Author Topic: Boot Questions/Heel Lift??  (Read 1725 times)

Svend

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Re: Boot Questions/Heel Lift??
« on: December 26, 2012, 10:08:49 pm »
Byron -- I concur with Dan's suggestion of experimenting with shimming the back of the boot cuff to give you more forward lean.  Most of the boots made in recent years put the skier in a rather upright stance, which works for some, but not others, and definitely not for me. 

Last year I played with both increased binding delta as well as forward lean to achieve a more balanced stance.  I found that increasing the delta did little except make me feel disconnected from the tails of my skis.  But I really liked the effect of increased forward lean.  I grabbed a bunch of trails maps, and then started stuffing them down the back of the boots between liner and upper cuff -- first one map, then another after about an hour of skiing, and so on until I felt comfortable.  Final result was that about a 1/4 inch extra forward lean was the ticket.  It helped a lot to get my hips forward and make me feel centered. 

It's a simple experiment, and a cheap fix if it works.  Easily reversible too.  Some boots are sold with removable spoilers to so you can adjust this, but for others you will have to paste some bootfitters foam in there.  Most of the spoilers are wedge shaped to allow a range of adjustment -- the farther down you shove them, the more lean you get.  FWIW, the spoilers that came with my Tecnicas were too thin to give me the lean I needed, and I had to add some trail maps during my test day to push me even more forward.  As a final fix I used some thicker shims from Gary's Langes that he didn't need and donated to the worthy cause.  If your boots didn't come with shims, ask your shop if they have any Lange spoilers in their odds bin they can give you.  They taper from less than an 1/8" to more than 1/4", and are the best I have seen.

On the hill, use your spoilers (if you have them) or keep stuffing maps back there until you go too far, then back off to where it feels good and ski the rest of the day like that just to be sure you have it right.

BTW, Salomon boots seem to be stiffer than most.  I've tried a few over the years, and they always feel stiffer than most others of the same flex index.  I recently tried an X3 model in a 130 flex that was stiffer than all other 130's I had tried from other brands.  Darn solid boot.

« Last Edit: December 26, 2012, 10:13:23 pm by Svend »