Boot heel pieces

taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels (follow the instruction on the package).
After it's cured, you can sand it, file it, and even paint it if you
want. The new heels are stronger than the original. See if this works
for you.

This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard with regard to the interface with the binding. The
releasability of the boot-binding interface may be compromised and I
wouldn't be surprised if some shops would refuse to set the bindings to
boots modified in this manner.

//Walt

Walt wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels (follow the instruction on the package).
After it's cured, you can sand it, file it, and even paint it if you
want. The new heels are stronger than the original. See if this works
for you.

This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard with regard to the interface with the binding. The
releasability of the boot-binding interface may be compromised and I
wouldn't be surprised if some shops would refuse to set the bindings to
boots modified in this manner.

//Walt

Do you seriously think Ichy lets someone else
mess with his bindings? I don't and I imagine
he doesn't either. I have a "friendly" shop
who allows me to use their equipment (for six
pack now and again).

OTOH, I'm not sure that the material of the
wear surface is part of the spec. Bindings work
off the top surface of a boot toe and only need
to slide freely on the AFD (anti-friction-device)
and if the bindings have an active AFD (Marker,
Tyrolia, Atomic) then it shouldn't be an issue
at all. I have AT boots with a DIN sole. The
replaceable wear surfaces are rubber by Vibram
and are DIN compatible and ever so much better
than standard Alpine boots for walking around
on a slippery surface.

The DIN standard *shape* is defined as a range
and every ski shop has a template to measure
this range.

VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels .

This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard ...

Do you seriously think Ichy lets someone else
mess with his bindings? I don't and I imagine
he doesn't either.

Yeah, you're probably right. My comment was meant for the general
audience who takes their gear to a shop. I have no illusions about my
ability to influence Itchy.


The DIN standard *shape* is defined as a range
and every ski shop has a template to measure
this range.

Yep, my comment was about the shape. And if you trundle in with a heel
piece that looks like you made it in your garage I doubt the shop will
touch it even if it does fit in the template - my guess is that they
won't get that far. But the only way to know for sure is to try.

//Walt

Taichiskiing, Walt, VtSkier, and Others,

Thank you for your replies. It looks like I will either have to pitch out
our boots, or follow Taichiskiing's suggestion of building up the hills with
epoxy. I contacted couple of ski shops and Dolomite (who did not even
bother to answer my request), but the answer were"we do not have the heel
pieces".

I "love" my ~7 year old boots, and at my age of 68, I would hate to go
through the hassle of getting another pair of boots fitted. Since I am
planning to ski for another 10-20 years, I may not have any choice, but I do
not want to rush into buying boots. (By comparison, skis are fun to test
and easy to buy!)

Walt mentioned possible problems with ski shops refusing to check the
release setting for boots with non-standard heel piece.

How critical is that a shop check your binding?

http://www.bobski.com/safety/french_..._self_test.pdf

seems to imply that you are safer if you check the setting yourself than
having the shop set it. Is the shop check over-rated?

What is opinion of the "wise old men"?

Ernie

"Walt" wrote in message
...
VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels .

This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard ...

Do you seriously think Ichy lets someone else
mess with his bindings? I don't and I imagine
he doesn't either.

Yeah, you're probably right. My comment was meant for the general
audience who takes their gear to a shop. I have no illusions about my
ability to influence Itchy.


The DIN standard *shape* is defined as a range
and every ski shop has a template to measure
this range.

Yep, my comment was about the shape. And if you trundle in with a heel
piece that looks like you made it in your garage I doubt the shop will
touch it even if it does fit in the template - my guess is that they won't
get that far. But the only way to know for sure is to try.

//Walt

"Ernieman" wrote in message
news:Nc5rj.200$r03.106@trnddc08...
Taichiskiing, Walt, VtSkier, and Others,

Thank you for your replies. It looks like I will either have to pitch out our
boots, or follow Taichiskiing's suggestion of building up the hills with
epoxy. I contacted couple of ski shops and Dolomite (who did not even bother
to answer my request), but the answer were"we do not have the heel pieces".

I "love" my ~7 year old boots, and at my age of 68, I would hate to go through
the hassle of getting another pair of boots fitted. Since I am planning to
ski for another 10-20 years, I may not have any choice, but I do not want to
rush into buying boots. (By comparison, skis are fun to test and easy to
buy!)

Walt mentioned possible problems with ski shops refusing to check the release
setting for boots with non-standard heel piece.

How critical is that a shop check your binding?

http://www.bobski.com/safety/french_..._self_test.pdf

seems to imply that you are safer if you check the setting yourself than
having the shop set it. Is the shop check over-rated?

What is opinion of the "wise old men"?

I would make one adjustment to the test. Loosen the bindings till you can easily
twist out, then adjust and test upwards, to avoid injuring yourself during the
process. Then, get out of your skis using the same motions each day - either a
toe or heel release. If you do it regularly, you will know they work.

You will probably find that setting them this way results in a setting way
looser than the way the shop sets them. I figure that I'd rather have them
release early than not release when needed. If they release while I am skiing,
it's a good sign that I'm skiing wrong.

Bob F

Ernieman wrote:
Taichiskiing, Walt, VtSkier, and Others,

Thank you for your replies. It looks like I will either have to pitch
out our boots, or follow Taichiskiing's suggestion of building up the
hills with epoxy. I contacted couple of ski shops and Dolomite (who
did not even bother to answer my request), but the answer were"we do not
have the heel pieces".

I "love" my ~7 year old boots, and at my age of 68,

Good on ya. I'm 65 and still going strong, but I'm such
a gear geek that I still enjoy finding and fitting new
boots.

1) Heat fit liners are worth the price of
admission. A good fitter to go along with
these is essential.

If you have lumpy feet like mine, make sure
that the fitter pads out these areas when
fitting.

2) A boot that is too stiff is no good. I use
AT boots because I occasionally get off the
beaten path and I LIKE the ability to walk
with my legs straight. The stiffest AT boot
will still be a lot softer than any racing
boot but plenty stiff for today's skis unless
you are racing grin.

Mine are Scarpa Tornado. My review is still
on the Backcountry.com website and page for
these boots. I talk about being a Killington
ambassador. These have a full DIN compatible
sole. Garmont also makes a similar boot.

I would hate to go
through the hassle of getting another pair of boots fitted. Since I am
planning to ski for another 10-20 years, I may not have any choice, but
I do not want to rush into buying boots. (By comparison, skis are fun
to test and easy to buy!)

Walt mentioned possible problems with ski shops refusing to check the
release setting for boots with non-standard heel piece.

How critical is that a shop check your binding?

See below.

http://www.bobski.com/safety/french_..._self_test.pdf

I do something like this on a fairly regular basis.
The mountain, because I'm a quasi-employee, insists
that I have their shop do a binding test every year.
This isn't a bad thing. That shop test tells me that
my bindings are performing as advertised. This is
important for the mountain's insurance carrier and
I'd probably do it any way on a yearly basis. The
"self test" is probably a good indicator of what
your binding should REALLY be set at. Note the
difference between "working as advertised" and
"set at the correct setting".

I'm a strong good skier. I also ski a lot and fast.
The recommended setting for me is around 7. I'll
blow out of that right out of the gate. I set my
rig at 8.5 and can still snap out as in the "self
test" above. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).

seems to imply that you are safer if you check the setting yourself than
having the shop set it. Is the shop check over-rated?

What is opinion of the "wise old men"?

Ernie

"Walt" wrote in message
...
VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels .

This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard ...

Do you seriously think Ichy lets someone else
mess with his bindings? I don't and I imagine
he doesn't either.

Yeah, you're probably right. My comment was meant for the general
audience who takes their gear to a shop. I have no illusions about my
ability to influence Itchy.


The DIN standard *shape* is defined as a range
and every ski shop has a template to measure
this range.

Yep, my comment was about the shape. And if you trundle in with a
heel piece that looks like you made it in your garage I doubt the shop
will touch it even if it does fit in the template - my guess is that
they won't get that far. But the only way to know for sure is to try.

//Walt

taichiskiing wrote:

On Jan 28, 1:49 pm, "Ernieman"
wrote:
Most ski boot manufacturers mention "replaceable heel piece", but I have not
had any luck finding anyone selling them on the internet. The heel piece is
a semicircular, about two inch, piece of plastic held on with two screws.
I need these for Lange and Dolomite boots. I tried both Lange and Dolomite
websites, and Google and Google newsgroups, but did not have any luck.
Does anyone know of a source? Do ski shops carry these?

Some shops even suggest that you buy the heel pieces when you buy the
boots because the obvious. Nevertheless, here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels (follow the instruction on the package).
After it's cured, you can sand it, file it, and even paint it if you
want. The new heels are stronger than the original. See if this works
for you.

I like that. I just noticed that my Nordica boots don't have heel
inserts, just entire heel pieces. Definitely a repair rather than a
replacement...

Good luck,
IS

I saw someone who skied a LOT like you (arms outstretched) today except
he was holding (not using) poles. Have you moved to SoCal and is this
some sort of transition?

Snow Summit today was beautiful. Lovely sky, comfy temperature, tons of
snow. Excellent!

--
Cheers,
Bev
---------------------------------
aibohphobia - fear of palindromes

On Feb 8, 1:58 pm, Walt wrote:
VtSkier wrote:
Walt wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:

... here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels .
This may work, but you'll likely wind up with heels that are not DIN
standard ...

Do you seriously think Ichy lets someone else
mess with his bindings? I don't and I imagine
he doesn't either.

Yeah, you're probably right. My comment was meant for the general
audience who takes their gear to a shop. I have no illusions about my
ability to influence Itchy.

Not just that, I just don't give much a hoot to the DIN setting;
that's to say, given a spring tension, an adjustable screw, and a
mechanical indicator, how difficult can that be? When I was younger/40
something, I may ski nothing but moguls all day, but my DIN was set at
4, (so I can twist the skis out of my boots). Which wasn't too smart,
I could easily twist my knees out of position too. Later I started to
step on the heel binding to release the ski, and reset the DIN to 5
for better holding powder. My new skis are set at 6, for landing on
the big jumps.


The DIN standard *shape* is defined as a range
and every ski shop has a template to measure
this range.

Yep, my comment was about the shape. And if you trundle in with a heel
piece that looks like you made it in your garage I doubt the shop will
touch it even if it does fit in the template - my guess is that they
won't get that far. But the only way to know for sure is to try.

They shouldn't complain about it, as the heel binding releases on an
excess upward motion of the boot heel, where the top part of the heel
is not modified. The patched portion is only to make up to the
original thickness of the heel, which is used to trigger locking
mechanism, and once locked, there'll be no movement on the patch. And
with a file, the cured putty is quite easy to work on and shape with.
So, I don't see any problem to make the shape to fit the template (if
they care the business to do it). My only concern is how they wear/
work/walk on concrete, or gravels, etc. But what the heck, when they
get worn out, file them out and make a new ones. Problem solved.


IS


//Walt

On Feb 8, 9:00 pm, The Real Bev wrote:
taichiskiing wrote:
On Jan 28, 1:49 pm, "Ernieman"
wrote:
Most ski boot manufacturers mention "replaceable heel piece", but I have not
had any luck finding anyone selling them on the internet. The heel piece is
a semicircular, about two inch, piece of plastic held on with two screws.
I need these for Lange and Dolomite boots. I tried both Lange and Dolomite
websites, and Google and Google newsgroups, but did not have any luck.
Does anyone know of a source? Do ski shops carry these?

Some shops even suggest that you buy the heel pieces when you buy the
boots because the obvious. Nevertheless, here's my $5 solution: get a
stick of J-B STIK/WELD, a proxy putty adhesive, from a hardware store,
knead it, and patch the heels (follow the instruction on the package).
After it's cured, you can sand it, file it, and even paint it if you
want. The new heels are stronger than the original. See if this works
for you.

I like that. I just noticed that my Nordica boots don't have heel
inserts, just entire heel pieces. Definitely a repair rather than a
replacement...

Then, you're in luck, it should work.


Good luck,
IS

I saw someone who skied a LOT like you (arms outstretched) today except
he was holding (not using) poles. Have you moved to SoCal and is this
some sort of transition?

No. It is a fashion now. Just kidding, nevertheless, it works. Here's
someone send me through an email,

He said that we met and chatted on a chairlift and saw my form briefly
when I got out the chair.

"...I recalled the little I knew from tai chi lessons over a decade
ago and tried to copy your "arms out to the side" form. There was an
instantaneous improvement in my balance. When I explained it to my
wife she quickly progressed from stem christie turns to beginning
carving.

Please let me know how she and I could take a lesson with you..."


Snow Summit today was beautiful. Lovely sky, comfy temperature, tons of
snow. Excellent!

Heavenly, we have one here too.

Cheers,
IS


--
Cheers,
Bev
---------------------------------
aibohphobia - fear of palindromes-

On Fri, 8 Feb 2008 17:08:54 -0800, "Bob F" wrote
this crap:



You will probably find that setting them this way results in a setting way
looser than the way the shop sets them. I figure that I'd rather have them
release early than not release when needed. If they release while I am skiing,
it's a good sign that I'm skiing wrong.


You have to be joking!

Your skis should never come off when you're skiing! You obviously ski
only on the green slopes.




My T-shirt says, "This shirt is the
ultimate power in the universe."