Fischer Centrix S9000 Boots -- 100 day review.

Boy, the Centrix system seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em system. I'm
still on the love 'em side, but I've modified the heck out of them to
get there. To date,I've skied or rollerskied about 40-50 times in them,
and feel like I've gotten some level of appreciation for them.
THE BAD: I hate the laces. Tightening them enough for me meant
stopping after 5K and re-tieing. I was going to try waxed hockey laces,
but decided another route.
The factory insole isn't going to fit a lot of people
If the tape lacing isn't installed perfectly, the lace that crosses
underfoot will pull on your arch
They are a bit heavy
The square nose can make it a bit more difficult to clip into Pilot
bindings.

The first thing to do are to trash the factory insole in favor of
something like a Superfeet insole or the one out of your favorite
running shoes or old ski boots. A lot of getting these to fit right is
filling up the volume while still providing the right kind of support
for your feet. Make sure it has a firm bottom or the tape lacing will
pull too tightly and kill your arch. The factory insole isn't really
that high arched, but the soft bottom means that the tape lace affects
the underfoot tension.
I've got feet that actually fit Carbon's really well, but I liked the
Centrix concept and have tweaked them to fit my feet. To date, I've:
-replaced the factory insole with Superfeet 'green'.
-added a thin pad under it to fill up some volume.
-Added a little moleskin between the shell and liner to tighten up the heel
-Replaced the f&%$#*@ factory lacing with a set of Salomon quick laces.
MUCH BETTER.

THE GOOD:
I feel like I get better stability at speed than with my Carbons or the
Xiums I had.
I can wear them in sub-zero weather without my toes freezing off.
They really work well in forcing the knee forward position, and allowing
ankle flex.
Price point is far more acceptible than the Carbons. I can buy a nugget
of FC1 for the difference.

The verdict: B+. I'll keep them, but I'll keep my Carbons too. I'd like
to see if Eli and Fischer can get some of these things fixed by next
season, particularly the lacing.

Marsh Jones
Team ActiveElite
(not sponsored by Fischer or any other ski vendor).

I really wish Eli would chime in here. As I understand it,these boots are
his baby and there seems to be a love it or leave it feeling for them.
Sticking with my Carbons so far even though I have issues with them. Can't
keep the GD laces tight. I'll bet I stop 3 or 4 times to re-tighten them in
a 2 hour skate. PITA not to mention my feet get cold.
Fitzgerald
"Marsh Jones" wrote in message
...
Boy, the Centrix system seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em system. I'm
still on the love 'em side, but I've modified the heck out of them to get
there. To date,I've skied or rollerskied about 40-50 times in them, and
feel like I've gotten some level of appreciation for them.
THE BAD: I hate the laces. Tightening them enough for me meant stopping
after 5K and re-tieing. I was going to try waxed hockey laces, but
decided another route.
The factory insole isn't going to fit a lot of people
If the tape lacing isn't installed perfectly, the lace that crosses
underfoot will pull on your arch
They are a bit heavy
The square nose can make it a bit more difficult to clip into Pilot
bindings.

The first thing to do are to trash the factory insole in favor of
something like a Superfeet insole or the one out of your favorite running
shoes or old ski boots. A lot of getting these to fit right is filling up
the volume while still providing the right kind of support for your feet.
Make sure it has a firm bottom or the tape lacing will pull too tightly
and kill your arch. The factory insole isn't really that high arched, but
the soft bottom means that the tape lace affects the underfoot tension.
I've got feet that actually fit Carbon's really well, but I liked the
Centrix concept and have tweaked them to fit my feet. To date, I've:
-replaced the factory insole with Superfeet 'green'.
-added a thin pad under it to fill up some volume.
-Added a little moleskin between the shell and liner to tighten up the
heel
-Replaced the f&%$#*@ factory lacing with a set of Salomon quick laces.
MUCH BETTER.

THE GOOD:
I feel like I get better stability at speed than with my Carbons or the
Xiums I had.
I can wear them in sub-zero weather without my toes freezing off.
They really work well in forcing the knee forward position, and allowing
ankle flex.
Price point is far more acceptible than the Carbons. I can buy a nugget
of FC1 for the difference.

The verdict: B+. I'll keep them, but I'll keep my Carbons too. I'd like
to see if Eli and Fischer can get some of these things fixed by next
season, particularly the lacing.

Marsh Jones
Team ActiveElite
(not sponsored by Fischer or any other ski vendor).

Follow up to my own follow up.
When posting about Centrix could you please advise type of foot you have?
High arch,low arch, low volume or high please.What boots have worked for you
in the past right out of the box etc.
Fitzgerald
"Marsh Jones" wrote in message
...
Boy, the Centrix system seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em system. I'm
still on the love 'em side, but I've modified the heck out of them to get
there. To date,I've skied or rollerskied about 40-50 times in them, and
feel like I've gotten some level of appreciation for them.
THE BAD: I hate the laces. Tightening them enough for me meant stopping
after 5K and re-tieing. I was going to try waxed hockey laces, but
decided another route.
The factory insole isn't going to fit a lot of people
If the tape lacing isn't installed perfectly, the lace that crosses
underfoot will pull on your arch
They are a bit heavy
The square nose can make it a bit more difficult to clip into Pilot
bindings.

The first thing to do are to trash the factory insole in favor of
something like a Superfeet insole or the one out of your favorite running
shoes or old ski boots. A lot of getting these to fit right is filling up
the volume while still providing the right kind of support for your feet.
Make sure it has a firm bottom or the tape lacing will pull too tightly
and kill your arch. The factory insole isn't really that high arched, but
the soft bottom means that the tape lace affects the underfoot tension.
I've got feet that actually fit Carbon's really well, but I liked the
Centrix concept and have tweaked them to fit my feet. To date, I've:
-replaced the factory insole with Superfeet 'green'.
-added a thin pad under it to fill up some volume.
-Added a little moleskin between the shell and liner to tighten up the
heel
-Replaced the f&%$#*@ factory lacing with a set of Salomon quick laces.
MUCH BETTER.

THE GOOD:
I feel like I get better stability at speed than with my Carbons or the
Xiums I had.
I can wear them in sub-zero weather without my toes freezing off.
They really work well in forcing the knee forward position, and allowing
ankle flex.
Price point is far more acceptible than the Carbons. I can buy a nugget
of FC1 for the difference.

The verdict: B+. I'll keep them, but I'll keep my Carbons too. I'd like
to see if Eli and Fischer can get some of these things fixed by next
season, particularly the lacing.

Marsh Jones
Team ActiveElite
(not sponsored by Fischer or any other ski vendor).

FITZGERALD wrote:
Follow up to my own follow up.
When posting about Centrix could you please advise type of foot you have?
High arch,low arch, low volume or high please.What boots have worked for you
in the past right out of the box etc.
Fitzgerald
Good point. I've got a fairly low volume, D fore-foot, B heel, Morton's
toe, moderate arch. Carbon's fit me very well, so I'm an exception to
the general rule.

In running shoes, Adidas generally fit me better than most. Nike's are
too big in the heel, and NB's just slop around.

Marsh

Try wrapping the excess laces around the laces below the plastic tightener
after you have pulled the laces tight. Works like a charm.

The FrontRunner
"FITZGERALD" wrote in message
...
I really wish Eli would chime in here. As I understand it,these boots are
his baby and there seems to be a love it or leave it feeling for them.
Sticking with my Carbons so far even though I have issues with them. Can't
keep the GD laces tight. I'll bet I stop 3 or 4 times to re-tighten them
in
a 2 hour skate. PITA not to mention my feet get cold.
Fitzgerald
"Marsh Jones" wrote in message
...
Boy, the Centrix system seems to be a love 'em or hate 'em system. I'm
still on the love 'em side, but I've modified the heck out of them to
get
there. To date,I've skied or rollerskied about 40-50 times in them, and
feel like I've gotten some level of appreciation for them.
THE BAD: I hate the laces. Tightening them enough for me meant
stopping
after 5K and re-tieing. I was going to try waxed hockey laces, but
decided another route.
The factory insole isn't going to fit a lot of people
If the tape lacing isn't installed perfectly, the lace that crosses
underfoot will pull on your arch
They are a bit heavy
The square nose can make it a bit more difficult to clip into Pilot
bindings.

The first thing to do are to trash the factory insole in favor of
something like a Superfeet insole or the one out of your favorite
running
shoes or old ski boots. A lot of getting these to fit right is filling
up
the volume while still providing the right kind of support for your
feet.
Make sure it has a firm bottom or the tape lacing will pull too tightly
and kill your arch. The factory insole isn't really that high arched,
but
the soft bottom means that the tape lace affects the underfoot tension.
I've got feet that actually fit Carbon's really well, but I liked the
Centrix concept and have tweaked them to fit my feet. To date, I've:
-replaced the factory insole with Superfeet 'green'.
-added a thin pad under it to fill up some volume.
-Added a little moleskin between the shell and liner to tighten up the
heel
-Replaced the f&%$#*@ factory lacing with a set of Salomon quick laces.
MUCH BETTER.

THE GOOD:
I feel like I get better stability at speed than with my Carbons or the
Xiums I had.
I can wear them in sub-zero weather without my toes freezing off.
They really work well in forcing the knee forward position, and allowing
ankle flex.
Price point is far more acceptible than the Carbons. I can buy a nugget
of FC1 for the difference.

The verdict: B+. I'll keep them, but I'll keep my Carbons too. I'd like
to see if Eli and Fischer can get some of these things fixed by next
season, particularly the lacing.

Marsh Jones
Team ActiveElite
(not sponsored by Fischer or any other ski vendor).

FITZGERALD wrote:
Follow up to my own follow up.
When posting about Centrix could you please advise type of foot you
have?
High arch,low arch, low volume or high please.What boots have worked
for you
in the past right out of the box etc.

I love my Fischer boots. In fact they're the best boots I've ever had
other than some old Karhu Combi boots from 1992. I've got flat feet and
mortons toe. My left foot is an E and my right foot is a D. I had to
have the left boot widened in the forebody to fit my foot. As for the
high arch in the boots, I think they could have toned it down a bit.
However, the high arch in the boot seems to have conformed to my flat
foot. I don't have a problem with it. I skated for three hours one week
ago using my Fischer skate boots and had no problems. My normal shoe
size is a U S 11. My Fischers are size 45. I could ski these boots
without laces by just zipping them up. I hate boots with high cuffs
that go over the ankle. I find them too restrictive. That's one of the
reasons I like the Fischer boots.
Jay Tegeder
"Keep training, lycra never lies!" JT

How do you get the factory insole out? I am ready to throw my new
centrix boots in the garbage.

Paul Beeksma.

Paul wrote:
How do you get the factory insole out? I am ready to throw my new
centrix boots in the garbage.

Paul Beeksma.

Paul,

Just get a fingernail or maybe a butterknife under the edge of it and
lift. It's a pretty tight fit, but they should come right out.

Marsh

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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

For what it is worth, I love my boots. I did notice the arch initially on my first skate. After using it once though, the highness of the arch seemed to 'pat' down. Now it is a very comfortable boot.

Not thrilled about the lacing but it has really not been a factor.

Jim

Paul wrote:
How do you get the factory insole out? I am ready to throw my new
centrix boots in the garbage.

Paul Beeksma.








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DIVFor what it is worth, I love my boots.  I did notice the arch initially on my first skate.  After using it once though, the highness of the arch seemed to 'pat' down.  Now it is a very comfortable boot.  /DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVNot thrilled about the lacing but it has really not been a factor./DIV
DIV /DIV
DIVJimBRBRBIPaul >/I/B wrote:/DIV
BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"How do you get the factory insole out? I am ready to throw my newBRcentrix boots in the garbage.BRBRPaul Beeksma.BRBRBRBRBRBR/BLOCKQUOTEBRBRPFONT face=arialFONT size=1FONT color=#800000STRONGCloutier Concept & DesignBR13629 46th Street NEBRSt. Michael, MN  55376/STRONG/FONT/FONT/FONTFONT face=arialFONT size=1FONT color=#800000STRONGBR(c) 612.386.3346BR/STRONGA href="http://www.cc-d.com/" target=_blankSTRONGFONT color=#003399www.cc-d.com/FONT/STRONG/A/FONT/FONT/FONT/P
PFONT face=arialFONT size=1STRONGFONT color=#800000"If a man does his best, what else is there?"/FONT/STRONG BR- General George S. Patton (1885-1945)/FONT/FONT/Pp
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wrote:
Marsh Jones writes:


Marsh -Replaced the f&%$#*@ factory lacing with a set of Salomon quick
Marsh laces. MUCH BETTER.


Where can one buy a set of the Salomon laces?


Finn Sisu has some, I think. I expect most of the top-line ski shops
also have replacements - about $15.