
THE
WORLD’S MOST POPULAR 3 PIECE BOOT DESIGN FOR OVER
20 YEARS
Full Tilt acquired the original molds, tested every
feature, kept what worked, then added some of today’s
most advanced technology to make them work even better.
The revolution in 3 piece boot design started here,
and now continues from here . . . For the good of skiing.
Team Riders
- Seth Morrison
- Scott Schmidt (Extreme adventure skiing legend)
- Jamie Pierre
- Bryce Phillips
- Kristi Richards
- We actually don’t pay anyone to ride our boots.
The pros you see on Full Tilt, ride them because they
know it’s the product that gives them the necessary
advantage over people that ride conventional overlap
boots.
BUMBLE
BEE
The Bumble Bee is the go anywhere, ski anything, aggressive,
high-performance boot that makes versatility an understatement.
Features: Single Density Medium Tongue
Medium flex for high performance versatility Bumble
Bee Intuition Liner
High performance heel hold down & power transfer
Classic Colors
Matches the classic model colors of the original model
Liner Construction:
Aegis® Microbe Shield® - keeps your boots
from smelling
4mm Open Cell - Conforms quick and easy to your foot
2mm Super Soft - Softer cross linked EVA for ease
of entry
7mm High Density - Firm cross linked EVA transfers
power to shell
FULL FLEX TONGUE
Ribbed external tongue independent of shell
• No dead spots or distortion while flexing
for superior control & fit
• Progressively flexes with your ankle and leg
to help you absorb terrain and big landings
• Easiest and quickest to get in and out of
BUCKLES
Cable buckle system works with Tongue to eliminate
dead spots & ensure a natural progressive forward
flex
• On-the-go, one handed micro adjustment
• Tool-less macro adjustment
• Supersized 1½” wide powerstrap
LOW RIDE SOLE
Lowest height & least ramp angle of any boot
• Optimal athletic position (you don’t
play basketball in high heels)
• Enhanced feel of the snow
RIGID CUFF
Stiffest “production model” in the world
in lateral and rear direction
• Improves ease of carving by rolling ski over,
not sliding
• Extreme power transfer & responsiveness
edge to edge
LIGHT WEIGHT SHELL
Uniform wall thickness in flex zones
• Lightest boot in the world (pair is up to
2lbs lighter than other boots)
• Enhanced feel of the snow
SIZING
One shell for every 2 sizes (others use 1 shell every
3 sizes)
• Every full foot size has its own mold for
a closer shell fit
(other’s fill with liner foam)
• Best foot to shell responsiveness
ACCESSORIES & CUSTOMIZATION
All parts are available for sale separately
• Virtually unlimited interchangeability and
enhancement options
• Customizable performance & looks controlled
by you
FT INTUITION LINERS
Intuition patented liners engineered by Full Tilt
• Intuition liner with Patented, Ultralon cross
linked EVA foam that doesn’t break down
• Pre-lasted in the actual boot per size for
the best possible fit (1st of its kind)
• One-of-a-kind multi density layering, engineered
for each skier’s ability, comfort & performance
• Antimicrobial coating so you’re bros
stop complaining about your smelly boots
• Lightest high performance liner that will
not break down
• Optional custom heat moldable fit in 15 minutes
If you purchase one pair of boots and they do not
fit you may return them unused for another size or
a full refund. All returns must be initiated within
10 days of receiving the product, unused.
Not sure what size to order? Whatever shoe
size you wear is what you want to order. Some customers
will order a half size larger so they have room for
ski socks. For whatever reason they don't fit, just
send them back within 30 days unused and you will
get a full refund or exchange for the correct size.
You can also get your foot measured
at a ski shop and then buy from us to avoid sales
tax and get free shipping
Price is for 1 pair.
THIS IS THE STORY OF THE ORIGINAL 3-PIECE BOOT.
Throughout the early 70’s a smart guy by the
name of Eric Giese had worked for NASA in the days
of early space suits for the first landings on the
moon. The big problem in space suits is they had cooling,
heating and electric lines running throughout the
suit and as the astronauts did space walks they had
a big problem with them kinking and getting crimped
when people tried to walk with their knees and ankles
flexing. The solution was articulating hinges which
had ribs to allow flex in the ankles, knees and elbows
to preserve the shape of the suit around the joint.
In 1978/79 living in Aspen, Eric applied this concept
to skiing. He independently developed some very unique
boot design concepts that included a floating ribbed
tongue instead of an overlap. His goal was to enable
the boot to flex without bulging/distorting in the
lower shell. This was the largest single problem of
the day, especially since ski boots at the time had
no ankle hinge. The ankle is of course a critical
area of fit where any distortion would immediately
causes a loss of control. This is how the ribs of
the original Raichle flexon tongue were conceived.
Eric then approached the US distributor of Raichle
and presented his concept with a rough prototype.
The US distributor saw the potential of the design
and brought Eric and his boot to Switzerland, Raichle
world headquarters. They had a large meeting including
people from the US distribution, and the President
of Raichle Switzerland, Heinz Herzog and many others
in the company. They debated whether they should go
ahead with the project. The Swiss felt it was too
radical, too different looking, knowing they are a
conservative company. Finally in a last ditch effort,
Eric put one of their existing boots on one foot and
his prototype on the other and jumped up on the conference
room table. He flexed them both and their boot bulged
out, looking horrible. He then said something to the
effect of, “Guys, you need to decide what you
want, do you want this or this?!” The decision
was obvious.
In 1979, ten years after the first moon walk, the
first 3-Piece boot prototype was built by Raichle.
After many different prototypes it was brought to
market during the winter of ‘80/’81. This
flexibility with direct force path function concept,
was later named the Flexon Concept and ultimately
this first boot was named the Flexon 5, and later
the Flexon Comp.
One of the first pro ski racers and freestylers to
compete in the boot was Billy Shaw on a prototype
in ‘79/’80 and hot dog freestyle skier
Peter Ouellette. The boots quickly caught on and became
one of the top boots of choice by Olympic racers and
freestylers. There was later the legendary Bill Johnston
who won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympic downhill
as well as Nelson Carmichael who dominated mogul comps
throughout the late 80’s.
The Raichle boots at the time had been manufactured
in an old World War II style factory on the border
of Germany. In 1983, Raichle built a new modern factory
on other side of town in Switzerland. As the new factory
got up and running, the president of Raichle who privately
owned the company suddenly sold it to a man that came
into the picture out of nowhere named Peter Werhan.
Peter was actually the grandson of Konrad Adenauer,
the chancellor of Germany. Prior to this, he had married
a Swiss woman named Beatris and lived in Switzerland.
Peter and his family loved skiing, which made his
new acquisition the perfect blend of work and play.
Peter lived the sport of skiing and was very charismatic
and enthusiastically ran the company well. Sales grew
at an alarming rate world wide to the point of barely
being able to keep up with production. The boot was
on the podiums of Olympic and world cup race and freestyle
competitions internationally with no other boot able
to match its performance due to the strong patents
Raichle held.
In the late 80’s, only a few years into running
the business, Peter was driving home from the factory
and died in an unfortunate car accident with his secretary
in the car. Peter’s wife immediately inherited
the company and took over running it. It was never
the same after that and by 1996 the business was on
the verge of bankruptcy.
It was then that Raichle was purchased by a Swiss
banker Dr. Grosnick who was in the business of buying
companies in distress and reorganizing them to become
profitable. Dr. Grosnick also purchased Kneissl skis
shortly after. As successful as the boot was, because
the Flexon boot molds & design went unchanged
for so many years, it was natural human instinct to
try to end the boot and create a newer, latest and
greatest version. They knew the 3-Piece concept worked
and over the years attempted to make newer versions.
They made wider, higher volume versions and lower
priced versions but none ever delivered the performance
of the original. What they didn’t realize is
that they already had, quite literally the greatest
boot ever and no matter how many new and changed versions
they made, the skiers would always came back asking
for the original.
In 1999 Dr. Grosnick insisted that the Kneissl brand
offer a boot and made the rash decision of re-naming
all Raichle boots to Kneissl branded boots. The company
didn’t do as well as anticipated and was sold
a year and a half later to the parent company of Roces.
From there the molds were bought and sold and passed
around without much being done with them. All the
while it maintained a stronger core following of skiers
addicted to its performance. These pro athletes had
built their careers on this boot as well as thousands
of skiers like you that also couldn’t give them
up. Everyone was suddenly forced to search for parts
and boots on Ebay and scrounged ski swaps to keep
them on their feet.
We’re boot fitters, and we know better than
anyone that something had to be done. We took it upon
ourselves to go back and search out the original molds
and bring it back to life not in some new and distorted
form, but in the original construction and design
that had been proven over the past 25 years to be
the most popular 3-Piece design in the world. We purchased
the original molds tested every feature, kept what
worked, then added some of today’s most advanced
technology to make them work even better, never stopping
until we were skiing them again. We hope you enjoy
these boots as much as we enjoy bringing them back
to life. The revolution in 3 piece boot design started
here, and will now continue from here . . . For the
good of skiing.
Special thanks to all of the original pioneers of
this 3-Piece boot design, and the people, brands,
shops, companies and skiers that kept it alive even
when it was no longer available. If you’ve got
an interesting piece of this boot’s history,
please send it and we’ll consider including
it.
Enjoy!
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