 Poster: A snowHead
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Yo
Have 120'd out my boot liners and having read around Zipfit seem to be getting the nod.
I have custom footbeds which are still a-OK so I was wondering if another 'fitting' is 100% necessary, especially given the awkwardness of my current geography...
Also, seem to be a few different Zf models; any ones you guys would specifically recommend for freeride (alpine), given my high arch/wide feet/narrow ankle/big calf peculiarities?
Cheers in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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oz5000, pucka (very hot) heat fitting is a must with Zips, not just to form the lining to your foot but also to form the outside of the liner to your boot. AFAIK the differences in the liners are in thickness only so your shell gap will determine your model choice. It's now possible to add extra fluid/cork to the liner were extra padding is needed. CEM is the expert so best to ask him then book an appointment.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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oz5000, they're great liners bit I wouldn't mess around getting them fitted by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Well worth a visit to CEM at Solutions4Feet in Bicester to get them right. He fitted my Zipfits, and I'd say it's well worth making a lengthy journey to get a decent fit.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Agree with the muppets above  But there is a video of a bloke DIYing a zipfit moulding.
Pretty cool too, I'll see if I can find it.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Mosha Marc, I feel embraced by the warm glow of community
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Absolute doddle to fit, easily done at home if you have a microwave and an oven that you can fit the shells in. You will need footbeds however, so that should not however be done at home, no matter how light you Victoria Sponge
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, what's the lifespan of a footbed? Mine have done 200 days on snow now, windlass jobs but I'm not sure on brand. Foamed liners have the same amount of days and I'm considering Zipfit as the next step since I can't imagine they'll hold up perfectly for another season.
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Nice one fellas. Have footbeds with plenty of life in them still, but looks like a trip to Oxon to get the liners fitted correctly might not be a bad call...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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oz5000, we have just had all next seasons liners delivered a couple of weeks back, of the 6 models zip fit make we carry 4 the two we don't hold in stock are the classic (designed for oversize boots) ands the tour this is a low cuff version of the classic, we carry the heli pro as a substitute for touring boots.... other than that we have grand prix, world cup, and world cup gara (ultra thin fr race boots or fat feet in normal boots)
as smallzookeeper says it is possible to mold them yourself, although i wouldn't put them in the microwave any more, and heating the shells is quite an important part of the process to get the best mold from the liner
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oz5000, Some decent painkillers are a good idea too, until they bed in.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Spyderman, duly noted, cheers!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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oz5000, he is just a wimp 
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oz5000, No he's not kidding - but once they do bed in, best thing since sliced bread. I am really happy with mine 
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You know it makes sense.
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arent they pretty pricey? like pricey enough that you may well get a deal on complete noew boots if you time it / buy one model back?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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barry, Zip-Fit liners are about £200, the benefit in fit is worth it.
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Poster: A snowHead
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barry, depends, once i've sorted new heel/toe pieces my shells should be good for another year (i hope), as are the footbeds, but liners are packed out to fack.
Boils down to c£250 vs c£450 and supposedly zipfit have c3x life expectancy of boot-supplied liners too, not to mention the increased responsiveness i can expect/hope to get (yada yada).
Basically I need new liners or new boots; so seems to me liners make economic sense (unless i need to remortgage to keep myself in 800mg ibuprofen, obviously...)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Given my shells are in Fernie (28.5 SM14s from 2 years ago), and no-one sells Zipfit in Canada, is it worth taking the correct size out (and if so, what is it?) rather than just getting new foam injected liners from the place I got my boots fitted? The guys are highly thought of and about as close to CEM/SZK type reputation as I'm going to find in a 4 hour radius for a long time, but injection foam doesn't really get much airtime over Intutitions on TGR and Zipfits here, so I'm interested to see if anyone has any thoughts directly comparing them?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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DaveC, I had Comformable Pro Foam in a pair of Raptors before my present Atomic/Zip-Fit Gara.
Differences:
Foam is freezing cold in comparison to Zip-Fit.
Responsiveness: I'd say was pretty much the same
Comfort: I think the Zip-Fit is more comfortable, it adapts throughout the day. Foam was instantly comfortable, Zip-Fits take a while to bed in and become perfect.
Durability: Zip-Fit is longer lasting and can be moved from one boot to another, unlike foam.
Size is the same as your shell size, but which model depends on the shell check gap. even with me having the Gara model which is the thinnest, so you can't just buy Zip-Fits without having an assessment to decide which model is best for you. I couldn't do the shells up properly for the first 5-6 times of wearing them, until the cork moved to the right places in the liner, with the ensuing agony to go with it. I thought I'd made a big mistake getting them at first they were so uncomfortable, but after about a week's use everything just became perfect, as if they were a different pair of boots all of a sudden. Worth the agony for sure. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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surprised they havent teamed up with a boot maker to create the ultimate boot then?? or have they?? seems like it might be a seller (as long as the cost wasnt fully incremental, and maybe not for the average punter - though folk do buy stuff!)
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Cheers guys. It's weird given that this time around I'm thinking about new boots for that last notch of performance - last time I was working out what to do, boot wise, it was because my first pair hurt and didn't fit. My current pair seem to be a suitable flex, pretty much perfect shell wise, get a bit of cramping sometimes in the outside of one foot when i'm doing a lot of walking, but they're tight shell wise and definitely accurate - without any discomfort skiing, so the idea of "upgrading" is a bit scary, especially expense wise if they don't work out! Not sure if I should go for just Zipfits, just foamed, or new shells and beds too this year... hmm.... probably more suitable to the other boot thread!
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I really don't understand this stuff about ZipFit being uncomfortable to start with. I'm now on my second pair. The first pair I was sold (not by CEM) were a bit dodgy and never fitted right around the heel, but everywhere else fitted like a glove from the off and improved my skiing overnight (well, once I got used to the increased responsiveness). The second pair (WC Ltd), fitted by CEM, have been perfect from the get go - any discomfort has been from the shells I got at the same time and the need to fit them around my rather inconvenient bunions (and we may need another shot at that  ). Get them fitted right and there's no need for any discomfort at all.
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GrahamN, CEM fitted mine and I was in agony to start with. The most I could tolerate them on for at first was about 20 minutes. He said they'd take several days skiing to be comfortable. Massaging the flow pack in the tongue as advised by Scott Dobson, to move the flow from above the top of my foot to further up on my shin was the revelation in them being instantly more comfortable, there was too much material over the top of my foot. It would have moved eventually no doubt, but I would have burnt them before that would have happened. I think that as you can get the WC Zipfit in your shells you must have a lot more room in yours to start with, having such a close shell fit anything in the wrong place in mine just kills, even the Gara model only just fits.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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OK, I must have just been lucky - or you just unlucky.
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GrahamN, Spydermans boots are tight in terms of length and mostly volume, that and he is a very sensitive sole! some people get into the zip fit fine straight off, others take a few days of skiing to get them right, a lot depends on the shell fit and the individual, mostly how closely their foot conforms to the shell and areas where the liner is thick or thin, how much heat you genrate form your foot acn also be a factor as the cork material flows more when warm.... interestingly you skied yours hard outside first few days whereas Spyderman was in hemel... there is very littleactual skiing in a fridge and no heat on the shells form the sun either so this may be another reason
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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GrahamN, my Zipfits were very painful for the first 5 days of skiing them and I was wondering if I'd made a mistake getting them. Then, as if someone had thrown a switch, the 6th day was perfect. Close fit all round my foot but no painful pressure anywhere, and it felt like I'd been welded to my skis because they suddenly became very response. But maybe like Spyderman I'm just a bit of a wimp when it comes to pain?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Sounds like the best thing to do with new Zipfits is go and ski on a dryslope in summer, that cork material will flow in five minutes!
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| barry wrote: |
| surprised they havent teamed up with a boot maker to create the ultimate boot then?? or have they?? seems like it might be a seller (as long as the cost wasnt fully incremental, and maybe not for the average punter - though folk do buy stuff!) |
The standard liners in several brands of race boot use the same materials as Zipfit ones.
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You know it makes sense.
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Another 'painful enough to cry' until they bedded in - around 10 days skiing for me. No question I had a tight shell fit and a large Zipfit. I then skied well over 400 days on the liners and only had the cork topped up once. My old shells died before the liners.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| rjs wrote: |
| barry wrote: |
| surprised they havent teamed up with a boot maker to create the ultimate boot then?? or have they?? seems like it might be a seller (as long as the cost wasnt fully incremental, and maybe not for the average punter - though folk do buy stuff!) |
The standard liners in several brands of race boot use the same materials as Zipfit ones. |
some use very very small amounts of a similar cork flow material, IT IS NOT the same stuff and generally only in the ankle region
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Booked in with CEM next week, cheers for all your input guys... 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| oz5000 wrote: |
| Booked in with CEM next week, cheers for all your input guys... |
Enjoy the pies
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I is vegethairyarse - i trust they cater?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| oz5000 wrote: |
| I is vegethairyarse - i trust they cater? |
Avoid the pies and stick with the beer 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Have yet to be offered pie or beer. However, more than satisfied with services and goods supplied, including ZipFits.
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I've had two pairs of Zippy Fitty Liners (Lockwoods and Solutions for Free) with no particular pain issues.
But I am nails
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Spyderman, cutting!
True.
But cutting.
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I've had my Grand Prix Zipfits topped up previously at Solutions 4 Feet
I've messaged CEM
Meanwhile has anybody bought the Spotfit Kit/Tubes of Filler for Zipfits in the UK?
Cheers
Last edited by Ski the Net with snowHeads  on Tue 1-03-16 3:47; edited 1 time in total
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