Custom Boot Liners... Worth it? ... Yes :)

A snowHead

My best fitting boots ever that I bought in 2021 are not comfy anymore.
Life's too short for not having comfy boots so I've got to do something about it before the season starts.

They were great at first but the liners have bedded down.
The suppliers were very good at trying to fix the problem.

New Sidas custom foot beds were fitted free of charge to replace the previous ones, but now there is another problem ..
My "sticky out" medial malleoli. This hurts.

I don't know anything about Custom Liners, and I'd like to know in case this is the solution.

I've seen a few serious skiers lace up their inner bits in the boot room, but I've not stuck my nose in .. yet.

Anyway, I was going to treat myself to a new pair of boots this season, and I'd like to get some advice from you guys who know all about this stuff.

Is it worth it?
How much are they?
Should it be liners with boots purchase?

Any advice welcome.

A snowHead

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

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I've got problem feet to various degrees and I'd say Zipfit ftw. Not cheap though and be prepared to add additional goop as problems arise.

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I got some that you do at home. They worked quite well for a few years before they started to breakdown.
However I made the mistake of not putting on the thinnest socks possible, so ended up with only being able to wear 2x pairs with them. Hunted everywhere for the same ones but couldn't find identical ones of the same weight. My fault for buy discontinued twin pack I guess!

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@DrLawn, tbh my immediate suggestion is shell stretching - but as above go see an expert

After all it is free

A further though if your shells were comfy AND your feet haven't changed shape a new liner may be all you need. Anyone who really struggles changes shells as a last resort.

Hi Guys, of course I'm going to a bootfitter, do you think I was going to buy them on eBay?
(That's where I sell them)

Cheers @Dave of the Marmottes, I was hoping someone was going to mention Zipfits.
I'm trying to be armed with as much info as I can before I roll up at the bootlab, like a lamb to the slaughter.

I've spent a day traveling by train to visit one well known bootfitter.
Only to be told .. "sorry mate with feet like that you'll have to go somewhere else".

Anyway some more from you Zipfit wearers, I'm not a racer, I just want to have something comfy for a whole day.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I've got Zipfits. Super-comfy. Have taken more than 10 years to require fettling, now super-comfy again. But my feet aren't particularly problematic.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Would it be a good idea to base a holiday around somewhere with a really good Bootfitter - and then get them tweaked as necessary during the week?

I can't help with the main question, as I've never had Custom Liners.

snow reports

... and very minor fettling at that, just an injection of some cork.

@DrLawn, I read the initial post as that your feet had changed.

If you have a bump on one then you will probably need to have the shell stretched at that point, new liners by themselves won't solve that problem and may not be needed at all.

You know it makes sense.

Cheers guys, I'll get myself an appointment with my local fitters and have the discussion on the phone first.
That's if they are open at this time of year.

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

I have a club left foot that is 3 sizes smaller than the right but has a higher instep, and my left leg is an inch shorter below the knee, so I’m a boot fitters nightmare.

Sidas foam injection was the only solution for me, and for the last 15 years I’ve even had touring boots foamed. If foamed liners can fit me, but haven’t been suggested for you, your feet must be a very odd shape.

I first had them foamed at S&R in the late 80’s and 90’s back when they were still an independent enthusiast run operation. The next time I needed some new boots it was clear I knew way more than the S&R fitter, despite calling ahead and explaining the situation. I then switched to Profeet and haven’t looked back.

A snowHead

@DrLawn, a couple of our local fitters, one well known round these parts suggest that there's more or less nothing that's a huge obstacle.

Sounds to me like you need the shell modified. And possibly a new liner. I have either zipfits or intuitions in my boots (the original was gash) and they're great, whichever they are.

But a liner can only go far if the shell doesn't fit correctly ...

A snowHead

I got some Sidas moulded (lace
Up) liner when I had an issue.

I need a new pair and if buying a new set of boots I would even consider binning the liners that come with it and get a set of Sidas injection liners (same as I have).

Or I may just get a new set and some replacement footpads.

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

I had Zipfits put in to my Lange shells after the original liners packed down after a couple of seasons (six weeks skiing). So far all is good. snowHead

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@DrLawn, talk to Colin in Bicester

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I used Zipfit for a few years, have a big medial malleolus. The problem with this area, and Zipfit here for me was that the dynamic nature of the product and the amount of force through the area when skiing. The ankle bone just kept squeezing the cork away, i put loads in to pack it out and day after day the cork was just pressed away leaving my ankle with no protection or padding. The ankle bone grew and grew over seasons of skiing, and am now left with a hefty golfball sized problem, one, which as a bootfitter i have solved. The first thing is to contour the shell to the same shape as the problem, then get a liner with hefty padding on and around the area, intuition liners do this best IMO. Of course a well made footbed, not any footbed, not sidas, not superfeet or anything branded, one made by a skilled technician that can build the support required to stop the ankle moving harder into the area. Footbed fabrication is key and few technicians IMO have any clue what they're doing, despite a 3 day training course to practice with materials and tools, infact again IMO not many podiatrists seem capable. Your boy in Bicester makes awesome, footbeds consistently, this is not a UK vs Resort bootfitter thing, it's a skill, he has an eye for it and his eyes translate into awesome footbeds, again, that's my opinion, i've seen his work for the best part of 30 years now and he's got it dialled. See him, get him to do your shells right, get the support right and then hopefully he'll get the liner needed to keep unwanted pressure off the problem.

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Hi @Linds & @DCG,
I've seen CEM already, I made an appointment with him back in 2020 (I think)
I spent the whole day traveling there and back and meeting lots of Chinese people on the way.
He could not help, only sympathise with my ankle, and suggested I see someone else the other side of Oxford.
If I had driven it may have been possible, but by train it was a "no-no".

I won't be bothering him again.

After all it is free

@DrLawn, so what ya gonna do?

@CH2O, Thank you for your very informative input.
I dont think my ankle bone (medial malleolus as you say) is growing ... its just huge and becoming pointy, thus making a soar part as it rubs against the liner.

So you are a bootfitter too?

I've just looked up "intuition liners" and it looks interesting.

Your handle of CH20 hints that you are not a local, but someone who is smarting from your unlucky loss last night on penalties. (But its only a game)

I think I share your suspicion of Sidas footbeds .. just because they have caused me problems.

But lets face it difficult feet are difficult, I just hope I can sort it.
But thanks again for your very informative post.

I must have caught Cem on a bad day then.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@CH2O, so what ya gonna do?
I think I'll have a word agian with my local guys and see if they are dealers for Zipfit and Intuition.
Then I'll scratch my head a bit and concentrate on getting my 1965 Lambretta Li150 going.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I also have a massive medial maleolus and it has caused me no end of problems.
I ended up with a permanently weeping wound and bone damage.
Really not good.
In my painful experience, mucking about with boot liners had minimal effect.
This was because, whatever I did with the liner, the tip of my maleolus was still the bit closest to the boot shell and consequently suffered the most abuse.
In desperation, I went to Ski Bartlett where Tom and a lady whose name I sadly can't remember, took ownership of my problem.
I gave them permission to radically punch out the problem area to a significant level, on the understanding that if it broke the boot, I would bare the cost.
The service and care I received was exceptional.
After a couple of visits, I had a pocket for my oversized bone so the pressure was distributed around it rather than focused on the tip.
I now have odd-looking but completely comfortable boots.
It was an horrendous and painful journey to get to that point, but I can't thank the guys at SB enough for their care and tenacity.

snow reports

Hi @FoofyNoo,
Sorry to hear that you've got a massive bit on your ankle too.

I've never been along to Ski Bartlette, but I'm sure I've met Tom...
He gave a presentation about boots a few months ago at Hemel Fridge,
very interesting, it was only supposed to last for 1/2 hour but we must have spent at least a whole hour with Q&As.

I sort of know the Bartlett family quite well.
I'll have a word with them.

Cheers @CH2O,

You know it makes sense.

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

@CH2O, I always thought you were an embalmer or pathology tech. Good old Formaldehyde.

A snowHead

@DrLawn, if i suggested you see the guys at Daleboot it is because i thought it was the best thing for your foot at the time, the size of your malleolus alone is unlikely to be the reason i suggested it, more likely a seriously limitation in your ankle joint ROM a fused ankle, or some other reason in combination, i am really not in the habit of giving business away if i don't have to (was it me you saw or someone else here)

so if i read it correctly, you got some boots that "worked" in 2021, now they cause you problems, so unless you are skiing 5-6 years plus a season i am going to suggest someone put you in a boot too big that just didnt hit the problem area at the time and now the liner has broken down

to which end NO a custom liner will not help you much at all (or certainly not in the long term)

A snowHead

Thank you @CEM,
Yes it was yourself I saw a few years ago.
Yes my left ankle is a bit of a state, due to a Potts fracture from a serious motor bike accident almost 60 years ago.

It's riddled with arthritis now, but I still love to ski.
I do ski quite a lot, mostly in the Hemelays.
The boots I'm using now were a fab fit, extremely tight on the left problem foot, the right foot is a half size smaller so it's not as tight.

The hurty medial malleoli thingy is a fairly recent problem, I suspect caused by an air borne out of control snowboarder causing an almighty rotational twang on that iffy ankle.
I still haven't got over it and that was 12 months ago.

Still, thanks CEM for your insight and opinion on the custom liners. I'm sure you know more about them than anyone else.

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

FWIW my last pair of boots needed a zipfit liner, my current pair uses a stock liner, so "it depends" and "listen to your bootfitter"

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I've got boots fitted by both fitters in this thead. Zero G's by CH20 which now have zipfit GFTs fitted by CEM and footbeds made by CH20 (these liners have 11 weeks of skiing on them). RS130 by CEM with Zipfit Gara's fitted by CEM foitbeds made by CEM(these liners have 4 weeks on them)
Only this last season have I had a problem in the Zero G's with medial malieoi on my right foot. Same boot and liner as season before but painful after 1st day. Lange RS130 no problem at all(currently race training twice/thrice a week in them) . Both are a great fit, no heal movement with little bit of toe wiggle.
I dont know how to explain the change from one season to the next. I'm not enduring the pain this coming season though

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Hi @Baron von chippy,
Welcome to the medial malieoi club a place where can soak our feet and empathise with each other.

When you say "I'm not enduring the pain this coming season though"
Does this mean you have solved the problem?

I'm not sure what my way forward is, but I'm going to visit my local Boot Lab and see what they reckon.
There are other problems apart from the "sticky out medial malieoi".

I'll keep you updated, when I've discovered more.

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Intuition liners, a good stretch and a good footbed and the club would have no members.

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

@DrLawn, not solved the problem but
going to go and see someone about it before they go back on my feet. The whole of winter that pointy/lumpy bone was sore.
The lange rs130s couldn't fit better if I tried with the zipfits. The stock liners crushed my big toe nails to the point of me losing them.

After all it is free

@CH2O, that's my though go intuition tour liners

Well it will insure there’s protection on the issue, the cork in ZF will displace. Just need to get the shell mod right

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

@CH2O, but why no problem in the rs130s and zips? footbeds you and Colin made are identical,
zero g and gft were good 22/23 season.

Help!!

Custom Boot Liners... Worth it? ... Yes :)

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