 Poster: A snowHead
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Posted this earlier in "Bend ze knees" and got some feedback on the technique side. Anyone got a view on my chances of sorting out the folds in the overlap?
Quote from other thread:
Not sure if this is a technique question or an equipment problem so thought I’d start here as lots of the regulars seem to have more than a passing interest in kit as well!
I have a pair of Salomon X-Wave 8s which were fitted by Profeet King’s Road around 5 years ago (I think) with custom footbeds but no other modification other than taking out the calf spoiler (don’t know why) and they have been skied around 75 days since then. They were super comfortable after the first week and I now clip them up at the top of the first lift and leave them like that all day.
My skiing has improved over the years and I’m becoming more sensitive to what is happening (and what isn’t). I notice that my long carved turns work much better to the right than the left. I am making a conscious effort to get more knee flexion to complete the turns and it all seems very progressive on the L boot. Not so on the R boot on L turns and I find I’m losing the edge and getting a judder. I don’t really find this on short turns straight down the fall line and think this might be because I am loading the boot up really quickly here. Skis were Rossignol Experience 83s at half term if it makes a difference
On the R boot I must have failed to close them properly at some point and the forefoot overlap has sort of crimped against each other (the red softer plastic instead of giving a smooth overlap like the L boot has developed two notches/folds, one on each half, which sort of locate into each other) It’s the only place where I get any discomfort and I’m presuming there is a sort of lump stopping the cuff moving forward smoothly.
Two questions:
1. Is there any chance that I can smooth out the two notches and get the boot closing properly? Heat, clamps, trim a bit away?
2. Might this be the cause of the difference in my left and right performance (or is is a workman blaming his tools)
It’s starting to niggle and feels to be affecting my performance and I’m wondering if it’s time for a boot change just to make sure.
I suppose a bit of video might help give a clue but I don’t have any.
All suggestions (that are physically possible!) gratefully received.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Very difficult to say if the twist in the overlap is causing the problems, but if it is being overlapped wrongly when you do the boot up it could cause the boot to flex differently between left and right
A bit of gentle heat from a heat gun ( don't fry the plastic) and you should be able to reshape the overlaps, once the crimp is taken out, it will probably just almost fall out with the heat, then clip the boot making sure that the shell falls the correct way round and leave to cool. Just be wary that if you have managed to twist them like this once you could do it again so check each time you clip the boots up
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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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CEM, Thanks for that. I think I messed them up a few weeks ago (2010 probably!) and have never thought of trying to fix it - daft really. I'll have a go when I first arrive in Chatel and then leave them overnight. I haven't got a heat gun but will give it a go with my daughters "glitter girls" hairdryer which lives in the apartment and also saw (futile) action when my pipes froze over half term.
If I get them straight I'll be super careful not to do it again and if I can't I'll bring the boots home as it's my last trip of the season and post some photos in the hope of more radical solutions. They are otherwise so comfortable I don't really want to ditch them.
Presume the best bet will be at least to detach the cuff from the liner before heating and possibly removing the liner all together? Worth slipping something smooth and plastic between liner and overlap and between the two overlaps to keep the pressure on when I reclose the boot?
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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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Any further thoughts?
The consensus on the "Bend Ze Knees" thread was it's probably my doubtful technique (though some were kind enough to put it in less blunt terms).
Proposed plan of action is:
1. Try to fix the boots
2. Work on some of the tips
3. Have a lesson
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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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| DJL wrote: |
| Any further thoughts? |
Are you left footed, e.g. in a penalty shootout or kicking a rugby ball would you use your left foot? The reason I'm asking is because I'm wondering whether you have a minor muscle/strength/coordination imbalance between your right and left leg. As rob@rar wrote in the other thread, many people have a strong side and a weaker side.
Do you do any sports or other activities that might increase muscle imbalances by favouring one side of the body more than the other? Any problems with either of your knees, hips or lower back?
My knees and lower back are a bit dodgy and the left knee is weaker than the right. When the left knee was playing up I made much better turns to the left than the right. Since then I've managed to strengthen the muscles around the knees very slightly and worked on improving my technique. The problem seems to have vanished, fingers crossed.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Walter-Spitty,
Some would say the imbalance is between my ears!
I noticed when I was videoed on the Profeet "ski machine" being fitted that one of my knees reacted a bit differently to the other (a buit of lateral movement) and I get a pain in the R knee if I run too far. I also get a pain in the L buttock if I run too far - the physio thought it was L sacro-iliac joint seized up and I've had been doing exercises he gave me to free it up (but it doesn't help the pain in my left butt). Probably just getting too old and spending too much time sat at a desk.
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only make right turns? 
I think this is a common enough thing - "favouring" one side - I know I have done in the past as i progressed, and am sure I still do although less noticeable as i've gone on, today would say its a "feeling" rather than any visible difference (ie always feel slightly stronger in one direction turn than the other). It did come back to me to be an issue again though when i started to telemark.
some new stiffy boots might be a good idea, not just necessarily because of this issue you noticed (likely as much to do with your strong side/weaker side as mentioned,) but sounds like you've progressed to the point where something a bit stiffer might be welcome (5 years and 75 days is plenty for a boot). I went from X-Wave 8s to 10s years ago and was amazed at the difference (dunno what the equivalent change-up these days would be), although boot stiffness is very much a personal thing so dont take my recco as the answer necessarily.
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DJL, I find running to be quite bad for my knees in general. I have also had a sacroiliac joint problem for 16 years, since damaging my lower back aged 25. The only solution that works for me is seeing a good chiropractor once a month. No amount of stretching, physiotherapy, massage, exercise, or snake-oil made any difference for my lower back. I put up with misery inducing pain running down one leg for years before I 'discovered' chiropractic. It really didn't help that I had a job where I sat on my butt in front of a computer all day long.
My previous GP was very anti chiropractic, but I went to see a chiropractor anyway. One treatment and the pain went away, but eventually the joints get out of place again which is why I now go once a month.
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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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DJL, ....I've got some 1080s which are exactly the same shell as the x-waves and this is a problem on the left hand boot. As stated above, get the shells heated and moulded back into shape at the overlap (colin will do this in Towcester if you're ever near oxford) and then in future make sure that the first buckle you do up is buckle 2 (counting from the bottom/front of the boot. Then do up all the others and then do final adjustments. This gets the overlap in the right position and not crimped.
I met the guy who designed the X Waves (and 1080s) the other day. Works in Profeet London. It's an amazingly good boot design, with good plastics. I will be mightly fed up when my 1080s and my X wave 7s wear out...which they will...all good things come to an end....
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valais2, just try the Lange RX/RS very good boot and quite similar in fit
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Fixed the boots - thanks CEM - hairdryer followed by a plastic shim to keep the overlaps apart and clamped tight overnight witha a bottle in the boot to replicate a shin.
Now appears to be the same on each foot - more on the "Bend Ze Knees Thread"
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