Splitboard.com Forums

JaX-
Good thought on the dremel... will look into that!!

foolishrider-

Since the forward lean bar has no nubs at the end to stop from sliding through the housing in the cuff there was little difficulty in this mod.

My first step was to remove the cuff:
I had already had the rivits on the inside of each boot fail and pop out while riding inbounds, and had been replaced with a Garmont replacement binding-post and screw combo. I then had to remove the lateral adjust mechanism on the outside of the cuff. This was easy enough and just backed the bolt/rivit right out. Took a little force but not bad.

Drilling out the bar:
This would have been easier if I had a drill press. I would reccomend having a couple new bits handy. I went through 2 bits doing this mod. I think you really only need to drill one extra hole rather than the 2 extra holes I drilled. Then using a small trianglar file I slowly filed the extra material until I had a smooth slot. I then positioned the cuff and bracket over the bottom of the boot to make sure the slot slid easily through the bracket with the pin engaged. I had to go back and re file a couple more time till it worked smoothly.

Re assemble:
Once every thing was working to my liking I simply put the boots back together again. Did some indoor tests with the boots in locked in the bindings. and some tests of just standing in the boots and engaging both the locked out ski position and the new snowboard position

Hope this helps and good luck.

Thanks for the step by step on the Garmont forward lean mod. Any idea where I can get the Garmont replacement post and screw combo to re-assemble the cuff?

foolishrider-
If you have an alpine store that sells Garamont boots and has a repair, service shop... ask one of the tech's. They did not charge me but even a buck or two is worth it... much better than the original rivits. Would recommend snagging an extra one for the pack too. I have put 2 seasons on these replacements both in bounds and BC and no wear/tear.

Thanks for posting the pics- I got a much better idea what to do. I assume you used a standard corded drill? What size drill bit did you use? Did you just eyeball where to drill the upper hole or did you take a measurement? Thanks.

Crooked Thumbs-
Pretty much eyeballed it. One hole above is more flex than you can get out of the boots anyway. I used a cordless drill and it was not easy. Best option would be to use a drill press if you can. I used two metal bits and pretty much destroyed them in the process. That steel bar is pretty hard. Can not think of the size of bit off hand. I had a wood bit set that I had used to find the correct size. I went for the exact same size if not a little smaller. I filed the slot till the pin would slide without catching. The file was the key for me. I used a small (very small) triangular file to get the sides of the slot to be straight and smooth. Be very careful not to flatten out the ends of the slot.

So I ended up finding a pair of 2008 model Garmont Mega Lite boots. They have three buckles and lot's of forward flex right out of the box. I ride with the walk/ski feature unlocked and it is almost too loose and may have to be locked down on the back foot if I ever go to a resort. So far they work great with almost no modifications but I plan on removing the bottom buckle as it seams redundant. These are the best riding ski boots that I have ever snowboarded in. Almost as good as my old Raichle SB 121's and much lighter. Too bad Garmont stopped making them.

Hear ya on the G-Mont's being comfy. Rode 2yrs before thermal fitting the liners

Not sure if the heel lift is the same as the mega's but if so the mod was easy and depending on your stance it does make a nice and noticeable difference. Originally I was at 30 an 30 and never needed the "high-back" support since most of the force from edge to edge was lateral on the boots. Now that I have returned to a more neutral stance 10 and 3, its nice to have the support to lean back on. Happy Mod'n!