# Boot lace preference?



## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

I had boas, cable broke, after they sent replacement parts, tried to fix, entire mechanism exploded into a bunch of tiny parts....back to laces...classic example of fixing something not broken.

BA swears he can only fit boas so I'm not one to argue with the resident bootfitter, but personal experience here, love my laces.

Will never go back to boa. No appreciable advantage. 

Laces are hard?


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## EatMyTracers (Sep 26, 2012)

I prefer dual boa for doing anything that isn't park riding. Laces for park riding because I have had bad experiences with breaking the boa knobs from falling on boxes/rails.


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## atr3yu (Feb 15, 2012)

I have Ride RFLs with the speed lace and I love them. I have no issues riding all day and having them stay tight. I know some people say they slip and that may be the case, but I have had good luck. I like the idea of dual boa, but have not found a pair that I like yet.


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## koi (May 16, 2013)

all about speed laces. I like them more than boas and i don't dig traditional laces. i own burton driver x's, i have done some vans and 32s also, but burton seems to fit my foot the best. my problem is that i always want to tighten a little more once i'm on the mountain, so instead of having to retie i use speed laces.


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## StrattonRider (Sep 16, 2012)

i owned a pair of Boa boots and didnt like them. they were either really tight or really loose. I now have nike vapen boots with laces. They are the best fit boot i have ever worn for all the reasons you listed above


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## Dekker (Feb 8, 2013)

Traditional laces for me. I like lacing my boots very specifically and I don't think any of the other lacing systems out there can accomplish it. When I first started snowboarding my brother was all like yeaaa man get the BOA it's so easy just click it in and turn it until it's tight. Unfortunately I didn't like how everything was tightened at the same time so while trying to get the upper half really tight it also meant that the lower half would also be squeezed.

I basically leave the foot area nice and loose then tie a special knot that locks off the lower area from the upper area. Then I begin lacing my boots and gradually tightening it more and more the higher I go. So basically from the top of my boots all the way down to the toes, it goes like Death Grip-super tight-really tight-tight-lightly tight-loose. Feels really good to me.


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## jojotherider (Mar 17, 2011)

ride insanos w/ focus boa for me. I keep the lowers loose and the uppers tight. feels good to me. I like how quickly they snug up and how easily I can adjust them. feels like the same fit every time.

each boa boot I've owned had a problem with the coiler getting stuck at least once. I keep an allen wrench with my gear for such occasion to unscrew the knob.


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I've always been a big fan of the Salomon quick lace system. Laces quick, allows you to lock the boot down around the ankles while keeping it loose on the toes, and doesn't have to be re-tightened like boas tend to require.


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

I never realized people tighten the top tighter then the bottom. I've always enjoyed heel hold but ankle flex (within reason). But in powder I tighten the ankle DOWN!


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## linvillegorge (Jul 6, 2009)

I just cinch down around the ankle. Fairly loose around the toes and fairly loose on the calf. Basically as loose as I can get with no heel lift.


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

linvillegorge said:


> I just cinch down around the ankle. Fairly loose around the toes and fairly loose on the calf. Basically as loose as I can get with no heel lift.


Me too. Toe wiggle and ankle flex with heel hold.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Boa for me, since they allow to adjust tightness on the fly, of which I make use of constantly within one day. I like to ride with tight boots, but I'm prone to get cold feet due to lack of circulation. With the former lacing boots I never found the right tightness, had to re-bind them several times a day, always a compromise. 
Had no cold feet with the double boa (inner/outer) last season. Curious, how the new upper/lower double boa boots will work, since the inner boot can't be re-adjusted on the fly anymore with them. Pretty sure I'll miss this feature, but there are only two models of women's double boa boots (the one with inner/outer, and the one with upper/lower) and the later fits my foot better than the former. Hope, tripple boa finds it's way to women's boots someday.


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## Lamps (Sep 3, 2011)

Mystery2many said:


> My buddy loves his pull string 32 boots but I see him adjusting them thru out the day. He won't admit it. -)


Why not, adjustability is one of the big benefits of speed laces. Also you can pop them loose at lunch quickly. 

For kids they're essential, gets you going much faster. 

As for the two zone trick with laces, two zone speed laces do this much better, if your bottom half needs adjusting with regular laces it's a hassle.


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

koi said:


> all about speed laces. I like them more than boas and i don't dig traditional laces. i own burton driver x's, i have done some vans and 32s also, but burton seems to fit my foot the best. my problem is that i always want to tighten a little more once i'm on the mountain, so instead of having to retie i use speed laces.


Same here, had a few pairs of recent Burtons with speed laces, and love them. Quick, easy, no moving parts (unlike boa). I'll never go back to lacing up my boots again...

The SO has Nitro boots with the dual speed laces and likes them, although the tongue system isn't nearly as good as burtons.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Dual Speed lace and dual boa


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## ItchEtrigR (Jan 1, 2012)

I got a pair of the dual zone burtons... they do a well enough job and all but they dont compare to the tweaked out fit you can get with laces and I dont find myself using the speed lace as much as I thought I would when I bought them, more of a luxury IMO, Im going back to laces once these are through...


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

A good speed lace system all day long. The ones on my Deeluxe are ridiculously good. I'll never go back to traditional laces after running these.


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## LuckyRVA (Jan 18, 2011)

I dig the speed lace over traditional. So easy to get in and out of and hold all day long. Never used BOA though...


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## xIceHoundx (May 12, 2013)

I just got a set of 2014 Burton Ions and rode them a few weeks ago, they were my first use of the speed lace system and I loved it. Yea I may have to adjust once in a while, maybe depending on how my riding is changing throughout the day, but its that much quicker and easier. With traditional laces ive had them pop off the hooks or if I hadnt double knotted it them come undone in the midst of riding, if you double knot your stuck trying to undo the knot forever after riding.


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## FR4NKY (Oct 30, 2013)

I liked traditional laces over the BOA for quite some time. I like the speed of the BOA but I didn't like the lack of adjustability. I tried out the speed laces two seasons ago and I love them. I don't think I'm going away from those anytime soon.


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## kizeR (Oct 28, 2013)

I had a pair of DC boots with a BOA outer that just didn't lock my heels down. I've also tried on a few other pairs of boots with the BOA system and again didn't like them.

Then I bought a pair of K2 Darko's with a BOA liner but a traditional lace up outer boot. Perfection.


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## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

Did not mind using traditional laces but I switch to dual BOA's(32 Focus Boa) for convinience,adjustability and comfort, but mainly convenience. I always put my boots on the parking lot, and when its slushy I do not like my laces getting wet while I put my boot on. I tried ways to hold them but sometimes it works and times it don't, so I just switch to dual boa's and no issues since


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

Funny how shit comes full circle. I remember a thread a few years ago on the same subject and I was one of the few supporting laces. 
Having said that this year I'm trying out a double boa for the first time. Having not taken them on the hill yet I seriously don't get why people would list speed as an advantage, ok maybe there like a few seconds faster. But when I got the cables loosened to the max it takes a little while to roll up all the slack. 

I'm already stressing about the day a cable snaps tho.


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## ju87 (Mar 9, 2011)

Prefer traditional laces. Think it's due to my experience with hockey skates where laces let you fine-tune tightness in certain areas as opposed to even tightness you get with speedlacing systems (the only other lacing system I have tried is the Burton speedlace on the Rulers).

Having said that, I don't think the lacing system matters too much in terms of fit if the boot fits your foot-shape well. I found that I was never satisfied with the tightness of my Rulers... always tried cranking on the speedlace to get them tighter. When I got my Nike's I realised that it was because the Rulers were too wide and generally had too much volume for my foot so that's why I could never get them tight enough. I barely have to tighten my Nikes for a good snug fit.


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## Jibfreak (Jul 16, 2009)

Regular laces for me. I had some older Vans boots with boa that would release tension when you took a hard landing. I'm sure they've fixed that problem now, but I'm also sure that I've never had a problem with traditional laces.


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## Steez Pleez (Feb 28, 2014)

LACES ALL THE WAY. I got some WAXED paracord laces that are incredible! The guys here at Park City use them to get the best control over lacing. They are waxed so that as you tighten them they will stay tight where you want them to be tight and loose where you want them to be loose. They never break or fall apart like boa's or normal laces. I would definitely check them out @ waxdlaces.com


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## Steez Pleez (Feb 28, 2014)

ju87 said:


> Prefer traditional laces. Think it's due to my experience with hockey skates where laces let you fine-tune tightness in certain areas as opposed to even tightness you get with speedlacing systems (the only other lacing system I have tried is the Burton speedlace on the Rulers).
> 
> Having said that, I don't think the lacing system matters too much in terms of fit if the boot fits your foot-shape well. I found that I was never satisfied with the tightness of my Rulers... always tried cranking on the speedlace to get them tighter. When I got my Nike's I realised that it was because the Rulers were too wide and generally had too much volume for my foot so that's why I could never get them tight enough. I barely have to tighten my Nikes for a good snug fit.


definitely check out waxd laces. Hockey players made some laces for snowboarding!


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