that was my bad, IT has a set mounted

For some time HO called the Animals a "hardboot." I think this was in comparison to other boot on the market, back when the Animal was on the cutting edge of slalom bindings.

Incidentally, HO has updated their website and now have the Exo boots listed.

I'm pretty sure that ski is a '98 or '99.  The '00 had white flames. http://dscreation1122.homestead.com/daz … 64x573.jpg

I'm not sure if the Animals came out before 2000, but when they did they originally had the words "Animal Hardboot" printed on them.  These are a far cry from the new EXO, which is a true "hardboot".

AL

That is definitely one of the earlier iterations of the CDX.

The Animals will be of a similar vintage. The age doesn't really matter as long as the rubber is in good shape and even then, it is reasonably economic to rebuild the boots. It is worth noting that these are using the old HO insert pattern. Neither front nor rear could be migrated to a newer ski without replacing the plates.


If this is your first foray with laced boots, just don't get overzealous cinching them down. Also remember that when the boots are very cold, the rubber will be much less pliable: acting as though they are cinched tighter than they really are.

Great video, aside from negative comments galore. Thanks for posting.

Nice. Those are solid. Just make sure the boots are in good condition. The front one looks great in the pic but I can't c the back. Not sure if ho still has new overlays available for those boots in case they were to rip. The finger holes have a tendency to rip if they are pulled on excessively.

That’s a great price especially if the binders are in good shape.  HO changed the hole patterns since then.  Replacement parts could be an issue down the road.  Is that a CDX?

Ok, so these bindings are in great shape with minor ware and tare. I tried them on the other night and found that they are really tight, they put a lot of pressure on the upper parts of my feet and also dig into my big toe, mainly on the rear. I soaked them in hot water waited until it was warm and put them back on to try and form them to my feet.
         So my question is, How tight should the bindings really be? On my old set of shorty HO Raps I ran them fairly loose, just so they would come off easy in a hard hit.
Any input would be great.
Bj

Ok, I will have to try to ski in them. I will have to just put them aside until season starts.
thanks

Ok HO,
    What you said makes sense. Here's what I am getting. The rear binding to me also seemes as if it is a front boot just from the complete covering of my foot, also by the way it feels with different pressure on my rear foot compared to the front boot. What they feel like is pressure on the outer top parts of my feet which doesn't feel extremely bad, but they are imprinting the inner pattern on the outer tops of my feet and leaves them red where they are rubbing. To me it doesn't seem as if I can let that part of the rubber out. Where its tight is, if you look at the picture, its on the lower white area of the binding where it can't be adjusted and this is with the black straps completely loose. Which makes me think that they just need to be worn and broken in a little bit.
    The upper part of the bindings that wrap feel fine, they are tight going on and off, but with soap its not to bad.
    Now with the toe area of the binding on the rear boot would it hurt to cut the upper rubber back to allow for more toe room?

Ok guys finally got these binging's to work.
    I trimmed the rear toe area back about an inch and loosened the straps up by one hole and they slip on with mild amounts of soap and feel great. So now its just wait for the lake to thaw out and tri it.
Thanks to All for the Help