Comments on: Black Diamond Factor Factor, Part 2 — Dave’s Take

By: Jrock

Jrock — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:55:51 +0000

I got some Intuition Alpine wraps fitted for mine. Made all the difference in the world and really made the boot come alive. The BOA liner is the weakest link IMO.

I put the BOA liners in my old snowboards boots where they belong.

By: dave

dave — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:09:03 +0000

hi all.
a few of my thoughts after another year in my BD methods (I downgraded from Factors for a friendlier tour). Note, these are my backcountry boots, my alpine/resort boots are size 1 shell size smaller:

Comparing the stiffness of BDs or any overlap-cuff design to a Garmont Endorphin is apples to oranges. It’s all about what you like. I really don’t like tongue boots.

regarding the BOA liner, i personally like them. Easier than laces. I always snug them up for climbing. A loose liner gives me blisters every time. I have some new intuition liners in my alpine boots, keep wanting to test them in my Methods, but i can’t bring myself to do it.

If you boot doesn’t fit well, and you have molded the liner and had some boot work done, then please do so. It’s soooo much nicer :)

I’m still happy with the BD boots, however, there are a lot of other great options too. Find what’s best for you…

By: powderuser

powderuser — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:59:20 +0000

well, i got the factors, too, for use as an one quiver boot as i don´t tour that much.
while i am impressed with the downhill performance, my impreesion is (coming from an krypton pro boot) after skiing them 6 days as follows

- got the 28,5 size (left foot is 28,1 cm)
- felt tight in the shop
- left toes go numb, cant stand the liner for more than an hour (they are unmolded)
- wehen using my old alpine liners they are ok, but a tad too wide
- lots of snow coming into the shell :(
- on the upper cuff the liners are tweaking on the outer side
- have skinny calfs, so had to reposition upper buckles

- walk mode is fine
- flex is perfect for me
- overall good boots for me minus the numbness, and snow inside boot

now i am wondering what to do
* grind downn the inner sole
* heat mold liner (don´t want to do, to not get themm ovaerall too wide)

thanks for listening

By: h2ofreezes

h2ofreezes — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:00:25 +0000

the Boa helps stiffen up the liner to compensate for some of the plastic but the primary reason they say is to hold your foot in place when you are skinning and all your buckles are undone.

either way it definately helps but it is such a pain in the butt i think you could have accomplished the same thing in a different way and not have to pay a licensing fee to Boa.

i tried these boots for several ski days in the resort and worked very hard to talk myself into them but i couldn’t. i just returned them.

to clarify as this is a review, i was looking for a 80%+ inbounds boot with slackcountry abilities and a higher performance boot regardless of weight for the simple up/down short backcountry days.

because this boot would be primarily resort it just wasn’t stiff enough and the liner was a headache. when i found myself researching Intuition liners and then looking for a Lange Banshee Pro alpine boot liner which felt great in the Factor i said th enough.

Tip: i kept getting boot bite on my instep when removing the Boa liner. i finally figured out a if i left the liner w/ Boa tight and removed liner and foot from shell tobether there was no pain.

at some point i will get a one-boot quiver but i think this is a fast evolving segment so i will wait.

thanks for a great forum.

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:48:34 +0000

Has anyone used the Intuition liners in their Factors? I am thinking of doing it. Just want some thought on it. Just got my wife some Scarpa Star Lite boots with the liner, and I like the look of it.

I hate the BOA deal too… dumb for sure. What is the point again?