Author Topic: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75  (Read 1127 times)

HighAngles

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PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« on: October 29, 2012, 09:14:14 pm »
If you happen to fit a 27.5 and can get your foot into a 95mm last, then Ski Universe has your boot for $75.  They have the Head Raptor B3 RD available for $75.  I own these and they are a serious "Formula 1" race boot.  They're a 130 flex and use the Double Power Booster strap (a nice upgrade to a normal Booster strap).  I wish they had my size cause at this price they're a steal.

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midwif

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2012, 10:41:53 am »
Jim??
Isn't that your size?
"Play it Sam"

jim-ratliff

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2012, 11:01:54 am »
Jim??
Isn't that your size?
It was before you showed me how to do a proper shell fit. Now I'm a 26.
Sometimes size does matter, I guess.   :o
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

Svend

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2012, 05:12:06 pm »
H-A....do they have a 98mm last in that size, and for that price? If so, I'd bite.  Fantastic price.  I tried the 98mm version a few months ago and it was an almost perfect fit right out of the box.

Thanks!


jbotti

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2012, 09:40:59 am »
I skied that boot for several years. Great boot. Great price.

Jim, nice to hear that you have gone down a shell size. You should see a huge difference in the way the boot performs.

jim-ratliff

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2012, 11:38:22 am »
I skied that boot for several years. Great boot. Great price.

Jim, nice to hear that you have gone down a shell size. You should see a huge difference in the way the boot performs.
That's actually been at least two years ago (maybe 3). Lynn saw a greatdeal on a Head Raptor 110? and knew I had been looking at that boot, so she ordered it and then asked me what size I needed. I lost one toenail on each foot the first year along with needing the space over the big toe joint, the little toe joint and the ankle joint pushed out a bit. The shell was actually OK, but the Raptor liner was smaller than the shell -- to make it a 26 instead of a 26.5 and always felt too small? You could see the space through the translucent shell. Finally, last year I replaced the liner with zipfit and Diana picked a liner that better used the extra space in the toebox, and I have been smiling ever since, both from a fit and performance point of view. (and actually from an entry and exit point of view as well)
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

LivingProof

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #6 on: October 31, 2012, 12:11:20 pm »
I measure a 30, and, ski in Nordica 29. During my fitting last year, I was advised that my present boots are pretty close to being as short as I can go. Still, I have this dream of getting into a 28, and, if HA's find was that size, I'd bite. Then spend $300 getting boot fitting. ::) I tried on every 28 that Start Haus had in stock last year, and, no way Jose.

Live is too short to ski in small boots.


HighAngles

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2012, 08:00:33 pm »
That is cheap! Does it come with a real booster strap?

http://www.masterfitenterprises.com/booster.html

Head licensed the Booster strap, but then used the technology in a new way with the Double Power Booster.  it's really hard to explain what they did in writing, but they basically added an additional layer of power strap around the Booster by creating a second "hinge" position.  It's elastic just like a Booster, but it slides easier allow it to take better advantage of the elastic nature of the Booster.  I'm not sure if it really makes a whole lot of difference - all I cared about was that Head already had the Booster installed on their boots.

HighAngles

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #8 on: November 02, 2012, 08:05:01 pm »
I would never be able to get into a 95mm last shell if it weren't for the ZipFit GARA liners I use in the B3 RD.  The ZipFits don't have a lot of "beef" around the forefoot allowing for a much tighter shell fit than would normally be possible without blowing out the shell sides.

And don't get me started about short-lasted liners.  That's one of the biggest atrocities performed on skiers by the boot companies.  I used to stretch the liners like Max, but since switching to ZipFits and Intuitions I've just been collecting all the brand new stock liners I never use in a box.

HighAngles

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2012, 05:23:24 am »
I've tried to go to foam twice.  Once many years ago at Surefoot and that turned into a total disaster and then again with HSS last season.  Unfortunately last season we foamed the boots with such a tight fit that I couldn't even get relief with the boots completely unbuckled (when the plastic is cold outside).  I went through a bunch of pain in 3 separate trips trying to "break in" the foam liners (and Diana did a ton of work on them to try to make them work), but in the end I went back to the ZipFit liners.  I would love to try foam again and the HSS shop is using a new system this season (not the Nordica stuff any longer).  I know where we went wrong in the process and I think I could make foam work, but I'm completely happy in my ZipFits now so there's really no point for me.

Interesting to note that Harald is back in foam in his Dodge boots, but I ran into Diana at LL yesterday and she's back in Head Raptors.

jbotti

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2012, 10:53:10 am »
Yeah, she was destroying her feet in the Dodges. She had to make many mods just so she could get in and out of the boots using her foam liners. Her foot is just not make for that boot.

ToddW

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2012, 05:29:30 pm »
In April she switched to a new pair of Scorpions for Hintertux rather than using her old Raptors.  Any idea why she reverted to Raptors?  Personal fit issues or general boot characteristics?

ToddW

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2012, 06:03:55 pm »
Unfortunately last season we foamed the boots with such a tight fit that I couldn't even get relief with the boots completely unbuckled (when the plastic is cold outside).  I went through a bunch of pain in 3 separate trips trying to "break in" the foam liners (and Diana did a ton of work on them to try to make them work), but in the end I went back to the ZipFit liners.

It may take a bit more than 3 weekends to break them in.  There's a some classic story in the forum archives about Midwif breaking in new foam liners that gives new definition to the phrase "ski ****."

Part of it is your foot learning to accommodate the foam liners.  I'm wearing my Raptors (130RD, Nordica race foam) for the first time in months right now.  I perceive that the pressure is intense.  And yet I know that I'll wish they were tighter by the time I've skied 10 days.

Don't be afraid to take a knife to any pain points.  There's a seam in the Nordica liners that passes over my medial malleolus and caused pain.  D and I hacked it out bit by bit.  A chunk of the 6th toe area is also cut out.

HighAngles

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Re: PSA: Head Raptor B3 RD 27.5 for $75
« Reply #13 on: November 06, 2012, 05:17:44 am »
Yep, Diana hacked out a lot of the foam in my liners, but it wasn't enough to negate the overall volume of foam that was packed into the boot.  When I was foamed we used compression socks and very lightly buckled the boots.  If I were to do it again I would use normal ski socks and make sure that the boots were buckled tight enough so that the shells were "past" their normal relaxed, unbuckled state.

I've dealt with plenty of pain breaking in new liners, but if you can't even get any relief from unbuckling on the lifts then it makes the process almost impossible to deal with.