Vans Infuse Snowboard Boots Review

Hello and welcome to my Vans Infuse Snowboard Boots review .

In this review I will take a look at the Infuse as all-mountain snowboard boots.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Infuse a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compare with other all-mountain boots.

Overall Rating

Boots: Vans Infuse

Price: $369 (USD recommended retail)

Style: All-Mountain

Flex Rating: Medium to Stiff (6-9/10)*

Flex Feel: Medium-Stiff – 7/10 (6/10 to 8/10)*

Rating Score: 90.8/100

*Because the Infuse comes with removable tongue stiffeners, the flex varies depending on whether you have those in or not

Compared to other Men’s All-Mountain Boots

Out of the 26 men’s all-mountain boots that I rated:

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Infuse are capable of.

Demo Info

Boots: Vans Infuse 2018

Size: 10 (Mondo 28.0cm)

Outersole Length of Boot: 30.3cm

My Left Foot: 27.3cm

My Right Foot: 27.0cm

Foot Width: D – aka “normal” (4″ wide)

Arches: Flat left foot. Semi-flat right foot.

Date: Multiple dates. I own these boots.

Conditions: All sorts of conditions from hard/icy days to powder days.

Fit: The Infuse fit me very well. Though I did have to get them heat molded. I wore them for a while without heat molding but they didn’t naturally heat mold to a point I was comfortable with. They still felt like new boots after good few days riding them (i.e. uncomfortably snug) but once I had them heat molded they now have the perfect fit for my feet/ankles/calves.

Flex

The Infuse comes with 4 tongue stiffeners. 2 for each boot. Without any of those tongue stiffeners in there, they feel like a 6/10 flex. Vans rate them as being from 5/10 to 9/10, but they don’t feel as soft as a 5/10 to me, without any tongue stiffeners. With all 4 stiffeners in place, they feel like an 8/10. Again, Vans says up to 9/10, but they don’t quite feel that stiff to me with all 4 in place. You can just put 1 in per boot too – which I’m guessing would translate to roughly 7/10 – though I haven’t tried this yet.

Responsiveness

The Infuse respond as you would expect them to. A little more response when you add the tongue stiffeners and a little less when you remove them. A little more playful and surfy when you remove them too. Also you can adjust that feel with the power strap. When you really tighten that done, in addition to adding in the tongue stiffeners you can get a very locked in, supportive feel with great response, especially at high speeds. But you can get a more casual, surfy feel by adjusting them.

They have an articulated cuff. Which is nice in terms of not getting shell distortion but I also prefer the feel of an articulated cuff.

Let’s Break this Text Up With A Video

Board Feel

They have some pretty significant soles with plenty of dampening and some good tread for traction. This limits their board feel. They don’t feel like very flat/thin soled boots when it comes to board feel. But they’re not designed for that kind of feel either in my book. These boots are more for a responsive, damp kind of ride – not a playful, loose freestyle kind of ride.

They’re still good for the park in terms of jumps and certainly for bigger features, but aren’t like a skate like feeling boot.

Heel Hold

I found that you could get a really good lock down of the heel in these boots. And the Boa part of these boots really helps there. It basically acts as a pull down on your heel as well as addition ankle support. I wouldn’t say they’re most heel locking boot I’ve ridden in, but they’re pretty darn close and all I would ever want/need.

Adjustability

These are one of the most adjustable boots I’ve come across.

You get the advantages of traditional lacing with the locking down capabilities of boa. You can adjust upper and lower separately and you can have great control over your ankle support and heel lock down.

Then there’s the power strap which gives you the ability to control how tight you have the boot at the very top and around the calves. You can leave this undone or you can get it really quite tight – tighter than I’m able to with the laces alone.

And on top of all of that you have the tongue stiffeners which allow you to adjust the flex (see flex section above for more details).

The only thing that I take off half a point for is the fact there isn’t much difference between essentially leaving the lower section laces as loose as possible and having them tight. But other than that, these bad boys are super adjustable for that custom fit.

Comfort

These boots are very comfortable. I found they took a bit to wear in compared to some other boots. But that’s often the case with stiffer boots. These boots are very sturdy and feel really high quality. I would recommend getting these heat molded rather than trying to naturally heat mold them by riding – just because I feel it takes a while that way with these boots.

But once they were heat molded they are super comfortable.

The only thing really that takes a little away from that comfort, apart from taking a while to wear in, is that they are quite heavy. Again this is something that’s often the case with stiffer boots. But still, if they were lighter, they’d be even more comfortable.

The liner is really plush and super comfortable, as is the footbed. Sometimes with cheaper boots you really need to add a custom footbed. With these that footbed is really nice as it is.

Shock absorption

The Infuse have a really good amount of cushioning in the sole. On top of that the footbed, as mentioned above, is really nice and adds to those dampening features. Overall, they absorb shock and chatter very well.

Traction

The Infuse have a quality sole that provides good traction. Like pretty much every part of this boot, there are no weak areas and the construction just feels (and performs) high quality.

Reduced Footprint

With an outersole length just 2.3cm longer than the Mondo of the boot, the Infuse (and all Vans boots) have one of the most reduced outersoles that I’ve measured. Only Adidas boots are shorter, in my experience.

They don’t have a huge amount of bevel compared to some other boots, but there’s certainly some toe bevel and overall are a very reduced outersole.

Changes from the 2018 Model

As far as I can tell the 2019 model are the same as the 2018 model but just in a different colorway.