Ski boots by mail order.......how do I get them 'fitted' ?

A snowHead

Hi,
Am considering buying a pair of boots via internet ( I know I shouldnt but a pair have come available at a brilliant price) ; Have tried this pair on in a store & they are the coorect size for me ( did shell check etc )......question is how do I go about getting the liner etc custom fitted to my feet ( heat mouldable thingy's)?
Cheers
Mitch

A snowHead

you go to a shop and pay them money for the fitting service - the money you;re saving by not buying fro the shop where the cost of the fitting is included in the price of the boot

HTH

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Mitchell, Dont do it, no amount of saving will be worth the pain Sad

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nbt,
No, these are way , way cheaper than retail so not worried on spending to get them 'fitted'

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

As long as you've tried the exact model and size you're planning on buying, I don't see the problem.

Depends on what you mean by "fitting" - if you're talking about major changes to the shell then you'll end up paying a good bootfitter to do it.

We went in to our local ski shop for several things earlier this season, including my boots and footbeds, and footbeds for my partner. They were happy to chuck an older pair of boots in their oven for 10 mins while we were shopping, but if you've never bought anything there and there's no benefit to them, they're likely to charge you for similar stuff.

If it's just a set of footbeds, take your new boots into any store locally and ask them to fit some customer footbeds for you. You'll have to pay for it, but you'd have had to pay for them anyhow.

Shops can get funny about people buying things on the internet, but they have to wake up to the fact that billions of pounds are spent on the web and they need to compete. They can then charge for their services separately.

Other option worth considering is to take the web advert into the shop and ask if they're prepared to match the price, or at least close the gap. Most shops will do a deal in the face of a customer going elsewhere. They will likely charge you for the fitting etc, but you won't have to pay shipping...

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Mitchell, are you certain the shell of the boots you are considering is the right size and shape for your feet? I wouldn't simply buy a pair of boots in my regular shoe size without doing a shell check to see how much space there was in them. There is a reasonably large variety of last shapes between brands and within brand ranges, so what might seem like a great price could turn out to be false economy in the long run. On the other hand you could get boots for a right bargain...

After all it is free

Or you can mold your thermo fit liners yourself using an oven see:
http://www.telemark-pyrenees.com/shop/article_info.php?articles_id=3

Note no personal experience Very Happy

Cut your feet off and post them to the retailer. He will fit your boots to the feet and send boots, footbeds and feet back to you

i.e. don't do it rolling eyes

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halfhand, Don't worry, if he tries to sue you he won't have a leg to stand on. Toofy Grin

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have at it, i've done it successfully a couple of times, or simply ski em till they mould around you, as suggested above. way to much guff about correct boot fitting and how you'll end up needing feet transplants and/or burn in haedes for all eternity if you dont employ the services of a professional bootfitter. They do indeed have their place and are a tremendous help to folk who need extra help cos of their 19 toes or whatever but if you're confident and know what fits you / works for you, then go for it. (note the "know what fits you / works for you" disclaimer Laughing

)

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Mitchell, I did exactly what you are contemplating, no problems at all. I did get them fitted in local shop and also got 'custom' footbeds made. Fitting cost £50 in total. Still saved £50 on the 'off the shelf' price.

You know it makes sense.

i presume this debate is sponsored by the marketing teams of the manufacturers

by all means tell each other of your personal stories and the benefits of your hundreds of pounds of personally fitted boots

But people have been skiing for decades if not centuries perfectly well without such luxuries

So many adjustments (too little time?) - get one measurement/adjustment wrong and it all changes ; change your skis and it all changes; do some lessons and your dynamic form changes etc etc

The parallels with golf are frightening - also the astonishing cost of these so-called benefits. In golf the marketing people persuade you that you need to be "fitted " for putters - and you know people believe it ! Like Jack Nickaus who won 18 majors ever got "fitted " for a putter.

Sorry - i'll shut up now

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

sev112, I relate with that.. A few years ago, clay shooting a bloke came up to me shouldering £XXXXX of Holland and Holland (or whatever) and literally asked 'How did I do that' after I 'straighted' what was perceived to be a 'difficult stand with a cheap clapped out gun. and even cheaper cartridges. Took me back a little to start with, then I said 'Well I pointed the gun in the right direction'.....

A snowHead

You pays your money and you takes your choice and lives with the joy and pain, whatever it may be. I've had expert-fitted expensive disasters and I've had DIY triumphs over the years and vice versa. Years ago I bought some Nordica NR980s via the BASI deal - never even tried 'em on, they just arrived in the post. All I was told was to buy them at least a whole size smaller than my street size. I took that advice and skiied the first week without socks (there was no room). Frankly, most of the time, I was in agony but it all came good and eventually I was able to introduce socks and then my footbed. Bliss. Seriously the most comfy things I ever wore until they wore out. Did my feet mould to the boot or the other way round? I'll never know.

Latest pair o' boots are almost as comfy but much more sportif. In theory meant to be heat moulded but all I did was slip my superfeet corks (built by a certain Bicester-dwelling bloke long before this forum was even a twinkle and still going strong) and skiied in them. Perfect.

I think I'm lucky. Most people though, without the luxury of weeks to get it right, shouldn't take any chances. A hundred quid spent on fitting might save a very expensive holiday.

A snowHead

[quote="sev112"] Like Jack Nickaus who won 18 majors ever got "fitted " for a putter. [quote]

yeah of course he did! they've been fitting golf clubs at least since the 1920's! 10 to 15 years ago a handicap of 4-7 would have got you an england school boys spot at golf at U15, now you've got to be looking closer towards scratch, thats massively down to the kids armed with new clubs being able to outdrive the adults of 15 years ago.

But surely as progression in the industry has caused the level of skiing to be elevated to levels way beyond what they where 20 years ago even, you can't argue that people have been skiing perfectly well, it a completely relative statement, watch 'blizzard of ahhhs', the tricks that glenn plake doesn't pull off are landed by 12 year old now-a-days.

My boot fitting (minus the footbed) cost me nothing on top of the boot purchase price so why wouldn't I get them fitted properly and improve my skiing dramatically, its not a marketing ploy at all its about getting the write tool for the job fitted correctly to perform at the standard at which they were designed at.

I'm sure you enjoy skiing your hand carved pine planks bound to your reindeer skin boots as anything anything else would be just being exploited by the marketeers of the large skiing companies.

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barry,

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niceguydave, ++

i don't really disagree, you are right about having them fitted if you get the chance/can afford it/you can tell the difference etc. - i was more coming from the point of it unlikely to be a differentiator in skiing ability/technique for most skiers

and you may be right about how long theyve been fitting putters etc.

Certainly improved equipment leads to an average increase in capability in the masses,

But my golf clubs are forged blades - i play off 10, which is reasonable, my swing is better because i have to work at it to play with clubs like these; many people buy the game improvement cavity backed irons and they get an improvement in their game, but actually they dont improve their swings; and when they hit a vein of poor form, they blame their clubs, believe teh next marketing gimmick and spend another £800 on clubs - when they coudl have spent £100 on 4 lessons and made a much better improvement to their game.
I sense that for the average recreational skier, a similar investment in lessons would reap better dividends, but i could be wrong there - interesting to know what otehrs think

I'm obviously a little less controversial when i havent had my nights worth of red wine Smile

barry,
love the curling tongs idea !

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II can see where alot of you are coming from and the point could be discussed til we are blue in the face..

sev112 - I appreciate your golf analogy but guess the comapative argument says just because you have a better swing are you a better golfer. I spent my youth playign golf i got down to 4, at the time i playing with a set of titleist forged irons, now not matter how well those clubs were fitted to me then or now, i'd still play a better round with my G10 because they are more forgiving (i' not playing any way near as much and probanly aound 8 - 10 handicap) - (God this is turning into a golf post) but given that Am i a better golfer with my G10's or my blades? You could argue I'm the same golfer, but my rounds are scores are lower so conversley I must be better?

My girl friend had wierd feet, very small, low volume, the ski shop put het in a pair of dober 130, then ground the shell to soften them up, she paid less for them that a pair of speed machines that she ski'd in for a week and had fitted by the 'best', and a pair of 'custom fitted' langes that were terribly fitted aparently, she improved massively with her confidence because of her ski'd going where she wanted to go, she also gained the ability to finish her tuns, as we found no amount of lessons and tuition could break her from it.

Kind of knowing my girlfriedn pretty well and having 'known' a few other women, if she'd have hired boots the whole experiencewould have been wose, to the point that she'd have given up, given the difference between 2 'fiited' boots.

On the flip side of that, put her in the boots with no lessons she wouldn't have improved purely cause of the boots, the 2 work hand in hand so I agree with your point, however given that its generally free to have boots fitted when buying them, or costs very little form experience I can say that they have improved performance becuase they were the right boot for myself both ability wise and size wise.

and allanm I appreciate your view of you not being the world champ and probably won't be, but given thsat you have owned one pair, you don't really have a comparason to make, yet you could potetially whith the right balance of ingredients' be a far better skier with a pair of boot that are 'dialed' in to you

maybe if we don't strive to be better than its a worthless argument, however I think that the majority of people on the forum are enthusiasts at least, it seems a very alien concept for people to be enthusiastic but not want to be better.

After all it is free

Some astonishingly uninformed comments here. Ski boots force your feet into an unnatural 'neutral' position so it might be better to consider it as having your feet fitted to your boots rather than vice-versa. If you're lucky enough to be one of the roughly 5% of people with no need for a footbed/insole to correct over-pronating then good for you but advising people to buy skiboots on eBay is as sensible as sending money to a Nigerian bank account.

It is true that;

1. You don't need to have boots fitted.

2. Liners will mould to the shape of your feet as you ski them.

3. You don't need footbeds.

Thats how I did it for at least 15 years, with no problem

However, in my limited experience;

1. I have been sold at least three pairs of boots that were too big.

2. Fitting is free if you buy from the fitter.

3. You will find skiing easier if the boots fit correctly.

For me, if you're talking about £50 - get them fitted. If they ain't right you've wasted £100's

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The heat fitting is a way of mimicking a few days use on one session i.e. the moulding will happen over time anyway.
Just use them and then after a few days see if you need a custom sole.

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COCK

You know it makes sense.

It's ALL been said here but SMALLZOOKEEPER wins.

Otherwise all you need to know is, the "gay, 'thermo' 'formable' liner" is a gay marketing gimmick. It's no different to skiing the boot for a few days, in fact if you are not paying out for a "real" 'thermo' liner (ie Zipfit, Intuition or foams: Comformable) the liners in your boot are GAY. They will last for maximum ten weeks before they pack out, save yourself a week of boor life by NOT having them heated.

If you can't tell the difference then you really don't need to worry about it, same goes for you GAYBOYS who have skiied 8+ weeks in your 'stock liners' and still find them comfortable. Stop press. Your boots are too big from day one. Spend more money on ski lessons.

Greetings from the British Virgin Islands 22:07 26 degC. Surfed 10' waves all day. I wish I was wearing ski boots. Wink

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parlor,

A snowHead

Professionally fitted boots can make a big difference to both your skiing (much more than skis) and comfort for anyone remotely interested in improving their level. Personally ski boots are the last thing I'd buy from the internet. Skis and most other gear yes, boots no way.

A snowHead

@SMALLZOOKEEPER, Hello, Beaky, how are you keeping?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

What colour are they?
Unless they are red dont bother.
If they are red, enjoy them no matter how painful.

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@tangowaggon, Was there even Facebook 14 years ago when the thread was started? wink

After all it is free

Don't. It's that simple.

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Latterly, I've got my boots in the resort. This has allowed me to go back to the shop after a day's skiing and get them adjusted when I've felt they've needed it. On one occassion, I tried them as rentals first and when I liked them, I bought new ones.

If you buy at home via a shop or mail order, the downside is that if you have boot problems, you'll either be skiing in them the whole week, or be looking in the resort for someone to adjust boots they haven't supplied you with.

People can have a perfectly good experience either way. But it's worth being aware of the pros and cons.

Help!!

Ski boots by mail order.......how do I get them 'fitted' ?

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