I visited a busy sport store in Vancouver today, aptly named "Sports Junkies" http://sportsjunkies.com/.
Of course I could be accused of being a “Sports Junky” myself as a water/snow skier - turned boarder, a surfer who is a swimmer & cyclist that loves to run after. Even a hockey player who swings a tennis racquet or golf club from time to time in the off-season. You won’t see me pass up a good soccer match either!
Seriously though, I was at “Sports Junkies” to a) Try some Full Tilt ski boots and b) Talk to the owners to see if they had considered offering Intuition liners - especially now that we have stock available on fluidmotionsports.com at a great price.
The initial reaction to the idea was lukewarm, because they immediately imagined the fitting service being a challenge. With most heat fit liners you need some sort of molding process to be done in store that is going to take forever with lines of impatient customers getting deeper by the minute. However, with Intuition Liners customers can mold their own liners from the comfort of their own home in most cases. They went on to say "If the Intuition liner is already in the boot, the customer seems very happy to have that". Yet added "if the boot doesn't have an Intuition liner, they won't want to change it".
I said well that makes perfect sense because they wouldn't know the difference - the Intuition liner chemistry is something that has to be experienced. One friend will tell another. In some cases it can take a bit more time in molding and fitting to get to where you want to be. To me the extra time in customization is what sets these liners apart from the rest giving a truly unique feel.
To illustrate how Intuition's materials technology is good for athletes, I mentioned that many of the recent world and national water-ski records were set using Intuition liners. Also that the use of Intuition liners at the pro and competitive level is very high. Their eyes widened a bit and I would even say they were a little shocked to hear that.
For the masses of snow skiers and boarders that take to mountains, there are no competitive benchmarks to compare. You nearly have to rely on testimony, temperature and weight. Intuition liners are warmer and lighter than traditional counterparts. The foam chemistry that is unique to Intuition distributes force and absorbs unwanted noise and vibration (NVH in the automotive world). This means the athlete is in a better space to perform the task at hand whether it be skiing, boarding or water-skiing.
I nearly forgot about hockey playing. Yes, I gutted my Bauer Curv (tm) and carbon composite skates so that they would accommodate an Intuition liner. My skates carried me far beyond what I could have ever imagined in the sport of hockey all thanks to my Intuition Liners. While my fellow players were complaining of sore feet and tongue bite I was warm and comfortable in my custom liners.
For today, while I was thoroughly impressed with Full Tilt's boots http://en-ca.fulltiltboots.com/, I didn't get a pair as my size was not in stock. I didn't leave empty handed as I got a pair of seriously good skates for my son, who is growing by the hour.
With 60cm of fresh snow @ Whistler, there is already a buzz happening around town. See all you sports junkies at the hill, rink, pool, lake, beach or maybe out on the road - depending on the weather of course!
