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The Official: "What is wrong with my boots?" Thread

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onenerdykid
Posts: 6657 - Karma: 10,896
This thread should be seen as an accompaniment to the "How To Buy Ski Boots" thread, more specifically aimed at solving a problem with your existing ski boots. Rather than clog up Gear Talk with countless repeating threads, please dump your boot-fitting related questions here and we will do our best to help you out.

Remember, nothing is a substitute for going to a real boot-fitter; they can see your foot, we can't. So if you can't get to a boot-fitter, or are frustrated with your current one, we can help point you in the right direction. Try to be as descriptive of your problem as possible and post pics if you can. The more information we get from you, the more successful we will hopefully be in helping you out.

Ready, set, go.


Dec 14 2013 2:45PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
The way maker has a pretty tight heel, make sure the foot bed is getting all the way back into the heel of the boot first, then take them to your fitter and have him evaluate the problem.
Jan 9 2014 3:07PM
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JakeSalvador
Posts: 2741 - Karma: 1,309
it feels like its the bone and its very tender to touch. it seems like it is the main point of pressure when im wearing my boots
Jan 9 2014 3:22PM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
Question about Intuition liners versus stock Nordica liners-

I'm looking into Intuition models as my Ace of Spades liners are getting near the end of their lifespan, and I'm curious whether or not the full-wrap Intuitions reduce shin bang at all versus having the stiff plastic Nordica tounge?

Yes, I am in the correct size shell (26) and huck lots of cliffs in Steamboat, so shin bang is almost inevitable, and I also have booster straps instead of stock power straps. The boosters are a step down from their firmest model, something like 150-230lbs, with 3 elastic bands. Any chance of the intuition liners being a little more forgiving on the shins?

Or should I downgrade perhaps to the standard model booters, maybe mine are a bit too stiff for me? I weigh 175.

Jan 9 2014 6:18PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Do you have a custom orthodic? How much movement do you have in your boots?
Jan 9 2014 8:06PM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
I have a Surefoot custom insole. Which is actually a piece of shit and will be replaced soon as well. Like i said, i'm in the correct shell that i should be, with little to no movement. Basically a race fit. I wear a 9.5 street shoe and cram into a 26 (305mm shell).
Jan 9 2014 8:14PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Where exactly on your shin are you getting the bruising and pain?
Jan 9 2014 8:21PM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
Normal shinbang area, mid way up and slightly inside
Jan 9 2014 8:38PM
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Nati513
Posts: 679 - Karma: 25
Okay NS i need your help with this one.. I wear a 9.5 and am currently using a pair of 26.5 ft booters and ive just started to notice a lot of pain in my right foot.. ( Bought them at the Local store had them heat molded and Surefooot beds put in) The pain is mostly in the bridge of my foot and usually gets colder way quicker then the other foot? I had never felt this pain last season which makes me wonder what happened? Thanks for the help
Jan 9 2014 11:30PM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
I've got Surefoot custom footbeds too, they're crap. Same issue as you too, my arches are usually in pain when skiing trees/bumps. I think its in the way they make the footbeds, using an imprint of your foot while standing up which puts your foot bones and ligaments etc into their unnatural positions. You should be getting a footbed molded to your foot while it is not weighted, and your bones/ligaments are relaxed and in their natural position so your foot feels like it is properly supported while in the boot.

Apparently Aline and Sidas do a great job with arch support, i'm looking into a set of either of them. Hope that helps a bit.
Jan 9 2014 11:50PM
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TNORTS
Posts: 2077 - Karma: 2,754
Generally my boots feel pretty great, but occasionally I'll get a little pain in my Achilles, especially after hiking. The problem tends to worsen with thicker socks. Any solutions?
Jan 10 2014 12:30AM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
My best guess is that you should get new footbeds, and try the power wrap as it will help take up and room in the upper cuff that could be causing too much movement. What I think is going on is that your current footbeds are not supportive enough and your foot is still elongating on top of it, causing you to lose height in the instep and slide forward in landings. A more rigid footbed should help, but just to cover bases, getting a power wrap liner would be another solid addition to the boot. Try to get them at a shop that sells and has experience with intuition liners, as getting the mold dead on has a lot more to it than just heating the liners and throwing them in the boot.
Jan 10 2014 2:16AM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Colder generally means less circulation, it sounds like your footbeds were made incorrectly.
Jan 10 2014 2:20AM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6657 - Karma: 10,896
When this happens, it is usually because you have a limited range of motion in your ankle/Achilles and your boot is allowing too much movement to occur in this area leading to stress on your Achilles.

When you say "hiking" are you literally hiking in your boots or touring/skinning...? What model of boot are you in? What footbed are you using?
Jan 10 2014 4:00AM
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TNORTS
Posts: 2077 - Karma: 2,754
They're rossignol zenith sensor 3 100's. What I mean by hiking is it usually only happens when hiking rails, so its not really a huge deal but if its fixable I figure why not.
Jan 10 2014 7:14AM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6657 - Karma: 10,896
Being a 100 flex, they aren't that stiff (in the grand scheme of things). I would take them into a reputable boot-fitter and have them perform some range of motion tests on your ankle/Achilles. If it turns out you have a limited range of motion, then perhaps the boot-fitter can stiffen up your boot slightly and this would prevent a lot of rubbing that could be going on in that area.


Jan 10 2014 7:36AM
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last_tango
Posts: 2635 - Karma: 2,665
Not necessarily whats wrong with my boots question but dose anybody know of boots that fit extremely similar to lange rx/xt 130 low volumes? I need a stiff boot but I also need the forward lean to be pretty vertical and a 97mm last. Also anything with a full tilt shell design isn't going to work with my feet.

I know I should go with lange but I'm hoping to straight trade my delbello kryptons for boots that fit.
Jan 10 2014 10:25AM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6657 - Karma: 10,896
Lange has a 12° forward lean, which is about as upright as you normally want to go. At 10° you actually feel like you will fall backwards once you are skiing.
Jan 10 2014 10:46AM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
This, I believe they are the most upright boots on the market.
Jan 10 2014 1:00PM
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TNORTS
Posts: 2077 - Karma: 2,754
It doesn't necessarily feel like its rubbing. More like my achilles is getting slightly squeezed so it starts to feel sore over time.
Jan 10 2014 1:18PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Just take ten to your fitter and describe the issue, have him re-evaluate your heel in the boot. It sounds like it could most likely be taken care of by a small grind and/or a small foam-ectomy.
Jan 10 2014 1:42PM
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buzzlightyear
Posts: 153 - Karma: 292
I have ft classics and I had some footbeds in them but after two runs my I felt like I didn't want to ski my foot hurt so bad. The boot fitter I went to said I have a pronated foot with a really low arch. I took out the foot beds and it feels better. If I'm skiing park for most of the day my foot doesn't hurt at all. But when I'm skiing moguls or longer runs my feet feel like there is a cramp under my arch and towards the outside of the boot. would it work if I could get a sidas footbed that isn't customizable and wear it in my everyday shoes and then transfer it over to my boots when I'm skiing and have it fix my problem? Or what should I do? As of right now I'm not going to invest in a customizable foot bed. And I have heat molded my liners.
Jan 12 2014 11:46PM
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DIPED_IN_SAUCE
Posts: 858 - Karma: 2,256
I would take them to a fitter. It sounds like your shells might be pinching your feet in a bad way and causing the bones to miss-align. Before investing in footbeds definitely see if some grinding or a shell punch will fix the issue.
Jan 13 2014 12:09AM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6657 - Karma: 10,896
You definitely do not want to punch or grind without a footbed- the foot will simply move into that area when it is not properly supported. Only modify a shell or cuff when the foot is held in place by a proper footbed.

@buzz, it is very common to have underfoot pain (cramping/burning) when wearing new footbeds. Your foot is most likely not used to having support underneath it and this is causing the discomfort. Your tissues and tendons need to get used to this new structure, so I definitely recommend getting a pair of footbeds for your everyday shoes, or at the very least putting your footbeds into your sneakers for a bit to get used to them.
Jan 13 2014 2:16AM
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shr@gler
Posts: 1233 - Karma: 912
Yes intuition liners will be softer and more forgiving.
If your liners still have some life or if your on a budget you could modify your liners to eliminate shin bang. it will require a steady hand and a dremel.
Jan 13 2014 3:35AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
It could be a few things. Your foot could be pronating inwards making a pressure point on or just above your outer ankle. It could also be that your foot is actually supernating putting pressure on the outer ankle but I would think this is less likly. It could also be your getting heel lift which is causing the area to rub. It coul also be that the ankle needs more room in the shell. But it's really hard to advise without seeing so take them to a good bootfitter and let them take a look
Jan 13 2014 4:14AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
Firstly what type of footbed did you get? Some like superfeet do not try to surport the archaic of your foot and instead just realign the bone in the heel. These can lead to pretty bad cramps as the rear foot is surported but the front of te foot can still collapse.

But it could also be simply that your foot needs time to readjust. However I would guess its partly your liner. The issue with the wraps is the foam under the foot. This can fill the gaps under a foot bed and stop the natural flex needed by the foot those full tilt liners are a pain to fit well with footbeds as the liner changes the way the footbed works. It's sometimes better to use a thin volume reducer under the footbed. This allows a solid platform for the footbed to sit on and allows the footbed to work as intended.

Lastly it could be that the shell is not right for you. I you have a collapsed medial arch I would guess you have a wider and flatter foot. Tht shape foot does not really suit a full tilt. It may be that the shell needs modifying to allow your foot to fit correctly in the shell.
Jan 13 2014 4:21AM
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.MASSHOLE.
Posts: 7481 - Karma: 11,497
More of a footbed related question than boot.

I have a high arch that collapses very easily coupled with a high instep. I had a pair of green superfeet that solved the collapsable arch obviously, but now keep my instep extremely high.

This, coupled with my Cochise pro Lights, make it so the pressure on the instep causes my feet to fall asleep. Recently, rather than deal with that, I removed my footbeds and ski without them. The boots fit pretty damn well with this remedy. However, knowing in the long run this is a terrible idea, I have started to look for a solution.

Is it possible to get a VERY low volume footbed that can support my arch but keep my foot in a relatively similar position as I have without them in the boot?
Jan 13 2014 8:16AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
Honestly the superfeet green will be doing very little to help with a collapsed medial arch. They will realign the bones in the heel but offer no medial arch surport. So it may be that your foot is still collapsing dropping the instep more inwards then it shoul be. It may be a proper custom footbed will put your instep back into the center of the boot which is generally higher. This along with a grind to the boot board or a stretch to the instep if your shop can do that should hopefully help.
Jan 13 2014 8:31AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
Just wanted to say that if it's true shin bang modifying the liner will not help, if it's pressure on the shin from the boot then adding foam over the instep may infact be a better way to go rather then removing foam.
Jan 13 2014 8:37AM
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buzzlightyear
Posts: 153 - Karma: 292
Ok thanks for the help. I will try wearing footbeds in my everyday shoes and see how that goes.
Jan 13 2014 9:26AM
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buzzlightyear
Posts: 153 - Karma: 292
The footbeds were just some blueprint ones that the boot fitter said fit my foot ok.
Jan 13 2014 9:28AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
Did he mention custom options to you at all? For a foot which is very unstable a custom option may be a much better option. Unstable feet will usually need more surport which is easier to achieve when the positioning and amount of surport can be made just how you need it. May be worth going back to the guy who fitted you and see if you can upgrade.
Jan 13 2014 12:06PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
My big toe nails keep falling off. What's wrong with my boots? Too big? Too small? My name has nothing to do with it btw...
Jan 13 2014 12:33PM
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slayaa
Posts: 197 - Karma: 582
nothing i have full tilts and they make me cool
Jan 13 2014 12:42PM
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buzzlightyear
Posts: 153 - Karma: 292
Yea he had told me all about them I was just hoping I could find a less expensive solution.
Jan 13 2014 12:50PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
Yeah unfortunately custom is nearly always the best option. Honestly I never even suggest anything but custom. Trim to fits barly ever work and I would rather save the customer spending money on a product which probably won't be sufficient. Defiantly go back and see if he will do you some kind of deal on some customs.
Jan 13 2014 12:53PM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
Can you tell the difference between too small and too big? Cause it's usually pretty obvious, if your foot is able to slide around they are too big, if you can't move anything in your foot including toes they are too small. I lost a toenail in my old boots cause they were packed out and had too much space.
Jan 13 2014 12:54PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Sounds like you don't have insoles. Get a custom insole that will properly hold your foot back. That is assuming that your boot size is confirmed correct by the bootfitter that will be making your insoles.
The problem occurs when your foot, unsupported, is put under load (ie landing) and the bone structure in your arch collapses, causing your instep to lower and your foot to be allowed to slide forward in the boot. Buy a custom, I know $200 seems like a lot of money, but it really is a totally necessary expenditure.
Jan 13 2014 1:22PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7147 - Karma: 17,498
This is good advice. Too add though even in the right size boot you may experience toe bang if your foot is not properly supported. When under load like ajizzle says your medial arch will collapse which as well as dropping the instep down and inward will actually lengthen the foot. A fitter should asses this by measuring your foot both weighted and unweighted. The difference shows how unstable your foot is and gives an idea how much the foot will extend if not supported. So without a good footbed to support the foot even the correct size boot may cause issues.
Jan 13 2014 1:52PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
I do have insoles that's why I have no idea what's wrong?
Jan 13 2014 2:23PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
What type of insoles, boots, and liners do you have?
Jan 13 2014 2:30PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
I've got superfeet insoles (I think, I honestly don't remember) atomic hawx 100s with the pro liners (the ones that came with them)
Jan 13 2014 4:14PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
If you have trim to fits, you may be elongating on top of the insole, causing toe issues because you don't have a custom. It may be simply that you have too much room in the instep of the boot and it isn't holding your foot back properly.
Take the liner out of your boots, take the superfeet out of the liner, and place the superfeet in the boot. Center your foot on the insole without the liner in the boot, and move your foot to about 1 cm from the boot and buckle the instep to where you would normally ski. Use your fingers to estimate the amount of room you have in the instep of the boot.
Next, move your foot to the front of the boot, to where your big toe is barely touching the front of the boot, put your weight forward and use your fingers to estimate the amount of room behind your heel.
Jan 13 2014 4:38PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
* about 1 cm from the heel of the boot before shell checking the instep.
Jan 13 2014 4:40PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
Most helpful post I have ever seen thanks
Jan 13 2014 6:07PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
I forgot to say obviously report back so we can evaluate.
Jan 13 2014 7:07PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
So there's 2-3 fingers of room to the shin piece if my calf is all the way back and 2 thumbs in the heel
Jan 13 2014 9:18PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
It sounds like your boots are a shell size too big (remember there are no half sizes in ski boots) so, take them to the place you got them and talk to the fitter that set you up. Most places have a bootfit guarantee.
Just for shits and gigs, measure on top of your instep, leave the upper cuff un buckled, but buckle the top buckle on the lower clog with your foot about a cm from the heel and see how much room there is on top of your foot.
Jan 13 2014 10:41PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Make sure when you go back to ask for the head boot fitter. I would say you should probably do some research on bootfitters in you area and have a custom insole made by the best of them before getting fit for another pair of boots.
Jan 13 2014 10:45PM
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BackseatBrah
Posts: 139 - Karma: 118
One of my nails already fell off and the other one is black so there won't be too much more pain after that but I will most definitely see a fitter for next season! Seriously thank you +k
Jan 13 2014 11:04PM
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