What’s the best 130+ flex boot? Not necessarily a 23/24 new drop

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Chipy2000

New member
Hear me out; I’m an advanced piste skier who occasionally hit’s steeps, terrain jumps and some tree lines. I have Head Advant Edge 125. I love them but find them to soft for charging hard.

I’ve been looking at head raptor 140 rs’s; they look sick; are versatile and can be adjusted for flex (130 to 150 via rivets).

Share me your thoughts; have u used this heads? Are there better options? I have a medium to wide foot (96mm to 102mm at the end of the day) and 26,5 length.
 
Unless you ski on the world cup circuit or weigh well over 250lbs you definitely don't need a 140 flex. 96 to 102 mm is an incredibly wide width range for a ski boot fit. FYI the raptor 140 is a 95mm last race stock plug boot that requires an expert bootfitter and a lot of time investment to get fitted correctly, it is not designed to be comfortable out of the box. I like my dalbello krypton 130TIs for everything and I weigh 220. Lots of guys in the same boot for serious big mountain skiing but they are great for all mountain resort skiing as well.
 
I got the K2 Recon 130 boots last year and I really like them. Definitely would recommend for performance if they feel good on your feet. I'd definitely recommend trying some on with a bootfitter to make a decision tho
 
Im 6'4" 210 lbs skiing very hard and I find 130+ flex boots to be detrimentally stiff. I agree that anything up there is really meant for racers who can dedicate many hours to fitting with a dedicated pro.

Boot stiffness numbers are also kind of made up, try out some other 120 or 130 boots and see if they flex differently than your heads. You may find a 3 piece boot has a better progressive flex without having to go up to something thats gonna be a pain to fit and to ski.
 
Im not a ski boot nerd but different brands have different flexes- so your 125 head boot may be less stiff than a 130 lange boot or even a 120 technica. Not too sure- can you go to an REI or EVO or somewhere with a ton of different boots and flex them? Or maybe someone here with a little more knowledge than me can fact check which brands tend to run stiff?
 
I ski Salomon S/Race 110 (season or two old model). They happen to fit my foot best with a wide and flat toe box with narrow heel. A 110-120 race boot is plenty stiff, but the liners are thin with little padding so my feet get cold easily. Honestly, wouldn't recommend a race boot unless you can't fit anything else.
 
14556948:.Brink. said:
Unless you ski on the world cup circuit or weigh well over 250lbs you definitely don't need a 140 flex. 96 to 102 mm is an incredibly wide width range for a ski boot fit. FYI the raptor 140 is a 95mm last race stock plug boot that requires an expert bootfitter and a lot of time investment to get fitted correctly, it is not designed to be comfortable out of the box. I like my dalbello krypton 130TIs for everything and I weigh 220. Lots of guys in the same boot for serious big mountain skiing but they are great for all mountain resort skiing as well.
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Boiling down flex number to weight and ability as the only two metrics is a bit of an oversimplification. I'm not a pro skier. I'm 5'8" and like 150lb. Anything under 130 folds on me like a wet napkin. Almost tore my achilles on multiple occasions from 120 flex boots buckling under me. Ankle geometry is weird.

Also like someone said flex numbers are pretty arbitrary, even across the same company. The Lupo AX 120 feels like a 90 flex compared to the Il Moro.

**This post was edited on Oct 12th 2023 at 1:12:34am
 
14557073:jompcock said:
Boiling down flex number to weight and ability as the only two metrics is a bit of an oversimplification. I'm not a pro skier. I'm 5'8" and like 150lb. Anything under 130 folds on me like a wet napkin. Almost tore my achilles on multiple occasions from 120 flex boots buckling under me. Ankle geometry is weird.

Also like someone said flex numbers are pretty arbitrary, even across the same company. The Lupo AX 120 feels like a 90 flex compared to the Il Moro.

**This post was edited on Oct 12th 2023 at 1:12:34am
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No, its not lol. What 130 boot are you talking? I find that incredibly hard to believe unless the shell is compromised....overheated, old plastic etc. There's not way you can flex a 130 in the cold at 5'8 150lb. I'm 6'3' 220lb and my 130 dalbellos are stiff sometimes and my skis are all 194cm+ so plenty of leverage getting put on them from both ends.
 
I’ve used to ski atomic Redster 140 and found them extremely nicel, problem was they where too narrow for my foot; same case with salomon xlab 130 . Head usually fits like a glove; had the opportunity to test fit some but couldn’t demo the pair, honestly out of the box are one of the most comfortable boots I’ve tried and since they aren’t a full blown race boot but maintain that pedigree they came well packed with cool tech (liquid form wide and cozy liner, expandable plastic and FIS specs), for extra context i am a ski instructor so my focus is to have a “race” or similar boot to get tests done and teach more advanced classes, for every day use I maintain both my 125 head and some 75flex dalbellos (full day clients or beginners whom I won’t get to see ski much)
 
14557092:.Brink. said:
No, its not lol. What 130 boot are you talking? I find that incredibly hard to believe unless the shell is compromised....overheated, old plastic etc. There's not way you can flex a 130 in the cold at 5'8 150lb. I'm 6'3' 220lb and my 130 dalbellos are stiff sometimes and my skis are all 194cm+ so plenty of leverage getting put on them from both ends.
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Like I said ankle geometry is weird. Stock Il Moros are way too soft for me and I had to use a stiffer liner and the stiffener shim behind the calf. My Lupo AX 120's with a high density intuition liner are way too soft on a cold day so I only use them touring these days. Also part of the nature of a 3 piece boot is that when you hit a certain point in the flex, the tongue buckles and loses almost all of its stiffness.
 
14557252:snowmosexual said:
If you want a stiffer boot, race boots are gonna be it for 2 piece design. Go to your bootfitter and check some out
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Hi Snowmo! I dont have a bootfitter in the US as of rn; but im on the look for a good one, if you have any info on one near/in Aspen that would be sick. Plus shop recommendations too; my feet are on your hands haha. But seriously i'm 200% lost without help since i've never been to Aspen.
 
14557183:Chipy2000 said:
On that note then; good bootfitters in the Aspen area? I’ll be there in december
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I forget the dudes name but the guy at the Surefoot on Durant has been fitting boots there for over 10 years and has a lot of very happy clients. I get my heat molding done there for new liners and occasionally buy insoles from them.
 
14557305:Chipy2000 said:
Hi Snowmo! I dont have a bootfitter in the US as of rn; but im on the look for a good one, if you have any info on one near/in Aspen that would be sick. Plus shop recommendations too; my feet are on your hands haha. But seriously i'm 200% lost without help since i've never been to Aspen.
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Ive heard good things about bootech inc
 
14557305:Chipy2000 said:
Hi Snowmo! I dont have a bootfitter in the US as of rn; but im on the look for a good one, if you have any info on one near/in Aspen that would be sick. Plus shop recommendations too; my feet are on your hands haha. But seriously i'm 200% lost without help since i've never been to Aspen.
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Unfortunately I haven't been to aspen either. Do you have some friends or colleagues you can ask? A referral with a bootfitter goes a long way
 
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