Double Boot to Releasable front and R-Style/Hybrid Conversion. Are you skiing better?

[ISP6ball]

I'm curious how guys are skiing that have made the jump from a double boot to a releasable front an r-style or hybrid rear boot. I realize polls can't cover everybody's experience, so please feel free to comment with more details. I'm thinking of making the leap, and would like to hear everyone's experience.

 

I know I haven't tapped into any of the safety advantages of switching, but wanted to focus the poll on the performance aspect of switching.

 

For those that have improved from their average buoy count, I'd also love to hear how long it took to get there. Thanks

 

[9400]

Complicated answer, I had reached a point of chronic back pain limiting my skiing and when I could ski was in pain and would ski very few passes. Made the switch to reflex supershell 2 with an r-style rear. I was fortunate to have Adam Caldwell's major input and expertise in that transition and the modifications to the equipment. It took me about 8 sets for it not to feel incredibly awkward, mainly due to the looseness in the heel of the back foot. I would say I'm still adjusting a little to the ability to move in ways that were being limited by the confinement of the back foot's influence over the ski. My consistency has gotten better, my skiing has gotten better, my scores should be better based on what I'm feeling and how I'm seeing things in the course but I've changed a lot of things in the last year. The real answer I think is that I wished I would have done it 10 years ago and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Andre]

Ski partner just change from HO EXOs to white cuff Reflex and R style back.

About 10-12 sets later he's back at the same level where he was but looking good for improvement.

 

[ski6jones]

My skiing performance stayed about the same. My motivation to change was mainly financial. I was on double Vapors, which I loved, but their durability isn't as good as a Reflex for example. I was trying to get to a single Vapor front with something less expensive on the rear. After trying a few options unsuccessfully I tried the R-style and was off to the races.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

I attempted the switch a few years ago and gave up after about a month. I felt more balanced on the ski and it forced me to keep more weight on the front foot, but if I got just a little off, I was in the water. I even fell at 1 ball on my opener 2 tournaments in a row. Back to the double boots and my consistency came back.

 

I wish I could have made the switch but old habits can be hard to overcome. I believe its a better setup.

[Horton]

I went from double boots to Reflex R-Style in one set and never missed a beat.

[lazzn]

15 off and still speeding up skier here. Was on double boots for 3 years and after watching a lot of video I decided that all of the extra ankle support in the back was kind of encouraging me to get on my back foot when things got tough. Switched to an R style and while my buoy count is effectively the same, my skiing is so much cleaner (both from my point of view and those I ski with) and more consistent. Was a weird switch the first two sets but honestly it went really smooth.

[skihacker]

This is slightly off this topic but I'm wondering if anyone has thoughts about a hardshell front and say a wiley rear or other rubber boot?

[C5Quest]

@skihacker i use both setups. I really like the Wiley rear.

[Bdecker]

I have run more with the r-style. Hard to say that it is because of the r-style, but I do believe it has allowed me to get more consistently up on my front foot.

[Anderson]

I'm 1.5 seasons on my reflex front and r-style rear setup. Since switching I've avoided the ankle injuries that I would experience on my Good Powershells, but I often miss my Powershells. I feel like I was always in control of a turn in the Powershells. On my reflex/r-style bindings, it seems like a little bit of a crapshoot from one turn to the next (much less consistency). The Reflex releases are consistent and predictable (although the ski sometimes beats the crap out of me when I release (shredded shins and bruised inner thighs) -- but nothing that keeps me off the ski. So net/net, I plan to stay with the Reflex setup.

[Onside135]

Early on in the 2019 ski season I burned through my last pair of radar RS-1 bindings. I had been stockpiling them for years because I preferred them to the Stradas and Vapor bindings that followed. Also, the Strada and Vapor and now whatever they have just seemed so expensive for their durability.

 

I decided to switch to a Reflex front and a Wiley’s rear toe plate. Initially the hard shell front seemed like the bigger change, but I honestly got used to that in 5-10 sets. The RTP rear probably took all summer to get used to, but I’m not making a living in the sport so I stuck with it.

 

I like the setup now and think it’s made me a better skier....just not getting the water time I’d like to set any PB’s these days.

[o2bnMaine]

At this point, I'm way past where I was on double boots, but it has been ~12 years since I switched so that doesn't really fit into what you are trying to poll.

 

I switched because if Andy Mapple could get new world records then I shouldn't need a rear boot either. That's a little tongue in cheek, but it was part of my thought process. I was at a point in my skiing where I felt I was using the rear boot as a crutch, so as an exercise, I went back to an RTP just to see how it would feel. I have yet to switch back to a double boot set up.

[skiinxs]

Couldn't make the change work for me, switched back.

[BraceMaker]

@skihacker makes me a bit nervous. I see people do this fairly often but any prerelease I'd think would leave you in bad shape.

 

Matteo uses the FM Evo with the fixed lower cuff with a wiley rear and I think that makes good sense no risk of a prerelease

[mmosley899]

After years of me telling my daughter that using a double high wrap rubber rear boot, even though it fit loose, that she was at risk, she broke her foot in a sudden otf fall at Nationals last year. She tried all the options for a rear boot and went back with a similar rubber boot with a different lower wrap configuration that will allow her foot to release in that otf type fall. I strongly recommend the low cut r style rear boot or the HRT to be used with a releasable front boot if you cannot adapt to a RTP.