I hate my boots

TRVP_ANGELSell em to your shoe guy

The.BrentistWhy did you buy them

DayManTLDR: bought fancy new boots from bootfitter, hate them, can't return cause they're used now, i am fukt

So I went out to Colorado for a 3 week trip to ski and visit friends/family. First day I'm there I go ski Winter Park and my right boot basically snaps in half. The shell is totally fucked and made them unskiable. It was my 5th season on them so it wasn't totally unexpected, but still I was in no financial position to buy a brand new pair. After calling around to a bunch of shops in Denver asking if they had any of last years models at a discount, Evo was the only one that said they might be able to help me out.

They ended up basically catfishing me with that phone call because once I get in with the bootfitter at the Evo store he tells me that they don't actually have any discounted old stock. At that point I just said fuck it and committed to getting a fresh $840 pair of Salomon S Pro 130's. They fit great in the store, and I told him I'm a super aggressive skier with some history in racing so I like a ridiculously stiff boot. He ensured that these were the boots for me. I voiced my concerns about them being too soft when I tried them on but once again, he ensured that they would stiffen right up when they got out in the cold and that they would feel totally different on skis.

The next day I take them out skiing for the first time. Right off the bat something feels wrong. They're even more soft than they were in the store once I get skis under me. I've had rental boots feel stiffer than these. At first I figured maybe it was just because they were new to me and I had to get used to them, but they never got any better, only worse if anything.

They were so soft that I figured something had to be wrong with them. It's to the point where I can overflex them to the point of relying on my ankle mobility for resistance. My ankles have never felt so compromised in a ski boot. When I try to engage a hard turn and put a lot of pressure into the boot it basically just folds over itself and bends in half.

So at this point, I'm convinced that something is wrong with them, they feel like a 90 flex boot instead of a 130. I drive my ass all the way back to Denver from Steamboat and miss a day of skiing so I can see what's going on. I tried to explain the situation to the bootfitter at Evo and he was kind of a dick and wouldn't believe me that anything was wrong with the boot. Like why would I drive 6 hours round trip and miss a whole day of my ski trip to lie about something being wrong with my brand new boots??? And since I had skied 2 days on them, they obviously were no longer eligible for a return. Another bootfitter gets involved and insists that I need booster straps and that booster straps will solve all my problems. As a long time customer of booster straps, I know they can help, but I knew they wouldn't solve a problem of extreme over-flexion like I was experiencing.

The guys at Evo sent me on my way and basically just told me I don't know what I'm talking about and there's nothing they can do to help me. I bought some booster straps and they didn't help at all, I'm still having the exact same issue. I now have beautiful $840 boots that I absolutely hate, and no money to get a different pair either.

Anyone else ever have something like this happen?

At least they look nice

Pipe_MunkyIs that the only boot you tried on?
Sounds like Salomon was running a sales contest at the time and the dude was trying to get his points up

evaroniWhat were your old boots?

And why not buy Full Tilts??

SessionBecause he wanted a stiff boot. The stiffest FT isn't stiff.

evaroniWhat were your old boots?

And why not buy Full Tilts??

DayManI'm also 6'3" 205 so I've got a lot of mass to throw around in a boot

DayMan749 + tax dood

Upon checking my email receipt they were actually 812 so my bad on that

If you can find them for anything less than that let me know but I was just in a hard situation where I was on my annual out west ski trip and wanted to ski ASAP so I was kind of forced into the purchase if I wanted to not miss any more days skiing than I needed to

BiffbarfWrite evo a shitty review on all platforms. Be the squeeky wheel. Unleash your inner karen. Ask for managers. 8 hundo on a damn boot I'd be fucking livid if I didn't absolutely love it.

nosebutterpizzaWhy didn't you just rent for the few days you were out west?

DingoSeanI personally don’t find that boot to be as soft as you say.. and not one of my clients over the last 2 years that I’ve sold that boot to has complained about it being too soft... it’s no softer than the Lange RX/RS 130 or many other boots in that class. Sounds like you’d have taco’d most boots that you would have tried on.

that said, if you need a a seriously stiff boot, you should have gone with a race boot or something race derived like a firebird or Doberman or a raptor.

SavageBiffDid u have them heat molded and possibly over heated ? We’re basically the same size and I’m an amateur bodybuilder been skiing 24 years , I don’t think they’re stiff , But what your describing is far from what I’ve experienced railing groomers and pow drops , skied in as warm as 60 degrees no probs can bend even my stiffest skis
there’s a screw on the back to change from a 130 to 120 maybe check that ?


**This post was edited on Jan 15th 2020 at 5:44:05pm

DayManDid not have them heat molded, and have swapped the screws around to see if that makes a difference with no luck. I seem to be the only owner of these boots having this problem so I guess its a me thing

DayManMy old boots were Salomon X Pro 120's and they felt sooo much stiffer than these. They were totally fine until I snapped the shell at the beginning of the trip. I realize that I sound ridiculous and it's probably just a weird personal issue but I'm just sad that I spent so much money on something that I'm not happy with and that Evo was so unwilling to do anything to remedy the situation.

I talked to a family friend who is a fitter/owner at a smaller shop and he was saying that they guarantee any fit and even if I used them for a couple days, if I totally hated them, they'd fit me into a pair that I actually like. I know that's probably not a regular thing and wouldn't expect it to be but it just made me realize that small local shops are 100% the way to go. I already knew that but it really cemented it for me. That same guy also hand flexed my boots and said they felt like a 100 and not a 130 so idk if I ended up with a fucked up pair or something.

DayManI was there for 3 weeks and skied about 18 days

Also have you ever tried rental boots?? I'd almost rather not ski

**This post was edited on Jan 15th 2020 at 6:51:34pm

HYP3R_REAL1TYI'm so happy now i've tried enough boots to know pretty much what I like.
Also go with your instinct. If something like flex aint seeming right, don't buy em. UNLESS the boot fitter is extremely knowledgeable, you will know if they are cause they'll be old and have a beard.

CK_MediaDid you happen to call the flagship store up here in Seattle? Tell them you had a horrible customer service experience. Don't be rude, but I would share all of those details with them about those so-called "bootfitters". I think they'll try to help you out.

CabbageRustler69the newer Salomon boots do seem to be on the softer side of their stated flex ratings.

b00mSkisJust as of this year? do you think it's a permanent thing or salomon just fucked stuff up for a year and will be back to normal?

CabbageRustler69It seems like ever since they started implementing their heat-moldable shell technology into the majority of the boots in their line this has been the case. That being said, I am not an expert on plastics and I do not personally know any of the science to suggest that these two things have a causal relationship. They did it as sort of a sales gimmick to market their boots to lots of people with a wide range of feet. That way, a person with a really wide foot that wanted a pair of S-Pros could just mold the shell and add up to 6mm of last or so. My guess is they will probably stick with it for a while, but if people keep expressing and documenting the same issues I can't imagine they would continue it for very long. Once again, I just fit the boots I don't make them, but in my experience fitting they have been on the softer side.

b00mSkisIsn't heat molding standard practice when boot fitting? salomons (at least the high end ones) have been heat moldable for quite a number of years haven't they?

CabbageRustler69Yes and no, it's a standard practice to heat mold liners, but not shells. My personal stance on molding shells is unless you have a really messed up foot, you shouldn't need to mold a shell to fit you, and you can probably find a different brand that fits better, has a comparable flex and performance, and is a similar price. Most people's feet do not need a shell mold, usually weird feet issues can be fixed with punching or grinding a shell. And yes, salomon has had that technology for a few boots in their line for a few years now, but last year they decided to make it standard for most if not all of their boots. Whereas in the past not all the boots had that capability.

b00mSkisokay thanks for explaining. When you say it is usually just liner that has to be molded and not shell, do most boot fitters agree with you, or is that just your personal opinion?

and what is the downside to heat molding a shell, or to having a heat moldable shell?

**This post was edited on Jan 18th 2020 at 10:43:44pm

CabbageRustler69All the bootfitters I have worked with have a similar stance on molding shells. I'm not saying I won't mold a shell (I have a few times and will almost certainly do it again in the future), and it does solve a lot of issues to do so. But there are other avenues I always explore first before I heat mold the shell, such as finding a different brand, adding footbeds, molding the liner, punching, grinding, etc. There isn't a downside to molding your shell. If it's designed to be molded, and the mold is done properly, the boot should perform just as well as if it were used straight out of the box. Back to the original question of this thread, in Salomon's case, the newer boots seem to be softer, and that could be because of the change in their plastics. Just what I have noticed fitting, cannot back it up with any sort of science.

b00mSkisokay thanks for explaining. When you say it is usually just liner that has to be molded and not shell, do most boot fitters agree with you, or is that just your personal opinion?