Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

Chapter 1573... a beginner's view.

The Excursion and T4 are often mentioned in same sentence as though they are similar. They aren't. The Excursion is "modeless" (it has no "ski" mode), much softer fore/aft, feels like a bedroom slipper compared to the T4. In ski mode, the T4 feels like a miniature T2. In walk mode, it still feels stiff. The Excursion feels like it would be too floppy, but in fact (I was assured) skis fine since it has excellent lateral support.

Anyone interested in a light 2 buckle tele boot should, in my humble beginner's opinion, attempt to try on both.

For me, putting my feet in Excursions was a light bulb moment, so I bought 'em. And they do in fact ski well (a lot better than I do, lol). So far, so good, except for the criminally shitty OEM "footbed", useful only as a trimming template for a real footbed.

You shouldn't ever expect to use the footbed that comes with any boot. With how much individual feet vary, there's no point to boot makers investing any money in a 'decent' footbed, as it would only work for a small minority of users. Always pull the factory footbed and replace with something that fits your foot, be it Superfeet like insoles or full custom orthotics.

The footbed issue would not be nearly so aggravating if I could figure out what to buy (at a quasi-reasonable price).

I have a very normal, medium width, medium arch foot. Can anyone make a recommendation?

Green Superfeet insoles are my go-to, and my foot is about as average as they come (medium width, normal arch, etc.). They work fine in tele boots as the semi-rigid portion of the insole is all behind the bellows. They're pretty inexpensive but have good support. Just trim it to fit. There's a few other colors of Super-feet (blue, black, etc.) that are for different things, so just pick the one that matches your needs. You should be able to get them at any ski shop (never seen one that doesn't stock them) or likely at sporting goods stores.

I think another brand is Sole, but don't know much about them, and I think they're a little pricier.

Check out the Superfeet insoles (I use the green ones).
https://www.superfeet.com

(another vote for the superfeets, the previous poster beat me to the button

Off-the-shelf Superfeet screwed my feet up for a season when I bought ones with arches that were too high to match my feet. Be sure to get the right ones for you.

Thanks for replies... $50 for off the shelf insoles... bloody hell. I'm working way too cheap.

woodchuck wrote:Thanks for replies... $50 for off the shelf insoles... bloody hell. I'm working way too cheap.

I hear you, but FWIW, I've had my superfeet insoles for 3 full seasons (60+ days/season in those boots) and they are still as good as the've always been, so over the long term, they aren't THAT bad...and I really REALLY like what they did to my Excursions!

woodchuck wrote:Chapter 1573... a beginner's view.

The Excursion and T4 are often mentioned in same sentence as though they are similar. They aren't. The Excursion is "modeless" (it has no "ski" mode), much softer fore/aft, feels like a bedroom slipper compared to the T4. In ski mode, the T4 feels like a miniature T2. In walk mode, it still feels stiff. The Excursion feels like it would be too floppy, but in fact (I was assured) skis fine since it has excellent lateral support.

Anyone interested in a light 2 buckle tele boot should, in my humble beginner's opinion, attempt to try on both.

For me, putting my feet in Excursions was a light bulb moment, so I bought 'em. And they do in fact ski well (a lot better than I do, lol). So far, so good, except for the criminally shitty OEM "footbed", useful only as a trimming template for a real footbed.

I think that the Excursion and T4 are mentioned together because they are both at the "distance" end of the capital "T" Telemark spectrum.

They are different boots- the T4 offering more downhill stability and power- the Excursion offering a softer flex.

This difference is precisely why I actually prefer the T4- if I am going to sacrifice XC kick and glide performance for some downhill power- I want more than the Excursion offers.

In my limited experience if I want more XC flexibility I prefer being in a leather boot over the Excursion.

That being said- a lot of it comes down to best fit- both of these boots are close enough that I would personally choose one over the other based on fit.