can you expalin flex angles?

As explained in previous posts,,,,the flex indice for women's boots and men,s boots do have different ranges thus women should not compare men's flex index and women's index!

Several reps from boot companies have confirmed that the two types of values are different!

Hope this helps some of you!

Flex indexes from different manufacturers can't be compared. There is no standard that allows for a comparison.
I wouldnt get too hung up on the flex index or the angle of forward lean. If you take two different boots from two different makers, providing they are for the same skier level and the same type of skiing, then the flex and angle of lean will be fairly similar.
Much more important is that the make of boot suits your shape of foot. Any good ski shop can help you here, they should also be able to 'fit' the boot to improve snugness at the heel if that is the only problem you feel with a particular model.

bitoffluff wrote:i tried on a comfy pair of boots (Nordica SM8 - i have a narrow heel and struggle to get snugness around there). Im a bit of a lightweight girly and im not sure maybe they are too stiff. The flex number (angle?) was 80. Im an intermediate (reds but have a odd shot at blacks), but i only weigh about 53kg so not awful lot of power. Im looking for something that is a bit forgiving of my loads of enthusiasm but maybe not the most consistent style. Any advice much appricated.

I weigh the same as you and my boots have a flex of 80 which I think reading up on it is pretty standard for someone of our size. If you are worried about 'snugness' but not sure if that will compromise your need for a 'forgiving' feel why don't you get a boot with an 80/90 adjustable flex.

Macski wrote:Flex indexes from different manufacturers can't be compared. There is no standard that allows for a comparison.
I wouldnt get too hung up on the flex index or the angle of forward lean. If you take two different boots from two different makers, providing they are for the same skier level and the same type of skiing, then the flex and angle of lean will be fairly similar.
Much more important is that the make of boot suits your shape of foot. Any good ski shop can help you here, they should also be able to 'fit' the boot to improve snugness at the heel if that is the only problem you feel with a particular model.


This is a very good point - I have not tried nordica boots. I have head 8 boots but found soloman boots to have a tighter fit in general. Maybe you should try those.

Tony_H wrote:Any pics to show us what kind of build you are, fluffy?

he's a smooth operator all right 8)

bandit wrote:Pavel. Here is one seller's view of my boots.
http://www.skiequipmentuk.com/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_605085

Of course, this is not the dealer I purchased from. That dealer categorised them between sport and performance on their use scale.

Then again, up until about a year or two ago IIRC ise was using Salomon X-Wave 8, so I guess he must be a beginner as well, since they only have a flex index of around 80 :mrgreen: I don't think he got the ultra soft women's flex tho'.

So it's looking like he skied the North Face of Bellecote in carpet slippers.
http://snowslider.net/2006/04/18/2006-04-18-bellecote-north-face/

:lol:

This is a classic mistake ford intermediate skiers, some people have an idea that the stiffer their boots are then the better skier they are. In reality the weaker skier benefits from a stiff boot as they hold the edge better. Obviously that makes their day better but it's one of the many reasons they never improve.

That day on the North Face Chris was wearing some low flex Heads and sine we both had really tired boots the flex would have been lower than the published figure. The flex let's us flex the ankles more and makes ultra steep turns easier to start. My Megarides are a similar flex, the Endorphins are stiffer but I can flex them, but I doubt most people wearing boots over 100 flex can actually static flex them but they avoid the turns and terrains they need to.

Stiff boots for 'experts' is just classic nonsense you hear all the time from people who spend more time reading mags than actually skiing :-)

All very interesting reading, thanks for everyones input. I have given up on looking for a boot with 100 plus flex, as I was previously advised, having taking into account the comments on here. Having a boot which is comfortable is more important.

ise wrote:
Stiff boots for 'experts' is just classic nonsense you hear all the time from people who spend more time reading mags than actually skiing :-)

Experts do buy stiffer boots, but then they take a knife to the shell to make it softer flexing.

Trencher