Mmmmm, I dont think I can ride soft boots any more :-( Rant inside! (tm)

[DiveBomber]

Is it my set up, am I just not used to softies any more...what???

So I finally break out my softies, for the first time this season, On my brand new Volkl cross...

Im cursing softies the whole way down... it was pretty bumpy/choppy/icy.

WTF am I supposed to do with a 9m SCR????????

The only thing soft boots are good for is walking. To get the thing tight enough im cutting off my circulation, On toe side turns I feel like im breaking my ankle(and these are supposed to be the stiffest boots). My toes are numb. And it feels weird riding with my front foot twisted

Im trying to figure out if theres any way to save this relationship before I toss this crap out.



I think maybe I just need to ride it more, but then I think, why? I can do everything better in hard boots, they feel more comfortable, when riding.
Even in powder.

How do all these people think they are having any fun?
Oh, well I guess soft set ups do make it easier to slide sideways.

Really the only reason I even bother with softboots is to work my way up to using hard boots in the park/pipe and BX. But it almost feels like taking a step back.

have I complained about this before??

Well, any thoughts on how to make this work?

[bobdea]

ehh, they rock in powder with a big ass, wide and soft board.


allot of it has to do with your boot, too soft of a softboot and you're in trouble on toesides.

board width can be critical to ride sane angles too, for me in a US men's 11 I ride 27 cm waisted softy setups, any less and I heel out, much more and I can't turn the damn things.


If the Volkl you have is similar to the spline(a older model BXer) I share your distaste for it, didn't do much of anything well other than SKID turns at high speed.
You're in CO, maybe try to get on a demo of some of the bigger never summer boards, super damp and hold a edge fairly well on hard snow

[NateW]

Im trying to figure out if theres any way to save this relationship before I toss this crap out.

Really the only reason I even bother with softboots is to work my way up to using hard boots in the park/pipe and BX. But it almost feels like taking a step back.

I tossed that crap out. :)

I think softies might have an advantage for jib tricks, and softies definitely give you more freedom to strike a pose in mid-air. I can't even touch the nose of my board when I'm in hard boots, so there's a whole class of grabs that I can't do. (I can live with that.)

If you want to do park and pipe stuff, just get an all-mountain board with an upturned tail on it. Riding switch with high stance angles isn't nearly as awkward as I expected it would be, and IMO the extra control that hard boots provide is always a good thing. With the speeds it takes to get over the bigger jumps nowadays, it boggles my mind that sub-10-meter sidecuts are so popular.

For powder days, I just use a 23cm wide board that has the bindings set back a couple inches. I don't know if hard boots help any, but I don't think they hurt either.

Also, I have one more piece of evidence to support my theory that BX courses only have berms to help the softbooters keep up: skiercross works fine without them.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ogsJoeTnlms

[b0ardski]

just say no to strap & laces

I ride deep pow, big bumps, tight trees & park hits on a 3800 & eldo with old raichles & plates. the ankle support from hardshells is a must landing airs & blasting chopped up crud. I've tried to use soft gear a couple times over the yrs and end up frustrated with sore feet. Unless you need to tweak airs to impess the parkrats, plastic boots can do it all.

[MUD]

It's the board..... I can take it off your hands for you.:D

[Michael_A]

I have a Volkl Cross and it works great with plates. I have size 13 ft so I need the width and run at 50/45. The short scr is good on my home mountain which is kind of small.

Last week I had a lot of fun in powder on my softie setup so I tried switching it over to the Cross and it was no fun. The cross is pretty stiff so it needs a lot of speed and softboots don't work for high speed (for me).

In my (3-year) experience softboots are a blast with the right equipment, conditions, etc. but if you like to ride fast and pull high g's you should be on plates.

Personally, I'm going through a phase where I'm learning some new tricks, riding with my sons (age 6 and 8) etc and am enjoying a sofboots a lot more than hard. I think it all comes down to what you want to do, your comfort level with risk/speed, etc.

Michael

[pebu]

I thought the same thing for a while there. I opened the year riding my hardboots and did that for a couple days. Then when I finally decided to warm up my soft boots they were so uncomfortable that I made one run (350 vertical feet, mind you) and said that was enough. I put plates on my board just to try it out. It was alright for some stuff, but I found when I landed off of a little jump or hit a bump or something it just killed my legs. If the landing wasn't perfect I could feel it all the way up my back. I need to be able to move my legs wherever I need them when I'm landing, and I have to use soft boots to do it. Recently we had a good pow day and so luckily I had my soft bindings on again. I switched over and was alot more comfortable this time. Just give it a little time to get used to them.

In a perfect world I'd be on hardboots going through head high pow on a swallowtail. Drops wouldn't matter cause, well, the pow is head high. But in real life, I'm gonna take some drops and I need some suspension.

[carvedog]

Had to teach at our "beginner" mountain a couple of days ago. 14 inches of fresh and a new high speed quad giving a lift ride to the top in 3 minutes or so. 650 vertical feet.

I was in softies and I sure didn't mind the 9 runs of untracked that I had. Sure I could have slashed it a little harder in hbs, but it was awesome.

Other than my Burners where I run 65/63 angles, I couldn't tell what my stance angles or SCR is on a single board that I ride and I have seven boards and bindings setups mounted and ready to go.

So don't worry about numbers. Point it and ride it. :biggthump

[Angie]

Hey DiveBomber, you're definitely not along. I actually ran into the same thing/feelings this past weekend.

I busted a cuff cant disk on my hard boots on Saturday, and I tried to ride anyway on Sunday but it wouldn't work. So I went back and grabbed the softies. I haven't touched that set up in over 2 seasons. I tried setting them up with similar angles to the plates, so it wouldn't feel so weird. My problem is I feel like I'm going to pop off the board because there's just too much squishing and movement. Two very short runs later, I was on my way back to the car. I hate softies now. I will actually wait until the new part comes to ride again over going out on softies for a day.

Oh, and then I locked my keys in the trunk of my car. What a good day I had. Especially considering the very rare occassion of perfect cord and great conditions on the east coast that I missed out on........at the rate I was going, I should have just rented some skiis to try out!

I'm thinking of selling it all off too. If I sell the whole set up I can probably pick up a third carving board :biggthump

[yyzcanuck]

... I busted a cuff cant disk on my hard boots on Saturday, and I tried to ride anyway on Sunday but it wouldn't work. ...
Angie, please report this failure to the shop where you purchased your boots. The manufacturer needs real data on failure rates and simply do NOT receive feedback from customers.
If your boots are within warranty... even more reason to report and rectify the failure.
If your boots are outside the warranty period... still report the failure directly to the distributor and/or manufacturer with such information as typical days ridden per year, model, year, digital images and of course, point of and date of purchase.

Threadjack over.

[Jim Callen]

I was the same way when I tried using my softies on a big pow day. the slop was unbearable, and the numb toes and pinching sucked.

Sold them the next day.

[bobdea]

I think this happens to allot of people, it happened to me as well but I put in allot of days on both types of gear in the past so I've been fairly comfortable on both. the right gear for softies is essential as is stance and technique.

there was a point where I could charge lines on both hardboots and a race stick or softies and a jib stick that the average rider could not do on either. now I am the average or maybe below average rider because I started to suck a couple years ago and I get worse every year. anyway, my point is that both types of gear certainly have advantages, softboots are not that bad but are as different as telemark skis are to alpine.

[Dr D]

I ride both regularly.


a couple of ideas first I find that it takes several runs to "shift gears" from one set up to another.

second on softies the board makes all the difference for carving. I recomend very few. the f2 Bx is a great softie carver but not so good with hard boots in my opinion. the garage boards carve well. the dynastar and osin boards often discussed here carve well. boards react differently on softies for sure.

angles are a huge part of it. Many hardbooters use specific angles no matter what board they are on. This is a big no-no on softies. You simply don't have enough leverage to pull it off. you must set your heels and toes as close to the edge as possible without booting out. Its the only way to fully control the board. I will open up the back foot angle a few degrees on deep powder days so I get a surfier feel but its back forward again on groomer days.

very few boards will perform in chunky and icy conditions with soft boots. the madd bx will and the osins will although you have to be fairly aggressive.

[Dr D]

the technique to hold a line is more demonstrative as well.


I drive the front knee into the hill on my turns so it goes hard left on left turns and hard right on right turns. think of it as forcing the nose to bite harder. It prevents the washout experience so common with softies.

get stiff boots. I also prefer stepins switch N-type if you can find them in your size on ebay.

[lonerider]

I ride both regularly.
a couple of ideas first I find that it takes several runs to "shift gears" from one set up to another.I agree with Dr D and Carvedog... while it's the same idea on a softboot board (get the board up on edge and your weight balanced over it) a lot of hardbooters try to do *exactly* the same thing as they do on their alpine boards and that' s the wrong technique... also softboot aren't as stiff, so you need to use more of your own lower leg muscle that *ahem* some hardbooters have not be working out for a while having their ankles encased in 5 pounds of stiff plastic.

I just got back from five days of riding, I was on a Prior Khyber 160 split and softboots riding ~4 feet (http://www.northstarattahoe.com/snowreport.asp) of fresh powder (photo of my lodge the first (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2242/2175986078_9f664d0b98_o.jpg) and second (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2368/2175986114_35c1f8d249_o.jpg)days of the storm) and while I had my brand new Head Stratos Pro and a wide Coiler in my car, I never looked back.

If you find that you can't ride softboot and freeride boards anymore, that's not because the board sucks... it's because you ...

[jtslalom]

DiveBomber,
I feel your anguish and all I can say is ride, ride and ride your soft boots until it comes as natural as riding your hard board. Don't throw your soft boot stuff out just yet but if you do I will buy it.

[bobdea]

I am riding hardboots most of the time right now but I still have the same soft setup and I was railing pretty good on it last winter.......
there is this thing that happens to some of us hardbooters, I swear it's a cross of discomfort with soft gear and the other half has more to do with us wanting to feel like the hardboots are superior for everything.

I just try to use gear for what it does best, both kinds have huge advantages over the other for certain things.

[tufty]

I can't ride softies any more, although I am perfectly willing to admit that this may well be because I suck rather than the softie concept. For me, it's a purely comfort thing, I cannot (or, rather, have never managed to) get softboots that fit properly, and even those that seemed relatively comfortable then became painful when combined with ratcheting the straps down enough. About the only system that even came close to suiting me was Clicker, and there's so little choice of boots in that range that "it either fits a bit or it doesn't"...

Sure, I could probably blow a huge wedge of cash on some top of the range softies, super-comfortable bombproof bindings and a special board for my softies, but I'd rather spend it on cheese, alcohol, and porn*.

Simon

* cheese optional

[willywhit]

Sure, I could probably blow a huge wedge of cash on some top of the range softies, super-comfortable bombproof bindings and a special board for my softies, but I'd rather spend it on cheese, alcohol, and porn*.

Simon

* cheese optional

don't softies feel nicer in billowy fluffy powder ?

Ooooooooo La La !

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jmtZE87M-YA&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jmtZE87M-YA&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[Dave Winters]

"it was pretty bumpy/choppy/icy."

I'd just as soon be indoors! Just me.

[Dave Winters]

Having said that, for what it's worth I have a softie setup that I love for powder, which works out to at least 4 out of 10 days here in Steamboat. A good fit is crucial on the boots. I have Flow boots with Boa lacing, Flow bindings and Arbor A Frame 170. (Thank you Snowboard Journal)

[eastcoasticerider]

I really liek my setup mentioned above.Its just more fun than ripping down the hill so freaking fast tha the ride is over too quik.....I used to ride my Burton Alp with Reactors in Walkaround mode on powder days(few and far between)..now I can relax more into the ride ,...softboot sjust seem more natural..yes less precise edging but more relaxed fun..especially in smaller snow parks........

[Dave ESPI]

Use the right tool for the right job.

You can't expect to ride a carver like such with soft boots and not have the proper stance or bindings for it.

I'm really tired of hearing people POO-POO on soft boots and set ups.

YES this is a hardbootin' site, but there are times that hardboots just won't be as good as soft gear, and vice versa.

:flamethro Lets quit the flaming of soft VS hard.

Ride what you want, and enjoy its unique differences equaly :)

[Przemek/Brooklyn]

Hi

I ride bouth hard and soft. There are four reasons i ride soft:
1 powder.
2 trying jumps and tricks in the park (decided to be more diverse this year)
3 teaching (i teach beginers, so there is a lot of walking pluse my students can relate better to what i show)
4 carving, i use soft boots on my tanker just to demonstrate that proper carving turn is posible in soft boots, also i can do extreme carving in ideal condition on my soft setup.
All just to make a point how bad current popular soft snowboard technique is.
Granted i use more agresive stence to eliminate toe drag and improve my hillside, somthing like 35/30



it is almost the same, snowboard is snowboard. soft boots are just less convinient on ice (more difficult to generate enough presure)

[Mike T]

We've been getting pounded with powder for the past two weeks. After only riding softies 3x last season I have ridden them about half my time on snow this season in softies.

I find the ability to move laterally within the boots is very helpful when navigating tracked-out deep snow as well as in deep snow in tight trees. I can make better last-millisecond corrections in softies.

Now, last year I was singing different tune. Part of the reason was that my 7 year old soft bindings were not as comfortable or as responsive as the brand new ones the wifey bought me for xmas. Part of the reason is that I have a troublesome hip which received a lot of attention ovetr the summer and fall and is much less troublesome this year.

I get less tired riding deep snow in softies. I still prefer a Tanker and plates for wide open untracked pow, but once things get tracked I'd rather be on softies and in the tight trees.

[Przemek/Brooklyn]

poland i grow up riding polish mountains and alps, sorry for my skechy english but i just dont care anymore.

[dshack]

Ok, question following from my "head boots with NT liners hurt my shins" (http://www.bomberonline.com/VBulletin/showthread.php?t=18597) thread: how do you suck up hits in hardboots without banging your legs up? I love the lateral power hardboots give me, but the flip-side of that is when riding low angles (say, sub-50), it's tough to absorb impact along the long axis of your board, which sucks for riding chop or hitting kickers. In softies, I'd flex my boot forward and sideways, but in hardboots, the forward flex is truncated significantly, and the sideways flex is eliminated. I use my knees as much as I can, but I'm still having problems. Any solutions?

[Neil Gendzwill]

how do you suck up hits in hardboots without banging your legs up? Use softer hardboots and/or more forgiving bindings. My Raichle 224/Titanflex combo gives me a fair bit of lateral movement.

[b0ardski]

I freeride in older raichle's with the cuff cants left open,and the xbones (flexy) at 25/35. I will be enhancing this flex with BTS. This gives me almost as much flex as a very stiff soft setup but with bombproof intec convenience & durability. I have no need for laces or straps. I do not try to freeride w/low angles in my 4 buckle blax w/out cuff cant, those are for hard carving & laterally stiff.:argue:

[scotts.Scheinman]

I havent used softies in 3 years. I outgrew my softboard 4 years ago and thats when i switched to hardboots. If I tried to get back on softies, im sure I can do it.

[DiveBomber]

Maybe i just need to get used to the slop again. Hard going back to a subaru when you're used to a Porsche.
Those first few toe side turns I couldn't belive how little response I had on the rear foot. SO yeah maybe im not used to using my ankles any more.

I used to ride Softies a lot better(i think :o ).

The other thing was I had the burton universal cant and set it up at home, felt right... pull the board out of the car and the binding on the cant moves! WTH?? so I had to pull it off and didnt have time to readjust my stance to counter act the lack of cant now.

Im using the Co2's and Malamutes maybe 5 days total on both.
Heelsides were ok But toe sides Just felt like I was riding in barefeet.

Why do I feel like im breaking my ankles on toe sides turns and landing jumps??

Oh I DO have some switch N-type set ups.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Huh. I always felt way stronger on toeside in softies, but I haven't ridden them since the 80s.

[bobdea]

something whack about your stance?
if I ride a big wide stance I have ankle and knee issues, 22 inches is my max, happiest at 21
I'm 6 ft so if you're fairly close and you ride 19 or 25 maybe there is a issue?

could just be you're not used to the slop though, it happens.

[woodworkmoney]

I can ride any soft boot just as hard as a hard boot. My soft boot/board set up is clicker nitro=libtech dough boy 193. A well made rad-air can be ridden with soft boots not problem. Carving is about using the board and your muscles not your boots. Skiing is the magic behind carving. learn to ski first.

[bobdea]

is that you?????
looks like we just got baited.

skeez maybe?

[Rob Stevens]

CO2's?!!?

Those things are ****.

You'd be better off with no bindings... Hmmmm...

[DiveBomber]

AH HA!!
I just tried something, I put my spare Head tounges under the laces of the the malamutes... MUCH better!

[GeoffV]

uh what are soft boots???

[b0ardski]

uh what are soft boots???
A: a pain in the as... I mean foot

[queequeg]

AH HA!!
I just tried something, I put my spare Head tounges under the laces of the the malamutes... MUCH better!


clever!!!

[Dr D]

AH HA!!
I just tried something, I put my spare Head tounges under the laces of the the malamutes... MUCH better!

I do the same thing on groomers. the stiff set of head tongues fits perfect under the laces. on powder and chowder days though I soften up and ride loose. thats definitely developed over time though, ankle strength etc.

[Pow]

the more i ride hardboots, the less i like softboots. i gave up on softies altogether now (although i dont know what im going to do for a rock board:confused: ) because i just can't stand the slop.

[lonerider]

Carving is about using the board and your muscles not your boots.
First to avoid knee jerk reactions I will say that a softboot cannot carve as hard as a hardboot... but you should only really notice the difference at the top end (i.e. carving deeper on steeper slopes at high speeds). Taking that into account, you should easily be able to rip some big carves at medium speed (~35 mph). It could be people are talking about screaming down a slope at GS race speeds... but I seem to doubt that.

Ignoring the other things woodworkmoney said... I agree with his comment that if you NEED stiffer boots to carve (especially stiffening up a pair of Malamutes)... then you need to work on better leg strength and technique because you are depending too much on the stiffness of the boot to do the work for you.

[Steve Prokopiw]

the more i ride hardboots, the less i like softboots. i gave up on softies altogether now (although i dont know what im going to do for a rock board:confused: ) because i just can't stand the slop.

Rock boards...another great use for ebay!

[jtslalom]

Carving is about using the board and your muscles not your boots. Skiing is the magic behind carving. learn to ski first.
Well put woodworkmoney. I rode hard decks from 1991 to 2005 and didn't really develope what I would call a good carve until I started to watch GS ski racing. I learned more about carving from USSA highschool aged ski racers than I did from other snowboarders (with a few exceptions). I learned how to really drive my knees throughout a turn and correct body position from them. You can learn alot from a quality ski racer.

[kjl]

Embrace the slop!

I have less edge control, the arches of my feet catch on fire, I lose feeling on the tops of my toes, I have a hard time getting off the lift, getting the boots tight enough results in bloody hands, my left foot hurts like the devil on the lift, and it takes longer to strap in, with softboots compared to hardboots.

But I'd still rather ride softboots in soft or cruddy conditions.

You can still rail carves on the less steep terrain at lower speeds if you need to get your carving fix out, but meanwhile you get to enjoy cruising around in trees and bumps and crud without having to really be totally 100% focused. Yeah, I'm sure there are people on this site riding hardboots in powder that can charge it harder, carve the valleys in between the trees and moguls, etc., but sometimes it's nice to just slide around, check out that tree over there, hey, what's on the other side of that rock? while drifting and fishtailing around.

I got the catek freerides and by cranking the heel lift on the back foot and putting a more surfy stance (39/21) I can carve it pretty reasonably when I get dumped back out onto the groomer at the end of a tree run.

[Gleb]

Carving is about using the board and your muscles not your boots. Skiing is the magic behind carving. learn to ski first.

I disagree. Carving is about using your whole setup towards your advantage. Sure people can carve on soft setups, but having hardboots makes it easier.

Carving on skis is also about the boots. Stiff ski boots help racers carve the hell out of the mountain, so its not only about muscle and skis/board.

i do believe that by people can learn alot about carving on boards from watching skiers. We both have similar movement from the waist up.

[BlueB]

I've learned to skid and carve snowboard directly from my ski knowledge. Then I went back to skis and learned how to really carve them from my snowboard knowledge!?!

As for the setup, you dont see too many skiers on leather lace-up boots. Even the tele guys gave up on those while ago.

I dont see any real reason, except marketing/money, why a real (read plastic shels, no laces, no straps) boot/binding system would be impossible to develop for freeriding and jibbing. Hell, even a system so adjustable that would be really the ONE to rulle them all, carving included, unless you are a pro competing in a particular discipline...

[b0ardski]

I've learned to skid and carve snowboard directly from my ski knowledge. Then I went back to skis and learned how to really carve them from my snowboard knowledge!?!

As for the setup, you dont see too many skiers on leather lace-up boots. Even the tele guys gave up on those while ago.

I dont see any real reason, except marketing/money, why a real (read plastic shels, no laces, no straps) boot/binding system would be impossible to develop for freeriding and jibbing. Hell, even a system so adjustable that would be really the ONE to rulle them all, carving included, unless you are a pro competing in a particular discipline...
Thank you for clarifying my thoughts exactly :biggthump and
AMEN BRUDDA:ices_ange

[photodad2001]

I have a pair of Burton Foundation Step-ins that are very responsive and don't cut off circulation. I'm bummed they stopped making them. I've had to raid E-bay for an extra pair.

[b0ardski]

Becki loves her burton stepins. she stocked up on extra boots & 2 sets of bindings for other boards, for 200$. all NOS off of ebay, I amost set up for under 100$ but cannot bring myself to **** with laces.

[BlueB]

I'm trying to put few step in setups together for teaching - fed up with 3-strap bindings. Hopefully, I'll try all 3 setups - Switch, Clicker and Emery/Rossi SIS, and decide on a keaper. Burton sis I'll skip - too scared by bad failure record. Rossi came highly recommended as the stiffest.

[b0ardski]

I'm trying to put few step in setups together for teaching - fed up with 3-strap bindings. Hopefully, I'll try all 3 setups - Switch, Clicker and Emery/Rossi SIS, and decide on a keaper. Burton sis I'll skip - too scared by bad failure record. Rossi came highly recommended as the stiffest.
Clickers clog easily making them finicky, Rossi is a hinge pin at the arch, prefer toe and heel retention, Switch is easy to use, doesn't clog too badly & offers a modicum fore & aft hold. If switch made a buckle boot I'd consider that for free style.

[dshack]

I'd love to see a modern free-ride oriented hardboot setup. The problem in my mind is how to engineer the moderate amount of lateral flex needed for feathering the board in powder or absorbing landings; I'm almost thinking we need a rotational or side-to-side spring analagous to the BTS, but controlling lateral movement. Some of the lighter plate bindings do that for you (burtons, basically), but it seems sloppy and unintentional. It would be great to flick a switch or adjust a screw to turn a laterally stiff carving setup into more of a soft all-mountain one. At the low (35-50ish) angles I like to ride on my freeride boards, there's just too much movement along the long axis of my board for stiff hardboots. Softboots are reasonably powerful along their heel-toe axis, and have a ton of give side-to-side, which is great for jumps, powder, and bumps.

[BlueB]

Hey thanks, that's great info!
Just yesterday I got a cheapo set of Vans with Switch. Boot is very floppy compared to Rossi I tried on few days ago, in despite the fact that Rossi was at least 1/2 number too big for me...
If I could stiffen the Vans sufficently, it might work. Ski boot liner, etc. No highback, though...

Any thoughts on K2 boots stiffness? Say, Firebirds?

[BlueB]

That's exactely what I'm talking about! Some elastomer in canting adjustor + locking mechanism - voila!

[b0ardski]

A cuff cant lockout w/ built in spring to progress flex when released. GREAT IDEA!!!!!

[b0ardski]

Any thoughts on K2 boots stiffness? Say, Firebirds?
The last K2's I tried were skylords w/built in high back great boot, little soft forward cause I'm used to plastic, but I'm not a fan of clicker so my buddy got a killer deal.

[photodad2001]

I'll try all 3 setups - Switch, Clicker and Emery/Rossi SIS, and decide on a keaper. Burton sis I'll skip - too scared by bad failure record. Rossi came highly recommended as the stiffest.

Rossi- very stiff. My daughter uses the Rossi SIS and I spend hours on one mountain cleaning packed snow and ice out of her binding so she can step in. I've used them myself and find the boots to be somewhat uncomfortable. They are extremely responsive and perform more like a hard boot system. 4 stars

Clicker- Did not like at all. If the snow is the least bit packable you'll think straps are a breeze. The locking sytem on the soul of the boot is retarded. I bought a used pair on ebay and ended up breaking the locking mechanisim on the bottom of my boot. 2 stars

Switch- Awesome, Vans used to make some good boots for this system and I think Ride did too. More towards a traditional soft boot feel. The boot of course plays a big role which is why the next system is my favorite. 4 stars

Burton- In my opinion the best step in system (boot binding combonation). I have no difficulty with snow jamming the binding, I use the Foundation boot which is stiff, they also make a freestyle boot for more flex.