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How hard would it be to put touring toes in my boots
Cast charges 220$ for the boot conversion but it just seems like all you have to do is put a metal insert thing into your boot. Anyone have experience with this?
caveman31Cast charges 220$ for the boot conversion but it just seems like all you have to do is put a metal insert thing into your boot. Anyone have experience with this?
What could possibly go wrong???
What are you hoping to do and what type of boots do you have?
Wtf. Wonder why they don’t make replaceable tech inserts for normal touring boots… once the holes are worn you have to drop another $900 for a pair of AT boots. Wack. What a stitch up. Maybe I’ll just buy these cast inserts and drill them in lollll
I did it myself at a shop using their tools. Good buddies with the techs and we took off my sole and looked at how we could best keep the integrity of the toe while taking off enough material to put in some tech toes I cut out of a pair of k2 touring boots. It can absolutely be done at home, just be as smart as possible about it, i used jb weld to finish it and seal from any water getting in and sanded down to smooth. I only use cast for touring, so only need the tech toe for touring up and would NEVER do this or trust it even with as careful and proper a process as i took to ski down in say kingpins
ill add photos of mine to this thread when i get home from school this weekend
**This post was edited on Feb 2nd 2022 at 1:18:25am
Also how cast does it and why it’s expensive but works is because they use a cnc machine to remove only the necessary material needed to put the tech inserts in, you will never be as accurate or efficient or leave as nice a finish using a hand dremel as a cnc machine will…
Sounds like some of the youngins here need a history lesson regarding what can go wrong when brands don't do tech inserts properly. Google "Salomon Quest Tech Insert Failure".
Fun fact: proper tech inserts are one of the most expensive parts of a ski boot.
onenerdykidSounds like some of the youngins here need a history lesson regarding what can go wrong when brands don't do tech inserts properly. Google "Salomon Quest Tech Insert Failure".
Fun fact: proper tech inserts are one of the most expensive parts of a ski boot.
Are all tech toe inserts one piece like the Salomon quest or are some small separate inserts on each side of the toe?
JAHnI was thinking the same thing today…can’t be hard. Keep us updated if you try it.
Honestly I bet you could just drill some holes in the plastic. Wouldn’t last long though. Maybe a season?
Also, this comment was made with Cast in mind specifically, which means uphill only. I wouldn’t do this on a nice pair of boots, but it would be a fun experiment to see how long it lasts or if even works at all.
JAHnAre all tech toe inserts one piece like the Salomon quest or are some small separate inserts on each side of the toe?
Tech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
I would read a very long article, or listen to a very long podcast that was just you explaining everything that goes into putting a tech fitting in a boot.
onenerdykidTech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
onenerdykidTech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
Thanks for the info! I've toured a few investment cast facilities. It's definitely a very involved process.
I think a common misconception is that the tech inserts are just the little cup-like piece that the pins lock into, since that is the only outwardly visible piece. That's what I assumed anyway and also why it seems so easy to DIY.
Now that I see it, this looks like a pain in the ass to install.
onenerdykidSounds like some of the youngins here need a history lesson regarding what can go wrong when brands don't do tech inserts properly. Google "Salomon Quest Tech Insert Failure".
Fun fact: proper tech inserts are one of the most expensive parts of a ski boot.
I totally forgot about this, can’t believe more people didn’t hear about it and therefore understand that tech fittings are not something to play around with 😂😂
JAHnThanks for the info! I've toured a few investment cast facilities. It's definitely a very involved process.
I think a common misconception is that the tech inserts are just the little cup-like piece that the pins lock into, since that is the only outwardly visible piece. That's what I assumed anyway and also why it seems so easy to DIY.
Now that I see it, this looks like a pain in the ass to install.
Are they normally insert-molded into the shell?
Normally they are fixed into the mold and over-injected.
onenerdykidTech inserts that work properly normally look like this:
To my knowledge, only Dalbello is working with a 2-piece tech insert (in the Quantum boots), which is basically the above cut vertically down the middle.
Tech inserts are made by a process called investment casting or lost wax casting. It's an incredibly costly process that yields steel parts with a super high degree of accuracy, material hardness, and proper surface finishing. Fun Fact #2: it's the only way that Ferrari will build their engine blocks.
This is exactly what the piece looked like that I put into my boots. Can confirm it’s an insanly high strength metal and I needed a proper machine shop just to drill two little holes in them that i needed for mounting
