Custom Liners / Soft Boots

Hey all,

Has anyone used the Salomon heat moldable liners that come with several of
their boot models? I've looked around, but can't seem to find any reviews or
explanations of the quality of the fit. If they're worthless, has anyone had
positive experiences, and could recommend a custom liner. Also, what are the
general reactions to the new soft boots, such as the Rossignol Soft and Soft
Light series. We're most likely going to make a trek to Dallas (being the
closest city with a qualified bootfitter) for some custom care, but was just
checking around on here first, since its more likely I'm going to get honest
answers.

Thanks in advance,

Chris Devidal

I have a pair of the Rossignol Soft boots. They're very comfy and work well
for cruising on groomed terrain. They're too squishy to keep the heel down
in moguls or steep crud. I'm told that some of the newer designs offer
better control.

Heat moldable liners are available from a number of sources. Most of them
work pretty well, and it's nice that the process can be repeated a couple of
times to get things right. They're durable enough for casual skiing but a
long hard season of daily use will wear them out. The original patent was
held by Raichle and these aftermarket innerboots are still sold by
Kneissl -- any shop should be able to order them from Roces USA. I've had
some experience with this liner and it works well, but as with anything like
this you get better results working with an experienced bootfitter. It's
just too easy to overdo the heat or mismatch the innerboot size to the shell
size.

A more expensive but much more durable solution is ZipFit
(http://zipfit.com). ZipFit has a new liner design shipping this month and
I'm told that the Sure Foot stores will have it. I used ZipFits for years
and will go back to them when the innerboots in my two-year-old Langes wear
out next season.

Seth
http://skiinghistory.org
http://masia.org
http://snowtradenews.com




"Chris Devidal" wrote in message
...
Hey all,

Has anyone used the Salomon heat moldable liners that come with several of
their boot models? I've looked around, but can't seem to find any reviews
or
explanations of the quality of the fit. If they're worthless, has anyone
had
positive experiences, and could recommend a custom liner. Also, what are
the
general reactions to the new soft boots, such as the Rossignol Soft and
Soft
Light series. We're most likely going to make a trek to Dallas (being the
closest city with a qualified bootfitter) for some custom care, but was
just
checking around on here first, since its more likely I'm going to get
honest
answers.

Thanks in advance,

Chris Devidal