I have recently made the upgrade to a pair of TLT Mountain 6's paired with Phantom Bindings. I have had skepticism about this setup for years. My skepticism was actually about snowboarding in hard boots, not necessarily the bindings. I was also not a fan of the cost. Neither the bindings or the boots are cheap. Over the years and especially recently I have spoken with more and more riders who made the switch and swore by it. So I saved my pennies (lots and lots and lots of them!) and ordered my Phantom bindings and bought a pair of TLT6 Mountain boots.
I've had 3 days on them so far and I won't waste any time getting to the point..... I ABSOLUTELY F$@#ING LOVE THEM!!! Why I didn't do this years ago is beyond me (besides the $). I will wear these boots and bindings every day, regardless of conditions or time of year (they are that good).
Now, to make your TLT6 Mountain boot just as good as your softies you unfortunately have to modify them. It is not easy to take a file to a brand new pair of super pricey boots but it is necessary (and unfortunately immediately voids any warranty or return). Someday I think a company will make a snowboard specific hard boot with these modifications made for you but until then you have to do it yourself. I followed this blog post from splitboard.com to make my mods:
http://splitboard.com/talk/topic/dynafit-tlt6-mod-thread/
Here are the benefits I noticed immediately and I'm sure the list will continue to grow the more I'm out:
- Everything just got way lighter! Both the boots and the bindings. (I was already using Karakorum SL's and my total riding weight including boots and bindings dropped 2lbs. In tour mode the binding plates are carried in your pack so the touring weight is essentially just the weight of the board and boots.)
- These boots are really comfortable (I got the liners heat molded. I was using Deeluxe XV before.)
- I have an amazing range of motion at the ankle in walk mode and after the mods to the highback I still have a lot of forward flex to get onto my toe edge.
- My edge to edge control and edge hold on hardpack is incredible! I feel more stable and I am riding directly on top of my board. This was certainly one of the most notable and pleasing improvements.
- No more messing around with tightening laces and adjusting heel and toe straps. Once the boots are modified and adjusted to your liking- you just throw the lever from walk mode into ride mode and you are done.
- You can still "surf" your snowboard with these boots once the modifications are made. I actually think that I have more of a "surfy" feeling with these boots than I did with my Deeluxe XV's.
- These boots are less bulky, less likely to wear down on the exterior from rubbing in the bindings, and have less toe and heel overhang so drag is less of a problem.
- Transitions just became a breeze. Step into the dynafit toe pieces to tour and flip one lever on the Phantoms to lock the hard boot in place. Easy!
As for the Phantoms:
It took about 3 to 4 weeks from the time I placed my pre-order until the time they arrived at my door. I received and email with really good instructions on how to set them up. They have multiple options for stance angles and operate very smoothly. Touring with Dynafit toe pieces is BadASS!
I've had 3 days on them so far and I won't waste any time getting to the point..... I ABSOLUTELY F$@#ING LOVE THEM!!! Why I didn't do this years ago is beyond me (besides the $). I will wear these boots and bindings every day, regardless of conditions or time of year (they are that good).
Now, to make your TLT6 Mountain boot just as good as your softies you unfortunately have to modify them. It is not easy to take a file to a brand new pair of super pricey boots but it is necessary (and unfortunately immediately voids any warranty or return). Someday I think a company will make a snowboard specific hard boot with these modifications made for you but until then you have to do it yourself. I followed this blog post from splitboard.com to make my mods:
http://splitboard.com/talk/topic/dynafit-tlt6-mod-thread/
Here are the benefits I noticed immediately and I'm sure the list will continue to grow the more I'm out:
- Everything just got way lighter! Both the boots and the bindings. (I was already using Karakorum SL's and my total riding weight including boots and bindings dropped 2lbs. In tour mode the binding plates are carried in your pack so the touring weight is essentially just the weight of the board and boots.)
- These boots are really comfortable (I got the liners heat molded. I was using Deeluxe XV before.)
- I have an amazing range of motion at the ankle in walk mode and after the mods to the highback I still have a lot of forward flex to get onto my toe edge.
- My edge to edge control and edge hold on hardpack is incredible! I feel more stable and I am riding directly on top of my board. This was certainly one of the most notable and pleasing improvements.
- No more messing around with tightening laces and adjusting heel and toe straps. Once the boots are modified and adjusted to your liking- you just throw the lever from walk mode into ride mode and you are done.
- You can still "surf" your snowboard with these boots once the modifications are made. I actually think that I have more of a "surfy" feeling with these boots than I did with my Deeluxe XV's.
- These boots are less bulky, less likely to wear down on the exterior from rubbing in the bindings, and have less toe and heel overhang so drag is less of a problem.
- Transitions just became a breeze. Step into the dynafit toe pieces to tour and flip one lever on the Phantoms to lock the hard boot in place. Easy!
As for the Phantoms:
It took about 3 to 4 weeks from the time I placed my pre-order until the time they arrived at my door. I received and email with really good instructions on how to set them up. They have multiple options for stance angles and operate very smoothly. Touring with Dynafit toe pieces is BadASS!
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