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Who uses the spoiler inside their boot cuffs?

LiquidFeet

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Just wondering who discards these things as soon as they get the boots home from the shop, and who skis with them stuck to their liners.
Which boot, what's its forward lean, and why do you need it?
Is there some history to the use of these inserts?
Comments?
 

karlo

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I suppose if the boots are oversized for my calf, I’d use them
 

princo

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About three years ago, a known local bootfitter took the spoilers out of my Full Tilt Descendants before baking the liners after getting the footbeds done. Then later in that season in a bumps clinic at Winter Park, a well regarded instructor told me that I wasn't getting forward enough and put a bunch of trail maps behind my calf (sandwiched between the liner and the shell) and asked me to do few runs and see how it felt. I liked it that way and the instructor told me that my stance looked better. I completed that day's clinic and replaced the stack of trail maps with the spoilers and have been using them since that day. I guess the bootfitter and the instructor saw different things, but I preferred the recommendation of the instructor who was watching me ski.
 
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CYJ

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I have them in my Dalbello Kryptons. Not sure if I can feel the difference in lean with it, but I use it (aka slide it up to the taller position) more to get a taller cuff feel in the rear. But the Kryps have a pretty upright stance out the box which I didn't like, so it's better than nothing I guess.
 

KingGrump

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I am currently on a pair of Atomic WC 130 pro. The boot is holding up really well. About 250 days. Going into the 3rd season with it.

Prior to the Atomic. I had three pairs of Fischer Vacuum 130 pro since 2012. They were all head molded at 14 degree with the spoiler on. My calf muscle is pretty high up on the lower leg. The boots all skied very well.
The two pairs of Head Raptors, 1 pair of Head RS and another Pair Head RD (plug) boots all had the spoilers installed.

The Atomic was molded with the 16 degree spacer and without the spoiler. Gary and I figured the additional 2 degrees in forward lean on the Atomic would eliminate the requirement for the spoiler. The boot fitted really well on top of the cuff during the heat molding process.
Skied in the boot for 6 days before any addition work was considered. The boot just didn't skied quite right. I felt a bit back. Found it difficult to work the entire ski, especially in the bumps.
I replaced the forward lean spacer with the 18 degree unit. The boot skied more neutral in the bumps. The fore and aft balance is still a bit off.
Installed the spoiler on the shell with couple screw. Voilà! success. That was two season back.
 

Decreed_It

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Jury's out on mine but very unlikely I'd use them. Large calves. I've got some duct tape shims prepared for minimal tweaking - 4 mm adjustments max, we believe we're already that close thanks to my bootfitter. Got a thread on it here. Will report back on it once I get some ski days on this new pair. But if I had skinnier legs and needed more forward lean I could see their use?
 

Tony S

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Nope. Lange RX 130 LV. Don't have religion about it, though.
 

Tom K.

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Lange RX 130. I reduced their thickness by half, after skiing the boots with and without spoilers, and they are perfect.

Paging Goldilocks.
 

AmyPJ

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Lange RX 130. I reduced their thickness by half, after skiing the boots with and without spoilers, and they are perfect.

Paging Goldilocks.

You rang?

(Also, did you grind them down to reduce their thickness?)
 

Wilhelmson

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My old boots had a big heel lug which I think made a more forward stance. My new ones seem to be much more upright so I used the spoilers. There's enough space in the boot to allow for the spoilers with the top buckles on a looser setting. After I"ve broken the boots in a bit I plan on having my setup checked out by a fitter.
 

martyg

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About three years ago, a known local bootfitter took the spoilers out of my Full Tilt Descendants before baking the liners after getting the footbeds done. Then later in that season in a bumps clinic at Winter Park, a well regarded instructor told me that I wasn't getting forward enough and put a bunch of trail maps behind my calf (sandwiched between the liner and the shell) and asked me to do few runs and see how it felt. I liked it that way and the instructor told me that my stance looked better. I completed that day's clinic and replaced the stack of trail maps with the spoilers and have been using them since that day. I guess the bootfitter and the instructor saw different things, but I preferred the recommendation of the instructor who was watching me ski.

Trail maps are one of my secret weapons.

It doesn’t matter what boots others are using. The size of you ur calves are irrelevant. What matters are your personal biomechanics, and where you experience the greatest range of motion.
 

Tom K.

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You rang?

(Also, did you grind them down to reduce their thickness?)

Ha!

Yes, I just ground them down on my bench grinder. The Lange spoilers have the solid portion that rests against your ski socks, and a ribbed portion that rests against the shell side.

I ground off the solid portion, so the ribbed part could dig into my leg all day -- obviously not. Ground the ribs off.

And for all the tool geeks on this forum (present!)....... yes, I have a tool to re-face the grinding wheel after partially clogging it with plastic.
 

pchewn

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The size of you ur calves are irrelevant.

When calves are so big that the boot can't close without replacing the buckles with longer buckles, and even then it requires a dedicated sequence of booster strap/buckle manipulations similar to the checklist of a moon launch, then yes, calve size does matter. And every 0.1 mm of volume in the calf area is important.
 

Marker

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Lange RS130. The spoilers are in the house! I have long legs (6'6") and the calf muscles aren't close to the top of the boots. Without the spoiler, I felt in the backseat. When I had my new custom footbeds made last season, the fitter did not say anything about them, so I guess its all good?
 

martyg

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When calves are so big that the boot can't close without replacing the buckles with longer buckles, and even then it requires a dedicated sequence of booster strap/buckle manipulations similar to the checklist of a moon launch, then yes, calve size does matter. And every 0.1 mm of volume in the calf area is important.

If your driver is calf size, and it does not compromise your stance, all is good. If it does compromise your stance it is a different story.
 

4ster

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When calves are so big that the boot can't close without replacing the buckles with longer buckles, and even then it requires a dedicated sequence of booster strap/buckle manipulations similar to the checklist of a moon launch, then yes, calve size does matter. And every 0.1 mm of volume in the calf area is important.
I am the opposite with super skinny ankles and calves. I actually move the top buckle over to make it shorter. I also have thick tongue shims along with the rear spoiler. Even then the top buckle rarely needs to be tighter than a pinkie fingers pressure
C2C208EE-81DB-4F6E-BADE-D4AC7711D96F.jpeg


When I switched from plug boots a number of years ago to Lange RS130’s I went for awhile without the spoiler but my balance was slightly off so I put it back in and it has been there ever since.
FE348812-7BC4-4724-B6E6-D67D49B08C94.jpeg
 
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TheArchitect

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Atomic Hawx Ultra 130 and I use the spoilers. I feel they help me keep me forward. I don't remember what the fitter said the boot's forward lean is.
 

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