Good breakdown. I also have wondered about making these BOA adjustments with thick gloved and mittens. I think having both options for closures is great.
Here is my experience on that: tl;dr Boa is a big win for not having to take your gloves/mittens off. I switched to a Boa resort boot this year (Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD 130 Boa -- the one on the right in this video) and it's very easy to adjust with thick gloves or mittens, much easier than buckles honestly. Try it! The Boa dial on this boot is much larger than other Boas that you might've seen (cycling) so it doesn't require much dexterity. I loathe when I have to adjust the upper two buckles that aren't Boa (besides just flipping them open/closed) because those are NOT easy to do with a mitten and I usually have to take one of my hands out -> fingers get cold. I really wish my beef touring boots (Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro) were Boa now honestly because it would make downhill transitions significantly faster. It's a chore to transition a traditional 4-buckle boot in the backcountry and requires significant dexterity, especially for those little wire buckle hooks on the ZGTP. My lighter touring boots (Scarpa Alien) are one Boa + one strap and it's much faster/easier to get them ready to ski.
I am 61 yrs old and thinking of switching to a BOA boot this season. I have a mid volume foot which makes it easier to get the fit I want. But I do like to be bolted in sometimes depending on terrain that I am skiing. Another but is, now that I am a bit older comfort is a big thing for me as well, so that’s why I am leaning to the BOA closure system. Thanks that was a great video and good honest opinions of both systems. Cheers !!
Our staff has been really happy with the BOA closure system. We long term tested all four brands offering BOA boots this Winter and there are definitely some sweet mid volume options! We know there will be more to come too. Let us know if you need any help. Cheers!
I'll be skiing my Solomon BOA 110 S/Pros for the first time next weekend. I'm 54. The upper cuff fits my calf so well on these. They felt amazing during the fitting.
IMO the Intuition Power Wrap would fix the high instep issues vs the tongue style liner. As a skier w/ high instep issues he described, the Power Wrap was the solution. I crank the instep buckles and leave them all day. Cheers.
Huh… i dont see why you need BOA.. i always keep my bottom buckles loose. However, i make sure my upper buckles are tight enough for me to control my skis… in my opinion, the lower part of boots really dont have to wrap your feet tight. It seems like BOA is ok idea but not necessary.
But again, why? What circumstances? I can't think of any condition where I want to have a super snug fit around my lower foot. @@christianschwalbach7561
I'm not yet buying the benefits of the BOA system over the buckle system. The benefits with individual buckles is each has a micro adjustment, thus at each position a local point of your foot can have a slightly different amount of volume / pressure set or changed throughout the day. With the BOA system, a pre-set relationship of an 'average' foot over the length of the forefoot has been assumed. Need a bit more clearance / less pressure over the toes is also going to equal the same over the forefoot and vice versa. Am I missing something here...
Yes, you should try it, I found that micro-adjustment is actually much easier with a Boa. I always micro-adjusted my buckles in the past and I've never once thought about it with a Boa lower. I think it's important that they keep the lower and cuff adjustment separate, though. It's rare you'd want significantly different tension on one of the two lower buckles vs. the other or one of the two upper buckles, but you might want different tension on the lower buckles vs. the upper buckles if that makes sense. Two Boas, one for the lower and one for the upper, would be pretty slick. I would not like a single Boa solution for the whole boot and believe this would run into the problem you mentioned.
Buckles or BOA, the boot that will be best regardless of ability is the one that feels consistent and secure with your foot. Like I mentioned in the video some people need more of a push down feeling to feel that, some don’t.
Ah, thanks so much. That explains why I have a 120 that feels perfect and a 120 that feels like cement. Would be nice if they at least standardized within a brand somehow.
Any of you guys use clipless mtb or road with boa shoes…same with ski boots. They rule! You can tweak the fit so much easier than with 3 straps. I’m going Boa next season, they fit really nice and you can do micro adjustments much better than a 4 buckle.
Hi I have I have a question for you. What do you do as a boot fitter with someone like I deal with out here on the coast in San Diego, who has a knot on the top of their foot from surfing and a very narrow forefoot? I just wonder how well this new system will handle very strange feet. I really don't want to see four buckle boots go away.
@billstevens7115, Buckles are not going away, it's case by case but removing material from the tongue and grinding down the boot board are common solutions. The BOA system does not change the fit of the boots, its just a different way of closing things up. It's harder to deform the top of the boot with a BOA system compared to buckles.
@@TheSkiMonster I also have a narrow and low instep boot - i was also wondering which boot is George riding next year. Given that he is showing Atomic Hawx XTD boa boot - i understood he was speaking about his next season's touring boots. If Ultra XTD boa isnt low volume enough - which touring boot is?
I don't get why the BOA system is such a big deal, for one simple reason: I barely put any tension on my two lower buckles, period. Like, I can open them with one finger. Most pros I know are the same, except racers actually on course. For me, as long as you have a solid feel mid arch, you're good, and it's nice to have a little wiggle room up front. I buy that they have a smoother wrap, but can see zero reason to crank them down to the point that it matters. If you could make something like this work for upper buckles I could see it, but otherwise this seems like the classic "solution looking for a problem".
Shells need help with wrapping cuffs really don’t, cuffs wrap really well. There may not be a boot for you that makes sense with BOA but you maybe able to get better wrapping as opposed to buckles. As far as the cuff goes, yes double BOA is coming. BOA on the cuff makes less sense. For example if you have a smaller ankle and larger calf, you can’t make the top buckle looser and lower buckle on cuff tighter they tighten at the same rate. BOA makes sense on a shell, not on a cuff.
Hmmm... I was trying to give the tech the benefit of the doubt wrt to upper, but you're absolutely right, you do not always want even tension on both buckles. So to me now it seems useless in both cases, haha. Because I''m still not getting the "wraping" argument, given that I only want just enough closure to provide a closed shape. I certainly don't want some kind of even squeeze across my entire forefoot. In fact, I think that is one of the downsides of the Fisher Vaccum system is that the lower fits *too* closely across the entire top of foot, which can lower blood-flow and create numbness or worse. Most of us are used to reaching down to flip up our buckles when standing around on race course, etc.. this just seems like taking a simple thing that works and adding doodads. @@TheSkiMonster
@@milesparker3263 As the cables tighten, they pull on the deviations points and preserve the shape of the shell. It’s like they keep the shell geometry intact. Buckles push down. As I mention in video some people like the feeling of buckles pushing down, since it doesn’t wrap as well.
@@TheSkiMonster Ok, I think I gotcha. It's not just about eveness front to back, it's more about side to side, i.e. retaining a nice curve throughout. And... I'm still thinking that isn't what I'd want, haha. I actually expect my buckles to ratchet down the shape to make the boot "flatter". I suspect I wouldn't be happy if it was also squezzing more from the sides. Thanks for the deeper explanation.
@ryan39584 We had our reservations as well but we had staff testing BOA boots from all 4 brands all season and didn't have an issue. The new H+i1 BOA system is burly and impressive. If you do have an issue, we made a video on how to repair it which you can find here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fW7wYgRJLK8.html If you have any other questions feel free to hit us up: theskimonster.com/
Also, I use BOA for recreational ice-skating and it totally rocks! So I may see myself in a BOA boot like that one in maybe 5 years, certainly NOT in a full-BOA
That's a good point, I can see where it makes sense for snowboards@@rosmelylawliet -- but that's because the uppers don't hold you in the way ski boots do. You just don't need to have bottom two tight at all.
What a pile of crap, its purely a marketing gizmo, and it sucks...why crap up things, it provides zero improvement; gotta sell boots so make it something boutique for the bubbas.
