How to determine what flex boot to get?

Posted: 10 February 2011 03:18 AM

Vitals
Male, 42, intermediate, small mountain riding, no park/pipe, 5’5”, 130lbs riding K2 Believer 151, size 8 US street shoe

Narrow ankles, flat feet (using superfeet orthotic or custom orthotic from cycling shoe)

I’m looking for a boot for freeriding small mountains, and want responsive boot for quick turning, but am unsure if I should go stiff or mid flex. I hear conflicting advice, some say stiffer is better for freeriding, but then others say given my shorter height and lighter weight that a mid flex boot would be better.

I’ve got Nitro Team TLS right now, and ankle hold is good, but I do get pain in the top of the ankle, from cranking down the ankle harness.

Also what is the proper way to test for unacceptable heel lift. I am learning that just standing in them and trying to stand onto toes and generate heel lift is not the right way.

any help would be appreciated.
thanks

Posted: 10 February 2011 09:41 AM

Yeah for big mountain freeriding a stiffer boot is usually the ticket, it makes icy traverses that little bit less painful, the board more responsive and is more supportive for sketchy landings, a stiffer boot is basically more efficient at transfering energy from your legs to the board. Boots like the Buton Driver X, Deeluxe Empire, Salomon Malamute, Northwave Domain and Vans Cirro fit into this category. Personally I don’t think it is necessary to go for these beasts a mid/firm flexing boot will do the job fine and still give you enough movement for tweaking those grabs. I ride Vans Andfreas Wigg and they work fine for pretty much anything I want to ride from pow to park. On the stiffness front they are probably a 7/10 but of course like any boot they get softer and softer every day. I’d look at boots like the Burton Ruler, Vans Andreas Wigg and Salomon Dialogue or if you are feeling wealthy the Nike Zoom Kaiju.

As far as fit goes.. you need to be trying on as many pairs as possible to understand which boot manufacturer designs boots that fit your feet. Unfortunately the only way to check for heel lift in a store is to walk around in them and make sure you don’t get any lift… other than that it’s just luck. I suffered from a touch of heel lift when I used to ride Northwave and 32s now I ride Vans I don’t get any, their liners are great at holding my heel down.

Rich

Posted: 10 February 2011 11:31 PM

If you have narrow ankles Salomon boots are great.  I just picked up a pair of F20’s and they have great heel hold and ankle support.  I would say they’re a mid to mid/stiff flexing boot.  The tighter you pull the laces on the top portion of the boot, the firmer the tongue feels.  I just switched to these after riding the Burton Grail, and the Salomon’s have a much better fit for me.

Posted: 11 February 2011 08:16 AM

Ditto on trying on as many boots as you can…  I went through Burtons, Vans, 32s, Nikes, K2s and Rides before settling on the pair I have.

If you have a narrow heel try on some Nike Air Force 1s…  they are designed for narrower feet and had the best heel hold of any boots I tried on.

And I would go for a stiff boot, more response from those.