Need: Reno/Tahoe area bootfitting & liner injection work

I bought some new boots here:
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61307

-- they are the Head M103 with injectable liners, and I have the polyurethane injection kit with the liners. I need a shop with experience to do the work, since my understanding is that this is a one-shot deal -- either get it right the first time or you're screwed.

Anyone in the Reno/Tahoe area have any recommendations for where to take my boots? Any experience with Bobo's in Reno for this kind of boot work? (and if so, who at Bobo's?) Bobo's is my favorite tech shop in Reno, but I haven't had any bootfitting work done there.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I bought some new boots here:
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61307

-- they are the Head M103 with injectable liners, and I have the polyurethane injection kit with the liners. I need a shop with experience to do the work, since my understanding is that this is a one-shot deal -- either get it right the first time or you're screwed.

Anyone in the Reno/Tahoe area have any recommendations for where to take my boots? Any experience with Bobo's in Reno for this kind of boot work? (and if so, who at Bobo's?) Bobo's is my favorite tech shop in Reno, but I haven't had any bootfitting work done there.

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Bud heishman at snowind sports, bottom floor at the mall at the hilton.

Top notch bootfitter, best in reno IMHO.

www.snowind.com

X2 on Bud. He's the MANG.

Don't let him sell you any silly ass olympic boot balancing job though.

On the same subject, custom footbeds in reno/tahoe any ideas?

I had Bud do my footbeds. While they're OK (don't notice any problems), I didn't like that his attention didn't really seem to be that focused on the input coming from me -- i.e., he seemed distracted a lot, running off to handle all sorts of other things in the shop, etc. -- and this was at a time I had made an appointment to see him.

Hence my questioning about other bootfitters. Since (from what I've read) the injection-molded liners are a one-shot deal, and even experienced bootfitters screw it up from time to time, I want someone's undivided attentions on my liners while we're molding them.

Go to Schafner. It's not too long a drive up to the Start Haus, and it's worth it. He knows his shit better than anyone else I've met.

Cosmo sells Heads...


http://www.cosmosfootwerks.com/

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

.. I didn't like that his attention didn't really seem to be that focused on the input coming from me -- i.e., he seemed distracted a lot, running off to handle all sorts of other things in the shop, etc. ...

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Cosmo can be pretty busy during the season, maybe two client overlap a bit.

But, I never got the feeling during my boot fittings or my wife's that he was not totally tuned in to what we were saying about the boots. I have had very happy feet for 4 yrs b/c of cosmo's work.


BTW: Always a good call to tip Cosmo w/ beer.

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Originally Posted by Big Blue

Go to Schafner. It's not too long a drive up to the Start Haus, and it's worth it. He knows his shit better than anyone else I've met.

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If you're willing to go further, yeah, go to schafner.

I've been told that Cosmo doesn't do foam anymore. I think the story was that he has some allergy to it and so he won't touch it. He's definitely a great bootfitter though.

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Originally Posted by BLOOD SWEAT STEEL

X2 on Bud. He's the MANG.

Don't let him sell you any silly ass olympic boot balancing job though.

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Balancing really works if you're way out...or you're riding mostly hardpack.

Brought my wifey right around.

Mike at the Village Ski Loft in Incline does great injectable work.

If you go to Cosmo, make sure you go early in the day before he's cracked a few beers. I can't say I was happy about the 2 extra holes he drilled in my boots when adding a buckle.

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Originally Posted by splat

Mike at the Village Ski Loft in Incline does great injectable work.

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Now we're getting close to home. Thanks Splat.

I've heard good things about Cosmo too, but Incline is only 20 minutes away for me, so I'll check into this first.

cosmo is the man for boot fitting and especially for custom foot beds: he uses cork, and they are good shit and last forever (my cosmo footbeds are on their 4th pair of boots).

also good advice to book an appt before the snow flies (he gets booked weeks, if not months on weekends, in advance come wintertime), and also good advice to come early before he has thrown a few cold ones back :biggrin: hell, last time i was there, i got loaded with him while he fit me new boots - good times.

Cosmo does a good job in some respects, but he sent me out the door with liners I ended up replacing once I hit Cham after telling him they were loose and him kinda brushing me off. That cost him my writing a story about him.

I would second or third Jim Schafner (sp?), mentioned earlier. He's been at it a long, long time. I had him do some bootfitting in Portillo several years ago and then just observed his skill and processes, observations, questions, level of attention to detail, etc. Nice guy too. If I lived anywhere near Tahoe, I'd give him a shot.

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I had Bud do my footbeds. While they're OK (don't notice any problems), I didn't like that his attention didn't really seem to be that focused on the input coming from me -- i.e., he seemed distracted a lot, running off to handle all sorts of other things in the shop, etc. -- and this was at a time I had made an appointment to see him.

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Ditto. Bud is nice and seems quite knowledgeable but he is all over the place. I made an appointment to see him and while he was molding my Intuitions he was also taking delivery of a used car at the same time, handling other customers, etc. I would not go back to him.

Prior to Bud I went to Shaffner at Starthaus and he was great: very focused on me and good work. Other considerations are Elite Feet at Flatstar and Squaw Creek (latter store opens next month I think); the one at Fstar is open now.

I don't know about Bobo's bootfitting: I have no major experience with them for boots. For skis they are rock solid folks.

Good luck, Karl.

Thanks -- I'll check in with Start Haus too. I sent Mike Croke (?sp) at Village Ski Loft an email; haven't heard back yet.

Another option:
I have been impressed with the bootfitting done by Curt at House of Ski on Kingsbury Grade.

One other piece of advice re: footbeds.

I have had ten different footbeds done around Tahoe and none has been as good as the ones they do at Granite Chief. I went back last spring to get another set after hating every footbed I've had sine the last one they did for me ten or more years ago. The machine they use and the material the footbeds are made from guarantee the best fit imaginable. I say this even though I can't stand Gary Bishop, one of the owners. Their footbeds come in three choices of firmness. I got the middle one and it is like wearing bunny slippers. I suggest taking their footbed to someone else to fit the boots.

I'm reasonably pleased with the footbeds I have now ("Insta print"), but these being the first custom ones I've ever had, I don't have anything to compare them with except for off-the-shelf green Superfeet. And I like these more than the Superfeet.

Since they're $150+ per pair, I'll probably stick with what I've got for now, until/unless I notice something funky going on with them.

I wanted to add a bit of balance concering Bud Hiesman.

He hade my foot beds. They cost about 160$ But I am very happy with them.

Then for my Moms Birthday last Febuary I sent her to Bud for Custom Liners and footbeds. 400+$

She is VERY HAPPY with her boots now. This is now the first time in her life that her feet and Shins do not hurt when she skis.
My mom is a 65 years old, overwieght and not a good skier. She said Bud was nice to her, talked about stuff and was very atentive (For a period of three Hours)

So Bud might not be for everyone but he has been around for alongtime and seems to get it right sometimes.

I have heard people (Me) complain about his Attentivness and the Price he charges but i have not heard anyone say that he did a poor Job fitting Boots or Making custom footbeds.
If I were talking to someone who was having serious issues with boot fit and money was not an issue I would probably send them to Bud Heisman for the works.

Gunner at Granite Chief is good as well. Not sure if he is still with them though. He always took care of me when I was on the patrol at Squaw.

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Originally Posted by MTT

I wanted to add a bit of balance concering Bud Hiesman.

He hade my foot beds. They cost about 160$ But I am very happy with them.

Then for my Moms Birthday last Febuary I sent her to Bud for Custom Liners and footbeds. 400+$

She is VERY HAPPY with her boots now. This is now the first time in her life that her feet and Shins do not hurt when she skis.
My mom is a 65 years old, overwieght and not a good skier. She said Bud was nice to her, talked about stuff and was very atentive (For a period of three Hours)

So Bud might not be for everyone but he has been around for alongtime and seems to get it right sometimes.

I have heard people (Me) complain about his Attentivness and the Price he charges but i have not heard anyone say that he did a poor Job fitting Boots or Making custom footbeds.
If I were talking to someone who was having serious issues with boot fit and money was not an issue I would probably send them to Bud Heisman for the works.

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I sent my wife to him for the "works". Liners, boots, beds, and balancing. She can ride her boots nice'n'tight, they are warm and comfortable.

Now, if we're talking about plug boots, we go to schaffner. Even Bud would recommend Jim. But for comfort, Bud's the mang. I'm sending MY mom to him too.

I concur, Bud is very knowledgeable and highly competent.

I was only disappointed because I made an appointment twice and each time he was doing 4 things at once like a circus. It was irritating. Maybe I expect to much but I ass/u/med that if I took my valuable time and called ahead and made an appointment,then he would have blocked that time or much of it to focus on the client.

If I had known this beforehand, then my expectations would be different. Bottom line is I concur with others: Bud will give you very good results for boot fitting. But bring an iPOD, book, or newspaper when you go.;)

Both Bud and Cosmo are great at what they do, and among the best bootfitters in the country. These guys are definitely guru's and know their shit inside and out. They're the ones I go to see. Bud is my footbed guy, and cosmo does the rest. I've had a dozen custom footbeds over the years, and bud's conform'ables are one of the best I've ever owned.


Now, you just have to keep in mind that everyone you meet in the ski industry is a skier, and therefore probably also has ADD, a drinking problem, or both. Take this into account when judging their procedures. There's no "professionals" in this business, only slackers who've managed to eke out a living with a ski-related job. I too have experienced the same crappy situations noted above while visiting these guys, but I've been pretty lucky so far and had everything come out alright.

Other honorable mentions:

Kevin at footloose has done some awesome work for me, and is also one of the best I've met.
Pat at Tahoe boot and ski in south shore is good.
and, I've heard a lot of really good things about shafner too, but have no firsthand experience.


My god, I spent waaay too much time at the bootfitters.

I vote for Pat Medau at Tahoe Boot and Ski or Brent Springbett at Powderhouse. Brent used to be at the other location of Tahoe Boot and Ski until it closed down.

Bump for update:

Last year I wound up with Dalbello Kryptons with the Intuition liners that come with them; bought them from Mike Croke at Village Ski Loft in Incline Village, and had them fitted there (fitting included in purchase price). 1 season later, boots feeling sloppy after packing out; went back for refitting.

Got them remolded yesterday, and they feel better than ever -- difference in molding this time was that for the first bake (last year), we just heated the liners per Dalbello instructions, on a blower/heater unit thing. This year, we heated them on the blower thing, then briefly in a convection oven. The fit turned out much closer and snugger.

So if you have Kryptons with the Intuitions, try ignoring Dalbello's advice and cooking them in a convection oven like the standard Intuition liners. It worked out to a much better fit. The liners don't get the super-puffy wallowy marshmallow feel like standard Intuitions, but they get quite a bit softer and more malleable than if they're only heated with the blower/heater device.

Summary: very happy with the fit and service from VSL. Highly recommended. Call to make an appointment and you'll get in & out quickly, lots of personal attention.

Caveat: if you try this at home -- apparently the Dalbello liners have cotton on them, so only cook them briefly in the oven so they don't catch on fire.

^i got my Hot Rods from VSL 2 seasons ago. ended up there after going to 3 shops down here in San Fran area and 2 other shops in SLT none of which felt like they were giving me the proper service or fit (with the exception of Boot/Bike Works in Heavenly Village, but they ended up not having any boots in my size!)

anyway, at VSL i dealt with Ruben, who was attentive and mellow. what's more is that for the first season on my Hot Rods I kept blowing out one of the overlap/tongue lug nuts. i don't even charge that hard, but for some reason i was torquing the boot in a way that blew out the screws which held the tongue spoiler. took the boots back 3 times. first time they just inserted a new screw with hella Locktite. Blew that out quick. Second time Ruben wasn't there and another cat re-drilled the hole and fitted it with a Chicago lug. blew that out. 3rd time I brought a sixer of beer and Ruben was in. He re-drilled it, fitted in a new Chicago lug and they've been tits ever since.

funny thing is that when i was in the third time and Ruben was working on my boot i checked out the new 2008 Hot Rod and noticed that they'd done away with the screw on spoiler. When he came out with my retrofitted boot I showed him the new Hot Rod and commented that obviously they'd had other folks blowing out the screws on the front spoiler hence the design mods. He laughed his ass off.

anyway, while i haven't stepped up to the full customization of footbeds (I just have superfeet and the stock liner) I will say that I was pleased with the service at attitude at VSL.

prior to VSL i went to the Boot/Bike Works at Heavenly Village (across from the ice rink). They were really cool there, but alas when i went they ultimately didn't have my size! but based on the service and attention i'd go back there (they actually put a lifter in my HR for free after i'd gotten it from VSL and was riding at Heavenly and it felt loose...i thought that was cool considering that i hadn't purchased my boots from them).

Christian at ELITE FEET at Squaw was awesome. He did some work on one of my boots about 4 weeks ago and the result is going from hell to heaven. Fantastic.


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Originally Posted by Jim S

Christian at ELITE FEET at Squaw was awesome. He did some work on one of my boots about 4 weeks ago and the result is going from hell to heaven. Fantastic.


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