HardBooter Blog

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

“Holy shit, this is the best board ever” I said after only one run on the 09 Prior metal 187! Dave’s only question was why?

Ok here’s why: Sometimes you get so used to a board that it is all you want to ride. Since you are very comfortable on it, you know it like your favorite hoodie, (or sweater, for those of you with desk jobs); it just fits so comfy that anything else just seems substandard. My issue, as with most “stock manufactured board”, is that they ride like crap once you know how to ride well, since most are or were based on freestyle board cores with an alpine shape. So as a rider you get this sick looking alpine shape to stand around in the lift lines and hold your chest high representing alpine, but once on the hill the boards have limits that are reached in just a year or two of riding. This is great for beginners. However, once you reach the limits of the board you are riding, then what?

Maybe you buy some new bindings or perhaps some new boots which buys you maybe another year of gear to grow into. Then it’s time to buy a real alpine board if you truly want to progress. I am not talking about e-bay or the BOL classifieds for your “new to you” alpine board. I mean a brand-spanking-new, made-this-year by an alpine builder, current new hotness, super shape.

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

Right now if you are ready to handle the new generations of “super boards” there are only a few options in North America and only one of them has metal boards in stock always. Say it loud, say it proud. PRIOR!!! Yep, good old Chris Prior, a cat who has always kept alpine shapes legit. If you have ever ridden a Prior race shape, then you know Chris doesn’t F around with alpine. He and his build crew take it totally serious. Prior is pumping out one of a kind PGS and PSL boards for national team members on the World Cup, all the way down to the weekend warrior running Nastar beer leagues. Is there a board for you in the Prior line up for 09? Hell yeah, there is. For me it’s the 187 metal and here’s why.

This board is the best stock, buy-it-off-the-shelf stick I have ever laid a trench with. It may be the ultra freeride stick of this generation since it does everything so well. Some boards are great PGS sticks that rip a race course and carve really well “all mountain” under skilled riders’ feet. This Prior 87 is an all mountain board that could still carve really well in a PGS course under a skilled rider’s feet . This was unheard of currently, until now. Sure, there are a few boards using metal to keep it alive for the mellow all mountain rider but what about the hardcore ripper looking for the big gun to haul ass on? Unless you want to ante up for a custom shape, you are out of luck, save you buy a 87 Prior, that is. Here’s the new stuff for this year.

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

The board has a wider waist than before, now up to 20cm, which is good for all you bigfoots and low angle new school rippers out there. This is definitely the current trend in alpine. Most PGS sticks range from 19-22 depending on the riders’ preferences at the WC level. The new shape has a bit more setback and nose camber. Prior has been using this shape and camber on their high-end athlete boards for several years. This nose shape allows the board to literally climb up and over any variables in the surface, something Kessler has been doing for a long time and that has helped put their product on the podium. Several other manufacturers have adopted this nose shape and camber out of necessity to remain competitive. I truly believe that any modern board lacking the current camber profile is out dated and substandard. Now every Prior Metal stick has it and wow is it worth it. The nose floats and absorbs just like it should allowing the platform under your feet to remain rock solid just like a pure PGS stick.

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

The last major change in the 09 line is the new top sheet. Gone are the days of the exposed titanal and all the headaches that many recreational riders were experiencing. No more chipping or delam possibilities now. Prior has a beautiful top sheet made out of some of the slickest material I have seen on a snowboard. Our test model was white, smooth, and sexy. Chris claims that with the new construction he has brought the durability up to a new standard. Prior pioneered the metal alpine market several years ago and many other manufacturers have been incasing metal under top sheets since. With a complete metal line-up, it was time to progress into a more mass-market friendly topsheet. With all these changes for 09, Prior has made yet another leap forward in alpine, proving why they continue to lead the market. But its not just looks with this monster – the ride is unmatched.

I could compare this board to a Kessler or SG full-on PGS shape but that’s not what this board is about. It might even be unfair to jade the ride of this corduroy killer by placing it in a PGS category. Although it has the soul of a full blown race stick, it (like its ancestors), is a recreational rider’s dream board, allowing any rider with skill to benefit from its awesome performance. This board is so easy to start any turn with that you almost feel like you are cheating. The nice long nose and new camber profile glides over anything in your way, while the platform under your feet provides a great balance of feedback and control and the nice smooth radius finishes the turn so smoothly.

In just one run I was blown away by this board. I currently put a lot of time on a custom shape by Chris I have nicknamed KK (Kessler Killer) not only because I like it more than any Kessler I have ridden, but because it’s just so fun to ride everywhere. It is really the same shape Phil Berube won the 2 run GS Race To The Cups on at Park City, beating world class riders on Kesslers, SGs, and Oxsesses. But for me, the board is just so good everywhere that I really have had no reason to ride anything else. Now I have a reason and it’s the 09 187.

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

The 09 feels like the PGS shape I have been riding but with a much more AM friendly radius. It can be a bear to haul a PGS radius all over the hill, but with the huge amount of stability the 187 provides I could make big wide open turns at speeds over 40. Or I could really lay into the board and tighten up the turn, even at speed, something only 3 other boards I have ever ridden allowed me to do, one of them being the Prior KK custom.

This level of confidence allows the rider to become so comfortable on the board that it really just becomes an extension of your legs. As a rider, you make the inputs and the board just tracks like you have always hoped every board would. It is just that good. I tried to make the board skip and release under full power. It did so in such a manner that I had no problem reengaging the edge and allowing the board to settle right back into the turn with almost no bounce or chatter, then it just hooks back up under feet. Sooooo good!!!

I was hucking off everything I saw, landing on the tail, the nose and each edge at speed. Again the board was just rock solid and so predictable. I started getting cocky and taking off unbalanced and fighting to salvage the landing. Again, the board was rock solid. I was impressed. With a frozen April morning to start and 45 degree temps by afternoon, it was a true treat to ride a metal board that gripped the hard gnar in the AM and busted the slush as the day ended. Even as the snow softened up, the board still was on rails everywhere. I ran it through some mid-sized bumps (something I never do on other metal boards); it just rails. I ran it into the fresh snow in some trees; again it just railed (as well as an alpine shape can off piste). Backwards it railed, laid out turns it railed. Massive, full-strength, wide open, angry turns, yup you guessed it: it rails. As a matter of fact, for the first time in years I really could not find a flaw in this stick for my style of riding.

'09 Prior WCR Metal 187

Sometimes a board rides so well that your riding just flows and that is how this new Prior made me ride. I felt so smooth everywhere on this board that I can hardly express my riding in words. It just makes you feel so free… free to turn, air, land, ride switch at speed, tackle any surface aggressively, ride and not worry about anything but stopping when the terrain ends. To me, that’s why I ride alpine. Hardboots and alpine boards are the only tools that allow me to ride wide open at the edge of my ability but still remain in control at ludicrous speeds. If you want to ride at the edge of control at eye watering speeds then the new Prior metal line is what you should be on. The 09 board may be the perfect blend between all that is alpine. If there is a chair lift to the top and a groomer has laid some corduroy, then this board will help you make the most of it. It will cost ya some duckets for sure, but it is worth every penny.

I would rather own just one 09 Prior metal than a full quiver of cheap alpine boards. If you have a full quiver of cheap alpine board then this board will change your life. Sell them this summer and save up for a 09 Prior metal. You’ll be rewarded for you efforts.
Step into the now!

—Billy Bordy

Additional photos, along with those in this article are available here in the album “Prior Review“

Scalpell

It is a Virus for sure. Even if there wasn’t a single logo on the board, the unmatched construction and signature Virus tip give this board away. Compared to a lot of the Virus boards you may have seen in the US, this is it’s European cousin. And when you spend your whole life in a foreign country you’re going to have some differences. Perhaps you really like Fizzy Bubble Raspberry to drink, or are used to driving on a different side of the road. Maybe you have different outlooks on body hair or swimwear? But similar to how board shorts and Speedos both cover up your junk, this Virus still carves a sick line and holds a crazy edge. For years, Virus has made a bunch of shapes for a bunch of styles of carving, and the Scalpell is a new school metal board in the tried and true wider shape that many riders enjoy carving on.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are hip on the use of metal in alpine boards, and the wider boards are the most exciting shapes benefiting from metal construction. Over the past 20 years, there has been a wide board out there for the rider who likes lower stance angles and the big platform a wider board provides. But with traditional construction these chubby alpine boards had almost no torsional stability and suffered because of it. The ride was often bouncy and had poor feel. Wider boards were prone to failing lengthwise along laminate seams; often cracking the base and pushing the edge up. The only answer at the time was to use lots of carbon in one of several torsion stiffening shapes or set ups, from external rods to internal structures, to help solve these issues. Getting the torsional flex correct while not disturbing the lengthwise flex was tough, however, and the ride suffered.

Most manufacturers stuck with boards in a narrower waist width to combat these issues. Boot and binding manufacturers used the narrow board as the guide line to gauge the necessary flex pattern to power a edge while riding angles from 50-70, this means the gear had to be much more stiff laterally. The rider’s motion fore and aft was also limited by the boot’s flex, causing much of the weight adjustment to be made with the upper body using a bent waist and a low chest. Metal gives a wide board great torsional stiffness and allows the flex to become softer, so a whole new crop of supple boots and bindings have given the rider the option to make adjustments in their lower body. This leads to a much better absorption system and with a mellower stance. The days of putting your knee in your chin while getting chatter are gone. Now you can run lower angles with all the performance of a narrow board!

The Virus Scalpell is 100% Virus in a 120% waist width, this board rails turns in all conditions and still feels nice when you need to feather a turn or check speed, something many wide shapes have trouble with. When you match your boot and binding system to a board of this caliber you are rewarded all day long with all the damp, smooth ride a metal board provides. With a wide, stable platform and lower binding angles, the rider has a great balanced position to rip anywhere their heart desires.

This was one of the shapes we just had to carry here at Hardbooter. We respect the commitment Virus has made to the Alpine community, providing any rider with the best possible product, handmade in Germany. If you are looking at a wider shape to have your way with, then this is a must ride item; no buyer should overlook this amazing ride!

Metal boards are the answer to any rider’s woes, that’s for sure. We have tried to keep Alpine riders on top of the metal revolution as it starts to finally build steam here in North America. Unfortunately, no US board builder has yet to release a metal board to the public but our Canadian counterparts have sure been putting out some bad ass metal boards for custom orders and for their World Cup athletes. Now Prior has taken metal to the street. The new Prior metal line is the first high grade metal board available to everyone who does not have a pro contract or an unlimited bank account.

When Chris Prior started making custom snowboards in the early 90’s, he really stepped outside the box when it came to shape. Chris rolled the dice and listened to a bunch of crazy alpine racers when they told him what they really wanted for lengths and shapes. While Burton and Rossi were making boards up to 180 but unless you were a sponsored racer or a thief at a World Cup you could not touch one. Chris, however, was shaping boards into the 2 meter range with waist width down to 16 cm with just a simple phone call and the cash down. Chris even went so far as to offer payment programs to racers working their way up the rankings. If you where lucky enough to try anything out of Chris’ shop, you felt the future under your feet. Priors became the top secret weapon for almost every top name alpine pro through the mid 90’s. Almost every race board was made by Prior regardless of what the board might have been labeled. Chris would omit the Prior logo, replace it with the rider’s board sponsor logo, and you would watch a “team Sims” athlete win World Cups on a Prior. Soon the demand grew and so did Prior, just like a true grass roots company from the love of sport, to its current industry leading shape and construction techniques. Prior has done it correctly; listening to the rider, not the bank.

This year marks the biggest alpine advancement Prior has made since the company started; the Metal series. By using current board building techniques they have morphed the World Cup line into a next generation alpine shape. Once again, Prior has brought true new school action into the rut of standard shapes for the past decade. With a board of this caliber, you too can take your riding to the next level.

Shopping the classified ads at your favorite alpine web site has just become a thing of the past if you are looking for true performance. The super board of 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even 2 years ago does not come close to the Metal Series. It is not even worth trying to compare but I am about to, so hang on.

The first thing you notice when you eyeball the future may be the mesmerizing shiny top sheet on a Prior Metal. As soon as you break free of the hypnotic trance it creates, you should look down. Down to the tail. That’s right I said tail. This sexy little vixen has a sweet tail, one that kicks up a bit and has rounded corners. Even better, it is a tail that works great if you ever end up backwards by accident or perhaps on purpose, you will be just fine. Not only can this save your butt if you are lucky enough to have this rocket ship in a race course let alone spinning out and ending up tail first.

Maybe racing is not your thing and you just like to go out and free ride. Now you truly can with your alpine board. All the technology that goes into this baby to hold an edge under Phillippe Berube’s angry feet in rutted bumpy World Cup PGS courses works even better on groomed terrain. And with the smooth ride metal provides, you’ll wish every board in your quiver even came close to this Vixen. Here’s why:

This board is just easy to ride. Because of the metal construction, the board has a very smooth and mellow flex but holds a better edge than a board twice as stiff. That means you don’t need to be Superman to ride it. Because of its construction and flex pattern you really feel the snow under your feet. It is amazing. The board bends through terrain changes just sticking to the snow while on edge. You catch yourself looking for interesting topography like little ledges and funny rolls in the snow’s surface to just rail through. You may have gone around this terrain before because no matter how well you edged over it you would expect the board to “bridge or span” the gap which meant a lost of edge contact, pressure, and control. Not on the Metal. It tracks on the snow on edge and it’s hard to believe you’ve just carved over and through the terrain until you look back and see lines that have kinks and strange shapes unlike any other non metal board makes. But as the rider, all you feel is a stable platform under your feet and contemplate the future of alpine snowboarding as your brain struggles to believe what just happened. It is that good.

The metal not only blows your mind when you ride it but it helps you learn who you are. It handles everything you can put it in, moguls seem to shrink and smooth out. It makes soft snow and slush feel like you can still push against it and perhaps the icing on the cake is what this thing does to, just that, ice! You become a hero thanks to this board if you make the correct inputs. It is just amazing if you live where it is firm. If you don’t have a metal board, you might just be wasting time and energy: You could take 4 more runs each day with the energy you save on this board. What’s that worth?

If you’re able to give metal a try without forking out a small fortune for a PGS specific shape that only works in a race course, then this board will change your life. Although I have a quiver of metal boards to pick from daily, I pick this one to have the most fun on. It may not be a Kessler in a race course or have Virus-like construction, but it has the upper hand for doing everything amazingly well compared to every other metal product out there for half the price. If you told me to pick only one board to travel with and do everything on, this is the stick for the all around alpine rider.

As a matter of fact if you were at SES the WTC or the ECES you saw that I choose this board the most. Maybe you were even lucky enough to “Prior” it away from me for a run…

You can get your own though and the HB shop’s got one in whatever size you desire!!

Billy Bordy

Hardboots May be the most responsive Bad ass way to attach yourself to a snowboard but they are still made out of Plastic.

If you have Plastic boots and are lucky enough to just slide into a stock bladder and get a good fit then stop reading now and go thank your lucky stars.

If you are still reading then you and the thousands of plastic boot users world wide need to know about boot fitting. Every resort has a boot fitter that does nothing but play with stinky, sore, mangled feet. Here at PCMR we make the trip to surefoot so many times a year they not only know us by name but may be one of the most experienced snowboard hardboot fitter in the nation. The have helped me repair- rebuild-reshape every pair of boots I have ridden over the past decade and since just about every employee can ski lines that would force Warren Miller to break out his camera they know where you are coming from and only want to help.

I have always been a fan of the heat moldable bladder for free riding and two run GS and SL racing, It fits great once molded correctly and is crazy warm, but parallel racing in a race course that rides more like Mogul run with 2 foot holes at the gate I quickly saw the need for a bit more support then my trusty thermo fit bladders could provide. I of course turned to Surefoot for help. Steve Owen, or Stevo as the locals call him not only keeps all the ripping hoodlums that work their in line but has shared his knowledge with every last one of them so when you roll into surefoot some one has the answers to your foot problems we were lucky enough that He and super fitter Tommy (last Name?) Not only thought they had the solution for my hardboots but they were excited to put me into a Surefoot staple product Conformable foam bladders. Surefoot believes in the foaming process so much that Many of the boots they sell off the rack come with the conformable Foam bladder standard, But the system works so well that they have boxes of brand new bladders that have never been touched basically just thrown away because the customer wants the benefits of the conformable bladder so badly that they just toss the new bladder and go right to the foam.

Considering the amount of US team members, Olympic Medalist, World and national champions that walk in and out of the Park City Mountain Resort Surefoot daily it was no surprise that they are ninjas at boot fitting. I thank them for taking care of my feet every year but I was a bit nervous about the foaming process and the possibility of the bladders changing the boots flex so much that I was perhaps well nervous. The staff at surefoot really has the process of foaming down. In all it only takes about a half hour start to finish and you can go ride when you walk out the door. Now I have to point out the process is painless, unlike the pressure I remembered as a young Ski Racer in My Nordica Grand Prix foams the Surefoot Conformable are Childs play to mold. The Foam is so High tech it flows in like a thick liquid and molds with such precision it wraps your feet in a blanket of soft supportive foam so comfy you’ll throw your smelly old thermoflex bladders straight out the window. While right away I noticed a difference in the support my trusty Deeluxe Indys had gained I was curious to see what happened on the hill. I had been in the Indys for years and thought I had them figured out. Time to find out!! Just walking to the lift I could feel the difference the foam bladders had compared to my thermo liners. My feet where stuck I mean stuck inside the boot, normally there’s a bit off heel lift while walking, it was gone and so was any play between the boot and bladder! Even just pushing around in the lift line I could fell an instant difference. And heck even getting off the chair felt easier then usual due to the increased support.

Clipping my back foot in I was sure ready to find fault with the foam bladder, I tried a few turns under slow speeds and did feel a bit of balance at first, much like when you change board widths and feel the difference in the transitions, I too felt a difference in the transitions then I noticed the increase in edge pressure as soon as my speed increased. I didn’t feel as though I had a stiffer boot but my trusty Kessler felt as though it had a sick race day tune but since it just sat in Surefoot during the Molding process I knew it had to be the liner. Just this gain in control was worth switching over to these I thought. But as the terrain began to fall away a bit more I really started to but all I had into the board. My trusty Indys had always held up fine but I often felt as though I “pushed” through the flex as apposed to having the Boot push back providing feed back that I can us to make adjustments, Like a gift the new Bladder did just that, Increased the feedback and the input, I was sold and only after a few turns. I noticed a huge difference as the day went on I was stoked to be in the new bladder.

I was not convinced that the $400 price would be worth the benefits I noticed day one but since the cats at Surefoot offer a lifetime fit guarantee I thought I should but some time into this review so that’s what going to happen. We are going to but a year in these bladders and let you know how they work. Then and only then will we pass judgment!

Alright I can’t believe it been a year since I first punched out the start of this review, this is the first year long review we have done and I have tried to keep good records of My boots and first I thought I would give you the quick info on what they went through.

They started life brand new Indys out of the box in Mid November 05 training for the first race to the cup stop at copper and although not retired they where replaced this June at spring camp coincidently also in copper with a Pair of Virus UPZ

While in service they have had
2 sets of conformable bladders
2 sets of thermo flex bladders.
6 straps replaced
3 buckles fixed
3 booster straps replaced
All but 1 of the 4 cant rivets or adjustment rebuilt several times before being riveted in place
2 sets of super soft heel and toe rubber from Bomber
4 sets of springs replaced due to wear and or failure
6-10 pins replaced or straightened for the FLAD

As always I spent a bunch of time in the shop doing repairs but I was very happy with how well my Indys held up under the abuse. But even more surprising was how well my conformable liners held up. But the best part was how well they rode!!

Stepping into the conformable is truly like upgrading the boot to the next model. And in my case when my competition is all riding Indys also they gave me an upper hand!

My boots really came alive with the bladders all year. The straight facts are they are much more durable the thermoflex or thermo fit or any stock bladder, way more supportive. And most importantly much more comfortable after hours of hard alpine punishment!!

The Surefoot bladder is for sure an improvement for any high end boot. It defiantly made my session longer, and much more powerful. I could move much more energy to the bindings and board with the surefoot bladders and the feed back is amazing.
I spend hours in the shop trying to make stock boots ride well but in less then a half hour surefoot stepped my Indys to the next level and even though they are a bit pricey at (current cost) If you want to bring your boots to the same level as the Pros this is the fastest way to do it!!

Through out the year I had no problems with my bladders no rips or tears no separation of fabric and to my surprise not much smell. I was in and out of them twice a day some days all year I really thought I would wear out something but no, all the seams stayed stitched and tight and since the tongue Velcro’s on and off its easy to install or remove the bladder to dry or adjust the tongue for the best fit. These bladders truly ride circles around any bladder any hardboot manufacture sells with their product No matter what type of foot shape or even abnormality Surefoot takes the sure fit idea to the customer and will for sure be happy.

I really need to close this article with a big thanks to surefoot for setting us up with a few pairs of Bladder to play with. We were lucky enough to try molding pairs with Intec cables installed and with a larger tongue size to try and decrease shin bang in a race course. We basically wasted the pair with the Intec cable installed and would highly recommend removing your Intec cables during the foaming process. We did learn that with them in place the foam forms around them and with the correct flexing you can feel the cable between the shell and bladder because the foam is so precise, however by molding them with out the cable installed provides enough foam between you and the shell that you never notice the cables. We also discovered that while the stock tongue is more then usable a larger tongue increased the pressure we could place on the toeside over the standard tongue. However it very hard to make this happen at you local shop so we also tried the simple task of keeping the boot a bit looser up top while foaming to allow a bit more foam to set in the top of the tongue and provide more support and padding up top!!!

The Conformable Bladder will turn any boot into the best it can be. Fit and performance improvements are worth every penny!! And with the stellar service and boot fitting you’ll get for the life time of your surefoot products you can not go wrong. When more boot manufactures step up and try as hard as surefoot does, hardboots will be on many more riders feet..

– Billy

Check them out online:  Surefoot

This is what we know so far about metal: “You don’t really need it unless you are racing.” Many riders will love the difference in board feel and control. Metal does so much for a snowboard. It creates harmonic dampening, tensional dampening, torsional strength and over all good looks.

Truth is metal makes life good and boards damp but there are some issues that many board builders are still working through, the biggest being adhesion. Metal is very slick and doesn’t absorb glue well at all. Titanal is mostly Aluminum and likes to develop a protective layer quickly through oxidation. Unlike most other materials used in snowboards, metal does not contain pores to help absorb the glue. Many ski builders worked around this issue over 2 decades ago. Builders used chemical etching to help solve this problem but some are still learning to work with Titanal. If a metal board is going to delaminate, it should happen well with in the warrantee period. The only bummer will be sending your board back and waiting for it to return.

If you play your cards right and end up with a board that has great glue, your move to metal will be well worth it. Most metal boards are lighter and softer than non-metal boards. While everyone should enjoy the weight savings, not all will be stoked about the change in flex. Before we get too much into the flex, let’s cover the basics. The gear is what gives your particular ride its character. If you have a stiff board, you will need a binding powerful enough to provide the interface necessary to power it up. Once the board and bindings are chosen you will then need a more rigid boot. Simple, right? Well not always. Many riders just blow it making their setups more difficult than necessary to ride at the top of there game. Some riders may only get 2 of the 3 flexes to work together ending up with a sloppy link somewhere. On a stiff board, this can be a problem. When it comes to making enough energy to power up your super board, you may fall short and the board feels like a tank. Perhaps your boots are too soft. You struggle constantly to make the board turn. It’s easy to see where this is going.

Metal boards are softer. This means you may not need the same stiff boots and bindings to power up the board and you can use a more supple binding and boot. You will be able to generate incredible edge hold without the legs of a world cup rider. Of course if you have the legs of a world cupper, imagine what the metal board does for you. It’s almost like cheating!

Metal benefits the everyday rider but most major companies are unwilling to invest the scratch and make it happen. Palmer has a relationship with Kessler and they are leading the metal revolution. They should have some free ride boards using Titanal in the next few years. Burton has stepped up to the plate with its Alumafly core and Vapor core technology.

For now only those brave enough to ride race shapes or custom shapes from one of the board builders can get this trick metal in their sticks. The current industry leader in Titanal boards is Kessler. They have the biggest metal selection for now however many North American builders are upping the ante.

Bruce Varsava of Coiler Composites has continued his legacy with the new Titanal product and seems to have most of the bugs worked out. Prior has also stepped into the world of metal and offers 3 great blended race-freeride boards in non-custom shapes. Prior and Coiler will add metal to any shape for a fee.

Price varies depending on which company you chose. Some boards will cost you double what the non metal shape may due to the high cost of Titanal and the increase in the supporting materials cost. When metal is used in a board, it needs backed up with other high-tech materials like carbon fiber instead of fiberglass, super base materials etc.

All of this cool technology costs some duckets and for now, we as the consumer need to cover it. However, in the days of thousand dollar skis I can understand why snowboards cost around the same. Every now and then, something comes along and makes the toys we slide on better. Titanal may be the fiberglass of this decade and I hope everyone gets a chance to use it!

– Billy

Deeluxe boot liners of bladders have undergone a change, which has confused some consumers lately. Last year the Indy and Suzuka introduced the new thermo fit liner. This bladder has all of the fine features as the standard bladder has always offered by Deeluxe (Raichle) but is infused with some Thermo Liner parts providing more support and comfort than ever before in a thermo product. This new liner has quickly become the standard for comfort and response and has found its way into several ski boots next year as well! It is very exciting to see Deeluxe take the Thermo Fit Ideas to a more durable and supportive bladder.

The full Thermo Bladder was introduced in the Raichle line over 10 years ago. This was the first time a full heat moldable custom liner was available to the consumer in a ski or snowboard boot. The first liners allowed a fit only achieved with a custom, foam bladder before at a fraction of the cost. However the first generation bladders proved to be soft and flimsy with very little support compared to traditional bladders or custom foam bladders. Many riders and skiers noticed just how soft the full thermo liners were and where unable to cope with the shin bang and over all discomfort. Raichle quickly redesigned the bladder into a higher density model for plastic boots but continued to use the softer liner in their soft boot line providing ample support for the soft, flexing boots of the time. This soft boot line was the first to carry the Deeluxe name now engulfing the hard boot line.

The new high density thermo line provided more support but still was prone to shin bang amongst hard charging riders. Again the bladder was improved providing more support and durability while surrounding the rider’s foot in a custom fit unmatched at the time. The full thermo Bladder has continued to find its way into many types of supportive boots that are softer than a ski boot such as telemark and snowboard soft boots but in many riders’ opinions, still fell short of a truly supportive bladder for a snowboard hard-shell boot. Most team riders at the time still used the traditional bladder for the support and durability, sacrificing the comfort of the Full thermo bladder. The other option was to modify the fit and shape of the boot or bladder to fit the riders needs (a very common practice).

Realizing the need for a blend of both bladders Deeluxe went back to the drawing board and returned with a winner. The new Thermo Fit liners provide all the support of the traditional bladder that now includes Thermo Fit sections in the key areas like the tongue and heel. These heat moldable sections provide the same fit as previous focusing on these areas. This allows the exterior to remain much more durable and technical with multiple types of materials being used in key spots. Prior to this bladder, one of the benefits of the full thermo bladder was the molding process. This process not only custom fit your foot to the liner but also custom fit the bladder to the boot providing a great interface. Deeluxe designed the Thermo Fit bladder to continue the same solid interface. Some new features have also been added to the Thermo fit bladder such as a non slip sole and heel lock down and a softer toe box providing great feel and fit. Perhaps the biggest benefit though is the solid plastic tongue insert combined with a wrap around power strap that, unlike many straps in the past by Raichle, works very well to decrease shin bang and provide upper boot power. This makes the addition of an after market strap a luxury not a necessity as with the fully moldable Speed Thermo liner.

With a Molding process considerably less intense than the new, Full Thermo Speed liner in the 2005 line, the Thermo fit bladder does not require a molding session prior to a riding session. All of us at Hardbooter went the whole season without a mold by a Boot fitter and not a single iota of discomfort. There was also a less than normal break in period ( 2 to 3 days) than I have experienced in a traditional bladder from Deeluxe in the past( 4 to 7 days). All around this Bladder is by far the best of both worlds out of the Deeluxe camp. As a long time Raichle and Deeluxe rider I am very pleased with the performance came to adore in the traditional liner but with the fit I longed for in the full Thermo liner.

Deeluxe, of course, still offers the full Thermo bladder this year as the Speed Thermo. This is by far the best generation of the fully moldable bladder to date from Deeluxe. It provides a truly custom fit only available in a fully moldable bladder and has some beefed up areas in the shin and heel to offset some of the wear issues plaguing bladders in the past. The bladder remains a great option for someone with unique feet that has had issues with the fit of boots in the past. The comfort level of this bladder is very high with proper fit by a trained boot fitter. Many a untrained fitter have also been successful at home, following directions that can be found online, but for best fit Hardbooter highly recommends using a trained thermo trained boot fitter. It may only cost you case of beer to get boots to fit, well… like a glove.

Surrounding your foot with plastic has never been all that comfortable to begin with but Deeluxe has taken a great shell and finally given us a choice of great bladders to choose from. As a hard-core Thermo rider I don’t miss the fit of the fully moldable bladder at all any more thanks to Deeluxe’s new liner. I am almost glad I don’t have to walk around gritting my teeth during the molding process anymore with toe caps stuffed on and pain (as well as lots of heat) the only thing on my mind. As a rider we all go through some sacrifices to have maximum control but boot discomfort should not be a major sacrifice anymore. Trained boot fitters are by far one of the best resources out there. There are shops at every resort willing to make your feet feel good. They all agree the key to comfort is a custom foot bed made just for you. This item is treated as an add on sale at many shops and retailers and in turn many riders forgo it. It is, however, the platform you stand on that begins the whole interface with the board. Foot beds range from just under a hundred to well over two hundred dollars and are worth every single penny.

Starting with comfort under your foot will make whatever plastic you wrap it up in much more comfortable. And this year stuffing your feet into a pair of Deeluxe hardboots has never been better.

– Billy Bordy