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Cage Match Comparison 2021 Völkl Deacon 84 vs 2021 Völkl V.Werks 84

Rich_Ease_3051

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Saw a bootfitter this afternoon and got fitted with a Salomon S Pro HV 120. Bootfitter fitted me with a 26.5. My old one was 27.5. Definitely feels like a very firm handshake but I do find myself adjusting my old Head Advant Edge 85 buckles all the way to the tightest setting an hour into a ski day last season, so I think this new pair of Salomon is just about right.
 
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Saw a bootfitter this afternoon and got fitted with a Salomon S Pro HV 120. Bootfitter fitted me with a 26.5. My old one was 27.5. Definitely feels like a very firm handshake but I do find myself adjusting my old Head Advant Edge 85 buckles all the way to the tightest setting an hour into a ski day last season, so I think this new pair of Salomon is just about right.
So, new we can start talking skis. ;)
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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So, new we can start talking skis. ;)

Went in blind and put in an order for the 172 V Werks. So don't have to demo anymore come June and will hit the slopes right out of the gates.

Wish me luck guys.
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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Is it worth replacing the heel and toe pads with grip walk pads bought online? These are the grip walk heel and toe pads for Salomon (sold seprately):

1621849197289.png


These are the regular ISO 5355 heel and toe that came with the boots.

1621849253309.png
1621849280004.png


I don't see much difference between the gripwalk and regular ISO 5355 for the Salomons.

The replacement gripwalks for other boot brands seem burlier with grooves and appear to be made of rubber. While the white gripwalk for Salomons above look plasticky.
 
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Is it worth replacing the heel and toe pads with grip walk pads bought online? These are the grip walk heel and toe pads for Salomon (sold seprately):

View attachment 134503

These are the regular ISO 5355 heel and toe that came with the boots.

View attachment 134504 View attachment 134505

I don't see much difference between the gripwalk and regular ISO 5355 for the Salomons.

The replacement gripwalks for other boot brands seem burlier with grooves and appear to be made of rubber. While the white gripwalk for Salomons above look plasticky.
They are more comfortable for walking and the V.Werks are GW compatible. As long as you don't have any other bindings that are not GripWalk, I would say go for it.
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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Been trying to break in the new Salomon boots in the last few days and the very firm handshake is still really tight to the point of crushing my front foot.

Something I also noticed is that the flex of the 120 Salomon's feels the same as the old 85 flex Head boots.

Then I thought of swapping out the liners of my old Head boots into the Salomons and it feels much better. There's room to wiggle my toes now and the crushing of metatarsals feel is gone while still giving a vacuum seal like hold on my heels. And surprisingly, the flex feels harder like a 120 flex boots should.

Weird.

I think the Salomon liners weren't good. They are almost shaped like ballet shoes at the toes. Some weird hardness and pinching sensations on the calf as well which were gone with the old Head liners which had more padding around the calf.

Glad I thought of swapping out the liners. I almost felt like buying new boots and chucking down the Salomon buy as a bad purchase. But the combination of the old 27.5 liner into the new 26.5 boots seems to be working out.
 
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anders_nor

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I'd probably make a separate thread about your boot questions, but your probably trying them out inside, they will stiffen up outside when skied.

you need a few days of actual skiing before liners settle in.
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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I'd probably make a separate thread about your boot questions, but your probably trying them out inside, they will stiffen up outside when skied.

you need a few days of actual skiing before liners settle in.
Yes, consider giving the Salomon liners a chance. They'll never be tighter than they are now. It's entirely possible they'll be much more comfortable after a few days use.

I'll take them up the mountain just to test or as a backup.

But I think my old liners are the ticket. They've only had about 20 days of use in the past 3 years, so not really packed out. Far from it. I would say they're broken-in just right at this point.

Don't really want to risk injury with the new liners at the start of the season. They're really crushing my foot.
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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Received the V Werks. Do I just ski these out of the box?

Was thinking ski them for a few days then get them waxed with DPS Phantom.


IMG_20210608_095034.jpg
 

anders_nor

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Received the V Werks. Do I just ski these out of the box?

Was thinking ski them for a few days then get them waxed with DPS Phantom.


View attachment 135426
yes, you can ski them out of the box, fairly good bases and edges on all pairs I've seen, but if you have the time, initial baseprep with wax is always good, I wouldnt bother doing anything to edges or tune.

phantom is a bit off topic, I'm not sold on it. I'd do some layers of baseprep or softwax before a layer of something hard like a blue, then just some liquid vola mx after that for quite a few ski days. ( I did that to my 2021 v-werks)
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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yes, you can ski them out of the box, fairly good bases and edges on all pairs I've seen, but if you have the time, initial baseprep with wax is always good, I wouldnt bother doing anything to edges or tune.

phantom is a bit off topic, I'm not sold on it. I'd do some layers of baseprep or softwax before a layer of something hard like a blue, then just some liquid vola mx after that for quite a few ski days. ( I did that to my 2021 v-werks)

Thanks I'm going with the wax-every-few-days route rather than phantom.

For waxing/using it for the first time, do I need anything more than Swix Pro PS8 Red (4°C/+4°C)?
 
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For waxing/using it for the first time, do I need anything more than Swix Pro PS8 Red (4°C/+4°C)?
For the first wax, use a softer yellow prep wax for a hot scrape to get all the gunk out of the base, then the red.
 

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