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NegromancerBuy the Nordica's if they actually fit you. Then take the $250 you saved and get custom footbeds. Ideally you should get custom footbeds made first and then try boots on with the footbeds not the other way round.
Why do you like the Full Tilt's better? Do they fit better or have you just bought into Full Tilt's marketing?
Remember you don't need park boots for park. You need boots that fit well. Lots of pro freestyle skiers like Jossi Wells ski in race boots.
Secondly Full Tilt's will still give you shin bang and be sucky if they don't fit you. The whole no shinbang all afterbang marketing is a load of horse shit. Any and every boot will give you shinbang if they don't fit or you ski backseat everywhere.
NegromancerA custom footbed is an insole or footbed that is molded to your foot. So with most boots the footbed you get by default is really shitty. Basically it's just a piece of cloth or foam that provides no support for your foot at all. In Full Tilt's I don't even think they have any sort of footbed. What this means is that your foot isn't being supported properly in the boot and this leads to all sorts of issues such as problems with blood circulation meaning your toes and parts of your foot go numb, parts of your foot may be mispositioned resulting in cramps and other problems. A custom made footbed (not what you call a trim to fit which is a footbed that isn't molded to your foot it is already in a shape that supposedly should fit a certain profile of foot) provides proper support and will eliminate a lot of problems related to alignment of the foot and leg, circulation issues and cramping. Also because your foot is properly supported by the footbed impact from landings is reduced quite a lot. Lots of boots advertise shock absorbing bootboards (the bit that is beneath the boots liner) and they work to and extent but a well made footbed will absorb a lot more impact then a bootboard can. This is the reason I said you should get footbeds before trying boots is because footbeds can drastically alter the fit and feel of a boot. So really what you should do is get your footbeds first and then try boots with them to make sure they feel good with footbeds in them. Sometimes a boot may not feel very good at all but then when you try them with footbeds they fit much better.
Will a custom made footbed help with heel retention? It's hard to tell but it very likely that it will help. It should align your foot in the boot much better and help keep the heel in place. The best thing to do to prevent your heel slipping is to buy the right size of boot. If you get a boot that is to big your heel is much more likely to slip around. When you try on the boots they should be very tight. Not so tight that they really hurt but your want them to really hold your foot in place. When you stand up your toes should be able to touch the end of the liner in the front and then when you flex forward they should come back away from the end of the boot. A boot fitter can add padding around the heel though to make the fit around the heel more tight if necessary.
The boot fitter should do a shell check which is were you put your foot into the just the shell of the boot and slide your toes forward so they touch the end of the boot then you measure the distance from the back of the heel to the back of the boot.
1cm distance from heel to back of boot= performance fit. Ideal for racing and very aggressive skiing.
2cm distance = normal fit. Ideal for most skiers.
3cm+ distance = to big. You will have a lot of problems if you ski in boots too big.
Try find someone who makes custom Sidas (Sidas is the brand) footbeds.
steezy_dogeyeah i was looking around and i'm not sure these are good footbeds but they make ones called superfeet i think and they are a race shop so i should check them out to get fitted
BWalmerI went from the Twall Full Tilt to the Ace 3 star and I couldn't be happier. The flex is perfect (I like a stiffer boot generally, I'm really happy with a 130 in the park), stable and doesn't feel like they're folding in half. I just feel like they're a more solid boot, and this is coming from someone who thought they would never ride a different boot than Full Tilts.
Either one will be fine, if they do both really fit right, most of it comes down to what kind of flex you're looking for and how substantial of a boot you want (the Nordica's are a bit beefier, but also more durable).