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I know one member here who has well over 1,000 days in his 150 flex Nordica Dobies. The better the boot, the longer it will last because it is built with better materials.
Agree with that. For sure. I presume that I'm not the member, but I skied 11 years of long seasons in a 150 Dobie. I replaced the buckles as needed, the Booster straps, and the sole lifter plates. I had a bit of grinding done to give me some room, with some foot changes. And mostly, I replaced the liners
before one might suspect that the old ones were dead. About 100 days in a Dobie lace up liner. Our son had the same size boot, and was getting a couple of pairs or more a season {comp'd racer....different program}, so we always had new to me Dobie liners hanging around.
In my experience with friends, most of them are skiing in boots that are shot before they realize it. They normally give up the ghost in late spring when they finally realize how packed out the liners are, and they are swimming in the boot. Continually cranking down the buckles more and more, and experiencing some pain.
Or, I have friends who are relatively new to the sport, and they have outpaced their boots, based on there improvement and often, their "older" boots are. a poor match for their latest skis. A newer boot makes a huge difference.
Better boots can live through a lot of liners, or depending on your liner choice, the liners can even outlive a number of top end boot shells. I have a couple of friends with 1000+ days in their Zip Fits, which have moved into a number of boots. I have almost 400 days {I think; I don't obsess over it} in a pair of Boot Doc foam liners. I have replaced the tongues, otherwise they are in really good shape; the fit to me feels as new. Maybe they'll be showing needs to be on life support by the end of the season. Dunno.
Also agree with King Grump ^^^^^. Some shells do wear and rattle. Others, not at all. Our son coaches year round, and he is very lucky to get one calendar year out of his coaching boots, the MSRP of which is not cheap. They basically fall apart. Now his real ski boots, which are Dobies, seem to have a very long life.
You should also pay attention to sole wear, your binding interface, etc. Many people do not.
My hunch is that if you're concerned about the boot degrading, UV exposure, etc, they probably have served their purpose. Particularly if they fit differently after you're back in them for a couple of days.
What is kind of maddening, and I think is improving, is that in the recent past the best made boots were also the stiffest flex boots. The most expensive boots. Now my wife is a very, very skilled skier, and she's in her 60's and weighs about 125 lbs in her gear. She is a candidate for a top quality boot, in a softer flex. She would pay just as much for one as for a 150-160 race boot. In her case we have kept in that top quality range, softened the boot, and gone with a good aftermarket liner. Solved. But not so customer friendly.
. For some people that might be two seasons, for some, 10 seasons. Over 100 flex...longer. I know one member here who has well over 1,000 days in his 150 flex Nordica Dobies. The better the boot, the longer it will last because it is built with better materials.
