 Poster: A snowHead
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Having spent much of the latter part of last season looking at, talking to various fitters (including CEM), trying on and rejecting most boots that I tried, I was told about the 2013 model Atomic Burner which has the performance that I am looking for, a nice heel pocket, a good fitting cuff and the live fit that would give my wide forefoot room to breath. I have other issues like each foot being a different shell size and narrow achilles.
Due to a seed of doubt being planted in my head by a ski boot fitter, I am not convinced about the Live Fit on these boots and would be keen to hear from anyone who has used them to know if they felt that there was a loss of performance/input due to front of foot movement issues or any such thing. Also, has anyone suffered any reliability issues with the Live Fit module?
Only other option for me seems to be a Fischer Vacuum boot.
Any opinions much appreciated.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Why not just settle on a bootfitter you trust and put the decision in their hands? Too much second guessing is likely to lead you nowhere. Nothing is as bad for performance as a foot that physically is in pain so I'd rank performance factors for the boot as a very low priority behind best fit. If the only boot that fits you is a soft flex rental model you're better off with that IMV than trying to feed your ego with an "expert" boot.
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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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Have you considered zip-fit liners? I moved over to these last year (in my existing Atomic boots) and they give me by far the best fit and control that I've ever had. They are an utter pig to put on though!
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fatbob, I have been to see bootfitters that I trust, one in particular that I used to trust and don't any more, and they have recommended the Burner. Another bootfitter who I also trust (who doesn't stock the Atomic) recommended Vacuum. I'm waiting for new stock to arrive in Blues to get shell checked etc.
Each fitter that I've seen have said I have "complex" feet and fwiw, I know to put trust in people who know what they are doing.
This was not a "what boot" thread. It was a particular question about a particular boot. There is no second guessing. My choice of boot is nothing to do with ego feeding so IMV please keep your smart arsed comment to yourself unless you have any other info that may help.
RobW, sounds interesting and I've been meaning to look into them more. Biggest problem I have is heel retention (or lack of) and a certain amount of that comes from having each foot in different shell sizes. You reckon the zip-fit could help there?
Anyone with any opinions on Live Fit?
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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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Having owned a pair for a season I'm not totally convinced the Fischer expands enough to give comfort to those particularly wide feet.
My feet are slightly wide and one boot in particular squeezes a bit - not intolerably if you loosen them at every opportunity - but enough.
I should go and get them re-formed I suppose but the fear is you come out worse rather than better and there is virtually nothing you can do whilst 'in resort'.
I like them though - having said that - a bit cold but they are light.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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shoogly, Sorry wasn't trying to be a smartarse - just my experience is that sometimes you have to compromise on more than one criterion to get the best outcome in a more important area. I've made bad mistakes in the past by going for the performance option myself. Opinions on a specific boot, beyond outright quality issues are so subjective as to be almost meaningless IMO.
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accepted 
I'm of the same thinking as you, but i'm thinking that something like live-fit is one of the few things on a boot that isn't as subjective as others... much like the way buckles, or a walk mode, just work or don't. I am a wee bit (say 10%) concerned about having a bit on the outside of the boot that can physically move with your foot and wether this affects performance or not and if it's going to survive being bashed around by a 6'4", almost 95kg idiot for the forseeable future.
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shoogly, having seen a pair in the flesh, my main concern would be potential damage to that little rubbery bit - it is by nature on the outside of the boot, which could get knocked against chairlifts, sitting on the bus, that area of my boots has a number of marks and scratches which on the rubber would potentially lead to leaks and damage long term. The fit, however, when I tried them with my quite wide forefoot, was good, but I didn't pursue them in the end for this and other reasons.
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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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don't think there will be much risk of damage to the "little rubbery bit" as it has been described, it is made of pretty bought stuff...if there was a concern, for me it would be that you may feel the boot shell give a bit away from the a]lateral side of the foot, but speaking to people who have skied the boot over the last 6 months there has been little comment of it being a problem, you will struggle to find many users as yet as the boots with this tech (other than the original live fit which is a bit of a bucket) are only just coming to market this month
for heel retention ZipFit is pretty indestructible, the liner can be topped up around the heel/ankle area and into the tongue to increase the volume of material inside if required...combined with a 98mm shell of some sort it will be pretty solid i would think (assuming the correct size is selected!)
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I don't understand why do you want a narrow-last boot if you have wide feet and hope for some sort of special technology that will allow some room for your toes. Sounds like a recipe for pain. There are many boots on the market that will be plenty stiff and accommodate both narrow heels and wide forefeet and they will have wider lasts than 98mm. For narrow heels/achilles ZipFits work really well and they don't pack out.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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i have numerous issues with ny feet and ankles too many to worth bothering you with .i solved all fell my problems in one fell swoop surefeet in val disere expensive yes .fit perfect done two weeks on new boots on issues whatsoever
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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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vipul, the foam liner they use works for many people but equally can cause pain for others, that is the reason most fitters offer options on liner, there is no one size fits all solution.
a standard high pressure PU foam liner will crush some feet, stretching the shell for this simply does not work, as the liner has applied pressure to the foot and set with the foot in a compressed state, no amount of adjustment will resolve this.
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CEM, thanks for all of your help that you offered with my boots. I took everything you said on board and it helped immensely.
I did manage to get my feet into a pair of the new Atomic boots at the weekend and the heel hold was very good indeed, and the LF part certainly did at least part of a job of offering out to the box comfort for my narrow heels, wider forefoot and the other problems we have previously discussed. The 98mm last was just too narrow across my forefoot and I had pain after around 15mins in the boots that I doubt a stretch could take care of.
It was a worthwhile exercise but in the end I have ended up in a pair of Hawx and I'm happy with that. As mentioned previously, trying on the new narrower LF boots was always going to be as a matter of exploring what was possible with my feet and I was never dead cert to buying them.
never summer, The idea was to help with the problem that I have a narrow achilles area, and one of my feet is a whole shell size smaller than the other. Because of this I was suffering from pretty bad heel lift in the last couple of seasons and couldn't find a pair of boots that solved this. The best I had tried previous to this were the Hawx, but I was hoping the narrower lasted boots with the LF insert would solve this. It did in the heel, but not in the forefoot. Trust me, I tried on a lot of boots!
FWIW, I think LF has its place and if Atomic ever bring a boot out with the heel pocket of the Burner/Tracker and the forefoot of the Hawx (flex is amazingly smooth btw) then I'd have them.
Thanks for all help I've had here, very much appreciated.
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You know it makes sense.
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shoogly, I see where you're coming from. But I just didn't believe that this issue could be properly addressed by the boot that is too narrow for your feet to start with. Good work on Hawks. Great boots.
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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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often it is not just a width thing, overall volume of the forefoot plays a bigger part than most people think, you can stretch a shell potentially 7mm each side, you just can't do that and maintain ALL the volume as well
hawx is a great boot, the nay issue we have had with it is the liner packing down a bit....no doubt a zip fit will take car of that when the tie comes
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Poster: A snowHead
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+1 for Hawx.
Great boot for my feet and fitted me straight out of the box (although I really should get custom footbeds) - I have a narrow heel, slightly wider than average fore foot and low arches. Now I don't have any heel lift at all and can ski all day in comfort.
CEM is right about the liners packing down. I think they are thermoformable (?) liners and i have noticed they loosen up towards the end of the day, albeit very slightly. I just tighten up an extra notch on the buckles. So, yup, zipfits in a couple of seasons if it packs down any more.
The only problem i have had are little water droplets forming inside the upper toe area (I can see through the shell). As a result, the liner gets damp, my toes get a bit cold at the end of the day and it takes ages to dry. But that's probably due to my sweaty feet rather than the boot letting in snow.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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ALQ, I have the same issue with water droplets with Hawx. If you put duct tape over the front of your boots it will somewhat reduce the issue. Also once you move to ZipFits (I would recommebd to get them through bootfitter rather than online) they will provide bit more insulation for your toes, just don't forget to pull them out after day of skiing so that to let them dry out.
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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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never summer, thanks for the tip.
Another made a nifty boot cover with neoprene which I might try to copy.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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some of the issue with the moisture inside the toe box is doe to the volume of the toe box on the hawx boot, it is a little taller than many boots and whilst this give a little more vertical wiggle room sometimes it results in there being a little bit of dead air space , this is a cold zone and any sweat coming from your foot can condense in this area, it gives the appearance of the boot leaking, in 99% of cases it is not leaking, the moisture is simply sweat condensing in the little extra space that there is above the toes...... removing the liners each night t dry them out is good practice whether they are the stock liner or a zip fit (or any other liner for that matter)
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