Thought I'd love Mach1 130's, walked out with Raptors

[eok]

Was up at Bachelor today. My feet were telling me to take a break from skiing the Cascade Concrete & look at boots. Walked into the resort's shop (Gravity Sports) and tried a number of boots.

I really REALLY wanted the Technica Mach1 130 (LV or MV) to be a slam dunk. I really did. I've been looking at the Mach1's for a couple seasons. But, nope, this was not to be. MV fit was way too relaxed for my ~28.5 hooves. LV was better but heel hold ankle fit was surprisingly less than I expected (meaning: loose). In either case, I could only go down a size if I cut off the ends of my toes. Bottom line: I didn't experience the "great out of the box fit" others have had with the Mach1. Kind of disappointed me.

The fitter then brought out a K2 Spyne box. I immediately passed on those. I had a really awful experience with K2 boots in the 70's. I'm still recovering from the mental trauma. ;^).

Next up Head Raptor 120 RS. Almost money. Seriously, a really nice fit for me. Great heel hold, not too much pressure over the instep. Just enough wiggle room for the toes (toes not quite touching the end of the boot). Tight fit but not crushing. No hot spots. Good flex.

Then the Head Raptor 140 RS. Bingo! The fit tension seemed perfect. Great flex (it's actually "130" out of the box). Got a good deal & I snagged them. Bachelor's Gravity Sports staff are great & their fitters are top notch.

Can't wait to try them out later this week.

 

[Monique]

This is why I purposely do no research before trying on boots The fit is in the pudding. Or something.

Glad you got some boots that made your feet happy!

 

[CalG]

It's important to leave the shop with a good feeling about your boots. Good on ya!

I may be "different" (I've been called worse) but I have not found that the way the boot feels "in the shop" makes a hoot of difference.
I noticed recently that "some" of the boots in retail shops are maintained artificially warm. That must appeal to the " ease of entry" and "Oh! These are so comfy" crowd.
Flex in the shop being what it is, I trust the boot makers to use good "all temperature" plastic.

But to the matter for "skiers", I've got to know the liner! If it's heat mold-able and 12 mm thick foam, That boot is going to feel like a vise when it's first put on. But after heat molding or 8 hours on snow, there will be lots more room. That's why a "shell fit" is the important starting point. And shell fits never feel "good". ;-)

I'm glad for you. But from my experience, if the "fit tension" is good today, my feet would be flopping around after 2 weeks.

In example, One recent effort on my part had the "sales person/ Masterfit Cert" asking how the boots felt as I walked down and back the sales area. . My response was "These feel great! I could ski them today. Which of course means the boots are too large."

The boots were 27.5, I fit well in 26.5 with just a little work. But, that was the size in stock, and they wanted to sell them....

I walked out in the same shoes I walked in . ;-))

 

[James]

Sounds like the op is pretty experienced with boots so The fit is likely ok. Feet are different I watched a rep the other day struggle to get into a boot.(liner on foot then into shell). He got it in then just sort of stood there "pretty good". He took his foot out and put it on a Brannock. I looked, it was 13. The shell was a 26! (Size 8). How that's possible I don't know.

It's good to take your liner into the fitting. This is standard practice with race plug boots. Does not have to be same brand. It's already broken in and will give a better assessment. Some liners are better for this than others.

If you're going to put an intuition in a 140 Raptor make sure it's the one with a hard tongue. Meaning you can't bend it lengthwise with your fingers. I think the ones they made for Dalbello have this. The regular pro tongue Intuition is crap and should never have been sold. If you can't find one, Sole Lab in Chamonix, France has a special one made for them by Intuition that has a good tongue. They're on facebook.

 

[eok]

@CalG : I hear 'ya. For me, "Good fit tension" in the shop means they're pretty tight all over. My shell fit for the Raptors was pretty good: around 8-10mm. Going down one more size wasn't doable. While I did say they were "comfortable", it was really about no hot spots or crushing.

 

[mxpowder]

Interesting. I recently went down a shell size and I have very narrow and bony heel and ankles. I skied next season's Mach1 130 and this season's Raptor RS120. In store feeling, the Raptor RS120 was a stiffer flex and possibly slightly shorter on the shin than the Mach1 130.

Skiing both, the Mach1 130 skied very well with the upper buckles not clamped nearly as tight as my current boots (26.5 black Redster 120's w/ foam liner). Slight amount of discomfort on right top of instep under the buckle. Right foot toes very slightly touching front of boot. When I skied the Raptor RS120, right top of instep was killing me to the point I didn't even buckle over the instep and loosened the upper buckles to make it skiable.

I had to base my comparison with the left foot. My observations were that the heel hold on the Raptor was a bit looser than the Mach1? On snow the Mach1's were also still softer than the Raptor RS120's. I ended up going with the Mach1's since it was a tighter fit and much less pain over my right instep. In fairness, the Raptors I skied had been demoed before. Neither boots had the liner heated. Since the Mach1's fit as well as they do now, I don't plan on heating the liner and ultimately making it roomier. I only plan on working on the right top of instep with punching or cutting around pressure as needed.

 

[markojp]

Deleted for reasons of basic lack of pre coffee civility...

 

[eok]

Wow. If I didn't have a thick skin I'd get in a shouting match right now. But, I am kind of sorry now that I posted my experience getting a new pair of boots. I didn't expect people jumping to negative conclusions about me so quickly.

What I will say at this point is I do in fact know my feet & how an out-of-the-box ski boot should feel on my feet. I know what works for me. When stepping into a boot for the first time, I know immediately that it's too big/comfortable and will pack out too soon. I'll also know what kind of work will be needed immediately and down the road. When I'm trying a boot with a fitter I'm always proactive and make sure they don't waste my time with something that I know won't work.

I have good sized relatively narrow feet, slightly high mid-foot, average ankle size, no oddities. I do really well with low volume shells. I size down as much as I can. I always try that. Couldn't do it with the Mach1 or Raptor. 28.5 was as low as as I could go. Any lower and my toes would be hard up against the front of the boot and that kind of fit has always resulted in bad consequences. Raptor gave me the kind of fit I know I can work with.

 

[markojp]

Wow. If I didn't have a thick skin I'd get in a shouting match right now. But, I am kind of sorry now that I posted my experience getting a new pair of boots. I didn't expect people jumping to negative conclusions about me so quickly.

Sorry for the a.m. cross and crotchety asshattery on my part. I know better than to post before coffee's kicked in. Am going to edit for civility. Had a very similar experience 5-6 years ago. Had skied Langes for ages and figured thats must the way it was, then tried in a bunch of lower volume boots to check my assumptions. Voila! Found something better! Seriously, enjoy the new shoes!

 

[CalG]

We are discussing ski boot fitting trials and tribulations, I hope. Not "skier prowess"!

I'm finding soft flex boots suit me fine. and comfort is very nice!

 

[Philpug]

It goes to show, that you don't pick the boot, the boot picks you.

 

[markojp]

It goes to show, that you don't pick the boot, the boot picks you.

Exactly.


Cal, we were talking about fit only. Glad yours work for you. Each according to their needs.