New boots

smirnoff_skier wrote:

Tony_H wrote:Go with a tighter leg buckle and loose ankle. Better flex and more control. Ellistine to thank for that one.

This is an interesting idea. I have always done both leg buckles quite tightly with the thinking being that the tigher the boot is, the more control I will have making short and quick turns.

By having a looser lower buckle and increasing the flex of the boot, does this mean the boot will have more 'spring' in it when turning?

If so, that could work well short turns and racing as you would get more 'pop' from one turn to the next.

Anyone got any thoughts one this?

loosing the lower buckles isn't going to alter the flex of the boot, it's just going to make them loose :lol: Tony's talking about something a lot of people find, it's possible to increase how tight the buckle is until it's right, it doesn't work out to crank it up and try and loosen it back, it's just one of those things.

It's not going to help you racing, it just means you'll need to articulate your leg more before the boot starts to load and transfer the force to the ski. That would be a bad thing.

Having a boot with high flex is good for some people, I like it a lot but if you push it then you'd need a bit of strength to control things.

ise wrote:loosing the lower buckles isn't going to alter the flex of the boot, it's just going to make them loose :lol: Tony's talking about something a lot of people find, it's possible to increase how tight the buckle is until it's right, it doesn't work out to crank it up and try and loosen it back, it's just one of those things.

It's not going to help you racing, it just means you'll need to articulate your leg more before the boot starts to load and transfer the force to the ski. That would be a bad thing.

Having a boot with high flex is good for some people, I like it a lot but if you push it then you'd need a bit of strength to control things.

A looser lower ankle clip deffinately allows you to increase the amount of ankle flex. At times this can be a benefit when you want to stop the skis 'swimming' but at other times you may need something stiff to lean against.

If I'm skiing normally I'll have them loose so I can really flex my ankles but if I'm carving I'll crank them up and propperly lean on them to keep the shovel of the ski biting.

ellistine wrote:
A looser lower ankle clip deffinately allows you to increase the amount of ankle flex. At times this can be a benefit when you want to stop the skis 'swimming' but at other times you may need something stiff to lean against.

If I'm skiing normally I'll have them loose so I can really flex my ankles but if I'm carving I'll crank them up and propperly lean on them to keep the shovel of the ski biting.

I don't think so. Some of that is related to definition, so to make a clear definition, you've got the buckles too tight if either the plastic is being stretched to go around your foot or your foot is being compressed, in practice you'll probably not get one without the other. So a suitable tension will hold and support the foot without that happening, there'll be some small leeway in that, plus or minus for a handful of reasons.

But, if you significantly loosen from that point you're not increasing the flex of the boot, that's impossible, all you've done is increase the diameter of the boot using the buckle and that has no flex at all, in fact proportionally, if you measure flex as the increase in length over diameter under load, you've actually decreased flex. What you have done is allow your foot to move more freely which might be the effect you're after but it's not altered the boot unless your start point was it stretched.

I doubt there's a skier alive who doesn't over tighten their boots from time to time though, I know I do. Sometimes it's to compensate for a bad fit and sometimes it's just when we feel it's going to give more control.

ise wrote:all you've done is increase the diameter of the boot using the buckle and that has no flex at all

But don't forget the boot is made out of two pieces with a pivot point on either side. As you say, with the clip looser you increase the diameter of the boot and this lets the boot move on it's pivot hinge a bit more freely.

Either way, it's easy to test. Put your boots on, clip into your skis then push your knees towards the ski tips. The looser the clip the closer to the tips you'll get. Tighten them up and the boots will resist more.

ellistine wrote:

ise wrote:all you've done is increase the diameter of the boot using the buckle and that has no flex at all

But don't forget the boot is made out of two pieces with a pivot point on either side. As you say, with the clip looser you increase the diameter of the boot and this lets the boot move on it's pivot hinge a bit more freely.

Either way, it's easy to test. Put your boots on, clip into your skis then push your knees towards the ski tips. The looser the clip the closer to the tips you'll get. Tighten them up and the boots will resist more.

I completely agree with what happens and your advice was perfectly good, it's just you're not increasing the flex which was the question I was responding to.

Personally I'm far more interested in who likes high or low flex boots and why :lol:

My boots are Salomon Falcon Race boots.. I went to a reputable boot fitter (read: not Ellis Bringham) and it was what they put on my foot and said would be best for me so I went with that...

No real experience of proper boots as these are what I have progressed with over the last 2 years...

RossF wrote:My boots are Salomon Falcon Race boots.. I went to a reputable boot fitter (read: not Ellis Bringham) and it was what they put on my foot and said would be best for me so I went with that...

No real experience of proper boots as these are what I have progressed with over the last 2 years...

excellent, that's exactly what I wanted to know :D what the young, fast crowd were wearing :D that's going to be pretty stiff. Some of the hot shots around here are wearing those Full Tilt reborn flexons which are pretty stiff, I reckon I must have the floppiest boots in the valley :lol:

ise wrote: I reckon I must have the floppiest boots in the valley :lol:

Yup )

Though you do have a choice of boots...