We stock boots from about £200 up to around £500. Typically boots that are fitted with BOA® are a little more expensive than boots with a conventional lace. Generally, the more the boot costs, the more technically advanced the boot will be. High-end boots will normally have more support, better outsoles, superior liners and upgraded footbeds. More affordable boots will still get you down the mountain just fine, but they tend to be softer, less responsive and less supportive.

If you are a newer rider then you would benefit from buying a soft/medium flexing boot. When you are first getting to grips with snowboarding, you may be a little inconsistent with your turns. If you were to buy a stiff boot it would be really responsive. When you bend your knees and lean into the front of the boot, it will apply pressure through your bindings to engage the edge of your snowboard, a stiff boot will do this much quicker than a softer boot. It doesn't mean that as a newbie you can't buy a stiff boot, but it will be more responsive so you may have a steeper learning curve. A softer boot will be much more forgiving. Bare in mind, all boots will soften throughout their life, if you buy a really soft boot like the Vans Invado OG, it's going to be super soft in a few weeks of riding so you may get a little more life out of a medium flex boot.

Hotly debated, should you opt for a conventional laced boot or a BOA® boot? We get people asking us this question daily in the shop and my honest answer is that personally I'm not really bothered how they do up. Yes, a BOA® is quicker and undoubtedly more convenient, and quicker to adjust on the hill, but I've been doing snowboard laces up for over thirty years and I'm ok with that! That said, we are seeing a trend towards more people opting for BOA® boots over laced boots in recent years.

For me, fit is the most important factor and I would happily ride either the Thirtywo Lashed Lace or the Thirtytwo Lashed Double BOA®. The laced version is a little cheaper and I prefer the styling of a laced boot, so if I was pushed to choose, I would opt for the standard laced version.

The one thing I do recommend if you are considering buying a BOA® boot, is to buy a boot with a double (or dual) BOA® system rather than a boot with a single BOA®. Typically, a double BOA® boot will have one BOA®dial on the front that tightens the upper boot lace and one BOA® dial on the side that tightens the lower section of the boot. This allows you to adjust the two zones of the boot independently so that you can get the perfect fit. In contrast, a boot with a single BOA® will tighten the whole lace in one go, sometimes this isn't an issue, but if you a rider with a super large calf but a skinny foot then you're going to struggle!

What is Hybrid Lacing?

Hybrid is a combination of traditional lacing and BOA®. Typically, the main section of the boot is tightened with a lace and there is additional 'heel hold' provided by a BOA®. In the the case of the Salomon X Approach Lace SJ Boot, the SJ stands for 'Straight jacket' and this is an internal support that tightens over the top of ankle area to lock you firmly into the boot so you do not get any heel-lift (great for riders with skinny ankles!)

With the exception of Step On® most other boots & bindings on the market are compatible. Step On® boots will only work with Step On® bindings. All other makes tend to work together but It's important to choose the correct size of binding to fit your boot. All the bindings on our website have the sizing listed, so it's pretty easy to select a pair that will fit. Every modern binding has a certain amount of adjustability and you may need to extend/shorten binding straps or adjust the baseplate and / or heel cup for a better fit.

You should try on boots before you buy them. In fact, you should really try on a few pairs if you can so you can see what you prefer. If you're unable to drop in to see us, then we can try and help you remotely. Typically when you buy boots, you want to buy a boot that is your normal shoe size or perhaps a 1/2 size bigger but this depends on the brand and the style. If you have a 'wide' foot we do stock wider fitting boots like the Thirtytwo TM-2 BOA Wide, Burton Highshot X Step On® Wide and the Salomon Dialogue Dual BOA Wide. The boot shell on these models is the same as the regular width version of these boots but the liners have been produced to have more available width.

In short yes, all snowboard boots will take on the shape of your foot, some boots mould better than others, and we find that boots that use 'Intuition' foam in their liners, like Thirtytwo and Ride snowboard boots will mould quicker and easier than other snowboard boot brands.

We have heat-moulding machines here at The Snowboard Shop that we can use to dial in the fit for you and which will help speed up the breaking in process. We don't always mould boots in the shop, personally I am of the opinion that if the boot fits you great straight out of the box, then just wear them around the house and let the heat of your foot naturally break them in. If you do buy boots from us, we can mould them for you at no additional charge*. If you have bought boots elsewhere and would like us to mould them for you we charge £35. Please book in advance if you'd like us to do this for you.

*The only boots that we stock that we do not mould are the Union Reset Pro as these feature a TrueFoam™ Technology liner that should not be put on the moulding machines.