Atomic Mimic Professional Liner

Just got fitted for a pair of Mimic professional liners and HOLY SHIT... I am stoked. The feeling of the foam filling your boot shell truly is a unique experience. At the price I really am feeling that standard foam liners like intuitions are going to be dropping by the wayside.

These have been discussed on Gear30 2 or 3 times now; who all is skiing in them? '

Matt Manser from Atomic talks about it here on episode 132.

Ellsworth talks about it here after being fitted on episode 140.



Carbon fiber upper
Attachment 388184

Rear foam ports
Attachment 388185

I somehow missed these before now.
What boot do you have them in?

I have them in my Cochise 130, was looking at replacing my shells but after debating between the Hawx Ultra XTD vs Lange XT3 vs Fischer ranger free couldn’t find anything that flexed like the Cochise.

I linked the relevant gear30 pods in my original thread.


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How many moneys?

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$219 through my local shop


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Including labor and fitting? Half the price of a zipfit. Hmmmmm

Market competition is a good thing. We'll see...

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Originally Posted by SkiLyft

$219 through my local shop


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That's a pretty damn good deal since MSRP is $299.

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Originally Posted by sierra_cement

Including labor and fitting? Half the price of a zipfit. Hmmmmm

Market competition is a good thing. We'll see...

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Yup, all included.

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Originally Posted by doebedoe

That's a pretty damn good deal since MSRP is $299.

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I was pretty damn shocked too, maybe a little homie hookup from the shop owner after dropping $1000 on custom foot beds and shells for MrsSkiLyft.



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Getting these guys fitted up with the boot, I am super stoked, as a guy who can fit into a raptor 95mm with minimal work.


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Originally Posted by SkiLyft

Just got fitted for a pair of Mimic professional liners and HOLY SHIT... I am stoked. The feeling of the foam filling your boot shell truly is a unique experience. At the price I really am feeling that standard foam liners like intuitions are going to be dropping by the wayside.

These have been discussed on Gear30 2 or 3 times now; who all is skiing in them? '

Matt Manser from Atomic talks about it here on episode 132.

Ellsworth talks about it here after being fitted on episode 140.

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Glad you are stoked on the new Mimic Professional liner, that's always awesome to hear. I really think this is something new and different in the world of liners and I can't wait until more people get the chance to experience it for themselves.

As always, if anyone has any questions about the liner, its materials, the process, etc. drop them here and I will get back to you.

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Originally Posted by onenerdykid

Glad you are stoked on the new Mimic Professional liner, that's always awesome to hear. I really think this is something new and different in the world of liners and I can't wait until more people get the chance to experience it for themselves.
As always, if anyone has any questions about the liner, its materials, the process, etc. drop them here and I will get back to you.

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How does one find a shop that carries the new liner? The online retail located shows every one from REI to rental shops.
And better a question, how does one know that they have previous experience foaming boots before.

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

How does one find a shop that carries the new liner? The online retail located shows every one from REI to rental shops.
And better a question, how does one know that they have previous experience foaming boots before.

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I’ll answer the second, the shop owner I was fit by was honest and basically said, you’re my first. And if I fuck up, don’t worry you’ll get a pair of liners that are correct eventually.
After being part of the process it’s a 1 banana job, put liner in special mimic sleeve, heat liner, put in foot beds, put in shell, add shoe horn, step in, adjust tongue, buckle, step on special platform and pull down, inject with foam (no exit ports like surefit so you just add until you can’t due to resistance), hang out for 10-15 minutes, walk around the shop to eliminate any air bubbles; and your done.


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I suspect that Atomic has put a lot of work into making the foaming process relatively brainless, so more shops would "take the risk" on a custom process that didn't require tons of fitter skill, luck, correct moon-phase, etc...

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Originally Posted by SkiLyft

I’ll answer the second, the shop owner I was fit by was honest and basically said, you’re my first. And if I fuck up, don’t worry you’ll get a pair of liners that are correct eventually.
After being part of the process it’s a 1 banana job, put liner in special mimic sleeve, heat liner, put in foot beds, put in shell, add shoe horn, step in, adjust tongue, buckle, step on special platform and pull down, inject with foam (no exit ports like surefit so you just add until you can’t due to resistance), hang out for 10-15 minutes, walk around the shop to eliminate any air bubbles; and your done.

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Ya, I totally get that Atomic has developed this liner so that almost anybody in a shop can foam them. There is still an element of some skill required. I'll start calling some Atomic shops to see who is on board.
I'm a foam fanboy, I have not skied in an Alpine boot without a custom foam liner since 1999. So I've been through a lot of different foaming procedures.

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Originally Posted by SkiLyft

I’ll answer the second, the shop owner I was fit by was honest and basically said, you’re my first. And if I fuck up, don’t worry you’ll get a pair of liners that are correct eventually.
After being part of the process it’s a 1 banana job, put liner in special mimic sleeve, heat liner, put in foot beds, put in shell, add shoe horn, step in, adjust tongue, buckle, step on special platform and pull down, inject with foam (no exit ports like surefit so you just add until you can’t due to resistance), hang out for 10-15 minutes, walk around the shop to eliminate any air bubbles; and your done.


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Which shop did you patronize for the fitting?

Also-

@onenerdykid - the atomic website lists shops that carry atomic products, but I fear that doesn’t necessarily also mean that they have been trained in the process of doing the boot fitting. Can you provide any shops in the SLC valley that have been trained in the new process?


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Are they more touring or inbounds oriented?

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Originally Posted by eSock

Are they more touring or inbounds oriented?

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Full alpine, that said, with the top buckles undone and my walk mech open I can still move my Cochise through its very minimal range of motion.


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Originally Posted by tharmor

Also-
@onenerdykid - the atomic website lists shops that carry atomic products, but I fear that doesn’t necessarily also mean that they have been trained in the process of doing the boot fitting. Can you provide any shops in the SLC valley that have been trained in the new process?

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On the Atomic page you can choose the category of the retailer:
Pro Center
Alpine
Ski Touring
Protection
Race
Rent/Rental
Memory Fit
Expert Boot Fitter

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

On the Atomic page you can choose the category of the retailer:
Pro Center
Alpine
Ski Touring
Protection
Race
Rent/Rental
Memory Fit
Expert Boot Fitter

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^this helped - many thanks. I didn’t think to do a dealer locator. Instead I just looked at the product and shops autopopulated at the bottom of the screen, without listing them as certain types of dealers. Again, the dealer locator function is way more helpful in that regard.


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Sounds like this liner is built to work with a lot of other shells? If pricing is often found lower than MSRP -- makes it a very enticing alternative to ZipFit if it last near as long.

^^ I’m curious as to the longevity as well. The foam inside is a different PU mix which is a bit softer. Feels more comfortable.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

How does one find a shop that carries the new liner? The online retail located shows every one from REI to rental shops.
And better a question, how does one know that they have previous experience foaming boots before.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

On the Atomic page you can choose the category of the retailer:
Pro Center
Alpine
Ski Touring
Protection
Race
Rent/Rental
Memory Fit
Expert Boot Fitter

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Finding a specific retailer that has a specific product is actually harder for us to do than it sounds. This is a pretty good filter we have and while it will help narrow your search down, you should call from there and see what the retailer specifically stocks.

We only sold the Professional Series of boots & liners to real boot-fitters who take pride in their work. With that said, we spent the better part of two years making this the best fitting foam liner but the easiest foam liner to make. Because of that there are specific tools that need to be used and a specific fitting process, but as the OP already saw - it is stupid easy to make these liners. I tell shops if you have the time & skill set to heat mold an Intuition liner, you can make a Mimic Professional liner.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by doebedoe

Sounds like this liner is built to work with a lot of other shells? If pricing is often found lower than MSRP -- makes it a very enticing alternative to ZipFit if it last near as long.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SkiLyft

^^ I’m curious as to the longevity as well. The foam inside is a different PU mix which is a bit softer. Feels more comfortable.


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We currently make 3 differently lasted/constructed liners: one for Redster STI/TI (will fit other world cup boots), one for Redster CS (will fit other commercial race boots), and one for Hawx Ultra/Prime (will fit other commercial 98-100mm lasted boots). Those options will therefore cover a pretty wide variety of boots on the market. I know of one shop owner who put the Hawx version into his Nordica Speedmachine and he says he'll never go back to his previous aftermarket liner.

We spent a lot of time dialing in the PU foam over the last couple of years (and it's the same formula for all liner versions). It has a really nice balance of initial comfort, foot hold and long-term durability. It's hard to say if a liner will last 300 or 400 days of skiing because we haven't had that available time, to be honest. But, lab compression tests put this right up there with basically every other PU foam on the market, which usually means multiple shell lifetime.

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Originally Posted by onenerdykid

We currently make 3 differently lasted/constructed liners: one for Redster STI/TI (will fit other world cup boots), one for Redster CS (will fit other commercial race boots), and one for Hawx Ultra/Prime (will fit other commercial 98-100mm lasted boots). Those options will therefore cover a pretty wide variety of boots on the market. I know of one shop owner who put the Hawx version into his Nordica Speedmachine and he says he'll never go back to his previous aftermarket liner.

We spent a lot of time dialing in the PU foam over the last couple of years (and it's the same formula for all liner versions). It has a really nice balance of initial comfort, foot hold and long-term durability. It's hard to say if a liner will last 300 or 400 days of skiing because we haven't had that available time, to be honest. But, lab compression tests put this right up there with basically every other PU foam on the market, which usually means multiple shell lifetime.

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Good info as always, Matt. Excited to try mine.

Great info. As someone who has a stock of a shell that they love (current RX130 LV) -- this looks like a very good option for keeping them kicking for a long time at a reasonable price. Thanks for bringing this to market!

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Originally Posted by Dee Hubbs

Ya, I totally get that Atomic has developed this liner so that almost anybody in a shop can foam them. There is still an element of some skill required. I'll start calling some Atomic shops to see who is on board.
I'm a foam fanboy, I have not skied in an Alpine boot without a custom foam liner since 1999. So I've been through a lot of different foaming procedures.

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Coming from a background in boot-fitting, I tried to make the fitting process for Mimic Professional as easy as possible. There are, of course, special tools and specific steps that need to be followed, but this is 1000x easier than a traditional, bottle-foam liner. From the boot-fitter's side, there's no risk of improperly mixing chemicals together, or needing to rush to connect things before the reaction takes place, or having foam explode through the liner, or the liner unevenly filling up the medial side vs the lateral side, or managing excess foam. From the skier's side, you still get a totally locked-in fit that's completely tailored to your heel, ankle, & midfoot, nice toe room, and a boot that's ready to ski from day one.

Hi Matt, Why no foam injected tongue? I’ve always found that to be the biggest perk of injected liners. I understand that you have three different tongue volume options though. How thick is the thickest one?

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Originally Posted by GoldenBC

Hi Matt, Why no foam injected tongue? I’ve always found that to be the biggest perk of injected liners. I understand that you have three different tongue volume options though. How thick is the thickest one?

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Injected tongues are too complicated for what we are going for and with our 3-volume tongue system (which are heat moldable, including the plastic itself) we can achieve surprisingly different fits.

Medium Volume fit: standard Hawx thickness foam + our world cup plastic tongue (the plastic tongue itself is more rigid/powerful than what a normal Hawx has though and the plastic in the tongues is the same across all 3 fits)
High Volume fit: 3mm thinner (but denser) foam top to bottom vs. the MV
Low Volume fit: 3mm thicker foam over the instep & throat area vs. the MV

I am currently using the MV in my Redster CS boot. The LV is way too tight for my foot in that boot, and the HV is just too loose for how I want that boot to fit. The tongues make a very noticeable difference.

These are super interesting - from everything I can tell they will work in Striders. Am I right? If so, I might be grabbing a pair because those liners get packed out pretty fast, I felt like I was adding a bit of foam every other week last season.

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Originally Posted by DigSki

These are super interesting - from everything I can tell they will work in Striders. Am I right? If so, I might be grabbing a pair because those liners get packed out pretty fast, I felt like I was adding a bit of foam every other week last season.

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They will fit (Strider is the same shell as a Speedmachine) but you won't get a lot of ROM due to it being officially made for traditional alpine boots without walk modes. But it will definitely fit.

A lot of our athletes are tossing them in Hawx Ultra/Prime XTDs knowing that they sacrifice some touring mobility but gain everything for the down.

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Originally Posted by onenerdykid

They will fit (Strider is the same shell as a Speedmachine) but you won't get a lot of ROM due to it being officially made for traditional alpine boots without walk modes. But it will definitely fit.

A lot of our athletes are tossing them in Hawx Ultra/Prime XTDs knowing that they sacrifice some touring mobility but gain everything for the down.

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Great to know, thanks. Sacrificing some ROM for a better down is all good by me; will report back if (...when?) I pick some of these up.

Awesome. Thanks. Sounds like it is significantly different. Might give them a try.

The only experience I have with a foam liner is the Surefoot thing. They skied great, but were so ridiculously cold that I couldn't keep them on for more than a couple hours. I know several other people that had similar experiences.

Anyone have cold feet with these liners?

How much do they weigh compared to standard liners?

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Originally Posted by mr walker

The only experience I have with a foam liner is the Surefoot thing. They skied great, but were so ridiculously cold that I couldn't keep them on for more than a couple hours. I know several other people that had similar experiences.

Anyone have cold feet with these liners?

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My 2 cents - a traditional "bottle" foam liner uses rather hard foam that extends all the way up the foot, stopping just short of the stretch toe box. These liners are notorious for being cold because they basically surround the foot in cement, compress it so much that blood flow is impeded, and don't allow for toe room or a lot of air space to exist around the toes (dead air space is what keeps you warm). Whenever a liner does that, it's not a good recipe for warmth.

This liner is built in a much different way, where the PU foam essentially stops at the met heads allowing for toe room & air space. There's also a layer of neoprene surrounding the foot which traps a lot of body heat. In terms of warmth, I would put it on the same page as good alpine liner. I'm honestly a bit of baby when it comes to getting cold toes and I don't have any issues with Mimic Professional liners vs. a standard liner.

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Originally Posted by Lord Thomas

How much do they weigh compared to standard liners?

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About 150g heavier than a standard liner. It kind of depends on the foot and how much foam goes in, but in size 26/26.5 with stock insole:
Hawx Ultra Mimic Platinum = 423g
Hawx Ultra Mimic Professional = 575g (foamed, foam tubes removed)

Any downside to the pro boot vs standard other than cost? Looking at some hawx for inbounds to compliment my ultra xtds and not sure on which liner to get between the standard and pro as well as which last (ultra vs prime)

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Originally Posted by carlh

Any downside to the pro boot vs standard other than cost? Looking at some hawx for inbounds to compliment my ultra xtds and not sure on which liner to get between the standard and pro as well as which last (ultra vs prime)

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If you have an Ultra XTD (and it works for you), get the Ultra. They have the same last dimensions & geometry, 1:1 - that's honestly why we made them.


Men's complete Professional boot = 130 shell/cuff + Mimic Professional liner + Professional Dual Strap

In most markets, getting a complete standard 130 boot and then buying both the Mimic Professional liner and the Professional Dual Strap aftermarket is more expensive than buying the complete Professional boot.

I'd love to try them, but it sounds like 100mm is widest you currently have. I have a frankenfoot with 104-5 forefoot, high instep and narrow heel. Currently have to use Sportmachines due to width and forefoot height. Any chance you have something that can conquer this foot?

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Originally Posted by Bite Me

I'd love to try them, but it sounds like 100mm is widest you currently have. I have a frankenfoot with 104-5 forefoot, high instep and narrow heel. Currently have to use Sportmachines due to width and forefoot height. Any chance you have something that can conquer this foot?

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FWIW, my feet are 106mm wide with narrow heels and a size 24.5 Hawx Prime fits me will with very minor work (spot heating the forefoot area of the shell with a heat gun while wearing the boots).