Stiff boots for women with reduced footprint

No experience with women's wear, but I will say that the Ride Insano is by far the stiffest boot that I've tried, and also the smallest volume (both inside and out).

@morgan Yeah we had trouble finding stiff boots for Martina too.  Almost any men's shell in the right length can be fitted with a new liner for a high performance fit. 

With a smaller foot size you can expect there will be a higher percentage of extra length in the boot sole compared to the foot, so the mondo plus 2cm rule of thumb (to estimate waist width for carving) doesn't work for small feet, you might need plus 3cm.  Martina rides plus 3cm on a 9m sidecut custom Coiler (Mondo 23 boot and 260mm waist).

My next pair will be Ride Insanos too, like @board-doctor. 

Many manufacturers list their boot sole length (BSL) in the specs for each size.  It's important for sure.

I got a pair of Ride Insanos this winter and they are absolutely insane! I have narrow feet and they fit perfectly because of their low volume. They're very responsive. My girlfriend was ready to pull the trigger on the Ride Cadence, which are kinda the Women version of the Insanos. Unfortunately her size is sold out everywhere, but I would definitely check them out if I were you! 

I should note that the Insano didn’t really work for me.  I’m not running really steep binding angles and I like a bit of lateral maneuverability. My high instep kind of used up a lot of the volume, but there was no pressure points or issues, it was just very tight.  The liner is Ride’s modified version of the Inuition Dreamliner.  More breathable, but not as much closed cell foam.  When it packed out (about 30 days) the side boa was a bad pressure point on the side of my leg.  I’ve hung onto them though, I might try them with another liner.

I mentioned in another thread that in one of Lars’ videos he said he was using the intuition pro tour in the Insano.  I’ve used it in the K2 Thraxis. It’s a bit softer than the Dreamliner, with a well defined articulation point.  The Thraxis liner was garbage. Packed out in 15 days and bruised my ankle.

I’ve got about 10 days on Vans Verse and just replaced the liner with the Dreamliner. Haven’t rode it yet, but optimistic that it might get me through all next season.  I’d say the Vans liner is better than the others, and it’s holding up, but I wanted more support & drive.

I don’t think I ride particularly hard, and I’m not crazy heavy, but stock liners just don’t seem to hold up anymore.  

Thanks a lot guys, I will take all of that into consideration! For now I only did 2 days of snowbaording in my boots...I will just try steaper angles and will see how it goes. I still have a lot to learn before I'm limited by my equipment 😛

Also I wanted to ask from curiosity- how often (after how many days of riding) do you change your boots? 

Also may I ask @wild-cherry what drove you to change your Driver X to Insano?

I hate changing and breaking in new boots… I pushed the last ones to 70 days with a new liner and Strapins, but never tried the plastic tongue inserts.

Posted by: @morgan

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Also may I ask @wild-cherry what drove you to change your Driver X to Insano?

Because I was blowing through Driver Xs in 40 days.  It used to be 60 or even 80 days a few seasons back.

Also because I was talking with Ryan Knapton and he told me he made the same switch this season so when I sent the newest pair back to Burton and they told me I would have to wait for next year's stock for a replacement, I went with the Insanos.  Got the last pair in Canada in my size it seems too.  

I had a pair of Insanos about ten years ago and liked them but back then I think the Driver X was stiffer.  Not anymore.  Three days on the new boots and I think my feet are almost broken in!  Way stiff (especially with my custom plastic stiffeners), faster in and out too, great performance.  Ask me about comfort after another few days of riding please...

I haven't changed the liners yet, mostly because all my liners are thrashed and because the Insanos have a clip on the liner tongue for the inner lace tightener mechanism and I haven't had the time to figure out how I might attach the clip to a different liner.  Using the Burton red and grey inner lace tightener could also work.  For now, I'm heat molding the stock liners with my sweaty feet daily and there's less pain every day.