Got new boots - Heel moves a bit

A snowHead

Hi All - Super psuched with my Nordica HF 110. They come on and off easy and fit great. The only thing I notice is my heel moves a bit. Not a lot, but noticeable. I know I can goto a boot fitter, but wondering what products are out there for this. Any special insert? Thoughts?

A snowHead

@Suburbandad,

1. you bought too big (well, obviously , you did)

2. you didn't go to a fitter

3 you can make them bigger, you can't (easily) make them smaller ...

send them back, buy smaller, get them fitted properly ...

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

^^^^^^^this^^^^^^

But, if they were a cheap ebay purchase or similar, you could try a GOOD shaped footbed, to pack up your foot, but by good, I mean very good and therefore not cheap. Odoureaters will not cut it.
But (again), a good heal slam before you buckle up, and correctly buckling up, can make ALOT of difference (so many don'tknow how to do it right). It's not something that's often taught, so check out a youtube vid or two, there's loads out there. It can make all the difference.
But (this is getting repetitive) if the movement is lateral and you have slightly odd shaped feet with very narrow heels, you can pack around the heel a LITTLE (inside the boot, NOT the insert) with carefully laid duct tape, though only use really good stuff like Gorilla tape, and don't use much.
But (really) if the movement is slight, only verticle and your not a seriously gnarly mega skier, just a leisure skier with a family ( and therefore on a budget) , live with it, you'll be fine. Maybe put thicker socks on.
But ( last one, I promise) I completely expect "the rules" crew will pan my input, and give very convincing reasons why I am wrong. They are following rule 1, and they are trying to matain skiing as an elite pastime. It is preferable to be able to have boots fitted in Banbury for £1500 a go, but not everyone can. My boots cost £45 on Ebay, BNWT. I have had them 12 years, they have done nearly 30 holidays, averaging 20+ ski miles a day, and they are fine. I had footbeds made about 7 years ago because they were getting a bit "packed out". I service my own skis ( again, not hard, loads of vids on YouTube, you don't need expensive kit, a £15 iron from Argos will do for example, but you need to get the temp right. Too hot will begger your skis. Get a basic starter kit, then add to it as you learn, it's fun, and it doesn't half trim the costs that easily build on a ski holiday. It is desirable to have great fitting kit and finely tuned skis etc, but as long as you keep an eye on safety ( boots flopping around your foot, delaminating skis) it's amazing how much you can trim off kit costs.
But (doh!) Never trust to luck. If your going to take a budget route to kit, research it, google it, look on YouTube. There's loads of info out there, for free. Use it. And while I am happy sorting my own skis and boots, but I wouldn't ever take anything but expert advice on more specialist kit like transceivers or Avi kit. Altogether a different ball game.
Finally, one thing to remember, whatever movement you have now will increase as the liners get packed out. If you can possibly return them for a smaller size, do.

Good luck.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

If you don't have any luck, it's possible a smaller liner will fit the shell you have, which will be cheaper than new boots.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

From the OP's previous posts, it is safe to say these are new boots.

try an Insole as @cramps suggest ?

You'll need to Register first of course.

I bought brand new Nordica HF 110 boots. I buy a bit bigger on purpose. Any time I have gone to a boot fitter in the past they say my boots are too big and then they squeeze me into something incredibly tight and uncomfortable. I live in agony and end up hating it. When I am a bit loose I am happy and comfortable. I know everyone here is going to say I am doing something “‘wrong” but frankly I know myself and comfort is key. I am an intermediate skier and choose to only ski groomers. Nothing crazy and stressful.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

I’ve got very narrow ankles but wide forefeet, so boot fitter stuck small boomerang shaped pieces of foam on the outside of my inners. They give a really snug fit around my achilles and make a huge difference to the overall feel of the boots.

After all it is free

@Suburbandad, well fitted boots will be very tight for a bit, but will bed in to be a perfect fit. A good bootfitter knows what they're doing. If you want to do your own thing expect problems Very Happy

You can purchase donuts that stick onto the outside of the liner. Between the liner and the shell. They are very helpful in making the heel pocket tighter. Just not sure how they will work with rear entry boots.

Then again, since your second post is adamant that you don't want boots that fit properly, and being comfortable is your key factor, you could just continue to enjoy the bedroom slipper effect and do nothing to them.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

My first own boots (Salomon rear entry, bought at the ski show circa 1988!) were WAY too big because my first ever hire boots were agony.

I got my second pair in Bicester I think, vaguely remember the shop having a moving slope? probably around 1990. They were three sizes smaller than the originals! They cost a fortune compared to the first ones. I can't honestly say they were comfortable, they were agony the first week. For the next 3 holidays I spent at least one evening in a boot shop getting adjustments made to them (blown shell, conformable insoles, different buckles etc). Finally they fit and after that I wouldn't let them out my sight and worried about how I'd ever replace them without ruining another few holidays and spending £££s. Fast forward about 25 years (!) and the plastic was getting brittle so I hired some just in case they broke. They were SOOOO comfy I realised I'd been a bit stupid, materials had moved on and the newer boots were so much better.

So deciding that when you hire you waste and hour or two in the shop and you may/may not get something suitable I too the plunge again in 2019 & I bought some Decathlon boots in the sale and they are fine, they were a bit big around the ankle on one foot - my old boots had some sort of figure of 8 wire that you tightened with a knob on the back that really held your foot in (they were mid-entry?) - these ones you need to rely on the clips and if I do them up too tight my feet go numb. I chopped the toe and leg off a pair of socks and wore the heel/ankle bit over my socks so that I had extra thickness just at the ankle on that foot as a makeshift solution for that holiday, which worked and might be a very cheap solution? then on return googled and discovered "Ankle volume reducers" - they were out of stock so I bought some stickybacked foam from ebay and made my own. Tried them this year - they worked perfectly!

So, after that long waffle, I think my point is that for an intermediate that only skis once or twice a year comfort beats precision and "good enough" is probably "good enough".

Yes, we probably all should have our boots professionally fitted - but my experience and that of two friends who have also had their boots fitted by a pro is that it takes several weeks to get them "just right" when they start off mega-tight and that's fine if you are doing a season, but its not so great if you go so little that its gonna take several years before they are comfortable and during that time you have to keep finding a fitter and spending holiday time in ski hire shops to make the adjustments.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I am an intermediate and I ski a lot more than twice a year - I go out for a half day and cruise the blues. That’s it

snow reports

Google “silicone sock”. Cheap as chips. Had the same problem. They Worked brilliantly for me. Recommended to me by a boot fitter-hiking not skiing but he said “should work” - it did
Worth consider before more drastic action.?
I ski all pistes (except in a white out or sheet ice or crud moguls) so cruise blues too

I reckon this Ankle support

Would work for me, its effectively what my extra sock did, think I'll get them and try them out

You know it makes sense.

Errr, I think most (all?) of you are missing the point that these are new REAR ENTRY boots designed for easy access and comfort so they don't need @Suburbandad to be a size up rolling eyes

cos then they won't fit properly and e.g. your ankles will move rolling eyes

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

A snowHead

@Whitegoldsbrother, spot on brother

A snowHead

@Whitegoldsbrother, quite. "bought size too big, they don't fit Puzzled

"

errr...

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

He’s not complaining, is he - he knowingly bought bigger boots for a ‘comfort fit’ (and committed snowheads heresy by not going to a fitter), and just wants advice on anything to add to pack out around the ankles.

@Suburbandad, what sort of movement are we talking - side to side, or heel lift?

Help!!

Got new boots - Heel moves a bit

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