How wrong is my ski/binding/boot setup

[phoenix]

T2's are famous for "rocker launch", or the built in lifted toe. Feels a little funky, as you describe, but still perfectly skiable.
I have at times felt one boot flexed easier than another (both in T1's and T2's). Had a long conversation with Scarpa service guy who was pretty certain the difference is in my anatomy or technique, as the level of consistency on boot production is quite reliable.

Back to the rocker launch... some folks have benefited from installing a Voile wedge under the toepiece of your binding, if it will accept one.

[FourthCoast]

Hi phoenix. Thanks for the response. It feels strange, but the whole free heel feel is a little strange to me still. It is hard to know what is 'right'. The rocker launch doesn't really bother me. It actually feels good to have a little spring from the heel when I am striding on flat ground. If I am not distorting the shape is the ski then I am happy with my current setup.

I still wonder how I will know when a boot is warn past it's useful life. I guess maybe I will know it when I see it.

Thanks again.

[teleclub]

Hi phoenix. Thanks for the response. It feels strange, but the whole free heel feel is a little strange to me still. It is hard to know what is 'right'. The rocker launch doesn't really bother me. It actually feels good to have a little spring from the heel when I am striding on flat ground. If I am not distorting the shape is the ski then I am happy with my current setup.

I still wonder how I will know when a boot is warn past it's useful life. I guess maybe I will know it when I see it.
...

It's really hard to wear out a boot like that if not using the pin holes. I still have my first Gen 2 T2 just like that. Then inner boot is much more likley to be too worn and packed out before the three pebax components of the boot (base shell, cuff, and tongue). Even then, you'd restore the full boot function by replacing the inner boot wth ligher moldable new inners. Worth considering anyway if there's any interest.

Pin holes wear out, and sometimes a pin binding has fatigued and broken off the front edge of the duckbill that holds the pinholes. In such a case, you just get a cable telebinding and chances are the truncated toe piece still fits and works and skis fine. We used to sometimes trim tele boots like this for better approach hiking, anyway.

Sometimes a boot like that T2 can get worn out from rough climbing sections on rocks during mixed terrain BC approaches. That kind of wear is obvious as you do it though. More likely wear points or a T2 would be wear on the part of the boot held in the tele binding toe piece--those have to be specific angles and widths. If they're getting ground away by a binding then eventually the toe piece will flop side to side in the toe piece. If the boot toe edges get ragged, then I can see discarding the boot at that point. Buckle mounts can also burst and no longer function. Repairable but unless I were in the field, I might not bother.

That rocker curve shape must increase a bit over time, but we tend not to think of it as wearing out the boot. If rocker launch bothers you then you might be sensitive to an increase but it sounds like it doesn't--it doesn't bother me either. Like you mention, it can give you a spring in your step for kick-glide. And rocker launch helps keep your tips up in deep powder. If rocker launch had ever started bothering me I would have just added wedges.

I've mentioned this story before, but for a lightweight smaller person, vintage pebax Scarpa rocker launch can be a problem: I was teaching my (new) wife to tele 25 years ago (on our honeymoon!) and she had been making steady tele progress on her 1-buckle Asolo Extremes. (She was not a skier at all before I started teaching.) We found a NOS pair of black T1 size 4.5 that fit her perfectly and I couldn't figure out why her skiing progress seemed to stall for a couple resort days. Just out of curiosity I asked her to get into her boots/skis/Riva 2 bindings on the indoor carpet and she stood there, full weight on her skis-- her boot heels hovered half an inch above the heel pieces. Arg! She could only get a heel to touch heel piece by putting all her weight on one boot. I immediately left and got to the ski shop before closing to pick up Voile wedges for bindings just in time for the next day's trip. Next day she said, "Oh THIS is how it's supposed to feel!" She had been dealing with rocker launch throwing her over the ski tips the whole time she'd been on the T1s!

[turnfarmer]

Agree on the rocker launch problem. I'm no lightweight and it bothers me. Voile wedges to the rescue.
If you can't find a pair you can try this-
https://www.shapeways.com/product/CBAKH ... 2&li=shops