the answer to "WTF is wrong with my boots?"

[mntlion]

Gotcha, thanks! What's the rationale behind having no footbed at all?

more volume vertically, so you sit lower in the boot, and that MIGHT be wider. Worth trying before you do something permanent to the shell

[fishtank]

Long time lurker, decided to finally register today, mainly because I have a concern which nobody seems to want to respond to on the swedish equivalent of TGR (freeride.se). I'm having some issues with my boots and I'm not really sure what kind of a fix I need, to add on top of that I have a 450km drive to my nearest bootfitter.

Some information..
My boots are a pair of Atomic Hawx 120 size 28.5 from 2010, I have some seriously asymmetric feet, my left foot is about half an inch longer then my right one. I've used the original liner since I got the boots in 2010, however, this winter I've been doing alot of on-piste skiing and I've started to notice how there is simply too much space around my lower leg and calf. So I'm thinking it's time to spend some time and money on pimping my boots with a new pair of custom shape liners. I sort of assume this will solve the space issue, however will it do anything for my right foot(which is shorter then the left one)? If yes, then how much? If no, what can be done about it?

I apologize for any gramatical errors, it's still quite early here today.

Sincerely, fishtank )

[mntlion]

if your foot is moving around, add an extra footbed, or a thicker sock to that side.

if your lower leg is moving around, add a extra tongue shim to that side, or a wrap of foam around the liner..

new liners will make both boots tighter or looser, for better or worse

[DJSapp]

Hopefully this is a quick and easy one:

Street shoe is a US 13
Skinny low volume feet, normal arches
Boot is a US 12 Lange WC 130, Shell fit is 1 finger
Trim-to-fit footbed (old orthos were too high volume)
On purchase, I had a major hot-spot in the toe box that the fitter punched out, and felt ok for the first 7-10 days.

About 30 days over 3 seasons (I know) on them now, and I'm still having toe problems, it feel like they are curling to avoid being crushed which leads to other problems. When I try the liners on outside of the boot, my toes are curling. Is it worthwhile to get a shoe stretcher from Oldlarry's loafer collection to stretch out the liner toebox, or would this cause more problems? Reheat and re-mold?

[mntlion]

DJ: shoe stretcher is the best way. Or heat the liner (like an intuition) and mold it with lots of toe caps. Thin socks, and make sure your heel is back all the way.

[Dkla52]

Mntlion who do you recommend in Utah? I'm in salt lake city and Christy Sports at snowbird ruined my orthotics. They put them in the oven when they were trying to dry out my liners thanks to Lange's retarded boot design that let's snow in the shell (Lange RX 130). My orthotics (surefoot ) shrunk by about a cm and the left one ia deformed. I need customized orthotics asap by 2mrw morning. I called inkline but Chris is not in today. I was wondering if you know anyone who is nothing short of the best in Utah. Please let me know asap

Sent from my SPH-L900 using TGR Forums

[mntlion]

not sure who in UT.

epic ski has a list of "whos who" try that?

[Dkla52]

I got in touch with Chris inkline. He was awesome!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using TGR Forums

[Adrider83]

Quick follow up question from earlier in the season -

I have a pair of Salomon Ghost 130s. Both boots seem to have sharp abrupt instep pressure when flexed aggresively (for example, skiing firm bumps fast or landing a cliff onto firmer snow). It's like the base of the liner tongue is digging into the top of my foot very abruptly, past a certain flexing point. Is this likely the result of the liners being done, or is it that the shell is done? Thanks.

[mntlion]

shell is done, or too soft.

you are overflexing it, causing it to buckle down on top of your foot.

[Adrider83]

Dang. Thanks so much for your help.

[lineskier@east]

i have a pair of ft booters that i've been skiing on for two seasons. 50% of the time the feel perfect and 50% of the time it feels like my foot bones are snapping. can i still go to a boot fitter and try to make them work? or is it too late for that seeing as i already have two seasons in them?

[12bmucker]

Hi. First time posting. I always heard how great custom foot beds were so I broke down and had a pair made by a well known boot fitter in Tahoe. Now my feet hurt really bad. I went back to just using the stock foot beds in my Dynafit Vulcans and Nordica Dobermann boots. Is it possible that foot beds just don't work for me or should I try a different boot fitter?

[Snowy Spartan]

Hi. First time posting. I always heard how great custom foot beds were so I broke down and had a pair made by a well known boot fitter in Tahoe. Now my feet hurt really bad. I went back to just using the stock foot beds in my Dynafit Vulcans and Nordica Dobermann boots. Is it possible that foot beds just don't work for me or should I try a different boot fitter?

Sounds like the dude who made the may have screwed up.

Higher volume footbeds in a boot like the dobie can cause problems. Is it worse than when the stock footbed is in there? Is it cork, instaprint or super feet? Did he run you through a winlass (sp?) test?

The only reason I know all this shiz is cause I was in an inferno and bombed through like five footbeds before settling on a conformable. I have a fairly rigid arch so stiff hard high volume footbeds kill my feet.

Lower volume with a little more flexibility made a huge difference for me. I now refuse to go to a fitter who stands by a single type of footbeds.

Different strokes for different folks.

[mntlion]

i have a pair of ft booters that i've been skiing on for two seasons. 50% of the time the feel perfect and 50% of the time it feels like my foot bones are snapping. can i still go to a boot fitter and try to make them work? or is it too late for that seeing as i already have two seasons in them?

ya, stop by and ask what is up.

[12bmucker]

Snowy Spartan, Thank you for the info. I believe that my footbeds are instaprint. They are blue and cost about $185. I believe that the footbeds are too high volume as well as too rigid. The bottoms of my feet hurt when I am skinning with my boots un-buckled and both the tops and bottoms of my feet hurt when skiing. I have brought the footbeds back to the fitter numerous times and he keeps sanding them down. I have tried to ski them for about 15 days but I never make it more than an hour in them before I have to take them out and ski with no footbeds in or the stock footbeds in. The stock footbeds feel much better than the custom footbeds.
I think this is just a case that my feet don’t work well with footbeds and it is not necessarily the bootfitters fault. At any rate I won’t ask for my money back because he has put in a lot of time trying to fix the problem. My boots fit comfortably with no footbeds and also with the stock footbeds. I wasn’t really looking for increased comfort with the custom footbeds but increased ski performance, which seems to be a big selling point for expensive footbeds.
If I ever try a boot fitting improvement again I will get one of the intuition liners that they claim you don’t need footbeds in. Anyone out there doing this?

[mntlion]

I use intuition liner, no footbed, and a small wedge between the liner and the shell, on the inside. This tilts me to the outside a bit, but from the heel, not the arch.

why do I have this? cuz it is what works for me

[Caucasian Asian]

I use an Intuition liner, no footbed, and a wedge under my arch because I have really high insteps and I need the extra height that a footbed takes up.

[XXX-er]

hey mtn lion

I got new mercury's in december, the fit was too tight to use the dynafit liner so I used some old Conform"ables from my last AT boots, they fit great without a remould and so I put about 60 days touring on the boot

During a 24 rando event I did some lasting damage to the inside bone in one foot which is I believe the end of the metatarsus closest to the ankle, it is sore and being agravated by the boot when I ski both my AT AND alpine boots altho less so with the alpines

Skiing is done but looking ahead to next season the conformables are pretty done after >6 yrs so since I am going to vancover I thot go right to the intution office and get the best

I think I might need a punch which will be right under the ankle buckle of the mercury, do I get it before the new liners or buy/mold the liners as is ALSO it is hard to get a punch in town the only place to get a punch of any kind is at the hockey store or when i am out of town so how do i handle this ??

I am gona see the physio right after I get back from maui maybe the foot will get better by next season and I won't need the punch ?

what say yee?

[mntlion]

new liners first. intuition in vancouver is great

then new footbeds (or other support)

then punch shell (not a problem on a cuff screw, If it is for the shop you deal with, I can do it in banff)

Talk to physio about 1) how to recover from the injury, and 2) how not to get the same injury again

[Beetman]

Just ordered two pairs of Scarpa Typhoons in 30.0 and 29.0 (wear a size 12US street shoe, wide flat feet.) and I'm trying to decide which size to keep. I plan to spend 25% of the time touring in these and the rest in bounds.

To aid in shell sizing these boots I bought two dowels, one half inch (12-13mm) and one three-quarter inch dowell (19-20mm). In the 29.0 I can fit the half inch dowel behind both heels, and for my largest foot i would say a true 12mm behind my heel and a little more (1-2mm) behind my smaller foot. As far as width, both feet lightly touch the sides of the shell, unbuckled.

In the 30.0 the 19mm dowel fits comfortably behind both heels, with even a little extra room (2-3mm) especially behind my smaller foot. Width feels spot on with 1-2mm per side.

Since these will be used for some touring would it be a mistake to size up for a little extra room and comfort hiking? Or is the half inch (12-13mm) enough for comfort while hiking? I am currently in boots WAY to long (size 31.0, bought to get the extra width needed) and would hate to make the same mistake again.

Thanks for any advice.

[mntlion]

go smaller.... and make more room as needed.

get a really thin sock,

get supportive footbeds

get liners heat molded, with thick toe caps, and padding on any wide bits of your foot.

ski them on hill first.

you will be fine

[Beetman]

go smaller.... and make more room as needed.

get a really thin sock,

get supportive footbeds

get liners heat molded, with thick toe caps, and padding on any wide bits of your foot.

ski them on hill first.

you will be fine

Took your advice and went with the smaller size. Glad I listened. I skied the boots (no heat molding) and they felt perfect. Very pleased.

Thanks for the sage advice.

[1000-oaks]

Just ordered two pairs of Scarpa Typhoons in 30.0 and 29.0 (wear a size 12US street shoe, wide flat feet.) and I'm trying to decide which size to keep. I plan to spend 25% of the time touring in these and the rest in bounds.

If you ever have those punched at the toe, make sure the fitter realizes that they can't take the ram pressure that an overlap boot can take - the Typhoon soles will bend down at the toe if the fitter isn't careful. (Or doesn't use enough heat on the toe, and the sole bends instead of the toe bulging.) There isn't much plastic in that sole to keep it lightweight.

[gwat]

why hasn't this thread been bumped? Everyone's boots fitting perfectly this year?

My question is about UNpunching boots? I scored a pair of Cochise Pros, only worn a few times but the seller neglected to mention that he had them punched! Big toe is punched to make the boot longer. I don't need this and there is a ton of extra room up there. Should I bother trying to push it back in, if so what is the best at home DIY method? Simply put a heat gun on it and press?