Those boots intrigue me too.

Do you need soap to get into them?

How about when they're wet? Are they tough to get into?

Killer wrote:

those are some of the selling features for sure.. NO SOAP EVER

A little off topic, but I have RS-1's and find they are a little hard to get into when wet.  No fault of the boot however,  I have footbeds in them and they are pretty grippy when wet.  Any ideas?

Deke

2gofaster wrote:

Deke, So you have your footbed inside the liner? I glued my footbed inside the shell and the liner slides in on top. I don't have any issues going in dry.

Yes, mine is inside the liner.  My thinking was that the footbed is more positively connected with my foot and that the release wouldn't be any different.  All true.  But that positive connection makes it hard to get into while wet.  I've thought about socks or putting fabric over the footbed so it is not so grippy.

Deke

You are correct. The less elasticity at the upper cuff, the more difficult it will be to release.

The RS-1/Strada boot make their support by having a laterally stiff liner held snugly in place be the shell.
The upper cuff is more or less for retention and, in my experience, adds very little in terms of lateral stiffness.
The Rail/Vector boot are similar where it uses a close fitting chassis to create the support, and the cuff keeps you from stepping out.
I suppose the difficulty with the Rails could come because you are dealing with the boot that is sized for 3 to 4 shoe sizes.
The available sizes on the Rails overlap. 5-8, 7-11, and 10-14. You might be better off with the next size down.
In the mean time you could also try moving your boot forward, this will help the ski turn a little easier.

HO410 wrote:

You are correct. The less elasticity at the upper cuff, the more difficult it will be to release.

The RS-1/Strada boot make their support by having a laterally stiff liner held snugly in place be the shell.
The upper cuff is more or less for retention and, in my experience, adds very little in terms of lateral stiffness.
The Rail/Vector boot are similar where it uses a close fitting chassis to create the support, and the cuff keeps you from stepping out.
I suppose the difficulty with the Rails could come because you are dealing with the boot that is sized for 3 to 4 shoe sizes.
The available sizes on the Rails overlap. 5-8, 7-11, and 10-14. You might be better off with the next size down.
In the mean time you could also try moving your boot forward, this will help the ski turn a little easier.

bang on, I was in the middle range for these boots and by the end of last season they had packed out a bit and were just too sloppy & tweaked my ankle on some minor falls due to having the laces done up too much and my foot not secure inside the boot.

If I were a size 11 instead of a 9 the standard size boots I had may have been a lot better. 

FWIW they are a intermediate/advanced level boot for free-skiing or skiing the course at long line.   I didn't have the control I wanted as I started cutting the line & went with a pair of RS1s this year that I'm super happy with.

I know Whit had Rs-1's at worlds, and I recall seeing a team edition for the women skiers. Special things can happen for the team skiers.

i dont really like my rails. im tryin to get some rs-1's. the rails were really stiff feeling and the elastic laces start to stretch and get stuck in your boots when you're skiing which make for an uncomfortable set.  also the no soap thing, not true.  i use soap everytime i get in mine because the lining will start to wrinkle up midway up the back of the boot.  the stretch in the laces also becomes a problem because the clamp that holds it tight wont grip it when the laces stretch because they get longer and skinnier, leads to the boots loosening mid-set.  good boots overall just not as awesome as everyone is saying....just my opinion tho