ThirtyTwo TM-2 Lace Snowboard Boot Review

An In Depth Breakdown of the ThirtyTwo TM-2 Lace Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

How It Was Tested:

Precious Good Ride dollars were spent to buy this and review it.
Size: 9 US Regular and Wide
Days:5
Conditions:  and an early morning slackountry time with Drift Boards & Union Rovers
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Davey (Size 12, 240lbs, 6’4”)
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline Fase 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

Bindings:

Union Force, Union Atlas Step On

Boards:

Gnu Antigravity, Lib Tech Dynamo, Yes Greats, and a few others

Similar (but not the same) Boots:

Nitro Team BOA, Nitro Team TLS, Nitro Team Lace, Nidecker Rift Pro, Bataleon Salsa BOA,  Ride Torrent, Ride Fuse, Ride Deadbolt,Vans Infuse

Ethics Statement

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Weight

When it comes to weight, both of these are 2 pounds. Whether you get BOA or traditional lace. In comparison to 2 pounds with my Fuse. And the Nitro Team is 2.2 pounds. I don’t usually see much lighter than 1.8 pounds, and I don’t see much heavier than 2.4 pounds.

Sizing

James’ Foot Specs

Foot Size: 9 US
Foot Width: E
Arch Length: Right 9.5 and Left 9
Instep: (left and Right) 10.5”
Calf Circumference:
Top of boot 17”
Bottom of boot 12”

When it comes to sizing, the ThirtyTwo TM-2 Lace and BOA fit my size-nine boots really well in length. They might be a touch on the smaller side. I forgot to mention that in the BOA review, but they’re probably only a quarter size small, so when these pack out, they’re going to fit perfectly.

When it comes to width, these run very narrow. They were too tight on the sides.

My Ride Fuse boots were a little narrow for me at first, but after a good heat mold, I pressed out the denser sides, which gave me relief.

I also tried the TM-2 lace wide and the TM-2 double BOA wide. Those were a bit too wide for me, but they were comfortable day one. My feet didn’t go to sleep; they just had a lot more space on either side. All of them have a narrower toe box, even the wides, which is a shame, as I would have gone for the wides if they had a wider toe box.

The Nitro Teams are narrow in the Toe box as well, but not as narrow as the TM-2’s. The rest of the boot is a good bit wider, and it fits my E-width feet really well.

Adjustability/Lacing System

Nothing beats traditional lace for adjustability. I also love that these are a shorter lace, so they don’t go everywhere. My Ride Fuse has really long laces. I even had to double-tie this up top.

I do like the rungs of these just as much as I like the rungs on the TM-2s. They hold really securely and firmly, and they snap in, so you can adjust the bottom to whatever tightness you want. Then, for each rung, you can adjust it accordingly compared to the double BOA; you have one for the upper and one for the lower, which I love, but it’s not quite as good as this. This is the pinnacle of adjustability.

If you need heel hold, I found that my Ride Fuse was better because the BOA controls this area inside your boot and really wraps around your heel to hold it secure. One thing that’s cool, though, is you have these inserts, a thin one and a thick one. You put them in here, and they really tighten up your heel. And that might do the trick for most.

On & Off

Another thing that’s interesting when it comes to getting the TM-2s on and off: I found the traditional lace was faster than my Ride Fuse. Not anywhere near as fast as the Team TLS that you just pull. It’s really fast on, but I would say the BOA is about the same, or just a touch faster than traditional lace, putting them on. It takes a long time to twist these. You have to do that on the upper and lower.

But when it comes to getting these off, the TM-2 is much faster than the traditional lace TM-2. So don’t be afraid of the lace. especially if you want adjustability and reliability, If you break a BOA, you can use Strap-Ins straps to hold your boot together to fiish your day. But then, after the day is over, you have to put this in the shop or send it back to ThirtyTwo for repair. With these, you just get a new lace, and it’s done. Same with these. This BOA breaks. You can still live and ride. With the Team TLS. If this breaks, you can just put traditional laces through it and not have the quick-release.

Flex & Response

Now, when it comes to flex and response, I would say the TM-2’s definitely feel medium-stiff. It doesn’t quite feel as stiff on snow. The Ride Fuse is much more broken in, but it still retains a lot of its flex. After a lot of days, it held up really well. But they’re very similar in flex. With the Nitro Team, this is very stiff as well. But these have a good response. The Team and Fuse were more responsive than the TM-2’s.

Flex Retention/Durability

What I like about all the TM-2 boots is the flex retention technology. I would say this is one of my favorites because they have this really articulating cuff. It really goes almost all the way back to the spine. And when you have an articulating cuff, it doesn’t distort the shell, which is great for your forward flex, but it also retains the flex for a long time.

Then, on top of that, they have a nice, hard rubber, almost plastic spine. I love that they have this soft part on the top above the spine. I didn’t mention this in the TM-2 BOA, but it’s nice and soft. It’s not bad if you’re going to occasionally split board, or you just like a little more feel on the back, because the high backs usually come up to here anyway. So then it doesn’t give you that uncomfortable calf bite.

Durability

You also have some reinforcement throughout the bottom area of the boot. It’s a very burly rubber material throughout to help keep the shell in place.

ThirttyTwo TM-2 Front LinerYou’ve got a little help in the liner, but not as much as, let’s say, the focus BOA or the really high-end ThirtyTwo liners. Those have closed cell throughout most of the liner inside. That really helps retain the flex even longer. But it’s not as comfortable as these, and it takes a lot more tweaking to get it dialed out to your feet. As it stands, though, this is excellent.

It’s right there with the Ride Fuse that has this really hard rubber back. Stay has an articulation point here, but then also has a rubber-like tongue that retains its flex forever. The Nitro Team does the same thing with articulation right here, but not in an overlapping shell like this. This just has neoprene along here. It has a really hard rubber bordering on plastic back stay, and has good flex retention as well.

Shock Absorption / Board Feel

I was really surprised that a boot with such a thin sole had so much. It’s exponentially better than my Ride Fuse, which looks shock-absorbent, but it has a very stiff sole. For 2025 and 2026, the TM-2’s have the XLT foam and sole, which I rode and liked much better than this old one. It’s got about the same board feel but more shock absorption.

The TM-2 is still a good bit behind the Team TLS. The air bag makes it really cush and shock-absorbent, but it doesn’t quite have the board feel that the Fuse and the TM-2 do, which surprised me as the Team TLS has good board feel for having soo much shock absorption.

Traction

Now, traction is one bummer here. This black part is all Eva foam. The Team TLS with Vibram. The sole of my Ride Fuse was initially much more slippery than the TM-2, but once it wore down by about a millimeter, I just scraped it away. I think they had a weird coating on the outside. This sole did better than this.

Footprint

When it comes to footprint, the TM-2s are at about 30.2cm, the Ride Fuse 30cm, the Team TLS 29.7, and most Burton boots are 29.7cm or a little less. So not great, but all boots have become more reduced these days, and they are much better than a decade ago.

Warmth

And if they fit you properly, these are pretty warm. They’re not super warm, but they’re good enough.

Insole

When it comes to the insole, I could not get into these ridges. I just didn’t like the feel. I’m not into factory insoles with any brand, though. But, for me personally, these were just a little worse than your average stock insole.

You really want to step it up and buy an aftermarket insole from like Footprint Game Changers or any of their stuff, which is really good. Or you could step it up and spend a grip of cash, but get something that will work for you for a long time, that’s totally molded to your foot. Like this one is for me. From Sand Sole. This is an amazing insole, but it costs almost as much as the boots.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really like this boot and recommend it a lot, especially for people with a really narrow or really wide foot width. In traditional lace and BOA, they make regulars and wides for both. And ThirtyTwo’s spent a lot of time over the last few years really upping their boot game to make these boots last a long time, not ThirtyTwo days, like the old joke used to be. These are amazing boots nowadays, and I’ve had some friends who’ve ridden these, and they just last a really long time.