New Zipfit Liner Diary

[MissySki]

I also got Zipfits for this season! My boots were great my first season, then my second season I started having foot cramping almost every run and could not get comfortable. The Zipfits have really helped! They were excruciatingly tight in the shell the first few times I wore them (even after wearing them around the house for a week) and really squeezed my calves, but now they're very comfortable and I can even buckle my boots down. A heated bag has been a must, though.

May I ask which heated bag you use?

 

[Emms]

You didn’t ask me, but I got the Rossi Hero heated boot bag for my Zipfits because I get CSIA discount and I have been super happy with it.

I tried booting up exactly once cold and then came home and immediately bought a heated bag. Bonus is my kid *loves* getting into warm gear now.

(For anyone on the fence about Zipfits they have been, bar none, the best money I have spent on a piece of gear. Absolute heel lock.)

 

[MissySki]

For those who do use heated bags, can I assume it's okay to leave your footbeds in? They don't get hot enough to cause any issues there?

 

[Emms]

I'm sure it's fine, they get warm, not hot (at least my bag does). I take the CARV sensors off though.

 

[chasinghorizons]

Still struggling with the Zipfit situation. I went to my local shop and had some cork removed. I don't have to do the world cup entry anymore, but they now feel sloppy despite still being very tight. Also, the calf burn is unreal. Can't say I would recommend zipfits at this point, I think they probably work great for a certain type of anatomy, but I don't think that anatomy is mine. Very frustrating experience thus far!

Which part feels sloppy? When I first got mine, the tongue drove me crazy because it felt too soft, but a booster strap added to my boot fixed that completely (how you position the booster strap is a whole other conversation that I'm not sure we're ready to dive into haha). It also took 14 half days of skiing to really get mine to feel good - I was about ready to throw in the towel but luckily someone had warned me it can take 2 weeks to break them in and they were right on the money.

It's also interesting because I just moved mine over to a new smaller boot and I've had to completely change how I wear them and put them on. In my old Tecnicas, I had removed the laces and the power strap, and could also just leave them in the boot like a normal liner. Worked great.

My new boots I'm not so lucky - there's a weird shin pressure point, so I've added the laces and power strap back on and am now doing the world cup entry again which is annoying as anything but slowly getting used to it.

 

[chasinghorizons]

For those who do use heated bags, can I assume it's okay to leave your footbeds in? They don't get hot enough to cause any issues there?

Yes I have custom footbeds and it's not a problem.

 

[pamplemoose]

May I ask which heated bag you use?

I got the Kalkea Thermal Trekker. This thing is a beast! It can easily hold 2 pairs of boots (one pair in the boot compartment, one pair in the middle storage compartment) as well as any other random skiing gear.

 

[MissySki]

So I tried my Zipfits for the first time yesterday… just had a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Conditions were not ideal, it was almost 60 degrees to start and then as the sun went down all of the sloppy snow was freezing into choppy ruts.

I had done one heat mold at home the day before. I am getting a handle on worldcupping in, could be better at it but it works so far anyway. I did not heat before putting stuff on to ski and I’m not sure if that was the issue or not, but things didn’t feel great. My skiing for the most part felt pretty crappy, and I’m not sure if it was just me being a bit timid or what. I felt my balance was way different fore after, I think I feel more upright. I also wasn’t feeling super sure about getting all my weight forward, and I don’t know if it was just because it was so warm out that I wasn’t trusting the flex to really lean into or if it is the less substantial feeling tongue. They did feel stiffer laterally, and I think that I just need to get used to as it felt a bit harder to roll my ankles, BUT I’m not super surprised at that because my fit has been so sloppy this season that I am not used to having the firmer feel around my ankles. Oh and then there was the pain and numbness… I had things buckled pretty lightly but still had to unbuckle on the lift every chair ride. Mostly it felt good, but my ankle instep area was pretty sore feeling… though when I took my boots off I had no pain at all. I thought it was going to feel sore afterward as well, but happy that wasn’t the case. And again, given the sloppy fit of my current boots I can see why my ankle is like whoa what’s the vice biting me here now??

I guess I’m not concerned with the pain piece because I expect having to break things in. I am a tiny bit worried about feeling like I was skiing bad in them. Even my Carv scores showed less parallel skis, which is usually a really strong point for me and my balance metrics were all pretty poor as well. Maybe it is just a getting used to it thing though. I did have some parts of runs that felt like great turns too… so it wasn’t a total loss.

I guess I am just curious if others had these sorts of issues with their skiing when starting with Zipfits? I have my seasonal program lessons today/tomorrow and then next Saturday/Sunday as well and then it’s done for the season… so I don’t think I am going to ski the Zipfits for that because I want to feel comfortable and also not in pain in my lessons. But I’ll plan to get out on them next Friday again and then after next weekend I can continue. I do wish I hadn’t waited so long to start playing with them.

 

[contesstant]

Heating them every day you ski is pretty crucial. If you don't have a heated boot bag, you're going to need one.

 

[MissySki]

Heating them every day you ski is pretty crucial. If you don't have a heated boot bag, you're going to need one.

Yeah, I was told that on Ski Talk so I am going to procure one this week if possible. I had thought it was more about comfort/ease of entry after the initial molding and didn’t realize I should warm everything if everything is stores inside and I can get it on fine.

I can see this continuing helping with getting the fit right… but should I be worried about not seeming to immediately mesh with the “skiability” of them in my boots? I’m sure I’m just overreacting, any new boot is an adjustment period and I am not someone who immediately adapts to equipment changes unfortunately. But it just makes me anxious as I was hoping to feel a more immediate yay this is awesome moment yesterday. Lol

 

[Emms]

The world cupping does get easier, for sure. I find if everything is heated and I make sure to pry the lower bear trap open as I am sliding it goes just fine.

Mine took some time to get used to and they seemed impossibly tight to start and now I have added some cork once and think I need to do it again as they settle out. I was in the same spot as you where I wasn’t planning to ski them for anything demanding but they actually felt much better by the third day or so and I ended up being able to. I did heat them and wear them around the house a few times too in that initial period.

 

[chasinghorizons]

Yea it takes time for all the cork to move around to the right spots. Sometimes if you can point out the pain points to your boot fitter, they can move the cork around a bit for you. I really did not gel with mine for the first two weeks and really it took getting a booster strap to become completely happy with them.

 

[MissySki]

Well, I ordered a heated boot bag and am hoping it comes in this week so I can try it out next Friday when I will next get a chance to ski the Zipfits.

I was glad not to have them on today… it was 60 degrees and got SLOPPY with big moguls in many places by the end of the day. I skied from around 9am to 4pm so I don’t think my feet would have taken kindly to having the Zipfits on that long and skiing so many bumps.

Can I ask logistically how people use the heated boot bags with the Zipfits? As in, how do you configure both the shells and the liners within the bag since the liners are not in the boots when heating? And how long do you heat for?

 

[contesstant]

I always heated mine for a couple hours. You can start at home if you have a drive, then plug the bag in in the car.

They really do give exceptional lateral control. Definitely allow for a few days for them to settle in around your feet and ankles, and to get used to them. My biggest gripe is the inability to use a different tongue with them. Not sure if that has changed with the newer models, but I never got along with the tongues in them.

 

[Emms]

Well, I ordered a heated boot bag and am hoping it comes in this week so I can try it out next Friday when I will next get a chance to ski the Zipfits.

I was glad not to have them on today… it was 60 degrees and got SLOPPY with big moguls in many places by the end of the day. I skied from around 9am to 4pm so I don’t think my feet would have taken kindly to having the Zipfits on that long and skiing so many bumps.

Can I ask logistically how people use the heated boot bags with the Zipfits? As in, how do you configure both the shells and the liners within the bag since the liners are not in the boots when heating? And how long do you heat for?

My bag fits all 4 across pretty comfortably (boots then liners). I plug it in on low overnight and then into the 12V in the car. I have about a 90 minute drive to ski and it’s not long enough to heat them from cold. Will probably depend on your bag and its heat output/speed too.

 

[pamplemoose]

So I tried my Zipfits for the first time yesterday… just had a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Conditions were not ideal, it was almost 60 degrees to start and then as the sun went down all of the sloppy snow was freezing into choppy ruts.

I had done one heat mold at home the day before. I am getting a handle on worldcupping in, could be better at it but it works so far anyway. I did not heat before putting stuff on to ski and I’m not sure if that was the issue or not, but things didn’t feel great. My skiing for the most part felt pretty crappy, and I’m not sure if it was just me being a bit timid or what. I felt my balance was way different fore after, I think I feel more upright. I also wasn’t feeling super sure about getting all my weight forward, and I don’t know if it was just because it was so warm out that I wasn’t trusting the flex to really lean into or if it is the less substantial feeling tongue. They did feel stiffer laterally, and I think that I just need to get used to as it felt a bit harder to roll my ankles, BUT I’m not super surprised at that because my fit has been so sloppy this season that I am not used to having the firmer feel around my ankles. Oh and then there was the pain and numbness… I had things buckled pretty lightly but still had to unbuckle on the lift every chair ride. Mostly it felt good, but my ankle instep area was pretty sore feeling… though when I took my boots off I had no pain at all. I thought it was going to feel sore afterward as well, but happy that wasn’t the case. And again, given the sloppy fit of my current boots I can see why my ankle is like whoa what’s the vice biting me here now??

I guess I’m not concerned with the pain piece because I expect having to break things in. I am a tiny bit worried about feeling like I was skiing bad in them. Even my Carv scores showed less parallel skis, which is usually a really strong point for me and my balance metrics were all pretty poor as well. Maybe it is just a getting used to it thing though. I did have some parts of runs that felt like great turns too… so it wasn’t a total loss.

I guess I am just curious if others had these sorts of issues with their skiing when starting with Zipfits? I have my seasonal program lessons today/tomorrow and then next Saturday/Sunday as well and then it’s done for the season… so I don’t think I am going to ski the Zipfits for that because I want to feel comfortable and also not in pain in my lessons. But I’ll plan to get out on them next Friday again and then after next weekend I can continue. I do wish I hadn’t waited so long to start playing with them.

I had a similar issue, but in reverse - I felt like the zipfits forced me too far forward in the boots into a crouch, and I was completely unable to stand up straight. I think if there's too much material in the back of the boot, it forces you forwards, and if there's too much material in the front, it forces you back. What I did was heat up the liners in the heated boot bag, then before putting the boots on I spent a few minutes massaging the liner around my foot and trying to thin out the areas that felt too bulky. In your case, you could also remove the power strap for now.

As far as heating everything up - I might be doing this wrong but I keep the zipfits in the boots when storing and heating them, then just pull them out and put them on one at a time. I have a 45 min drive to the hill, so I usually heat them on low overnight and then plug them in in the car to keep them warm on the drive up.

Good luck! It took a few days to work out the quirks, but I've been skiing long days recently with a lot of bump runs and this is the first time in a while I just haven't had to think about my boots at all - they just fit and feel great.

 

[Soujan]

You need about a week for the cork material to squish around in the right place. You can speed it along by heating up the liner and just massaging the material around by hand to where you want it.

 

[BlizzardBabe]

I just got fitted for my Zipfits today. Granted, this was just in the shop, but I have NEVER felt so locked-in to a boot. After heating the shells and liners I deliberately struggled to try and lift my heels (my perennial LV problem) and they absolutely would.not.budge. This was revelatory. Plus, the whole time I was COMFORTABLE. "What??? comfort in a ski boot???" I couldn't believe that the toe box was relaxed and natural and yet my arch was fully supported and the feel around my heels and Achilles was rock solid.

I'm expecting an adjustment period, of course, but if they feel on skis the way they do in the shop I'm going to be doing some happy dancing down the mountain!

 

[BlizzardBabe]

First day w/new Zipfits (Gara LV) -- Starting from the start, I have to admit I was nervous about being able to manipulate the entry into my shells (Lange Shadow LV). I practiced a couple of times at home and had such a terrible, and unsuccessful time that I thought I'd have to resort to putting the liners into the shells and then putting them on (not the recommended practice b/c, according to Zipfit, it can alter the formation of the cork in the heel).

Enter the Kulkea heated boot bag - an early Xmas gift. I put my shells in the bag overnight on low and about an hour before leaving the house I switched it to high. Still trepidatious, I put one boot on in the house and decided to put the other on in the parking lot (I have only a 4-minute drive). I was shocked at how easy it was to "world cup" into the shell. Sticking to my plan, though, I kept the first boot on and plugged the bag w/the second shell into the car outlet and set it on my heated passenger seat. In the parking lot, the second boot was even easier. The Zipfit slid right into place w/o having to use silicone spray or my boot horn (I was prepared for battle). I think I have my answer.

Skiing -- Pretty effing amazing. I've never been so locked into my boots. No heel lift or slip, no flop. The Zipfits gave me a level of confidence on a first day that I've never experienced before - this is saying something, b/c I was on a new, narrower, stiffer ski as well (Stockli Montero AS). Total control. Total, instantaneous engagement. I am beyond pleased.

 

[echo_VT]

Season 2 in zip fits. So far so good. @empogo was my gateway. And I found out today in the locker room I converted another ski instructor! Breaking in period to be expected but fits well.

I will say it was a difficult few times getting in them. In these low temps has been difficult to get out of them too…

still great liners though. As Pleased as I can be…!