So I got these photons step on early December 2022 along with my girlfriend's limelight step on at the Burton Niseko Store.
Have to say I'm extremely disappointed in the quality of the boots. I rode the DC Judge step on from last year for 20 days which I like but was packing out for me hence I got these boots for the season
1) stiffness totally gone after 10th day. The boots pretty much flex like a woreout 100+ boots. I ride steeper lines down at hokkaido niseko side country gates and tree runs and I will not bring this out with me for those days (sticking with my regular K2 Thraxis from 2014 that still have stiffer flex than these new boots).
2) boot starting to pack out much quicker and I'm getting heel lift already. I tried putting remind insoles in the boots which helped the issue a bit but eventually pack out even more. When I tested in the store it was a tight fit
3) shell durability is pretty poor. I'm quite sure the material used are for showroom aesthetics and have not consider real life riding use. 3 hours in the boot toe portion was damaged quite considerably whereas my DC Judge or K2 Thraxis won't have these issues. Even my old Burton Ruler wasn't this bad
4) New BOA coil pop out just as easy as it is to pop back in. Was riding tree run and probably a branch caught the BOA coil on my right foot (I'm regular). Almost hit a tree not knowing the toeside got compromise from lack of support since there's no backup ankle strap holding on the toeside pressure. This is more of a self issue but with Step on, it's an inherent issue that no strap will protect any part of the boots from branch sticking out.
5) GF boots also suffer shell durability/ liner pack out issues in the last two pictures. She's a beginner rider and is not as hard on her gear nor use as often (6 days max). However the same shell / liner pack out issue is occurring
6) Abysmal customer service in Burton Niseko Hokkaido. This store from my understanding is franchised out by Rhythm and all they care is about the potential sales. I walked in with the popped out BOA mentioned in point 4 and the sales representative Daisuke pulled me aside and pop the BOA back in without trying to understand how this happened. The guy blamed the issue on BOA and that this is a new system which Burton is not responsible for (although the boots does have Burton written all over). I'm more frustrated by the fact that he ignored any of my feedback after he popped the boa back in and start serving other customers. Turns out new potential customers are more important than repeating customers who buy gear yearly since 2008 from Burton. I realize this is a franchised shop by Rhythm and they don't care about screwing up Burton's reputation but this is a major safety concern that should be listen to.
Now I use these step on on easy riding days when I'm teaching beginner on slope. I'll probably go with DC judge again as they do last longer. Burton stuff don't last as long as require you to keep replacing them mid season
stif
