H-A, Mike,
This is interesting stuff. I can see the logic of a stiff boot limiting your fore and aft movement on hard groomed snow, but how does that translate to 3D snow - crud, bumps, powder? Would not the ability to have some fore-aft movement in your boots be a benefit? Allow you more ability to maintain balance by adjusting stance? I'm just trying to think through how I ski that stuff, and while I definitely see the need for a stiffer boot (being the original reason for starting this thread) to help power through the deep crud, I don't think I would want to go too far with this and be totally "locked in" and rigid.
Mike, I think you were right on in your first reply -- a good 130 flex would be the ticket. Well chosen, and given my height and weight, a 130 flex boot would give me enough fore-aft range to recenter and balance in rough snow, yet give me more of the power and assertiveness that I'm looking for.
And no worries, I don't take the flex stiffness in the shop to mean anything. But I do flex the boots to see what range of motion I might have, how progressive the resistance feels as I move forward, what happens to the lower cuff and shell when I flex, as well as if the fit changes from the deformation. As for stiffness, on a cold day, even my 110's are plenty stiff.
H-A, thanks for insight into the Booster strap and comparison to the Krypton design. That's really good to know that I can get that nice smooth forward flex and range of motion that feels so compelling in the Krypton, but still get the power of a solid 2-piece narrow lasted shell. I like it! Considering that I spend so much time on hard eastern snow, but still ski western mountains a significant amount, this will be a good combination.
FWIW, my Inferno's are designed to have the power strap sit half-on and half-off the upper cuff and tongue, if you can picture what I mean. The forward flex is nice and smooth, but it would be easy to slip the strap fully under the cuff so all of it snugs on the tongue -- I'll try it next week to see how it feels. On my wife's Lange RS110's, I actually cut the upper piece of cuff off so that the strap sits full on the tongue. Lange was smart enough to mold a scribe mark into the cuff for just that purpose. She loves it.
I think the Dan Boisevert may ski in a Dobie 130 and I believe Max skied in that boot prior to moving on up. They are narrow last and low volume boots, with a lot of material available to be removed via grinding. I would consider that boot in the future, although they are ancient by todays boot life standard. Phil just did a review a new boot Nordica has for next year, called Back to Black, which seems to update the Dobie 130. If you find one in your travels, try it on! And if you find one in a 29, let me know!
Size 29, eh? That will cost you extra freight for me to ship boots that big
Seriously, I'll keep an eye out for them. From Phil's review, it sounds like they might be a perfect fit for me too, as he is in the stiffer version of my boot (Inferno shell), and the Nordie's fit him even better. And I love the boss colours.
Maybe my kids will respect and fear me more if I wear those. Ha!
Guys, thanks for all the great feedback. You've upped my level of knowledge about boot design and fitting a great deal, and helped me focus in on a set of criteria that will be important for a good match.
It will be fun to kick around some shops in the coming weeks trying boots. I've got a mental short list of ones that I think might work, based on past trials, and I want to try some others again that didn't fit so well a few years ago to see if they've changed. Will keep you posted.
Cheers,
Svend
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