New UPZ foam liners

[slayer]

Hi all,
Has anyone tried these: https://www.upz-boots.at/foamthermo-liner_d

They seem to have flex where needed (flex zone) and can be thermoformed after the foaming process.

regards,
Slayer.

[fivat]

Hello Colin,

Where did you read that they are "new"? They exist for several years. Only small details have been changed with time, for better comfort and warmth (like the "toe-box" that is flexible).

When I developed the Swoard-UPZ EC12 with Arnaud for three years, I tested them of course on the snow. This confirmed my experiences from the past with other brands: Raichle, Northwave, etc. The injected liners are so stiff that they prevent a good - and progressive - flexibility of the entire hardboots. Very bad for our needs in EC and smoothness. Forget our "push-pull" technique and good damping.

Arnaud was even more negative than me when he tested the foam liners! It was also catastrophic for my girl-friend who is very light.

The foam stays stiff, whatever you make (heating) after the first injection. The tongues are only "thermo" and can be heated for better adaptation to the shins. But the rear parts (calfs) stay very stiff of course.

Anyway, the UPZ liners won't be produced any more. The boss Wolfgang, who is 65 years old, is retiring and has closed his factory of liners (it was one of his passions, developing great liners; tribute to him for his great work ). Some investors could continue the company, but we let UPZ give official info when it will be clear. Regarding the liners, other brands (like Intuition, Palau, etc.) will be required.

If you want to give the UPZ foam liners a try, don't wait too much, because the last items are available for season 2025-2026. Official price with the foam set is for now 320 € (VAT included in EU).

Patrice Fivat

[slayer]

Thanks Patrice,
Somewhere I got the impression they were a "new" model, I do remember the conversation at Zinal about foam liners and you saying they were too stiff, and so I thought these were different.

Guess I will have to stick to more conventional methods to pack out the volume I have. At Zinal this year, I was on soft-boots on the Stoke for the first day, was on Le Col almost the entire day without any foot fatigue. The second day, I was in hardboots and had plenty of that. Part of it was having the red tongue on leading foot; I switched to the Black (the only other one I have) and it was better, but still had fatigue on day 3. Partly, I feel this is because my foot +liner is swimming in the boot, especially by the afternoon.

Currently, I want to experiment with a rubber undersole on the outside of the liner, as I feel I need a bit of damping of vibrations as well to alleviate plantar fasciitis.

Have you tested Zipfit liners? a more expensive option, but more customisable with the cork filler?

Any advice appreciated!

[fivat]

Partly, I feel this is because my foot +liner is swimming in the boot, especially by the afternoon.

Currently, I want to experiment with a rubber undersole on the outside of the liner, as I feel I need a bit of damping of vibrations as well to alleviate plantar fasciitis.

Yes, the rubber sole (between the shell and the liner) is a good solution for both points. See for example this image:

To the people with thin feet (especially the women), we give the advice to use an undersole... and eventually big (old) socks that they can place around the liners. This fill the space, gives more warmth and absorbs moisture or condensation.

The use of socks is an original tip coming from Arnaud.

Have you tested Zipfit liners?

No, we have tested Intuition, Bootdoc and Palau. And I also tested Strolz a long time ago.
It's personal, but I still prefer the UPZ liners (not injected). Thus I keep some spare liners.

Patrice Fivat

[slayer]

Hi Patrice,

Thank you for this - and great idea about the large sock overlay from Arnaud! I laughed out loud when I saw that, ankle socks for your liner, such a great idea! Although not natural for me to think of that, as I would need to find some size 50 socks, do they even make that?

I have to report, I had some great success with my end-of-season trip to Sölden at end of April and May. Due to the 2 public holidays, and my family being away, I was there for 9 days. The plan was not to ride all that time, but to also take some chill-out days, ride my surf-skate, and tune my boots. I didn't realise everything closed by 27 April, but the good folks at Riml Sports (also the main UPZ dealers) were able to help me out the day after I arrived.

Due to various foot issues, I moved fully to barefoot shoes last year, gave away most of my old footwear. The problem now is, I have complete toe freedom, and with foot exercises, the ability to build back my arch for 9 months of the year, but then I go snowboarding and stuff my feet back into narrow hardboots for 3 months. With Riml's help, I managed to make (probably the world's first) "barefoot" snowboard boot, meaning, a very wide toe-box to let my toes spread out for stability. Turns out the UPZ boot has a lot of plastic support at the toe-box area, due to the tongue connection requiring more strength. It isn't quite perfect yet, but it is SO much relief for my leading right foot big toe to point straight ahead (and slightly to the left)!

Added to that, they made me some stiff custom insoles - now I already had custom (expensive, Swiss) insoles already, but they were not stiff, meaning during hard carves, they flattened out, leading to "toe-bang", excessive movement, which causes general fatigue. The new insoles gave me very good support and very good comfort.

I already had some felt-material undersoles, barely 2mm thick, and the combination of these 3 things gave me a very good experience! Due to the good weather, I ended up boarding 8 days, and in total comfort! I have never been able to do more than 3-4 days at a time, before switching to soft, so this was very new for me. It also meant, I was able to improve my technique incrementally, as I was riding from first thing in the morning until lift closure, another thing new to me!

One point to make, is that, due to this new-found freedom, I experimented a little, and put both 2mm felt undersoles into my front boot, to see if that helped with the volume issue, and possibly a future rubber replacement. It was a disaster! Back to foot pain within one run. It felt so wrong, I changed back at the end of that run.

So, somehow I have come across the "sweet spot", and now I am very happy. I can truly say, my hardboot setup is more comfortable than my soft, for the first time in almost 10 years of trying out various things?

The point of this post is to help other people with similar physiological issues, and to highlight that, even seemingly very small changes to your hard-boot setup can have a profound effect (in both directions!).

[Arnaud]

I would need to find some size 50 socks, do they even make that?

Yes, the size is correct. Decathlon makes large socks 47-50.