Will a 90 flex-flex rated ski boot be stiff enought to push a hardcore racing ski?

Question

No career, just like to go really fast. My B2's are OK, but a bit big for what I want to do on crappy snow days. Thanks for the info. I ski Solomon boots. What kind of scale do they use?

Answer 1

Really depends on the brand. There is no standard flex rating that all the manufacturers use so a 90 flex Lange won't be the same as a 90 flex Atomic.  Best bet is to contact the company rep. about this.

Langes use a 100 scale and Atomics a 140, so a 90 Lange would be stiffer than a 90 Atomic.

All that said, I'm sure that a 90 flex would work fine unless you're living off a racing career.

Salomon uses a 120 flex scale. So your 90's are great all-mountain boots, stiff enough for downhill speed and forgiving enough for a mogul field.

Answer 2

This will depend on your size, weight and strength.   This is because your size/weight/strength will determine what size of "racing" skis you get, and ski flex is proportional to length (that is, for a given model of ski the longer ones will be built proportionally stiffer).  Curiously, this is typically not-the-case when it comes to ski boots (that is, for a given model of boot the bigger ones won't be much stiffer than the smaller ones).  It is a common fact that bootfitters will fit softer-flexing boots to lighter skiers of the same ability level as a heavier skier, who might be fitted with harder-flexing boots.

There is also the issue of "hardcore racing ski".  Chances are, you are not buying a "hardcore racing ski".  I would say with 95% certainty that you are buying a "consumer racing ski", which are built to look like the racing skis the pros and serious racers use.  This is not to say that they suck.  By no means.  It's just that real "hardcore racing skis" are 1) known as "race-room stock"; 2) are hand-built in small batches in a facility apart from normal manufacturing facilities; 3) usually involve none of the gimmicks and technological features advertised on catalogs...  in fact, they are of a very traditional construction and old-tech; 4) are only available completely flat and require you to add in your own racing plates, not to mention bindings; 5) are only available through ski teams, clubs and racing organizations; 6) and are nearly unskiable by an average skier, requires the full attention of an expert skier, and is generally no good except for racing.

So you're probably getting consumer racing skis.  Atomic offers two levels: "red" (GS12, SL12) and "blue" (LT12, ST12).  The red are targeted toward heavier/stronger skiers (expert men), while the blue are targeted toward lighter/weaker skiers (expert women or lighter men).  Your 90-flex boots will probably be just fine with the "blue" level.