Head WCR Boots

[jbotti]

I was out in Colorado the past couple of days getting new boots dialed in with Diana and Harald. I am now in the WCR 1 boot. I thought I would put this up, more as an explanation about this boot vs the old Raptor B line which I have been skiing in some iteration for 15 years or so. Let me also state, that I will rave about this boot at some point in this post, but as should always be said, boots are first about fit, foot shape, skiers level etc, and no one should decide they need to be in XYZ because one person says they ski great in that boot. I think this commentary will be most relevant to those that have skied the previous Head raptor line and I will attempt to outline the differences in both fit and performance.

First off the WCRs are longer inside and they are a lot longer inside. I pretty much fill up lengthwise the Raptor B2 shell in a 27.5. I am now skiing the WCR 1 in a 26.5 shell. Diana thought that we would need to punch the toe box to make room in the 26.5. But the heel pocket in the WCRs is very tight. Once we created enough room for my heel to fully enter and sit in the pocket, we didn't need any additional toe room. So size wise, WCRs inside, (again once the heel pocket is ground and enlarged so the heel can go all the way back), are around a CM longer than the Raptor B series. Because we went down to the 26, my last width went from 95 on the 27s to 93 on the 26s so the WCR was thinner than my B2s. If you don't go down a size, it will be of similar width.

The liner is different than what I am used to. I have been in Intuition Pro Tongues for years. The Pro Tongues have a wide hard heel, and there is no way they will fit into the WCR boots. Even the Head stock liner called Liquid Fit, has a lot of trouble fully fitting into the heel pocket until they break in. On my right foot, it went in no problem each time. On my left, it would not fully enter the pocket until I had skied 2 runs. I would call the cramped nature up front before my heel moved back, rather uncomfortable, but I probably could have skied 4-5 runs that way. Luckily I didn't have to. Diana says after 5-7 ski days, the liner break in enough and molds around the heel so that it goes in right away. But for those that are very sensitive to pressure, this might be something to think about. If you are not going for as tight a fit as I am looking for, this issue might not arise. Diana could certainly have ground more back there, but we both decided it was better to go through some discomfort rather than having a boot that has too much room.

I also thought that the liquid fit is basically a newer version of the old foam liners. Its not. In fact, Diana told me to ski my boots for 30-40 days and let them pack out before we ever consider adding the liquid. The liquid is designed to fix a packed out liner and restores it to they way it was when new (which by the way, is a great idea). Adding the liquid is also a delicate affair. In a tight fit like mine, if you add too much, the heel will never be able to get back into the pocket because too much space has been taken up by the liquid. But again, done right, you can make a packed out liner, like new, permanently once you add the liquid.

So initially, I did not love the softness of the Liquid fit liners vs my very hard and firm Pro Tongues that I have been used to. I also needed to tighten my buckles more than I usually do. But once I cranked them down some, I started arcing turns better and tighter than I ever have. And this was my first day on snow this year, so its not like I all of a sudden over the summer jumped to a new level with my skiing. My turn to the right, on my left foot has always been less tight that my other one. Turns on my left foot were every bit as good as turns on my right. On both sides I was getting to higher edge angles earlier in every arc, and I was able to increasing tipping easily through the apex of the arc. I could do this on my B2s but it always felt like work.

I also noticed that brushing was really easy, way easier than in my previous set up. And here is where I think I have found some limitation to the pro tongue liners. I think they are kind of digital, either on edge or off edge and finding that medium edge angle for brushing was harder in those liners. In the new liners and boots, I was easily finding the exact right edge angle and pressure the whole way through the arc. I would call these liners very analog and I guess we should call it "snow feel" is super high in these liners and boots.

All my arcs yesterday were tighter, with much higher edge angles, all coming with a stance that seemed to naturally narrow some, and all feeling super easy, with no tension anywhere in my feet, ankles or legs. That's pretty remarkable. Although none of this should be too surprising. Harald has been raving about his WCR boots for 2-3 seasons (he is in the WCR 140S in a size 26.5) and he absolutely loves these boots.

Is there a little trade off. Maybe some in feel, as I have loved that super firm feel of the Pro Tongue liners. But its obvious to me, that from a performance perspective, there is no trade off and for me, these boots and liners are superior in both arcing and brushing. Am I excited about my right big toe being squashed for two runs over my next 5 ski days? No, but again, I am not sure everyone will have this issue especially if you are getting a less tight fit than what I go for.

The WC athletes mainly in tech are raving about this boot. I can now understand why. It is a great design and it is clearly helping all types of skiers ski better.

Hopefully some of this is helpful to the army of PMTS skiers who are in the previous generation of Raptor race boots and want to better sense of what the new ones are like and how they fit.

Lastly, I have to give a huge shout out to Diana. She is the best bootfitter on the planet, with precision and an attention to detail like no one else. 7 hours of bootfitting on Monday, followed by on snow analysis on Tuesday and another 90 minutes of touch up work on the boots after skiing. You will never get this kind of service and focus anywhere else!

[tigernbr]

I really like the liquid fit liners on my Head Formula RS 120 boots. I've skied them for a couple of seasons now and they get better each season. I may stop by the shop in February to see if more liquid needs to be added to them. It doesn't feel like it but it won't hurt to check with the experts. And I second the comment about boot fitting at HSS. It is second to none. I can't recommend it enough.

[Jjmdane]

Jbotti
Thanks for the update on the Heads. Great info. I’m going into the 140s and was wondering what liner Harald was using. I have pro tongues in some Dobermann gp 140’s and Lange rs 140’s and obviously I am a fan. The Heads are taking the place of the Langes. Thanks again.

[jbotti]

Harald skis the stock liner with the WCR 140S which is the Head Liquid Fit liner. The 140S is the same basic design/last as the WCR 1-6 even though its a little wider. It still has the narrow heel (but less narrow than the 93 last boots). HH and Diana used to ski the Pro Tongue liner before they went to the WCRs. I am not sure if it will fit into the narrow heel pocket but you can try. They both really like the Liquid fit liners. I will also say that I have not skied a stock liner in any of my boots in well over 15 years and I was actually very disappointed when I learned that my Pro Tongues would never work. But, the liquid fit is an excellent liner and the snow feel with it is a step function above that of the Pro Tongue.

[jbotti]

BTW, here is a brief update on these boots. I mentioned before that on my left boot my heel doesn't want to fully enter the heel pocket before skiing a few runs, which is making for cramped toes (big Toe). Walker suggested I hit the heel of the liner with a hair dryer pretty good before entering the boot racer style. This helped a lot today. I also have a very large medial ankle bone on the left side. Diana punched it pretty good, but It needs more and I am having that work done today. I think the protruding ankle bone may be making it harder for my heel to fully set back. The good news is that by heating the heel of the liner, I was 85% to where I needed to be today with limited discomfort and in 2 runs all of it was relieved.

Not many people ski as a tight a fit as I do, so my guess is that only a few may have this issue.

As for how the boot skis, even with some ankle pain, the boots rock!

Also forgot to mention that the boots come with 2 different booster straps. One is the old double booster strap that came on all the Raptor B line boots. Great booster. The other is a different strap and its designed to go inside the boot cuff of the shell just over the liner (between shell and liner) This is the strap that came with my boots and Diana said its great and told me to try it. It works really good and I'm sticking with it which is surprising because I thought the old booster was the best ever made. For anyone that doesn't like this booster, its easy to switch them out and Head has the old ones readily available.

What I haven't done is the A/B test. I have the old ones so I if feel energetic one day, I will ski several runs with the new one, and then come in and switch it out and do a few runs with the old ones. Because the new one skis so well I am going to have to feel quite energetic

[jbotti]

Day 5 in the boots today. Heel pocket fully entered right away today and yesterday. I don't know if it is the design of the boot, or going down a size (from 313mm BSL to 304mm BSL) or both, but I am getting quite bit more ski bend in carved arcs than ever before. These boots enter and exit the apex better than any boot I've been in. Its hugely confidence inspiring and I am able to take more risk and get higher edge angles.

Lastly, it was cold today with a high of 13F and I skied with no boot glove and my feet were quite warm all day. I should add, that my feet are pretty much never cold, but I was sightly concerned because the Pro Tongues are such a warm liner. I'm sure in sub 10F temps I will use the boot glove but I'll be fine with these and a boot glove down to -5 to -10F (which we do get occasionally in Montana).

This is a truly impressive offering from Head!! WC athletes raving has to be about ski bend and how they perform in and through the apex (pretty much all that matters to WC racers). So my guess is its more the design of the boot than me going down by a CM.

[Jjmdane]

After you were fitted for your new boots with the liquid fit, did you feel the need to add the mixture to the boot? Did H and D add to their boots? I just got mine set up and I had the same initial reaction you did, too soft and” non threatening”. Haven’t skied them yet, but I installed CARV, and it took up just enough space to make new liner similar to the pro tongues ,but still more compliant. New boot set up feels very similar to my Dobermanns, gp 140’s. It’s very useful to get your input as your PMTS background and skill set give me reference points I might not normally get. It helps to quantify opinions when there is some common ground. My boot guys have been pretty good in their guidance, I don’t really trust my fellow instructors input in this area. They pretty much prefer much milder set ups while I want the oxymoron of a reasonably comfortable race fit. Would love to get to Harald’s shop on Co.but am in NE. We used to live in Steamboat long ago.
Thanks

[jbotti]

Mine do not have any liquid in them, yet. I was skiing in sub 10F temps on Sunday and with a very thin socks on, my right boots had some slack. Left foot is my larger volume foot and no problem. I believe that both HH and Diana have added some liquid over time. I will also say that they ski a whole lot better than they feel when compared to the Pro Tongues that feel so snug and firm. These boots and liners have taken my arcing to a new level. That's why I am more than happy to deal with some of the inconveniences that I've had. So while they are not super firm, the liners with these boots ski great, at least for me, HH and Diana.

[jbotti]

I will add two more pieces of info about these boots. Instep room is substantially more than in the Raptor B series, which is great for a large number of skiers and many who could not ski the B series (because of so little instep room) will be able to ski this boot. For those like me with a very low instep, it has made for some added work to prevent my foot from sliding forward. I think and hope the liquid fit will fix or improve this. In the meantimeI I added a 1/16" shim and that has pretty much done the trick.

The other thing about these boots is that the height of the toe box is less than in the B series. The plastic piece that holds the toe dam in place is quite a bit lower than on the B series. I could actually uses an 1/8' shim underneath but when I put that in, my forefoot gets squeezed by that piece of plastic (this does not feel good!). I can probably grind 2mm off it and that should fix it, but for now using the thinner shim is fine.

Lastly, I think the WCRs are more than a CM longer inside (once the heel pocket is ground enough for ones heel to enter) than the B series. I think a lot of skiers are going to be able to go down a size if they have been in the B series. I should probably qualify that and say, if you like and can handle a glove like fit.

[jbotti]

I'll shut up after this post. It has been a bit of a journey dialing in the fit on these boots vs the old B series. Again its all about the high instep and its only on my right boot where that foot is smaller and much lower volume. But today after a little more tinkering, I had them almost perfect (I think I can get them absolutely perfect with a little more tinkering and I know what should work). But these boots are truly amazing!! For me (and I think for almost everyone (good skiers that have skied both) they are just at a different level than the old B series. And its not like the B series were bad boots. Ligety and Pinterault won a combined 40 WC Gs races in those boots, so they clearly didn't suck. But if you watch the women in tech on the WC, its close to 50% of the top 15 or so in most races are in Head boots. Again, I am arcing tighter turns than ever before and getting way more ski bend than ever before. And the stock liner has amazing snow feel so my brushing has gone up a level as well.

Can't rave enough about these boots. It has been worth all the added work (that many skiers especially those with higher insteps) will never have to go through. Kudos to Head. The made a big change with R series and they listened to all their athletes and all that commentary went into the design of the WCR iteration.

[tigernbr]

No need to be quiet. I love reading your posts no matter the topic. You have a great deal of experience and I always learn something new reading your posts.

[jbotti]

Thanks. Glad to hear that it is making a difference at times.

[h.harb]

Thank you, John, for such great insight and reviews of the boots. You are right on the money in your evaluation. I just want to follow up on my boot setup. I skied, like John and Diana the B series for years. I did try the Nordica 140 Doberman for 2 seasons, it just never felt right for my foot and ankle. I used a Nordica foam liner in my B series Rd 150 Heads. I had to work at least 5 hours for each boot to get the 93 lasts to fit. I also had to push out the toe box in the 26 RD. I'm in the 140 now which is a 96 last, and I spent 15 minutes fitting it. It is so easy to get on and off with the liners in the shell. I use a heater bag. What I lose in performance I gain in comfort and ease of ingrees and egress. Since I contracted my autoimmune disease, PMR, my fingers and wrists have been too painful to deal with the battle of the race entry, with the liner on the foot entry to the shell. This boot has saved me and still gives me about 85 to 90% of the performance I had with the 150 RD. What is missing in the boot for me is the instep closeness I have been used to forever. In my skiing, I have to pull my foot back stronger and hold it back with more effort because the boot is longer and bigger inside.

[jbotti]

Probably should also mention that Harald takes both of these WCR 140s boots off with no hands. It's quite the trick, but he isn't kidding when he says these are easy on and easy off.

Which reminds me that I don't think I have mentioned the new plastic in the WCR boots. At room temps its very pliable. I had to hit my Raptor B2s with a hair dryer going in racer style (with liners on my feet) if wanted an easy entry. I could do it without the hair dryer at room temp but it was a lot more work. With the WCR plastic, I go in like butter at room temp with no hair dryer. Coming out in the WCRs is also easier and they return to the pliable state sooner. If I hit them with a hair dryer it's only for 30 seconds or so. In cold temps the plastic is super firm.

[tigernbr]

Very nice. I still have to do a bit of work to get in and out of my Head Formula RS 120's.