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Snowboard boots and numb toes

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Right, so I used to ride in Burton Casas, size 8, traditional lace system. Last season I only went snowboarding twice and could barely survive because my toes were either super crunched or I would lose circulation (I assume) and get shooty pains all up my legs. My response was usually to loosen the laces at the ankle (where the boot curves) and then cry the whole way down the mountain NehNeh

So I went on the hunt for some snowboard boots recently. My foot is sized at a 6-6.5 (women's) but when a salesman talked me into buying a pair of 6s I took them home and realized nuh uh. No way will this work. I gave it a shot like he said I should but no, they were way too tight (he also told me if I bought outside of what I'm sized at that I couldn't return them because they'd be a liability - What, sport chek guy? WTF does that mean? I disregarded this because it's a crock of shiz). So I grabbed a 7 in the same brand/model (Ride Harper Boa) and took them home. Good fit, but my toes went numb. I tried everything: replaced insoles with superfeet, took out insoles entirely, loosened liner, tightened liner, loosened boot, tightened boot, left boot all loose and floppy, moving around, sitting still, you name it. So I chalked it up to them being a bit narrow and returned them.

Grabbed a pair of excellent thirty-twos today called Binary Boa, size 7.5. God they're nice boots. Damn well better be at $300. But they, too, make my feet numb. I tried everything with this pair, too. It's mostly my right foot, and the middle three toes. This pair of boots has two Boa systems so you can tighten the leg and the top of the boot separately. I tried all combinations.

I dunno what's going on with my feet but I have been wearing the old Burtons (they're probably 6 years old) for about 20 minutes now and no numbness. I hate this pair of boots though, just from the grief they gave me last season and the season prior. I think they're probably too big and that's why I had such problems.

Any advice? I'm getting really discouraged.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I do sympathise, one of my regular riding buddies has the same problem and has gone through about 6 pairs of boots trying to find a solution, but then she's got size 2 feet - at least you can find boots in your size!

How do your feet feel in the boots when you're not riding? Does the numbness go off when you unstrap? The reason I ask is because I used to get a bit of numbness using my old over-the-foot bindings. Once i'd switched to a cap-strap binding the problem went away as I wasn't compressing the foot anymore.

Alternatively, where are you based? Know ProFeet in Fulham do snowboard boot fitting and Bliss snowboard down in Horsham do too - they'd probably be able to get to the bottom of the problem.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
kelter82, guessing you are in the US?, there are a few boot fitters that work on snowboard boots

there are several things which could be happening

1 the BOA system is a really great way of strangling your feet
2 how is your ankle joint flexibility, if you have a tight calf muscle then your heel will raise ever so slightly in the boot and then load the ball of your foot sending it to a state of numbness
3 high instep could cut off blood to toes
4 nerve neuroma (nerve entrapment which when compressed causes pain, burning and numbness in the forefoot)

you really need to work with a boot fitter rather than a salesman to get this right
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Canada actually.

I wondered about the Boa system too but my feet went numb with everything untightened, too, so I dunno.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Richard Sideways - Sorry didn't see your response! I actually haven't ridden (rode?) in them yet. I just bought them and need to know they'll work before I ride them - otherwise no returns. So no bindings have entered the picture yet. I'm in Kelowna BC. So far all I've found is ski boot fittings. :/
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kelter82, If bindings and lacing is out of the equation, you've probably got something weird going in with your feet and do need to find a professional who'll be able to find the root cause. Listen to CEM who is the zen-master of all things foot, which make the following statement internet-forum suicide...

CEM, I disagree with you about the BOA system. I switched to BOA years ago and wouldn't go back, I find I get a much better and more even tighten across the boot over a conventional lace, with much less faff if you want to adjust during the day.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
recently got fitted for a new set of boots properly for the same reason, one thing that was pointed out to me that is glaringly obvious now it has been mentioned is check how are your bindings set up, i had mine set up 15-15 as that's how I first set my board up and that's how i have ridden since. The guy who fitted my boots looked at my stance and told me to bring the angle in to maybes 12 degrees for my stance which, in combination with new boots has resolved all the foot pain I was getting.

Best of luck with this as I know its an annoying thing to deal with
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
CEM wrote:
the BOA system is a really great way of strangling your feet


I must say I like mine, but rather than get into a bun fight, I'd genuinely appreciate an explanation as to why. As far as I can tell, the pattern of where the tightness and pressure might be is rather similar to having laces in a cross pattern, just that the tightening mechanism is more efficient.

Do you mean there's something mechanically about it which is constrictive (which I currently can't envisage), or that people are more tempted to go for 'just one more click' which would be very hard or impossible to achieve the same level of tightness with conventional laces. I confess, I do this from time to time, and then have to slacken them off half way down something. And then tighten them up a bit again.

And then a bit more, usually.
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Mr Pieholeo wrote:
CEM wrote:
the BOA system is a really great way of strangling your feet


I must say I like mine, but rather than get into a bun fight, I'd genuinely appreciate an explanation as to why. As far as I can tell, the pattern of where the tightness and pressure might be is rather similar to having laces in a cross pattern, just that the tightening mechanism is more efficient.

Do you mean there's something mechanically about it which is constrictive (which I currently can't envisage), or that people are more tempted to go for 'just one more click' which would be very hard or impossible to achieve the same level of tightness with conventional laces. I confess, I do this from time to time, and then have to slacken them off half way down something. And then tighten them up a bit again.

And then a bit more, usually.


answer in bold, temptation is what normally causes the problem with it
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Quote:

CEM, I disagree with you about the BOA system.


I disagree too, we sell plenty of boots with BOA, no problems.
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it is not a problme if used with care, but as said many people over do it, besides probably not likely to be the cause of this problem...many more issues than that i think Little Angel
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Cheers CEM.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Bit late on this one, but I've had ridiculous pains in the balls of my feet and numb toes since I started to board a year ago. The only way I could handle it was to load up on Ibuprofen and Paracetamol, then ride through the initial pain then it'd be ok. I have stupidly short calf muscles, and a resulting daft stance that relies largely on leaning over rather than bending knees cause I can't do that!

I managed to get it to go away largely by loosening up my boots (Salomon Pearl with that silly speed lace system that's similar to BOA) and not having the ankle binding stupidly tight. The source of the pain in the ball of my foot is at the point where ankle and leg meets foot on the top. Stuff gets compressed and trapped there. My physio has recommended (once he was finished mocking me for my short calf muscles) lace up boots instead of BOA ones so I can decide for myself which parts of the boot are tight and which are loose instead of the BOA thingy deciding for me. If only I could stop spending the money I need for boots on going for a crafty shred instead.

On that personal experience, I'd agree with CEM, it's really easy to get it wrong with BOA and similar systems. Unfortunately, there really isn't any expert snowboard boot fitters. In fact, I don't know anyone UK based at all. I had mine fitted at TSA in Milton Keynes and I don't intend to go back there for my next pair.

Point of post? kelter82, I feel your pain.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@kelter82, Ever get any resolution?

I'm having the same problem. Sales guys insist I'm a 5.5, even a 6 makes my toes numb. So frustrating. Puzzled
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I ended up chatting to the boot fitter at ProFeet while he was doing the wife's ski-boots, about snowboard boots and specifically, about my friend I mention above. As has been said, theres not as much you can do to 'custom' snowboard boots as you can do with ski-boots, but that doesn't mean that nothing can be done to help: inserts, liners, footbeds. As CEM said, theres plenty of reasons you could be getting problems aside from a dodgy fit boot, so if nothing else a session with a fitter might reveal the root cause of your problem, even if not an immediate solution.

Are your feet going numb just in the boots, or does it happen once you're in the bindings?
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
They're going numb in the boots. A bit right when I put them on, but after a few runs they're completely numb and painful, and then walking around in the boots is even unbearable.

I'm going to go see a legit boot fitter tomorrow to see if I can get an opinion on what's causing it. I've read about tight calves causing numb toes as well which can be helped with routine stretching? We'll see! I just want to enjoy a day of boarding again!
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