Head WCR Boots

[Jjmdane]

Could not agree more, the Raptor 140 s pro’s glide on and off with the stock liquid fit liner. Amazing boot and I haven’t skied my Dobermann’s since I got the Head’s, and I loved the Dobies even though I had to hair drier them on and off.

[jbotti]

So just to see, I tried my old pro tongue liners in my new WCR 1 boots. I was very surprised when my right liner went right in and pretty much felt perfect (I did not ski with them on). When I went to my left which is a higher volume foot, it was just too tight and my heel would not fully enter the pocket. But in texting with Diana, it turns out that Intuition has changed their whole line and they no longer make the Pro Tongue liner. The liner they replaced it with is the Downhill Tongue High Density 9mm liner (I know I could have come up with a much better name than that!). Diana says that this is a lower volume liner than the old Pro Tongue, but still takes up some space. She thinks it may have a shot in the WCR 93 last boots, but will require some work making sure the heel fully enters the pocket when molding.
I do really like the stock liner in the WCR1 except for one thing. In all tight fitting, neoprene liners that have a very tight fit around the forefoot, I start cramping some after about 3 hours unless it's super cold. When I go in to eat lunch and my feet swell a little, it can be rather uncomfortable to go back out and ski. The Intuition liners that are stiff, create lots of forefoot room and I never cramped in my pro tongues. I am going to get a pair of the Downhill Tongue High Density liners molded for my WCRs.

For those that loved the Pro Tongues and are in the WCR thin lasted boots, this liner has a shot to work with these shells.

I'll report back after I get mine baked and molded. Also bear in mind that all these intuition liners lose a little volume each time you bake them. I always had to bake my Pro Tongues at least twice before the volume came down enough for me to wear them in my Raptor B2s. So I will likely need to bake these new ones more than once.

If these work, for sure my forefeet will stop cramping. It's possible that it may take up some of the instep room in my right boot. If so, this will be a home run.

Here is the link to the liner:

https://intuitionliners.com/product/dow ... nsity-9mm/

[enric]

Hi JBotti,
thanks a lot for the very interesting and extensive review on your new Head WCR boots. I hope you are very much enjoying them this season!

I am considering purchasing the new Head WCR boots, hence I have been doing some internet research and I have found in a French website this very specific info, in which basically specifies that the new WCR boots come with a NEW FORWARD LEAN of 9 degrees, previous one was 16 degrees (nouvelle inclinaision frontale in French; semell is bootboard in French) ....I am not sure this is accurate, because I have not been able to find this very specific info on the official HEAD website, but as you can see in the link below there is a picture with these angle details...Could you or someone else please confirm this new forward lean? and if so, What has been your feeling skiing in this quite less aggressive forward lean boots compared to the classic ones?

https://www.ultrafun.fr/chaussures/13832-head-raptor-wcr-3-chaussure-2023.html#/1162-pointure_mondo-27_5

ÉQUILIBRE et COMPÉTITION : Inclinaison semelle : 4° / Inclinaison frontale (nouvelle) : 9° / Inclinaison frontale (classique) : 16°

I am currently skiing in Dalbello WCR 140 boots and I feel they have a bit too much forward lean, but I do not know the exact figure. I think I read somewhere in the PMTS forum that the Dalbello WCR boots have some more forward lean than the classic Head Raptor boots...I am having some recurrent pain in my right leg soleus muscle area...I wonder if it might be related to some excessive forward lean in the Dalbellos...

Best wishes for the season!

[jbotti]

The Head WCR boots have 16* of forward lean. The Dalbello boots are the most upright boot sold with 10 degrees of forward lean. Double check your model. The 10* figure is for their WC race boot.

[enric]

HEAD RAPTOR WCR 3 CHAUSSURE 2023

Thanks JBotti for your prompt response.



...then this picture showing the new features of the supposedly NEWEST HEAD WCR 2023, which very much looks like it must have been produced by HEAD is a fake or a mistake?

....or may be the boots you are talking about in your post are another model? I would assume that the main design features of the HEAD WCR dont vary for models WCR 1, 2,3,4 except for the flex, i.e. stiffness/thickness of plastic.

Very useful you inputs on the facts that the inside of new models are aprox. 1cm longer and the instep more generous than previous model. If necessary, to fill the gap of the larger instep, do you use foam on top of the liner or inside? or other alternative?

Again, thanks a lot for your contributions to this Forum.

[jbotti]

I can’t read French so not sure what that says. As far as taking up the instep room, I have used boot board shims and also foam on the liner tongue.

[jbotti]

I had my Intuition Downhill Tongue HD 9mm liners baked yesterday and I skied them today. We ground the heel pocket on both boots, but we took more out on the left boot which has been more problematic to get the liner into the heel pocket. The right one came out perfect the first time. The left heel did not fully enter the pocket on the first mold. We rebaked, added some more slip spray and went back and forth 2x to make sure the heel fully entered. Success. They felt great in the shop after baking.

Skied them today for 4 hours. Total home run. I had no shims or added foam on my right boot and the liner has taken up all the instep slop I was dealing with. On my left boot, my heel went into the pocket right away, my left big toe was not cramped. I have much more toebox and forefoot space in these liners. And when I went inside for lunch and I had no cramping. Excellent result!

They also ski great. They are not nearly as stiff as the pro tongues. But still a nicely firm liner. I skied all day in storm conditions in super flat light, and all the groomers had 4” of fresh snow in them, but it seems like the snow feel is higher with these than the pro tongues. I will have them on some harder snow in a week or so and I can report back.

I think this is an excellent liner and it will probably be an excellent choice for a wider range of skiers as it’s less stiff, and does not have the huge back that the pro tongues have.

[jbotti]

Should also mention that I went with a 27.5 liner in my 26.5 shells. They fit perfectly.

[enric]

Just in case forum members want to further share thoughts about the supposedly most significant modification to the new WCR model according to the French website mentioned above, find below the translation to French:

inclinaison frontale (classique): 16* ; Frontal inclination angle/Forward Lean angle (classic): 16*
inclinaison frontale (nouvelle) 9*: Frontal inclination angle/Forward Lean angle (new): 9*

The Forward Lean graphic included is very simple and obvious, but may be there are different ways to accurately meassure/define this very important boot design parameter.

thanks!

[jbotti]

Head is changing (or adding to) the way it measures forward lean but they still give forward lean in the traditional way of measuring it. So using the standard way the WCR boots have 16* of forward lean. I'm not sure how they measure the new way but it gets you to 9* of forward lean. Head race boots still have the most forward lean of any other brand except Atomic which also have 16* FL, measuring it the traditional way.
Here is the racing guideline from 20-21 the first year of the WCR line. The FL has not changed since then.

https://issuu.com/levnelyze/docs/raptor ... na5_v3_web

[enric]

...so, if I understand your comments correctly, NOTHING HAS REALLY CHANGED IN TERMS OF ACTUAL FORWARD LEAN in the new WCR boots...it is just that Head is using some new way of meassuring it (and presenting it, at least in the French market) and hence the headline number has changed but nothing more.....

Thanks a lot JBotti for your very interesting and helpful clarification!!

[jbotti]

Yes, that's correct.

[RFord]

Bon dia!

This thread inspired me to go into a shop and take a look at the WCR models.

For whatever reason, I found the fit of the WCR 140 to be far superior to the WCR 120 but I don't understand why that would be the case. Other than the flex, buckle type and different powerstrap, I can't discern the differences of the boot. Subjectively, the WCR 140 provided a snugger fit compared to the WCR 120 in the same size. The boots give me no indication as to their year of manufacture so maybe the models were different seasons.

However, when it came to cuff adjustment this is where I ran into trouble and maybe someone here can validate whether I and the 'shop tech' were correct RE the cuffs? I'm not sure based on the photos we took. I also couldn't find an online manual.

The picture shows the cuff positioning on one side of one boot, but the rest is explained below .

On the outside cuff (As in the photo) we set the cuff position to `+` (positive) - We think this would push the outside cuff UP?
On the inside cuff we set the cuff position to `-` (negative) To push the inside cuff DOWN

This was using the other cuff flange/nut (not sure what you call it) which had '2' written on it vs the 'n' on the one's we removed from the boot in it's stock form.



Most helpful if anyone can confirm it's correct. Cheers.


FINAL EDIT: 25/02/2024 - After re-reading this thread and looking at the post by jbotti which includes an online raptor manual I now have the answer I was looking for.

[jbotti]

Good, I was about to point you to the manual.