give up on this combination". Maybe you should add a little more cork into the ankle pockets.

 

[abdul]

The only thing I can think of then is more Omfit.

I think Zipfit are being brave in offering to recommend specific liners on-line. As demonstrated in your case, there’s just too much that can go wrong when you don’t have the person’s foot and boot to look at. In my 3 26.5 liners in 26.5 boots I’ve had no similar problems and not heard of that problem before. I can’t account for your scenario at all, but don’t doubt you’re experiencing it. Sorry.

+1

I've had 3 zipfit liners in 6 different shells and never had 'slipping' inside the boot or any concerns about the length not matching.

Also, check the bootboard isn't cracked or broken. if you can't get your hands on more cork quickly, another temporary fix is to try a bontex insole shim under your footbed to take up some room.

And if your local bootfitter doesnt have cork, then call zipfit and talk to them. I'm sure this isn't the first time someone has had some room develop after 20 days.

 

[Landez]

Thanks for good input, more cork will be ordered in time for next season.

I love the Shifts and will stick to them, might if there is opportunity try the liners in a 27,5 shell somewhere just for science. (However this 28,5 pair I'm going to get warrantied because they leak like crazy when going fast, hence the duct tape) They are the first issue Shifts.

A 29,5 liner could maybe create other pronlems like excessive bunching over the instep and foot. It's not as easy to try out either.

 

[Floyd47]

If they skied great the first 20 days, there's no reason to "give up on this combination". Maybe you should add a little more cork into the ankle pockets.

And if your local bootfitter doesnt have cork, then call zipfit and talk to them. I'm sure this isn't the first time someone has had some room develop after 20 days.

When I bought my Zipfits a couple months ago, the boot fitter told me it’s normal to need to add more cork after 20ish days once the liners are broken in and the cork has settled.

 

[TheArchitect]

When I bought my Zipfits a couple months ago, the boot fitter told me it’s normal to need to add more cork after 20ish days once the liners are broken in and the cork has settled.

That was my experience. I added some around 20 days. I have 35 days on them now and am thinking of adding another tube to each liner.

 

[bennettc14]

Saw this mentioned a couple times in this thread. Anyone confirm Zipfit is bringing back the Gara LV with leather liner next season?

 

[TipsUp]

Saw this mentioned a couple times in this thread. Anyone confirm Zipfit is bringing back the Gara LV with leather liner next season?

I emailed with Drew at Zipfit last week and asked this question. I was told “[…]As far as a leather Gara, these did exist in some form at some time, but are no longer available or planned for the future.[…]”

 

[bennettc14]

I emailed with Drew at Zipfit last week and asked this question. I was told “[…]As far as a leather Gara, these did exist in some form at some time, but are no longer available or planned for the future.[…]”

Dang. Basically just want a WCSW sans Sidewinder.

 

[Doublegreen]

I saw a video of a guy cut all of that black material off his liner. I’m not saying it would work on the WC though.

The Workhorse liner has leather on the inside, but it’s high volume.

 

[Doublegreen]

 

[abdul]

FYI, warm spring skiing is awesome to break in the new versions of the zipfits...

 

[Skisolo]

Thanks for good input, more cork will be ordered in time for next season.

I love the Shifts and will stick to them, might if there is opportunity try the liners in a 27,5 shell somewhere just for science. (However this 28,5 pair I'm going to get warrantied because they leak like crazy when going fast, hence the duct tape) They are the first issue Shifts.

A 29,5 liner could maybe create other pronlems like excessive bunching over the instep and foot. It's not as easy to try out either.

Mine fit true to size in my 27.5 LV Langes. I have used them in my 26.5 Head LYT too and they work but they are slightly too long.

 

[TipsUp]

My local bootfitter, who is a Zipfit dealer, suggested against Zipfits if I don't ski enough days per year (10-20 days on average). The reasoning is that it takes a couple days each season to get the liners broken in / OMFit adjusted and it's not worth dealing with the process if a good percentage of your days in the liner are not optimal.

This seems wrong based on everything I've read about Zipfits. I assume that I can walk around the house prior to the season starting to rework the OMFit.

What's the group consensus? Are Zipfits worth it if one is only skiing 15 days per year? I recognize that price can be a factor but I'm disregarding it for this analysis.

 

[slidingmike]

Mine took closer to 10-14 days to really break in. But very much worth it, since they will outlast your boots.

 

[Wade]

My local bootfitter, who is a Zipfit dealer, suggested against Zipfits if I don't ski enough days per year (10-20 days on average). The reasoning is that it takes a couple days each season to get the liners broken in / OMFit adjusted and it's not worth dealing with the process if a good percentage of your days in the liner are not optimal.

This seems wrong based on everything I've read about Zipfits. I assume that I can walk around the house prior to the season starting to rework the OMFit.

What's the group consensus? Are Zipfits worth it if one is only skiing 15 days per year? I recognize that price can be a factor but I'm disregarding it for this analysis.

In my experience, I would disagree with your bootfitter. There's certainly a break in period when you first fit the liners, but for me, that hasn't been an annual experience. Once the liner has adapted to your foot and the shell, it's set whether the next time you ski it is the next day or the next year.

If Zipfits are otherwise right for you, I wouldn't worry about break in other than the first few days of the liner's life.

 

[salvatore]

^ I also disagree with your bootfitter. While they take some use to break in, especially the leather-lined models, they are constantly adjusting to you (and your boot shell). I have had great success speeding up the process by wearing them around the house, and after a few days on the mountain, they are good to go. Do they continue to get better? Yes, but not to the point where you should be discouraged from foregoing them entirely. I don't understand that logic.

Additionally, one of the main advantages of Zipfit is that they mold to your foot on a continuous basis, even as our feet change over the course of a day or a season or from year-to-year. Don't wait. Start now.