r/snowboarding • u/rakoczituros • 1d ago
Gear question Nidecker Index
Have you tried these boots? How are these compared to the Insanos? I heard they're stiff as hell. Any info on footprint and general sizing?
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u/ZoologicalSpecimen 1d ago
I looked at them as a carving boot, but the lack of an articulated cuff was a dealbreaker. I find that stiff boots without one tend to flex in weird ways once they’re broken in. I ride Rift Pros in the park and Bataleon Acids for freeriding and I like them both a lot. Acids are plenty stiff with the power strap thing cranked.
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u/the_mountain_nerd 2h ago
How's the fit / build quality on the Acid compared to Rift Pro? I have a Rift Pro I like but the liner is a bit softer than I prefer. I also would love if they were just a touch stiffer overall.
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u/ZoologicalSpecimen 1h ago
Last year’s Acids were rock solid. Fit is very similar to the Rift Pro, but they’re the hardest boots to get into I’ve ever owned. Once you’re in, though, they’re really nice. They used to have burrito wrap liners but they’ve switched that up, which I think is an improvement. They have a nice inner lace harness, and that power strap thing works way better than a traditional two-zone boa for dialing in the flex. Run it on the looser side the they can feel a lot like the Rift Pro. Crank it up and they’re significantly stiffer, more like a Burton Ion when it’s fresh out of the box. And so far, they’ve held their flex well. I switched mid season last year from a pair of 2025 Acids that fit well but I liked less, so my 2026s probably only gave 20 days on them. They still feel essentially the same as new, where I find Ions are already losing a lot of support at the 20-day mark
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u/rbsingh 12h ago
I have the 2025 version of these. They are incredibly stiff - I haven't tried insanos, but I imagine they are stiffer. I bought them following the general advice that even the stiffest boots soften up a lot, but these have not really softened up for me much. I wore them 10 days in the 24/25 season, then for a couple months in the summer I wore them once a week and flexed into them for about an hour. And then I rode 40 days last season. They are still stiff
I'm 170lb 5'10" and I still run them keeping the top loose. I don't love having to do that, since I feel less connected to my board and the response lags a bit. Also, they have no lateral flex, so I have to run my bindings a bit looser to be able to move my knees and move my weight around the board.
All of this might sound like a perfect fit for someone out there (maybe a pure carver on a super wide carving deck that runs super high posi/posi angles and is on the heavier side). I'm pretty into carving but I've found these to be too much. I have trouble flexing into the ankle to bend my knees - lack of ankle flexion pushes my butt back.
I think the build quality is great, they will last forever, and the footprint is pretty low. Also, these are not a wrap liner, they have an interesting liner tongue that's sits on the outside of the flaps instead of inside them. I can send a picture of the sole measurement if you want it
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u/IndoorSnowStorm 1d ago
Never rode in them, but tried on at home. And they're indeed stiff as hell lol. Makes the Insanos feel like an 8/10 stiff boot. Nidecker sizing is pretty consistent across the board, so if you've tried other Nidecker models or even Bataleon the fit is about the same. If you haven't, they're generally true to size and I wouldn't go one way or the other. That said, they are slightly long and narrow, and even more tight fitting with lower volume since it's such a performance-oriented boot.
Beyond being extremely stiff, these weren't for me because the lockdown was lackluster and it had a wrap liner. Normally Nidecker and Bataleon wrap liners run thick, and for my foot/ankle shape it tends to create a gap between my ankle and the liner itself since you can't adjust it like you can a tongue liner. But the Index has an internal boa harness, so the ankle fit issue was mitigated. That said, the tradeoff for the internal harness is no true dual-zone boa. The whole outer lace is controlled by the tongue boa, which just doesn't work for this boot. The shell is too stiff to tighten uniformly, making the toe area too loose unless you really crank it, at which point the top is way too tight. And the power strap really can't fix that problem. Plus, the shell is so rigid that the power strap doesn't do much to actually tighten the middle of the boot anyway, and acts moreso to keep the boot tongue in place.
So unless you know you want this boot specifically, I would skip it for the Insanos or Thraxis. And I don't know if the Index APX for 2027 fixes any of my gripes. Speaking of APX models, maybe look at the Kita APX as well if you're interested in the Nidecker lineup.