[Needmoresnow]

If you are in Europe then Decathlon (big box sports retailer) has tongue stiffeners for €10 a pair. Should give some kind of increased longevity and rebound. That’s what I loved about the Ride Fuse. The whole tongue was made of hard but flexible plastic so it gave rebound and didn’t break down at all, like 0%.

I’m no engineer but I humbly suggest that foam is probably not the best material to make the most important part of a snowboard boot from. You know, that part which transfers all the energy from your body to the board and is aggressively flexed many thousands of times every day that you use the boot?

They actually just started selling them in Canada this season. I was eyeballing them last year but couldn't get em. Would be worth a shot for $15.

Flex Up Snowboard Boot Stiffener - Black - Dreamscape - Decathlon

Are your snowboard boots too flexible? Give them a second life. The Flex Up slips into the tongue of the boot to make it stiffer.

www.decathlon.ca

 

[Board Doctor]

Any experience with the Decathlon stiffeners?

 

[fullendurold]

I’m really looking forward to getting back with my K2 Aspects(powder/in bounds hiking, free ride , carving). I got a few days in them at the end of last season after getting a decent price on them and was blown away by the performance and comfort. I like to ride surfy but I do not like surfy boots and binding for that matter so I wanted wicked burly and they are but in a good way. Sized down 1/2 size and they fit perfectly and rode without any discomfort straight out of the box.

 

[Needmoresnow]

Any experience with the Decathlon stiffeners?

Not tried them but might pick a pair up to get some more life out of my photons. Might just use some carpet tape to stick them to the tounge.

 

[SkA]

Correct

Out of curiosity, when you said you had some kind of instep pressure if the boots were a 'comfort' fit, as oppose to sizing 1 down - is the theory here that with a smaller boot, you force your foot to position more tightly into the back of the boot, as oppose to it being able to sliding a bit more forward into the boot?

 

[Kevington]

The slimewall tongues and spines on the fuse are amazing. I love the feel, and they don't break down. I've cracked the tongues after around 100 days of hard carving and tree riding, but the feel remained consistent over the lifetime of the boot.

Yeah, maybe I need to do some tweaking to the painful Boa anchor points on some Ride Fuse. I have one pair where the tongues fell off but could be fixed and another pair with 10 or so days on them. I love the comfort of the Nideckers but they could be wet socks before the season is over.

 

[Cambered234]

Out of curiosity, when you said you had some kind of instep pressure if the boots were a 'comfort' fit, as oppose to sizing 1 down - is the theory here that with a smaller boot, you force your foot to position more tightly into the back of the boot, as oppose to it being able to sliding a bit more forward into the boot?

The better the liner fits the foot, the better a shell and tongue can fit the liner+foot; the better the overall fit, the less things have to be overly cranked down to compensate for an incorrect fit.
Is that why you were asking?

 

[wrathfuldeity]

Same happened with my Ions. Back foot boot is getting soft in the ancle after 10-15 days. Putting something in there to stiffen the toungue might help, anyone here that got any experience with that?

It's easy to diy with some heat moldable plastic sheets from a hobby shop, or some soccer shin guards. Just cut, maybe do some heat forming with a hair dryer. And place between the liner and shell. I use my plastic tongue from my atomic backlands.

 

[Kevington]

It's easy to diy with some heat moldable plastic sheets from a hobby shop, or some soccer shin guards. Just cut, maybe do some heat forming with a hair dryer. And place between the liner and shell. I use my plastic tongue from my atomic backlands.

Gotta love your suggestions to solve the problem of boots being too soft and/or breaking down too fast is just get hard boots. I honestly believe a lot of people who are trying to find super stiff boots that will last multiple seasons might be better off with hard boots (alpine touring type) anyway.

Likewise the whole problem of soft boots breaking down. Another way to look at it could be to think of them like skate shoes. If you skate often your shoes get wrecked fast and you need to replace them regularly. Make snowboard boots cheaper and with no pretensions to being a long lasting product. If you ride regularly you would need new ones every 30 days or so but they wouldn’t cost €400 so it’s not a problem. Most people I know are buying boots that are stiffer than they actually want to get some longevity. Maybe they get a 20 day sweet spot where they have broken in a bit but haven’t gotten too soft. The whole enterprise strikes me as kind of silly sometimes. I’m just rambling while cooking soup over here so take it with a pinch of salt

 

[Board Doctor]

I hate our disposable society. There's no reason that snowboard boots can't last... I think we're already on the replacement program, they just cost too much.

 

[Cambered234]

I hate our disposable society. There's no reason that snowboard boots can't last... I think we're already on the replacement program, they just cost too much.

I agree… when boots are being sold for $669.99 and they are only expected to be worth a damn for up to 15-20 days, that’s bullshit. Surely innovation could exist, but it seems innovation comes at the cost of profits sometimes and it therefore gets stifled.
But I’m not a boot engineer either, so I really don’t know

 

[wrathfuldeity]

I hate our disposable society. There's no reason that snowboard boots can't last... I think we're already on the replacement program, they just cost too much.

I agree… when boots are being sold for $669.99 and they are only expected to be worth a damn for up to 15-20 days, that’s bullshit. Surely innovation could exist, but it seems innovation comes at the cost of profits sometimes and it therefore gets stifled.
But I’m not a boot engineer either, so I really don’t know

Yes... But I'm nuts. So far I got ??? 4-5 years on the Backlands and should get another... at least 3-4 years. So 7-8+ seasons of slipper performance. That can be easily adjusted from soft to very stiff and accommodates surfy to groomer blasting carves. A proselytizing nut job... so don't follow me... I'm a special oly guy... and a cheap ass at that... so cost over years of use is about $100/year.

 

[wrathfuldeity]

Gotta love your suggestions to solve the problem of boots being too soft and/or breaking down too fast is just get hard boots. I honestly believe a lot of people who are trying to find super stiff boots that will last multiple seasons might be better off with hard boots (alpine touring type) anyway.

Likewise the whole problem of soft boots breaking down. Another way to look at it could be to think of them like skate shoes. If you skate often your shoes get wrecked fast and you need to replace them regularly. Make snowboard boots cheaper and with no pretensions to being a long lasting product. If you ride regularly you would need new ones every 30 days or so but they wouldn’t cost €400 so it’s not a problem. Most people I know are buying boots that are stiffer than they actually want to get some longevity. Maybe they get a 20 day sweet spot where they have broken in a bit but haven’t gotten too soft. The whole enterprise strikes me as kind of silly sometimes. I’m just rambling while cooking soup over here so take it with a pinch of salt

It takes a bunch of days to tweak into the sweet spot... but iirc heading into season 4 of the sweet spot. Last year I did a pre-season check of the fiddly parts being secured. The first day to last day of the season, put them on, bucked to the "spot" rode the rest of the season... no tweaking required... comfort performance slippers. I love these things.

 

[Piotr Dabrowski]

I think you don't see much on boots because we all have different foot shapes so you can't really talk/review a boot in general terms. I got narrow feet with a high arch so I have a hard time finding boots that fit me. Basically, I'm stuck with Salomon because of their foot profile. Having said that, I love the Salomon Dialogues with the SJ (straightjacket). That SJ cinches the ankle down and I love how locked in I can get it.

 

[unsuspected]

Yes... But I'm nuts. So far I got ??? 4-5 years on the Backlands and should get another... at least 3-4 years. So 7-8+ seasons of slipper performance. That can be easily adjusted from soft to very stiff and accommodates surfy to groomer blasting carves. A proselytizing nut job... so don't follow me... I'm a special oly guy... and a cheap ass at that... so cost over years of use is about $100/year.

$100/year is expensive. Bought 2 pairs brand new Adidas for less than 100$ each(actually they became free because 6 pairs and sold 4 for a profit). Will last me at least 100 days, probably double.

 

[Kevington]

$100/year is expensive. Bought 2 pairs brand new Adidas for less than 100$ each(actually they became free because 6 pairs and sold 4 for a profit). Will last me at least 100 days, probably double.

This is a reliable model. Find out which boot works for you and just stockpile when you see them cheap. I was doing that with Ride Fuse but then they gone done 'innovated' and put more hard plastic parts inside the shell so they can call it an upgrade.

 

[Kevington]

I agree… when boots are being sold for $669.99 and they are only expected to be worth a damn for up to 15-20 days, that’s bullshit. Surely innovation could exist, but it seems innovation comes at the cost of profits sometimes and it therefore gets stifled.
But I’m not a boot engineer either, so I really don’t know

I dont personally want to ride in ski boots but I think hanging onto the idea that boots can be made of textiles and foam and not just collapse is kind of silly. "Team favourite" "Developed and tested by Shreddy Mercury". Those people have access to as many pairs as they need, for free, so I'm not that interested in their input. I only have experience with the Fuse but I guess some other models from Ride have the hard tongue and spine at the back. This is a step in the right direction and I guess why they are so popular. It must be possible to engineer a boot that has long lasting toe-heel response with some lateral flexibility. Particularly if you let go of the design history that takes Sorel snow boots as a starting point.

 

[Etienne]

Pro have access to as many boots as they want, but I know for sure quite a few of them run them until absolutely beaten. Jeremy Jones mentionned putting 200 days on single pair at some point, Xavier Delerue too, I think Longo mentionned that too… We're not the only one afraid of new boots!

 

[SennaBlast]

The devil you know...

 

[Cambered234]

I dont personally want to ride in ski boots but I think hanging onto the idea that boots can be made of textiles and foam and not just collapse is kind of silly. "Team favourite" "Developed and tested by Shreddy Mercury". Those people have access to as many pairs as they need, for free, so I'm not that interested in their input. I only have experience with the Fuse but I guess some other models from Ride have the hard tongue and spine at the back. This is a step in the right direction and I guess why they are so popular. It must be possible to engineer a boot that has long lasting toe-heel response with some lateral flexibility. Particularly if you let go of the design history that takes Sorel snow boots as a starting point.

Totally agree. I like what Ride is doing, just wish it could try to innovate more. A decade or so ago it seemed like there were more attempts at being innovative than today. At least they were trying different things out, even if most were failures.