Good fit

By all2865421 Ranked #309 - Snowboard Boots February 10, 2009

Size

My street shoe size is 9. In shows, I have about 1 cm of clearance from the tip of my toes to the tip my shows. I purchased these boots in 8.5 and they fit perfectly. I recommend you buy 1/2 size smaller than your street shoe unless you typically buy them tight.

Durability

Good quality build overall however, the anchor of the side BOA knob (not the actual knob, but the plastic anchor which connects it to the boot) on my right boot was partially detached. It's a two piece connection with one part stitched into the boot and the other connected to the BOA knob - looks like they snap together and you can see them right behind the side BOA knobs if you look at the picture closely. Anyway, the two pieces aren't fully connected but I haven't had any trouble yet.

Fit

Fits like a glove and are quite stiff. I have typical feet (width, arches) and think these boots are very comfortable. I haven't noticed any pressure points. The inner liner is tightened with pull laces (pull up to tighten, then lock in place) which are kept in place using a small plastic locking system which I'm not a fan of. You have to slide this little black switch to lock it but it requires quite a bit of force, especially if you like to tighten the lace really tight. It's a small issue but hey, at least now you know. Oh yeah, the laces are long. When comfortably tightened, they are about a foot in length which you then stuff between the boot lip and the inner liner. I can see a lot of people shortening the laces.

The pump works as expected. It does reduce heel lift, but doesn't totally eliminate. I found making the inner liner really tight helped a lot however. That, combined with the pump works great.

BOA system

The BOAs work great, although I get nervous tightening them up too much. I tried it a couple times and heard a snap in the knob but nothing was broken. If you've never seen a BOA up close, the knob is basically a gear that only goes in one direction because a hook latches onto the gear if you try to go backwards. If you apply enough force however (i.e. you tighten it too much), the latch sometimes pops.

The dual BOA on this boot is upper and lower. In other words, one knob tightens the top wires and the other knob tightens the bottom wires. Having this kind of control is great. In addition, I can easily loosen my boots to be more comfortable and tighten them just before a run. I have noticed that I need to tighten them occasionally, but it's so quick and easy, it's a non-issue. I'm not sure why that is - they're not supposed to have any give. Maybe it's just my boots being broken in.

Miscellaneous

Comes with:
- Built-in RECCO reflectors which are used to find you in case of an avalanche.
- A little BOA tool which you can use to replace the wires if they snap.
- STICKERS!

Overall

Best boots I've had so far. Recommended.

View Details: DC Allegiance Snowboard Boot - Men's

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