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

neutralzombieyeah i was working more with what was available on the market in my area. i was told to see this guy up at tremblant at a specific shop that the name slips my mind, because "he's the best." that being said i never had a chance because i would only be up on days i could ride with my old job that didn''t make it very easy to have another day freed up to see him. otherwise i live in montreal, but don't drive so that's also a problem.

onenerdykidThere are a couple good shops up near Tremblant, but I would make the journey south if you can and go see Ryan at the Skirack in Burlington Vermont. Not having a car makes it a bit tricky for sure, but if you can get there, he and/or the boot-fitting team he has will for sure get you taken care of, no question whatsoever. They fit some of the best skiers in the world and there is no extra charge for the fitting services they provide.

DIPED_IN_SAUCESPK question: last season I blew a buckle on my SPK's. specifically, the sort of Y shaped bracket that holds the buckle hooks on broke. (see picture) Solomon has excellent customer service and they replaced the boots, but this now means I have an extra pair. anyone had this problem and fixed it? Perhaps made a new bracket out of fibreglass or something like that?

sorry this isn't fit specific.

AntEaterI had some dalbello krypton fusion's fitted last year and ended up buying them as they felt great. Only problem was when I went out skiing I would get intense pain in the insteps of both my feet. My boots are definitely not buckled too tight, as I have them on the lowest, or second lowest buckle. Often I have to take a trip into the lodge and take them off and massage my feet because they hurt so bad. Do you think I could solve this with a different, thinner liner? Or are my insteps too high for those boots? Any help would be appreciated.

onenerdykidWhen you got fitted, what footbeds did you get? Most footbeds can be ground down a bit, which will help gain some valuable millimeters. The boot board can also/usually be ground down too to the same end result. There are also a couple of liner tricks that can be done but I would use them as a last resort since they involve permanently cutting away material. A brand new liner might help, but I would use it as a second to last resort before buying new boots. Typically if you do have a really high instep, a Krypton is not the first option that comes to mind. What else did you try on, and what else felt pretty good?

AntEaterI believe they are the footbeds that come with the boots. I'll check when i get home. I tried on some Salomon SPK's which were pretty decent, Lange (don't remember exact model but waaay too tight),and some Full Tilts which also put a ton of pressure on my instep. Now I feel dumb as the three piece design could be the culprit, don't you think??

onenerdykidNot having a proper, supportive footbed is really one of the steps you need to take (even though you have a high instep). It will replace the stock insole, so the volume tends to stay the same but it will position your foot properly in the shell and not allow your instep to fall into a lower part of the shell geometry.

Typically, a 3-piece design is not the best for high insteps because there is very little a boot-fitter can modify on the shell itself. My recommendation is to go back to your boot-fitter and ask about their footbeds and what can be done to modify the volume in the boot. If they say they can't fit a footbed in there, then this boot was probably not the best start for your foot and I would also then question their competence since they put you in a boot that did not allow enough volume for a footbed.

If it does come down to getting you a new boot, definitely keep an open mind (don't pick a boot based on its marketed purpose) and let a proper boot-fitter (if one is at the shop) guide you to the best solution for your foot.

I_liketobutterThought this may be the place to ask this. Do race boots and other high end all mtn boots have similar forward lean? Is this a thing? Is this something a boot fitter can address or is it pretty much fixed w the boot?

I'm getting a new pair at a race focused shop so most of the higher end selection is race boots. I have no problem w race boots as I used to race back in high school and love the tight fit. But I don't want to be driving forward like crazy skiing on center mounted skis where 25% it's switch.

Thanks.

I_liketobutterThought this may be the place to ask this. Do race boots and other high end all mtn boots have similar forward lean? Is this a thing? Is this something a boot fitter can address or is it pretty much fixed w the boot?

tomPietrowskiDepending on the actual boot in question there may be some forward lean adjustment built into the cuff. If not it is possible to grind the cuff to allow a more upwards stance but honestly I would try them out first before doing any shell mods. You should be fine, boots like full tilt have quite a bit of forward lean and people don't complain. So I say try them out and go from there. Be aware to the way the foot is positioned i the boot with the footbed can have a fairly bi effect on forward lean so make sure you get the best footbeds for your stability requirements.

onenerdykidGenerally speaking, alpine boots range from having 12°-18° of forward lean. There are numerous reasons why you should have your boot set at a certain angle, but it is mostly dependent on your ankle flexibility (limited or non-limited range of motion), what you personally like to be in and not what kind of skiing you do.

For example, some of our team like riding at 13° (Keefer, Gus, Elias) whereas some other guys like riding at 17° (Jossi, Byron, Benchetler, Sage, Ligare). It really just depends on biomechanical limitations and personal preference.

And as Tom noted, forward lean can be adjusted either quite easily (our new Hawx boot can be set to either 13° or 15° or 17°) and with a bit of minor boot surgery. Check with your local boot-fitter to find out what is a good setting for you.

.Bobo.is it normal that I have to buckle the toe and ankle as tight as they go so that my foot doesn't move around in the boot? I had them fitted by a boot fitter and they seemed fine but have they possibly packed out too much or would getting a custom footbed sort that? I think my problem is that I have very long but skiiny feet.

synops*ive had really bad toe bang and its just been over 2 days of skiing. ive been doing 50/50 park/all mountain. just getting into park and i try and land less backseat, however my two big toes are extremely sore. (and are now black)

i have dalbello core 2 ID's and 2 boot fitters ive been to have said they are good boots for my quite narrow feet. I read that footbeds are important also to reduce toe bang. these are the ones that i have in my boots: http://www.formthotics.com/products/strolz-ski-dual-high/

any suggestions of what i could do to minimise the toe bang? a second issue is for the first couple of hours of skiing the outside parts of my feet on the bottom experience a tingley sort of pain, but it fades after lunch. the bootfitter said i may experience this as i havent used any sort of arch support before in normal shoes. is this true?

thanks for any replies.

tomPietrowskiAre the boots strolz by any chance?

I would think a lot your your issue is the footbeds. Were they made for you? Looking at that site they do not look like they offer muc in te way of medial arch surport but it could just be the shape of te sample. Have you had te toes blown out yet? If you have and your still getting toe bang that could indicate the footbeds are not working correctly. If you have been given more space but you still have issues it mean your foot is just goin into the extra space as your foot is not well stabilized.

If you have strolz then those shells are hard to work on. They really don't like to hold a stretch which is really awkward when tryin to reshape them. I found if I ground the shell slightly I could get the thinner plastic in that area to stretch better but they were still a bitch to work on. The pair I worked on were fitted a bit too small too which may be partly your issue.

As for your second issue I think it's probably the lack of surport and maybe the shell being a little narrow. Without full surport in te medial arch much of your weight will be on the outside of the foot which could certainly caus numbness. A tight instep coul also be partly the problem but I would expect this to be a lea likly cause. The shell bein slightly to narrow in the forefoot could be adding to the all of surport by restricting blood flow to te lateral side of the foot.

As for how to resolve your issue really you nee to find a good fitter. Maybe see if you can find someone new to take a look.

onenerdykidFriday fall bump.

Can you guys confirm that most shops have all of their gear now? Anybody try on anything that surprised them?

I_liketobutterThe fitter is supposed to be the best in the midwest area - every race guy I know suggests him. He's all about no insole to start out. He did some shimming in the heel which helped out tremendously. I think there's 1/16" in there. His thought is start out with no insole, punch out if necessary, ski it, punch out more if necessary, ski it, insole, grind at last resort.

I just found it interesting, and also made me a bit nervous about the insole thing. I trust the guy, but I've been told since I was a teenager that I need insoles in everything. I have superfeet in every pair of shoes I own. Funny thing is, he goes to the back, comes back out and says, try this on and tell me what you think. I try it on, and I have immediate pain right on my sixth toe area like I've had the past 3-4 years. He put a superfoot insole in. Sure it may not be the right insole for me in ski boots, but interesting. He's not ruling the insole out, he will make one if I want, but it's not his first step

onenerdykid(continued...)

This is also the problem with Superfeet: your lateral arch (the one towards the back of the outside of your foot) needs a bit of suspension, especially of the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal, the so called "sixth toe" area.

If you look at EVERY Superfeet, they literally raise the foot in this area putting undue pressure on this tuberosity which causes the foot to pronate. For this reason Superfeet are (in my opinion) quite often causing more problems than they fix.

Putting the wrong footbed in your boot is equivalent to putting in the wrong varus or valgus wedge, or some other form of misalignment. It doesn't prove that footbeds are wrong, just that this one is not right for you.

You also don't ever want to stretch or grind a shell without supporting the foot first. Without being properly supported, your foot will fall into the stretch/grind that was made. You need to support and stabilize the foot first before you do any shell modification, otherwise it will not be effective.

I_liketobutterHe kept saying something like, "let the foot fall into it's natural position." My thought is that, well, my natural position needs some assistance to get there, and stay there.

onenerdykidNo- you should not need to buckle the toe at all and the ankle should be medium/tight. The boot you are in is not a narrow lasted boot; it is more on the medium side of the spectrum. So if you have a skinny foot, it might not be the best shell for your foot even with footbeds. Footbeds will for sure help control your foot and keep it from naturally flexing and twisting inside the boot but if the shell is too voluminous for your foot, then you will always have problems.

It honestly doesn't sound like you were properly fitted for the boot (no footbeds, possibly too wide of a shell for you). Let's make sure you are in the right shell size at least: remove the liner from the shell, step into the shell with your thin ski socks on, slide your foot to the front of the shell so your toes just barely touch, and then see how much space is behind your heel. 1cm is a performance fit, 2cm is normal, 3cm is a shell size too big.

.Bobo.I know I should just be going and getting fitted properly but I don't think i'd be able to find a good boot fitter either. Are there any boots you could recommend that are narrow lasted that I could give a try on? It's mostly the heal that is the problem, it is very narrow and lifts up off the footbed, where as my toe area is reasonably wide so when I tighten the toe area it becomes uncomfortable so I have since stopped fastening the toe buckle tight

OMGimDADDYI am currently riding dalbello boots 28.5, very cheap ones, did not cost more than 150$ brand new. I dont like them, I get shin bang, my socks fall down and create pinch points, they're just all around bad boots. I made them a little better by adding an insole in. Im in the market for new boots, Ive been two two boot fitters recently. The first one said I was a 27.5 and the second one said I was a 27. The second guy was a lot better at what he did it seemed. He said my feet were both symmetrical, and about the same length. However my bunions and 5th metacarpal were portruding more than most feet. My arches were normal but erroring on the flatter side. I tried on some 28.5 B&E full tilts. They felt good, nothing was wrong just my toes felt like they had a little bit too much room. After that I tried on some 27.5 dropkick full tilts. The left foot felt good, but a little tighter than I was use to (ive never skiied in a nice bot or one that was heat molded for my feet.) After putting on the right boot my right foot started to hurt insanely bad. SO bad I could not walk that well. It felt like the arch was just sticking up too far into my foot. So I am thinking if I go 28.5 on the dropkicks and add in a insole it would fill a little bit of room and give my arch some support? Thats just something I thought of, any help or input on what to do would be greatly appreciated!

tomPietrowskiFirst off 27.5 and 27 are the same size so the two guys had you I the same size. So I woul not really bother trying 28's. But it's the shell cheack that really matters. What other boots did you try? You say the right foot did not feel great so did you try any other boots? Without bein able to see your foot in a boot makes it hard do us to be able to recomend much but I would suggest going and have one of the fitters shell cheack you in a few 27's and see what he recomends shape wise.

OMGimDADDYBefore I tired on any of the full tilts I tried on Quest 100's and the X-Max 100 (sorry I did not write down the brands). I liked these boots, the x-max more than the quest but still they just did not feel 100% comfortable. Alright, I never got shell checked so I will go ahead and try that. But you do not recommend 28's at all? I just ordered a pair of 28 dropkick full tilt cause it was no tax, no shipping, super cheap, and full refund/return if I did not like them so I was going to try my insoles in those and walk around my house for a bit and see how they felt. But if there is no point in me doing the 28's I will switch it over.

tomPietrowskiOk so if neither guy shell checked you honestly they are not really boot fitters. Because of this they probably measured you a little big too so based off just this a 28 is probably too big. Boots too big really do suck. As boot fitters there really is nothing we can do to make them fit. It's always easier to work on a boot which is too small. I forget what the sole length I on the 28 full tilt but I think it may be closer to a 27 in most brands so it may work. But is there any reason you went full tilt. They are not great boots to work on so if you were having fit issues and need quite a bit of custom work they may not be the best choice.

Maybe see if you can find a fitter who can shell check you to find out what type of shape and size if boot you should really be in.

OMGimDADDYYeah makes sense to trim rather than to add. That is what the second bootfitter was telling me also, full tilts are different than other boots and they run a little small, which contributed even more to my theory of adding in a sole to take up that little bit of extra space. I went full tilt because I have had so many people talk about how good they feel. And I tried them on and they felt better than the other boots that I had tried on. They seem more supportive than any other boot. Overall, switch it to 27 or keep at 28 and try it out?

tomPietrowskiWithout seeing your foot in the shell we really can't help. It may be that the 28 ft is fine but we just can't say without seeing. Try to take them to a fitter and have them assessed. If they are too big start again. If they are the right size and not bad shape wise they are probably worth a try. A footbed will always help too so that will be worth investing in be it a trim to fit or full custom.

onenerdykidI see that you are from Scotland. Do you ski primarily up there, or do you ever take vacations to central Europe to ski? The thing is, you are probably in a shell size too big. If you do the shell test in my previous post, we can see if you are or are not. From there, someone really needs to see your foot in the shell. Not all narrow boots are created equally and each will have their own unique geometries and curvatures that may or may not match up with your foot.

I can ask around to see what shops in your area are well known for their boot-fitting.

JakeSmithSo I got my boots professionally fitted, they are amazing so I guess this isnt much of a fit question.

Solomon Quest 120, they have a pretty good power strap so I'm wondering if a booster strap would be worth it. If so, which one should I get, I am 140lbs, 5'11" and ski mostly hard charging stuff.

tomPietrowskiWhere in Scotland are you. If you can get to the breahead dome there are some good boot fitters who work there. If you come to whistler you can always come see me

ABallsHere's my dilemma, I have a pair of 28.5 Spk's with a wonderful rubber toe that prevents toe bang but the boots are a but too big and I get wicked shin bang. Do I invest money in a new pair of boots with a boot fitter or do I invest in a footbed or some other modification for my Spk's? I'm assuming the Spk's modification would cost less than a whole new pair of boots.

ABallsHere's my dilemma, I have a pair of 28.5 Spk's with a wonderful rubber toe that prevents toe bang but the boots are a but too big and I get wicked shin bang. Do I invest money in a new pair of boots with a boot fitter or do I invest in a footbed or some other modification for my Spk's? I'm assuming the Spk's modification would cost less than a whole new pair of boots.

connorwyckoffi've got an insole question. I've used my booters for a couple seasons without an insole and only the liner without too much discomfort, but i've always thought that i should get some. i got orthopedic shoe insoles this summer for my feet and i plan on using them in my boots this season. should i just plop them in there or should i go ahead and remold them with the insoles in? thanks!

tomPietrowskiWith a liner that old you will probably be ok to just slip them in as the liner will be pretty packed out anyway. Ones made for street shoes will not be as effective as a true ski one but they will be a lot better then nothing. Stick them in and try it out. If it feels to tight a remould will help bed the insole into the liner more to give some more space.

radishHey guys, I recently picked up some dirt cheap touring boots (black diamond factors) for a tech setup, and after one day, they are giving me serious pain in my lower calf. Although I bought them online, they fit my actual foot perfectly, and feel almost as good as my alpine boots I got from a fitter. The issue is these foam ridges around the Achilles area that are meant to keep your heel in place. I've seen these in snowboard boots, but never like this in ski boots. Those foam ridges (whatever they are called) are constricting my lower calf when I'm skinning to the point where I could barely walk at the end of the day, and my calves are sore as fuck today. I hope that makes sense.

So what should I do? Would a new liner fix this issue? Could the liner be punched out back there? I would like to avoid dumping too much money into these boots as they were $200 new. Any help is appreciated!

onenerdykidLiners can't really be punched out or modified without causing damage (usually). So as long as the shell is a good match for your foot, then investing in a new liner & proper footbeds will for sure be a good way to go. There are a few options on the market, especially from Intuition, so check with your local fitter in order to find the right match for your foot/shell combo.