Apex Ski Boots
18 posts
• Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
Re: Apex Ski Boots
by gelliott1 » Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:22 am
PS I'm skiing technica agent 110 at the moment, which a good, warm and responsive, but do make me a little sore despite a fair bit of fitting work
- gelliott1
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:14 am
Re: Apex Ski Boots
by rx2ski » Sat Jan 05, 2013 4:22 pm
zuschauer wrote:Just got here today, I'll have them on snow this weekend, I'll post pictures and a report Sunday-Monday.
Hey, Lynn, these look like real mean pole dancin shoes!
Richard B
Where's the report? I'm so interested in the potential of these boots.
- rx2ski
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2013 4:02 pm
Re: Apex Ski Boots
by zuschauer » Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:07 pm
from my FEB15 2010 (as in this thread from then)
Never did take the photos, i generally see the promise of the idea of the Apex boots, but I am and was somewhat left wanting by the exception of the product. The makers/sellers have little interest in making these fit well, just in selling a comfort solution. For persons looking to use and improve through PMTS, there are many better options.
my previous message from Feb 2010 follows
Anyhow, I tried the Apex boots for a half a day on saturday. Conditions packed powder, some windblown, around 18degrees windy.
The boots are easy to enter, the walking boot is very convenient, uses boa fastening cable. To my foot (med width sorta wide at forefoot) the toe box feels roomy, i feel a little pressure on the "sixth toe area" which decreased through the day. The boots feel very light, with the binding interface or without (refer to Peter Keelty's test on realskiers where he shows the three portions of the boot.)
When flexing the boot while standing, it feels relatively stiff, though less so than my Dobie 130s. I try static tips, good response, easy to balance, next some railroad track tips on flat terrain and a little robotipping (see other posts). The boots responds very well, skis come up on edge predictably and controllably.
At higher speeds w/ PM, same deal, everything is good. Excellent response to edging inputs. Up to higher speed and in some crud and soft piles (baby bumps) I got a a little in back seat, as the forward lean and fore/aft balance point are different from the Nordicas, not bad mind you, just different. Also some of that feel where I can feel the entire boot along the surface of my foot with the nordicas is absent. Not suprising give the generous width and plentiful cushioning of the inner liner and walking boot. Also,these are size 26, my Nordicas are 25. The Apex's carbon outer boot makes sizing somewhat different from a plastic shell where blowing out or ginding the shell isn't going to work. There is some room for expansion in both the liner and walking boot though, you just can't expand the walking boot outward into the carbon shell very much.
The fore aft was so different I felt a little chafing from trying the extremes both fore and aft so much.
After skiing some more I still am not sure about the foreaft balance and the way the boots flex fowards. I need more time to ski them some more and figure out just what really feels different here.
Also, these things are extremely warm, the comfort depends on how tight you dial the boa cable dial and the two snowboard binding style buckles. The stiffer the buckles are set, the stiffer the flex, the tighter the boots feel especially around the shin/calf. The heel hold was good, but the liner is more softly padded than my usual preference.
The overall performance kind of reminds me of the old Salomon 91/92 equipes. Not as "connected" feeling as a racing 4 buckle, but very quick and light feeling, easy to adjust and get in and out of.
These things are just so different that I need more time to try and let my mind sort out the differences.
Would i buy them? If I had real problems fitting into a convention 2 piece four buckle boot and if warmth, lightness and ease of walking, entry and exit were important me, yes. Also if I was a snowboarder, I could just take the walking boot and step into a snowboard binding. So for those folks, it's a great option. I hear next year, just the carbon portion might be available for those with compatible snowboard boots. Right now, I like a slightly undersized and stretched Nordica just fine (except for the cold toes) I might want to try the next size down in the Apex, but I think my toes won't find enough room in the size 25. I see this issue as one of the main sticking points for those who are used to a very exact fit. The Apex people seem to think that most folks will be fine with some stretching /padding of the liner and the walking boot. I'm going to try a little of that over the next couple of days.
Does this boot perform well enough for a person to ski PMTS and do it well? I am not sure about the fore aft question. The edging response seems excellent. I don't think everyone will like or do well with the perceived lack of stiffness. (i used the stiffest of three elastomer cushions that can be changed to adjust flex) I also adjusted the cuff pivots to best replicated the shaft angles after plating on my Dobies) The pivots aren't canting per se, but the angling helped and I had excellent range of motion to each edge on each ski. For those who would choose a comfort fit over a real performance fit, this boot has possibilities, but really needs to be tried out due to the different feel.
Sorry for the incomplete report. After some more snowtime I'll give a more detailed report.
and the previously promised photos
Richard B
.
zuschauer
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:22 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Never did take the photos, i generally see the promise of the idea of the Apex boots, but I am and was somewhat left wanting by the exception of the product. The makers/sellers have little interest in making these fit well, just in selling a comfort solution. For persons looking to use and improve through PMTS, there are many better options.
my previous message from Feb 2010 follows
Anyhow, I tried the Apex boots for a half a day on saturday. Conditions packed powder, some windblown, around 18degrees windy.
The boots are easy to enter, the walking boot is very convenient, uses boa fastening cable. To my foot (med width sorta wide at forefoot) the toe box feels roomy, i feel a little pressure on the "sixth toe area" which decreased through the day. The boots feel very light, with the binding interface or without (refer to Peter Keelty's test on realskiers where he shows the three portions of the boot.)
When flexing the boot while standing, it feels relatively stiff, though less so than my Dobie 130s. I try static tips, good response, easy to balance, next some railroad track tips on flat terrain and a little robotipping (see other posts). The boots responds very well, skis come up on edge predictably and controllably.
At higher speeds w/ PM, same deal, everything is good. Excellent response to edging inputs. Up to higher speed and in some crud and soft piles (baby bumps) I got a a little in back seat, as the forward lean and fore/aft balance point are different from the Nordicas, not bad mind you, just different. Also some of that feel where I can feel the entire boot along the surface of my foot with the nordicas is absent. Not suprising give the generous width and plentiful cushioning of the inner liner and walking boot. Also,these are size 26, my Nordicas are 25. The Apex's carbon outer boot makes sizing somewhat different from a plastic shell where blowing out or ginding the shell isn't going to work. There is some room for expansion in both the liner and walking boot though, you just can't expand the walking boot outward into the carbon shell very much.
The fore aft was so different I felt a little chafing from trying the extremes both fore and aft so much.
After skiing some more I still am not sure about the foreaft balance and the way the boots flex fowards. I need more time to ski them some more and figure out just what really feels different here.
Also, these things are extremely warm, the comfort depends on how tight you dial the boa cable dial and the two snowboard binding style buckles. The stiffer the buckles are set, the stiffer the flex, the tighter the boots feel especially around the shin/calf. The heel hold was good, but the liner is more softly padded than my usual preference.
The overall performance kind of reminds me of the old Salomon 91/92 equipes. Not as "connected" feeling as a racing 4 buckle, but very quick and light feeling, easy to adjust and get in and out of.
These things are just so different that I need more time to try and let my mind sort out the differences.
Would i buy them? If I had real problems fitting into a convention 2 piece four buckle boot and if warmth, lightness and ease of walking, entry and exit were important me, yes. Also if I was a snowboarder, I could just take the walking boot and step into a snowboard binding. So for those folks, it's a great option. I hear next year, just the carbon portion might be available for those with compatible snowboard boots. Right now, I like a slightly undersized and stretched Nordica just fine (except for the cold toes) I might want to try the next size down in the Apex, but I think my toes won't find enough room in the size 25. I see this issue as one of the main sticking points for those who are used to a very exact fit. The Apex people seem to think that most folks will be fine with some stretching /padding of the liner and the walking boot. I'm going to try a little of that over the next couple of days.
Does this boot perform well enough for a person to ski PMTS and do it well? I am not sure about the fore aft question. The edging response seems excellent. I don't think everyone will like or do well with the perceived lack of stiffness. (i used the stiffest of three elastomer cushions that can be changed to adjust flex) I also adjusted the cuff pivots to best replicated the shaft angles after plating on my Dobies) The pivots aren't canting per se, but the angling helped and I had excellent range of motion to each edge on each ski. For those who would choose a comfort fit over a real performance fit, this boot has possibilities, but really needs to be tried out due to the different feel.
Sorry for the incomplete report. After some more snowtime I'll give a more detailed report.
and the previously promised photos
Richard B
.
zuschauer
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:22 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
-
zuschauer - Posts: 128
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:22 pm
- Location: Pittsburgh, PA
18 posts
• Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests