Att zipfit gurus!

[arild]

Some input needed from a novice zipfit buyer.

Been skiing various iterations of Powerwraps for 12 or so years. I like them, but they pack out way too quickly, so I find I have to remold every 20 or so days of skiing. Effective life is thus something like 100-120 days. The other thing is I don't really like the wrap. Yes, they're warm enough, stiff enough, but molding so often makes every wrap alignment while heated an adventure. A painful such.

Don't need a walk mode, so GFTs are out. Stock liner is there for that eventuality.

Boots at the moment are Lupo Pros, 26.5. Feet measure 27.5cm,so I have a 15mm shell fit. Width is pretty much perfect, arch height is OK, and ankle space is decent. Thinking a mid volume 26.5 zipfit is the way to go. Which is mine? Also, do they come with extra omfit cork gel as standard?

Cheers!

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[arild]

Liners Ive found so far in the relative vicinity:

Grand Prix - available in 26.6 and 27.5. Which of the current liners do these resemble? World cup, and if so, is that an MV fill?

Gara - available in 26.5, no idea if HV or LV.

With my foot length, leaning towards 27.5, but having doubts if that's a good idea or not. My sidas footbed is about 27cm,so should be able to stuff it in a 26.5,I guess.

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[Marshal Olson]

Gara is low(est) volume. World Cup is a bit more fill than Gara.
Dunno about the others.

Welcome to the dark side.

[arild]

Thanks. I guess I'll just reach out to the company. No rush now, can ski the wraps till may, then scavenge them for foam.

Back when you first started skiing zipfits, did you get footlength liners or boot size liners?

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[PlayItLeo]

I’m a 27.5 foot in a 26.5 Krypton and have both 26.5 and 27.5 zipfits. They both work but I prefer the 26.5. The entire forefoot is stretchy neoprene, so they’re comfy and don’t crush your toes even if they’re a little tight. Ymmv, but I’d go 26.5 if I were you.


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[skiburgher]

Call the company. I was uncertain and they dialed me in perfectly.

[skinipenem]

Call the company. I was uncertain and they dialed me in perfectly.

This. Chris is very helpful.

I went Gara lv a size larger than my shell size to accommodate my wide toes and met heads.

Great improvement so far after only a couple days. Word is that Zips take 4-5 days to fully mold.

Extra cork spooge is sold separately.


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[swissbro]

Thanks. I guess I'll just reach out to the company. No rush now, can ski the wraps till may, then scavenge them for foam.

Back when you first started skiing zipfits, did you get footlength liners or boot size liners?

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I have 27.5 Gara Stealths in my Tecnica Mach 1. Tried the 26.5, but I found them a bit short. They are my second pair. I have roughly 750 days on my older pair that I now use mainly in my touring boots.


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[Bunion 2020]

Don't know about any of the rest of this but I have pretty fubared feet from 30+ years of wearing ski boots and other things. Zipfits have been a godsend for my feet.

[Viva]

Gara is low(est) volume. World Cup is a bit more fill than Gara.

Hmmm. I'm in 28.0 Kryptons and recently tried the 27.5 Gara HV, as the 28.5 is currently unavailable. The 27.5 Gara HV was pretty damn tight, especially at the toes. Too tight to risk taking a chance on them.

Went with the Gara because I have monster calves.

Maybe the Freeride?

[arild]

Much appreciated, all. Thank you!

Thinking maybe Garas and just keep some extra omfit lying around. Waiting for a reply, though.

Did all of you do the shell in oven thing, or just the liners, then ski?

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[PlayItLeo]

Heated boot bag. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend…


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[Jongle]

Just the liners in the oven. 200F for 10 minutes or so. Then put them in the boots and wear them for 10-15 mins. Repeat if needed. This greatly accelerates the fitting process without any downside that I’m aware of.

Much appreciated, all. Thank you!

Thinking maybe Garas and just keep some extra omfit lying around. Waiting for a reply, though.

Did all of you do the shell in oven thing, or just the liners, then ski?

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[mr_pretzel]

Heat the liner not your boots. If it doesn’t feel good, heat them again. Best case is to heat them and then ski right away, makes for an awesome fit.

I have 25.5 in all my liners and shell, it can take a few days to stretch out the neoprene though. I’d recommend the gara LV / stealth and then just get some extra cork if you need it. I’d doubt you do in a krypton if you have a normal heel/ankle size.

Like Marshal said, welcome to the dark side, best liners ever. The weight is worth it

[FlimFlamvanHam]

Viva's sizing experience is interesting and likely not common. A very high volume foot? I measure 275mm foot and was recommended a 26.5 Gara HV and it's perfect. I have very narrow boney feet, ankle to toes. Chris told me dif between LV and HV is 10% more OMFit in the HV.

Older Garas or Gara Stealth same as current Gara LV. I suspect the Freeride has same as Gara HV.

I have no idea how the "flex zone" at top of the Freeride cuff does much of anything since your shell cuff likely covers all or most of that aspect?

Unless you know you want the Sidewinder for that added inside edge power/accuracy and/or are using it in a very stiff overlap shell I do not recommend it. How the Freeride model is available with this option is lost on me. There is nothing "freeride" about it. Just my opinion.

As per above, call them. They are so helpful.

They are much colder than your Intuitions. Flex should feel about the same as a Power Wrap based on my experience (I've skied PW's for ages before going to ZF's). They will add about 3/4lb to each foot over an Intuition.

A little story here and a bit in line with Joe's review on Blister from about 8 years ago. He had issue with his one foot measuring 280mm fitting a 26.5 Lange RS (306bsl). He had to go to a 27.5 to save his toe. ZF's allowed him to go back to a 26 shell.

I have skied Flexons in a 27 (310bsl) for ~15 years and switched to a 26 (301bsl) about 5 years ago. 7-8mm shell fit. It worked using a PW but seemed to then not work and the blue toes and pain became unbearable. Same thing as the OP. Remolding often and even going to a PW+ to consolidate as much foam as possible in my shell for max hold. No good. Probably made things worse as that was way too much foam for a mere 8mm shellfit. So back to a 27.5 last year.

The change was dramatic to me. Yes, my toes were now comfy but the rest was just shitty compared to the 26. Just shitty. They worked but the 26's felt like they were made for my foot (except the length).

I picked up ZF's to better the precision (better heel and foothold) relative to the Intuitions in the 27 shell. After skiing them with the ZF's just a few days I could tell there was so little movement of my foot relative to the Intuition that I was going to try going back to the 26.

Been skiing the 26's since beginning of Jan and could not be happier. Yes, an Intuition is a great liner for a reasonable price and they are warm, but one cannot realize, even though they believe the hold is great, just how much more hold is possible until skiing a ZF.

Edit to add: you know the "Intuition home molding" advice of rice in a nylon sock? Microwave then into the liner. I found this worked great for my ZF's. I did have an older liner (without the metal eyelets) so i was able to microwave it but the rice in the nylon sock for my new Garas worked great and I appreciated not having to but a new $500 liner in an oven. Mind you, it's not like there is much to the ankle/heel area inside a Flexon.

[arild]

Flimflamvanham;

Ive been in full tilts since 2009. In those, ankle hold was awesome, forefoot and toes were hell, at least without a punch, and then they were pretty bearable. Really hoped the lupo shell would be better, and yeah, the forefoot and toe area is pretty nice, but the ankle/instep is a bit bigger, so some days I just want to go back. The funny thing is, the lupos ski better, but that's with all buckles cranked down tight.

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[skinipenem]

I assume you guys world cup boot in (put liner on foot then everything into the shell) to save the heel hold. This avoids the cork migrating away from the heel.

At the end of the day, do you take your liner and foot out the shell together or foot out leaving the liner behind?

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[mr_pretzel]

I assume you guys world cup boot in (put liner on foot then everything into the shell) to save the heel hold. This avoids the cork migrating away from the heel.

At the end of the day, do you take your liner and foot out the shell together or foot out leaving the liner behind?

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Liner on foot for in and out

[swissbro]

I assume you guys world cup boot in (put liner on foot then everything into the shell) to save the heel hold. This avoids the cork migrating away from the heel.

At the end of the day, do you take your liner and foot out the shell together or foot out leaving the liner behind?

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I always take the liner and my foot out together. I spray the shell with Sailkote to help put the liner in and out with my foot inside of the liner. Doing it this way involves less wear and tear on the liner and is just much easier than trying to get one’s foot into the liner when it’s in the boot. I usually warm up my shells by having them under the heater vents in the car which helps sliding my foot into the boot.


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[SoVT Joey]

I don’t think I could get out of my boot leaving my liner in there. It pinches less on the pullout leaving my liner on my foot also.

I have 6 days in my gara LV, I have no idea why I didn’t do this long ago.

I’ve been using the same liner in my RS, XT3, and my XT tour pro and it’s unreal. Definitely feel better today then day one also. I have a 27.5 shell and a 27.5 liner fwiw

[FlimFlamvanHam]

Liner on foot for in and out

Same. Although if with a FT/Flexon that would probably be about the easiest shell to leave it in. But it's also the easiest shell to in and out with it on your foot. I could not imagine trying to get my foot into an overlap with a ZF already in the shell.

I'm happy these liners are starting to get some press on this site or maybe I've just not looked hard enough in the past. I too wished I'd gotten into these long ago.

arlld, you ever try a KR2 (I'd suggest OG Krypton but what's the point as long extinct) since what you said about the Flexon needing work and you liking the Lupo but wondering if a bit of room in it. Seems the Krypton might offer you that middle ground.

Or just get some zipfits. You can load that tongue with OMFit if you need more instep pressure in your Lupos. You will not have to crank them down with ZF's (if you have a good shell fit).

[arild]

Same. Although if with a FT/Flexon that would probably be about the easiest shell to leave it in. But it's also the easiest shell to in and out with it on your foot. I could not imagine trying to get my foot into an overlap with a ZF already in the shell.

I'm happy these liners are starting to get some press on this site or maybe I've just not looked hard enough in the past. I too wished I'd gotten into these long ago.

arlld, you ever try a KR2 (I'd suggest OG Krypton but what's the point as long extinct) since what you said about the Flexon needing work and you liking the Lupo but wondering if a bit of room in it. Seems the Krypton might offer you that middle ground.

Definitely thought about Kryptons after struggling with the Lupos, but aren't the shells exactly the same, though?

I always thought my issues with overlap boots came from shin bang, but now, I guess I just had shitty fits. Gonna try ZFs to see if they remedy my lupos, If they do, Kryptons might be next. If not, new shells, might even be overlap ones.

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[sweatypowderpig]

just adding on, i've found zipfits work best in an overlap boot vs 3 piece cabrios.
liners tend to migrate into the dead space behind the tongue and the edges of the clogs over the instep can press down on the zipfits in a weird way depending on the boot/your foot.

i struggled to get my garas to work in my Roxa R3s and basically gave up on the shells even though I thought they skied great. just couldn't get the ankle/heel hold where i wanted it with intuitions after the garas didn't work out.

but give them a call as suggested, they know their stuff!

i have found nothing compares to the comfort and performance of a zipfit in a properly fitted shell. sounds like the atomic mimic liner could be close based on initial reports.
originally had the world cups (lasted around ~500 working days: they now do touring duty in beef boots)
gara sidewinders and freerides currently in rotation with GFTs on the way for ZGTPs.

can't say i've ever found them cold, but it doesn't get that cold in the sierra so YMMV depending on your climate.

[mono]

Sweaty - curious what shells you switched to - i have the Rs w/ intuitions - i really like them as well, i can see how zipfits might not work great in that shell - curious what shell you switched to for using zips?

[ntblanks]

At the end of the day, do you take your liner and foot out the shell together or foot out leaving the liner behind?

Liner comes out with the parking lot genuflection.

I apply 2.5" gaffers tape top to bottom in the interior of the cuff back and to the liner heel edge and spray the cuff tape with food grade silicone. Slips in/out smooth with no catching/wear & tear.