3rd buckle to the Mtn Lab mod

[ARpowhound]

^ I have been thinking of doing the same thing. I wonder if a wrap line would work better ala Full Tilt. Keep us updated. Thx.

[thefortrees]

^ I have been thinking of doing the same thing. I wonder if a wrap line would work better ala Full Tilt. Keep us updated. Thx.

I got everything worked out with the Dreamliners + QST Pros. A wrap liner would probably work depending on your shell fit (mine was a little over 1 finger) and foot, but with my foot (high instep, short, wide = hobbit feet), there is no way they would handle the extra volume of a wrap liner.

See pics below.

1) I had to move the cuff buckle to the farthest right hole with the new liner.
2) I am considering drilling a new hole for the instep buckle.
3) To get the tongue of the boot seated properly against the tongue of the liner, it works best if you leave the liner pull strings loose. Fit the tongue between the outer liner wraps, and only tighten to the point where the plastic tongue stays seated in the liner. I'm considering replacing the stock pull string with a longer one, and restringing so that the pull strings wrap around the outside of the tongue. This would be closer to the original boot/liner interface of the stock liner.

[ARpowhound]

^That looks like it might leak.

[thefortrees]

^That looks like it might leak.

Where are you thinking it will leak?


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[ARpowhound]

Snow melting around the tongue/ ankle & running along the tongue into the liner. Mine leaked last year, I got them warrantied. I’m not sure exactly where they were leaking at.
I would just ditch the laces on the liner. Did you go w the low volume Dreamliner? I really want to put an Intuition in these, the stock ones aren’t very warm. But I do like the way the boots ski.

[jacob_dbu]

By the way, I've also removed the lower buckle (boy that was a real PITA) and I did also drill a new hole for the instep trying to move it lower. I also have a high instep. I didn't end up using the hole. Note that the current holes are thicker and reinforced so to get a new hole to work you'll need to put some spacers/washers in. But also, I was somewhat afraid it might pull out.

As for the liner fit, do you have LV or MV? I was thinking an LV might be the move.

PS: One thing I'm thinking about doing is taking a wire buckle a la Vulcan and flipping the buckle to the top and strapping it across for less pressure on the instep. Very preliminary idea, but the seed is planted.

[thefortrees]

I got the low volume Dreamliner


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[skibrd]

Hum... I had pretty much thrown out the idea of getting the TLT6P to ever work for me, but adding a third buckle might do the trick.

Anyone try adding a third buckle to a TLT6P?

[NotFlyingIsNotTrying]

Hum... I had pretty much thrown out the idea of getting the TLT6P to ever work for me, but adding a third buckle might do the trick.

Anyone try adding a third buckle to a TLT6P?

Not a 6 but...

Wildsnow has some good info on replacing the cuff pivots with hardware that should allow you to attach the Scarpa style instep strap whith Scarpa sells as replacement parts as far as I know.

[Toddball]

I am collecting parts to do this now. Anyone know if the Maestrale RS instep buckles/straps are the same on left and right boots? It looks bent over the instep, but skimo.co doesn't say anything about their instep buckles being right or left. Come to think of it, maybe the only sell the buckle catches, not the straps...

Any T-nut and hole-filling advice is also appreciated. Have never done this before.

[dFiddler]

Looks like Salomon is adding the third buckle in next years production model...I hope. Now is the question to mod my existing boots or wait for next years.

[ClayCole]

I seriously doubt that they're adding a third buckle to the production model. Those look like an athlete's boots that have gotten some custom treatment.

[Toddball]

Bump, we're up to 4 buckles now:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3pKjb5lYRQ/



Anyone add the Scarpa instep buckle? Do you drill out cuff pivots, or somewhere else? I believe the following two examples (from Tom Pietrowski on Instagram @tompietrowski) have the medial/inside end of the buckle strap anchored at the cuff pivot. I have never drilled boots and don't want to buy new ones if I screw up, so any advice on doing this mod is appreciated.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeTg5PAlTR9/



https://www.instagram.com/p/BPjDaehjGIb/

[XXX-er]

I seriously doubt that they're adding a third buckle to the production model. Those look like an athlete's boots that have gotten some custom treatment.

It must have been 5 yars ago I seen one of the Salomon crew with a 3rd buckle across the instep,

I noticed the whole crew was on this boot,

I have a hard time believing this boot fit them all

but what I do believe it that they were being paid to ski

[goldengarbageman]

It must have been 5 yars ago I seen one of the Salomon crew with a 3rd buckle across the instep,

I noticed the whole crew was on this boot,

I have a hard time believing this boot fit them all

but what I do believe it that they were being paid to ski

I have had some chats with a few bootfitters about getting new boots this year, and when I had mentioned that I was in the MTN Labs the last two years they all pretty much asked me how much I hated them. And I answer was "a lot". Even with all the mods, punches and intuition liners I still had issues with heel lift and foot pain.

[XXX-er]

yeah I have to ask if you need to add a third buckle

If Salomon is not paying you to ski

does this boot really fit you ?

[rfconroy]

yeah I have to ask if you need to add a third buckle

If Salomon is not paying you to ski

does this boot really fit you ?

Figured I resurrect this thread since I just did this to my boots. I was getting some heel lift, but otherwise really liked my MTN Labs. Been also touring on some Lupo 130C recently, and the heel securement is way better.

So, being that I like to tinker, and figured I didnt have much to loose, I gave it a go.

Some pics on here simply added the hole for the toe buckle, and put the ankle buckle into the stock holes. I figured that wouldn't really address my heel problem, so I added two new holes for my Maestrale strap as close to the upper cuff pivot as possible

....Drilling into a perfectly good ski boot is...uhh...unnerving, but I think it came out pretty good.

Havent skied it yet, but I did try an A to B comparison and it seems to help a tad. However, just not sure how much it really will.

[altacoup]

I’ve got my liner padded in such a way that I’ve eliminated heel lift in my mtn labs. However when I really flex into the boot I notice the pressure of the forward flex widening the lower shell. So my question to those who’ve done this mod is does the toe buckle addition prevent the lower shell from widening when the boot is really flexed hard? Second question is have you guys tried to dremel out and area inside the shell for the rivet to fit into or just drilled?


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[rfconroy]

Second question is have you guys tried to dremel out and area inside the shell for the rivet to fit into or just drilled?


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The walls in that area are pretty thin.
I ended up using an M5 T nut, and it seemed to hold pretty well, but we will see how it holds up over time. I would be very hesitant to remove any more material from the area I mounted the ankle strap.

[altacoup]

I have hardware from an old pair of head raptors. Screw on buckles. My idea is to drill out lowest rivet on lower buckle. Attach buckle ladder there and the drill two holes for buckle on outside of boot. I’m hesitant because they’re pretty good as is. But I’m used to skiing in plug boots and would really like that optimal control.





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[ASmileyFace]

Was re-watching some of The Fifty project videos last night and saw this one. I'm surprised it never got posted in this thread.

[altacoup]

I watched that. But he fast forwards thru the actual good stuff


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[ASmileyFace]

I watched that. But he fast forwards thru the actual good stuff


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There is an option on the little gear icon in the bottom corner to slow down the video. Pretty easy to follow at .25% speed. Though I would suggest muting it.

I wish he had at least stopped periodically and explained exactly what he was doing on each step. But, Cody doesn't want to encourage people to mod their own boots so I understand why he fast forwarded through that section.

[rfconroy]

Got to ski them this morning.

While I wouldn't characterize my skiing as particularly hard today, the ankle strap definitely assisted in keeping my heel in the back of the boot. I'll keep skiing them and slowly upping my attack rate, and keep folks posted.

I think in summary: Considering how readily available Maestrale parts are, and how easy this mod was, I would say its worthwhile.

[rfconroy]

Alright, I've gotten some more time on them so I can better talk about performance comparisons:

I have a total of three days - One short tour, One full resort day, and one full tour - 3000'-ish.

Ascending
Ankle strap from the Maestrale is pretty awesome, as it allows you to have fine adjustments for pressure while walking, and dramatically reduces chances of blisters forming inside my foot. However, that fine adjustment took some time to dial-in, as I would need to adjust it two to three times after each transition. Additionally, as the day progressed and the Cascade concrete became more concrete, the buckles tended to get snow buildup behind them while breaking trail, this lead to the buckles not clamping full. Therefore I had to remove the straps and shake them out, then reinstall the strap in to clear the snow. Since this is the same system on the Maestrale, I would assume that boot also has that problem.

Descending
Strap definitely helps more so than originally reported or I thought they would. When in-resort it was pretty easy to push it harder than I typically was on this boot prior - as I ended up having some pre-ejections on the bindings (tend to run slightly lower for touring gear). Once the ejection issue was resolved by a quick adjustment, I continued to ramp up aggressiveness while skiing, to the point where I had to remind myself that I was still on tech toes....
Also took some larger drops; maybe 5-8'-ish and while landing in soft snow I did not have the sensation that my heel was pulling up, like I had experienced before.


Overall pretty jazzed with the outcome, and would recommend.