Question about hardshells

[lkb]

I took an otf on my onside turn this weekend. My reflex(front,rtp rear) released but I still hurt my ankle(hopefully pretty minor). So, while I can't ski, I have been thinking does the cuff on a hardshell really need to flex forward and back or could it be fixed rigid to the lower shell kinda like a snowski boot? Do y'all think it would mess up things performance wise? If it didn't, do you think it will help trigger a release before the injury happens? In other words, before the lower leg flexes too far forward in relation to the ankle.

[MrJones]

Regardless of performance, I'll pass on the mid shaft tib/fib fracture. They are hard to heal.

[HO 410]

For what it's worth, the Exo boot are designed with a stop (both forward and back) so there is a clear and distinct point that your forward motion is going to start pulling against the release. I've seen at least one Reflex boot riveted to stop the cuff from moving, but I think this was done for performance not safety: that particular release is set off the charts.

[Thomas Wayne]

I'm old enough to remember when the cuffs on plastic snow-ski boots began to get higher and higher.  Pretty soon the general opinion was that the change had simply moved the point of "boot-top fracture" from the upper ankle to the  tibia/fibula.

TW

[eleeski]

I pin the cuffs on my trick hardshells. It helps performance a lot for tricks.

Some guys pin their slalom hardshells. I want as much flex as possible so I grind the cuffs to allow more movement! I use a rubber band on the rear boot instead of a clip which allows even more movement still.

An earlier version of my hardshells (some cheap rollerblade) would hurt my leg at the boot top. So I slit the top of the cuff to soften things up a bit when I fell back. That helped but getting more comfortable shells was better.

TW, I got a boot top fracture from my Nordica red racers. Raising the cuffs spread out the load so nothing would break on my out the back falls. I loved the higher cuffs. Now I can survive the zipper line way in the back seat.

Goode snow skis rock!

Eric