Lange RX LV 100 to 110, what's wrong here?

[lucy]

Hi Ladies, I'm a newbie on the site but Ive been reading the "threads" for a season. I'm impressed with the support and expertise and so happy to find other women who love to ski as much as I do... so, I was wondering if anyone can help me out with this one... I've been skiing very happily in a Lange RX LV 100 with Intuition liners and custom insoles for the past five years. I found a good sale on the Lange RX LV 110 and after talking with a bootfitter in Jackson Hole, I purchased the boot, replaced the stock liners with my Intuition/insole setup, and took the boots out for a spin last week. Uh, it was a disaster. Sure, I'm probably a chicken on the first ski day of the season. But I felt like I couldn't get out of the back seat and my big toes feel like they were premanently jammed into the front of the boot. Surprisingly, no front shin bruises, which is usually norm for my first day, but also zero control. But... it's the same boot, right? Just a little stiffer. What in the world went wrong?

 

[SheSki]

I have the rx lv 110, but I've never tried the 100, so I can't offer you any help with the direct comparison but I will say it takes me a few days in the beginning of the season to believe that I can actually ski. It always takes a few days to get the old ski legs back.
And if it's really cold, the boots will feel stiffer. You might want to warm them up at bit at home ( in front of a vent or hairdryer or actual ski boot warmers something) put them on and flex them as far as you can which should pull your toes back out of the box. I wear mine around the house in the summer, which I think has maybe loosened them up overall for better or worse.
I don't know, but there could be a somewhat significant structural difference between the Langes from 5 years ago and today's lange rx.
Good luck and welcome!

 

[Jilly]

Could be they are too stiff. Try them without your Intuition liner.

 

[bounceswoosh]

Boot plastic gets softer over time, so it could be that your 100s are a lot softer now than they were when you bought them ... so the 110 feels even stiffer.

And flex numbers aren't any kind of absolute scale - it's absolutely possible that today's 110 is stiffer than a 110 would have been when you bought the 100.

 

[contesstant]

I'm guessing also that they are NOT, in fact, the same boot since one is 5 years older than the other. That being said, I agree with all of the above especially based on the fact that you feel like you can't get out of the back seat. Maybe ski your old boots a few times to get back into the groove first?

Oh, and welcome to the forum!!

 

[lucy]

Thanks for the feedback and the warm welcome! Now I have a few solutions to try... using the stock liners in the 110, reverting to my tried and true 100s, and cutting myself some slack at the beginning of the ski season. Ha ha... had I understood that my 100s have probably been mashed into 90s over the course of five years, well, I might have started with a lower flex instead of a higher one. Chalk one up to experience. <sigh> I wish I could demo boots like I demo skis. I'm always confused on the issue of flex... too much is bad... too little is also bad... I want Goldilocks' "just right".

 

[contesstant]

Keep in mind that the 110's CAN be softened. In fact, depending on the boot, many of them have bolts in the back that are there for just that purpose. You can remove one of them (I believe the top one is the better choice) which will soften it by a bit. If that's not enough, your fitter can do work on the inside of the shell to soften them. So, don't despair! Even if they ARE a bit too stiff, you should be able to make them work.

 

[lucy]

I've had a few more ski days with the 110s. I switched out a plug on the back of each boot. Took a trip into the bootfitter. He said the right leg seems to flex better than the left and I shared with him that the left leg suffered a broken tibia two years ago. He said the break limits the range of flex in my left ankle which is further limited by the stiffer boot. So he sent me back to the mountain with a pair of heel lifts. I was so hesitant to try heel lifts because of the negative press, but it made a huge difference. Yay! I've skied three times since my last post and each time has been successively better than the last time. I'm so relieved. Whew!

 

[contesstant]

That's good to hear! Heel lifts are one of those things that are definitely worth trying because some things defy logic, I think! I have them in my boots, too.

 

[mustski]

I'm always confused on the issue of flex... too much is bad... too little is also bad... I want Goldilocks' "just right".

Welcome to the forum! For the record, I am a full on Goldilocks so I totally hear you!