Mapple Boot/Binding Setup

[Nick Sullivan]

Lots of cool stuff on boot/binding setup in this video. Thanks Mapple for doing this video. Also, they now are selling Reflex!

 

http://www.mappleskis.com/news/wp/andy-mapples-setup/

 

 

[BraceMaker]

I have Always alway always (3 a's) wondered about that second toe bar

[ForrestGump]

Very interesting. I've had thoughts lately of getting rid of my lower buckle on my reflex and coming up with a strap for the top cuff, much like my snow ski bindings. Hmmmmm. Maybe I'll get rid of the upper buckle and just bolt the strap in where the buckle went. I, too, have noticed the cuff buckle will open over the course of a set.

[Nick Sullivan]

Yeah, how about using bondo to keep the boot in place. Not glamorous but effective.

[BraceMaker]

That's like "bedding" a rifle action into the stock. Release agent on the action/barrel, rough up the stock, layer on the compound, bolt into place with generous release agent.

 

For a boot like this, you'd tape off holes, apply something like petroleum jelly or wax, scuff up the plate, maybe make a dam of clay around the base to keep it from spreading out, spread out some compound, and clamp the boot down.

 

You can clean that up by trimming the edges neatly, and using something like some black dye to make it blend, or paint the filler.

[estrom]

Andy is so particular about his binding ideas/theory that it sounds like his next endeavor should be a binding design. He's made so many modifications to what he's using that it would truly be unique.

[Waternut]

I find it funny that so many of the modifications seem to be based more on gut feeling over actual science and performance. Guess it proves that regardless of actual form and function, if something bothers your mind, it needs to be corrected.

[BraceMaker]

Makes you wonder. Do you use ice skates by the foot bed or the uppers? How about downhill skis?

[Waternut]

@Bracemaker The two have to work together but my understand is this...The uppers transfer leg angle better as it reduces ankle movement and the footbed is more for feel so you know what's happening underneath you so you can compensate faster to unexpected things on the surface. I've learned to feel the limit in a lot of sports but waterskiing isn't one them. I just know the difference until it's too late.

[BraceMaker]

I think one thing we don't necessarily look at is where the natural position of the foot is.

 

Mine is pronated severely, so if I am flat on a flat surface (like that scrap of leather in andy's liner) then I am on the left edge constantly, through the use of a "fuller" liner, molded with the fit of the boot, I can trap my heel upright a bit, and feel both sides, or like I can transfer to both sides.

 

I find the upper cuff needs to be fairly loose, because then I have lower leg control of the shell, instead of ankle control of the shell.

 

If you read JaimeB's post on "shimming" the stealths - then you would come to the conclusion that accommodating for body alignment is a concideration we may not do enough of.

[ForrestGump]

This is something I worked on in my snow ski boots. But not under the boot, inside the boot, under the liner. The more we tilted the footbed to the outside, to a point, the better my knee alignment got.

[estrom]

Does anyone use a heel support insert to lift your heel a little bit, thus promoting a forward lean with your ankle?

[Chef23]

@ShaneH in snow ski boots you want to make any corrections as close to the foot as possible. That is why the orthotics go in the liner of the boot and are always the best place to start. I think much of Andy's stuff is about stability of the boot. As far as standing as close to the ski as possible that makes sense if you have a neutral foot. If you are like @BraceMaker and pronate severely or supinate severely then you should fix the neutral position of the foot first.

[Jordan]

It's always dangerous to accept something that Andy does as also being best for you.

 

While he has always wanted his foot basically on the ski, he may have near perfect alignment that puts him in an ideal posture and alignment when he does this.

 

That may not be the case for you.