Tried boots on today and in need of some help.

Thats true and if their ok with it i'm actually gonna do that, may look ridiculous but it'll be worth it.

I will man! Thanks for all the help!

There has been quite a bit of bad advice in this thread so I wanted to clear a few things up. Genrally all the people here telling you a certain boot is not good, sound as though they have been fitted badly. No boot will fit everyone perfectly that is why there are so many differnt options.

Inportant things are though, you dont have to buy a "freestyle" boot. When I started skiing park we all just used normall boots as that was all we had, and for a long time untill the SPK came out there was not really a boot for freestyle. People say you need full tilts but there just old race boots that happen to be light. So you certainly are not gaining any thing getting a FT, over any other boot.

Fit is the most inportant thing. You are not just going to get a boot either. Getting your foot into a neutral postion is esstential to get a good fit, so a good custom footbed is required. For this you may need to travel to find somebody who is very good at making them. Make sure its somebody who only does them for sking. Ones for shoes are not the same as the support requirments for walking around and skiing are very differnt. The footebed could be the first thing you get, as onceyou have a footbed in the boot you get a much better idea of how a boot will fit long term.

A lot of people here complained about boots packing out which is a symptom of buying boots too big. The shell check is the single most inportant factor in determing foot fitr inside the boot. Also make sure the fitter measures your feet both weighted and unweighted. If he asks you your shoe size leave. A correct fitting boot should be almost uncomfortable in the shop. This is wear allot of fitters fall down. They give in to the customer and go bigger untill the boot is comfy in the shop, but then it will be useless to ski. The reason for this is its alot harder to sell somebody a boot when it hurts in teh shop. But if they are a legit fitter they will explain what will happen as the boot beds in and gets bigger. A good shop will garentee its work too. So if you have issues they should be free of charge to sort out. When I fit my new boots in the summer I can usally manage about 20mins before my feet are completly numb. Now you may think thats bad, but once they bed in and get around a size bigger they fit perfectly. Most people just buy boopts to big as the fitters are lazy and want an easy sale.

Well hopefully that clears a few things up and helps you understand the fitting process a bit more.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Hey mountain viper I was waiting for you to turn up.

I think you misunderstood me, what I was saying is if your boots feel like a slipper in theshop there prob not right. Boots should feel very tight when new and be tight in length and width to a point where if you were buying a street show you would ask for the next size up. You should be wearing your boots around the house before skiing in them, and if they do not somewhat feel uncomfortable after about 30mins then there prob a bit big. If you dont want to beleive me keep buying your boots like you do, it makes no differnce to me.

Regarding your SPK's I think you anaswered your own question. "they were fitted by a salomon rep" so not only did you not get a bootfitter to fit them, but you got somebody who is going to give you a very biased view on boots. I know our solly rep really well but I would never let him near a customers feet as he is a salesman not a trained bottfitter.

Any way its up to you weather you take head of what I sujjest but trust me I have been sking far longer then you and have never had uncomfy boots so I must be doing something right.

Well I can confirm there has never been an issue with the SPK liners. I have personly worn them since I got my first pair in 05 and have sold them to thousands of skiers. They were the first boot to sell out last season, in my shop (by december) but they were also the boot we got back the least with fit related problems. If fitted correctly they are amazing. And by fit I do not just mean get the right size. You need your footbeds making, shell and liner adjustments and allingment done. Most shops just give you a boot off the shelf.

Infact it is nearly always easier to make a boot bigger then trying to make a big boot smaller. If a boot is too big the only option is to fill it, which means that your repositioning your foot from where it is optimal in the boot. Also the liner is just to big so you can never get a tight hold on the foot. Streaching a boot if done correctly will not affect the shell or the flex in the slightest. So always go for a boot a little to small rather  then a little too big.

I have been selling boots for 9 years now and skiing close to 25 years, so I know what Im doing. I work for one of the biggest ski brands in the world so you can listen to my advice if you like, but Im not trying to bullshit you im just trying to put across the knowledge I have gained fitting thousand upon thosands of feet.

It more depends what needs to be done with the liner. Usally just using a thick density foam on the foot then molding the boots can work. People often think if the toe is tight you strech the toe, but this is often wrong. If the heel is too tight this may mean the foot cant go fully to the back of the liner making it feel as though the toe is to tight when infact its the heel. This was a real issue on fischer boots for a while. This can be changed very easily by either making the shell bigger in the heel or remolding the liner with padding on the foot around the heel and ankle. In some circumstances, for instance racers with really wide feet but who need a 96-98mm last boot, you can adapt the liner. If you heet up the sole of the liner the piece of material on the bottom can be pulled back, exposing the bare material of the base of the liner. A cut can then be made to the base of the liner. If you then stuff the liner to make it expand you can reglue the base of the liner. You end up with a liner which looks like new and feels exactly the same but can be up to 1cm wider in certain areas. These are just a few example of boot fitting tricks there are so so many it would take me weeks to write all the possibly solutions to liner issues.

I do know some shops which did not sell the SPK when it first came out, (not many people know this but it was designed from salomons snowblade boot) so when it first came out allot of shops did not stock it as they thought it was not a real boot, my old compay included. I was the only person who got the SPK's when they first came out in my old company, the buyers thought they were a weird idea, but they soon realised that was a mistake though. For most shops this soon changed as they realised it was the reel deel, and to be honest any shop which does not stock them now is just shooting themselves in the foot. Also can you point me in the direction of an article of the issue of the liners as I have never ever heard of it.

Yeah sounds very odd, either that shop had a weird run of boots (they would have been the only shop though) or they are molding the liners incorrectly. If the heat is applied to the tounge which can happen, then the plastic can shrink leaving a sharp edge exposed. This could be the issue but its a shop mistake not a problem with the liner. You would be amazed how often we see it. That may also be why the custom service was not to usefull, if a shop screw up boots fitting them, its there problem not sollys. Sollys customer service is infact one of the best. One of the old roles I held was returns manager and after spending a few years dealing with customer service reps I can tell you salomon are some of the best. Usally products are replaced and usally free of charge. I have had differnt brands charge $25 for a buckle! Also customers can go direct to solly, you just need a customer return authorisation number which you can get by ringing solly direct, its very easy.

I think the liner issue is more of a rumour. I can confirm, salomon have never addmitted an issue ( as one does not exist), and it was proberbly more of a case that a rep has seen a liner that was heated incorrectly, said it was a problem and over time this has turned into "there is an issue with all SPK Pro liners"

With regards to salomon customer service, just ring a salomon dealer and they can give you a number to call. It is not easily found as they would have every 12 year old with a cracked edge calling up asking for new skis. Certainly I can say in my experience before I worked for salomon that any warrentys I had I always liked it when it was a salomon product as it was very easy. If that is not your experience that is a shame. With regards to your issues, salomon cant refund you a product. You buy the product from a shop. Salomon sell that shop the product for allot less. So if salomon refund you the price you paid then there out of money. Thats why more often the store will be creditied the amount they paid for the ski, and then its the shops disgresion if they want to give you the full price you paid towards a new ski. Also I have had people be annoyed that salomon did not have an item in straight away to replace there brocken product, but this comes from Salomon being popular and there for sell out of product. If salomon have no stock they can not give you a new product straight away. What usally happens in this circumstance is you wait and get next years product when its available. Hopefully that explains the warrenty process a little better for you.

With regards to it being a wide boot, yes it is wide but that does not make it useless like you are stating. I have a 102mm foot so it fits perfectly. Even better with foam injection liners. I cant wear Full tilts as they are too narow, is that FT being stupid in not making boots wide, no thats how they, or should I say Raichle, made there boots. Not every boot will fit every foot. I dont just stick every freestyle skier in a SPK, I fit the people who it fits, (more then you would imagine) and recomend differnt boots if it wont work. Now maybe the issue is not all shops are that honest, and there more motivated by selling product no matter what. If thats the case they will stick anyone in an SPK and of course you will see lots of fit issues.

By all means share your experiences, just be a bit more honest. You did not have them fitted by a boot fitter, your feet were not the correct shape, and you got them with a little play, and surprissingly they were not perfect for you.

If you really want SPK's do as I do and put a foam injection liner in them. They will be the best boots you ever own. The liner when matched with a good custom bed will be perfect and they also stiffen the boots so you can get a good 120 flex from them.

Also Im just intrigued you said you were tried to warenty a product but that you did not buy it from a shop. How exactly did you get the product?

Okay just real quick while you guys are going back and forth on this i have a quick question.

Having nothing to do with the brand of boot, does a shorter shin heigth or overall boot heigth affect performance at all. And leave out all fit and foot styles just based upon the pure heigth of the boot and everything else is the same does it make a difference when riding?

Yeah, I'm still gonna be doing that. But i was curios cause my old boots are salomons (don't know the type, something older and crappy consumer), but i noticed they had a much higher calf rise than fulltilts and feel like that might sway me away from them, that and the ones i tried on, konflicts and drop kicks, just didn't fit right, cause i have a wider foot. But i'll be trying on the booters and if their not any better for my foot i'll just be tossing them out of my choices.

I tried the Nordica double six and i loved everything about them! comfort flex shin support, everything. except where the tongue and side peices over lapped i felt this over whelming ridge running up the top of my foot, no way i'll buy boots if they have that. i hate to say it, but was i maybe layering them wrong as i tightened down? Cause there where some that just didn't fit my feet right but this was just such a pronoun ridge i feel like it was more than a wrong shell to foot sorta deal. And it really bummed me out cause that was the only problem i had with them