Boot maintenance

My boots have had a healthy life, and I would like that to continue. They are Raichle rear entry, single clip, model 777. From an engineering viewpoint they are the bees knees.

Two issues. The outer top of the liner rear, was rubberised/plasticised, and that has now all gone. I am currently wrapping the area, using black gaffer tape. Is there something better that I can do?

Both the heel and toes are worn, underneath. Is there a way that I can replenish the base material?
Boots are about 23 years old. Please don't wast time suggesting new ones, ~ a) there is little wrong with these, they certainly don't hold me back, b) I cannot find replacements.

4 words: buy some new ones.

Have a chat with Cem, I'm sure he will advise the best option.

Sugestions
Those little break downs are telling you something.
Look for new boots.

May I suggest you do not buy rear entry type! If you look around in various stores you will see that rear entry type boots are "disappearing" ! Why ?

Poor "mating" for top level skiers! ( no expert level skier chooses such boots)! Too much room or free "space" in the toe area to get good ski feel!

Poor boot adjustment in localized areas or zones!

Soft padding which "dulls" ski feel!

Please forgive "honest" comments DavMac!

Respectfully,
Pav

Talk about Christmas ghost stories... Merry Christmas Pav.

Dave, you can repair heels and soles by planing them flat, and then adding new material. I don't know that a boot fitter would would want work on boots that old, because the work has to meet the DIN specs, you may find someone to do it (especially in Scotland :wink: . If you really wanted to be cheap, you could do it your self, with a belt sander, and some plastic cutting board :lol:

Plastic tool dip is a good way to repair things like the liner finish. It also works on gloves and ski pants.

It shouldn't be too much trouble to repair the liner, as Trencher said Plasti Dip should work fine, but Anything Foam http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Anything_Foam might be even better and its available in black. Failing that you could try Shoe GOO http://www.eclecticproducts.com/shoegoo.htm or Aquaseal http://www.mcnett.com/Aquaseal-Urethane-Repair-Adhesive-Sealant-P234.aspx

Repairing the front part of the soles however is a different matter. They need to be returned to the dimensions given in ISO 5355 using material with the same coefficient of friction, as detailed on page 53 of this Salmon technical manual http://www.salomoncertification.com/manuals/SPM_07_ENvCD.pdf This is normally done by planing the soles, (assuming they are solid) screwing on lifter plates and if necessary routing the lugs back to the required thickness. Unfortunately this is very difficult to do on a worn boot, as most boot fitters use an adapted woodworking planer. The Keyser Tools boot planer (made in Canada) http://www.buckeyesportscenter.com/Page.aspx/pageId/72750/Bootfitting-Services.aspx should be able to do the job as it references the top of the lugs, but as far as I know there aren't any in Europe. If you have access to a milling machine and could make a suitable jig it wouldn't be that difficult to DIY.

As for the heels these look like they are screwed on so you could replace them with any rubbery material of the same thickness you can find.

Bear in mind that plastic unlike Scotch doesn't improve with age and sometimes ski boots do fail http://www.flickr.com/photos/victorhansonsmith/2147975976/

So all in all its probably time to look for some new ones, there's a pair of nearly new 779s for sale here: http://www.ricardo.ch/kaufen/sports/skisport/skischuhe/groesse-41-42/raichle-skischuhe-groesse-8-12/v/an626633098/ for CHF 15, cheap as chips even at today's exchange rate.

Are you totally anti anything new Dave, or just completely tight?

Boot sole planing in the UK can be performed by J2skier, CEM from:

http://www.solutions4feet.com/pwpcontrol.php?pwpID=1828

It's usually in conjunction with Skier Alignnment carried out by Andi McCann from:

http://www.mccannix.com/alignment.htm

I've had my boot soles planed, it was a bit of a Eureka moment, 1st time on snow after the work was completed 8)