VANS V 66 SNOWBOARD BOOTS REVIEW
Price: £200
Flex: 4
Sizes: 6-14
Lacing system: Laces
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of Vans’ first snowboard boots. To celebrate, they’ve produced this special edition of the V 66, a boot which itself commemorates the year in which the Van Doren brothers founded the skate shoe company. In terms of styling, this model (and indeed the rest of this year’s V 66 range) is all about riffing off Vans skate heritage. There’s the prominent ‘V’ logo down the side, white sole with a black stripe, the ‘Off The Wall’ logo on the tongue and in this version a “hidden chequerboard watermark”. All pretty cool and classy.
In terms of performance, this is a freestyler’s boot, with a relatively soft, forgiving flex. The classic laces have been pimped up with a new innovation that Vans call the ‘tongue lock down’ which pulls the tongue closer to the joint of your ankle as you tighten the laces, helping to eliminate heel lift. Vans highest end ‘Quadfit X’ liner, with a built in ankle harness also serves to keep your heels locked in, so these need minimal adjustment throughout the day. The ‘V3 footbed’ features different types of EVA at different points along its length to help you soak up heavy landings. To ride, these feel easy and fun, rather than rigid and responsive. There’s enough support from the tongue and backstay so that you’re not going to struggle with speeds, but these felt more comfortable buttering around in the slush than they did straight-lining down chopped up pistes. General consensus amongst our test team was that these would be excellent for anyone with even a passing interest in freestyle, from an intermediate level upwards. They’re versatile, comfy and a great tribute to 20 years of making great boots.
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