Poster: A snowHead
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Bought some Tecnica Icon boots 3 yrs ago, never been totally happy with them, but this last weekend they hurt my shins no end.
Shins are bruised and on the right leg my skin/hairs (I'm a bloke!) rubbed off - needed to apply 2nd skin after just a day. Never been like this before, previous problems were with rubbing around the ankles.
Boots have forward lean and flex adjustment. Since arriving home I've played with these but not sure if either will make a huge difference. Any experts out there care to comment if f/lean or flex could be the problem ; too stiff / too much lean or not enough of one or both. Typically, if one experiences rubbing/bruising on shins what is the cause ?
thanks,
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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masmith, sounds like they were a little loose around the cuff and the hair has trapped in your socks [have you changed sock brand recently?] I would run the razor down your shins before the next trip to take away this risk, and snug the boot up a little. Do you have a footbed? if not then the motion of the foot inthe boot could be causing the friction which has done the damage [as the foot pronates the leg spirals downwards in the shaft of the boot] if this fails then there are after market solutions such as ski angel and epitact whcih can reduce the problem.... there is that other solution which you may or may not want to hear which is as you have not been totally happy with them....get a new pair
hope this helps a bit
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brian
brian
Guest
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masmith, the shaving thing really works.
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Masmith,
I had awful problems with a pair of Salomon Performa, which used to bruise my shin at the top of the cuff and take the hairs AND skin off!! I only kept them long enough to make the student £'s spent on them worth it, even though skiing was a painful experience! I have now replaced them with a slipper-like pair of Salomon Impact 8's. Lovely.
Anyway, having been to a good bootfitter, he identified two problems with the Performas. Firstly, they had too-soft-a-flex index (70, I think) and that wasn't enough for my level of skiing (advanced-ish). This meant that when I was going at it full-tilt, the boots were fully flexed and just banging on my shins, like a car who's suspension is already bottomed out and then hits another bump.
Secondly, they were 1 mondo size too big (which equates to 1cm). This meant they were loose around the ankle and, to compensate, I was tightening the boot at the top of the cuff, which, in turn, just dug into my shin and took the hairs and skin off and also caused the bruising. Essentially, any uneven pressure will cause bruising and rubbing.
I don't know if any of these problems are related to yours, but if they then maybe you should consider changing your boot? I know from experience that a painful boot can ruin your skiing experience, not least because you hold back from using the boot properly because of the pain!!
Cheers,
Phil
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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CEM and brian, Have often thought about shaving and may do this is future, but that would only explain the rubbing, not the bruising. The cuffs were nice and tight, but I feel there is still a bit of movement when flexing, but I would say the movement wasi between the boot cuff and inner boot, not between the inner boot and leg.
Pallen, your 2nd para sounds very similar to my problem, just like the car bottoming out. I'm sure the boot is the right size though.
Interestingly, I read the small intruction manual last night, the boot has what is called a 'floating tongue', I wondered if this was the cause of the problem, i.e. the tongue is moving up and down my leg rather than with it ? Any movemnet would be really minor as they are nicely tight and there's no noticeable movement.
This is my 6th pair of boots over 20+ years, have often had hairs rub off shin but never had problem like this.
Should add, the boots were from S&R Sheffield, fitted, heat moulded, new footbeds. They felt perfect when buying, but on first outing problems started to appear. Because of this, am reluctant to buy from same place again, have heard lots of good things about the place in Leamington (Lockwoods ?), but it's not the most convenient place for me. I don't mind splashing out on a new pair if that's the answer, but I want to make sure I get it right this time. Is it worth the one, two or maybe more trips to somewhere like Lockwoods, or would I stand a better chance of success by buying in resort where I can ski for a few days with on the spot adjustments if necessary?
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Should add ... I'm a bit confused by this and don't want to throw good money after bad, so am more tempted to buy new if there is no easy / obvious fix.
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My advice is buy at home. If you buy in a resort and have problems after purchase, you have no after sales support. I can't recommend any good boot fitters up north because I am down south, but hopefully someone else on this forum can recommend somewhere? Also, a good bootfitter may be able to look at your current boots and do some work on the shells through grinding or foam inserts to even out the pressure - this is where my knowledge runs dry, though, so I'll stop.
One more thing, I am a racing cyclist and I shave my legs all over in the summer. Go on, take a razor to your legs. Trousers will never feel the same again!!!!
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Pallen wrote: |
One more thing, I am a racing cyclist and I shave my legs all over in the summer. Go on, take a razor to your legs. Trousers will never feel the same again!!!! |
erm, maybe one day to surprise the wife. But a serious point, I know pro swimmers and cyclists shave their legs for aerodynamics and drag (no pun intended), I wonder if pro skiers do the same for enhanced boot fit etc ... ??
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