Ride RFL

Days Ridden with this gear: 4 Days on Mountain
Conditions: Varied, from ice/low coverage to a foot of powder
Where: Hunter Mt., NY - Stratton Mt., VT
Other Relavent Gear: Nitrane (9-11), Machete (162)

Gear Specific: I wear an 11.5 boot. This boot *might* be a touch smaller than other boots - the 11.5 FUL felt a bit less snug initially than the RFL did. Still, the RFL is packing out to be perfect.

Flex: I've only gotten 4 days on the mountain with them so far, so I don't think it's broken in completely. I'd rate them currently at an 8, out of box around 8.5-9, and if I have the final point correct in my head, probably finish breaking in around 7-7.5.

Pro:
-These boots are *LIGHT*. Just walking around feels like you're wearing a sneaker. Hardly notice they're there.

-Supportive. Even though they're comfy and light, they're still stiff around the ankle and calf to give you loads of support.

-Smaller shell. This might not matter to many people, but if you're an 11.5 like me, that means you're stuck getting XL Ride bindings (11-13), and wide boards. This boot is at *least* a half size smaller in outer profile than other boots, if not a full size. So I fit it into a 9-11 Nitrane and a 9-11 Delta just fine.

Con:
-Not as warm. It's slight, but with my old boots (some burton shaun white ones I got when I was learning), I never had cold feet (even in -20 degree weather). With these, my feet are cold for the first run or two, which is a new feeling for me. Very very minor concern. Granted, this is in 0-5 degree(F) weather (with 15-20 degrees of wind chill).

-Smaller shell. I can imagine someone out there that's a size 9, with a binding that just shrinks down enough to fit their size 9 boot, but would be too big of a binding with the RFL. For me, this is a positive, but it's something to be aware of.

I'm pretty damn hard on my snowboard boots, I typically can get about 40 days out of your average pair before they're packed out, broken down and ready to be replaced.

I spent my last 40 days of the 2009 season (Feb/June) in a pair of RFLs and extremely happy with how they performed and held up.

I normally wear a 10-10.5 in my shoes/boots and found that the size 10 in these boots suited me. They were a bit snug to start off, but after 5 days the toe box had expanded enough that the pressure went away.

These boots are very stiff to start out and unlike other boots all the support and flex is actually in the dream liner, not the shell of the boot. After about 10-15 days of riding they soften up to a medium/stiff flex (7 out of 10). To put that in perspective, I would say that after 15 days they were the flex that the FUL boot starts out as.

The inner harness is one of my favorite features as it clips into the tongue of the liner and stays tight and in the same place all day. So you don't get any of those "hot spots" from it loosening up or shifting to the side. They have also eliminated the strap at the top of the liner, there are two velcro tabs that connect the tongue to the liner. Which is also nice as the tongue stays in place all day and doesn't shift to the side causing you to have to untie your boots and do everything back up.

At the end of the season I was happy that after 40 days everything the boots didn't have any significant wear and tear & they weren't packed out to the point that they were too soft to ride. If you're hard on your boots, these are definitely worth taking a look at for your next pair.

To say these boots are light is an understatement. The perfect all-around, do it all boot. I'd say the stiffness is 6.5 to 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 once broke-in. These boots are built to last and look sick. I feel that they run slightly small compared to other Ride boots. I've always worn size 9 in Ride boots, but had to go with 9.5 on these. Put a pair on your piggies, you won't be disappointed.