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Which are the best boots to prevent heel lift?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I have wide feet but narrow heels and ankles and big calves. As a result I suffer from heel lift in boots. I'm a skier in general and usually board for 1-2 days a week when the snow's good. I have rented boots and boards in the past but now want to buy some boots as I always have the heel lift problem which really screws up the enjoyment of it.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to which boots are best?

I want to get some next weekend.

Any advice greatly aoppreciated.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
You just have to try lots of boots really to see what suits your feet
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Jumping Jack Flash, My feet are like yours, Head, boots fit me well but only after adjustments by good fitters.
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avoid burton then, they tend to be wider inside. Salomon are maybe narrower, they should be. I tried the synapse a few weeks back and it was definitely narrower.
Or get them heat molded and add some padding in there, which is what I'm doing tomorrow to my burtons.
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Jumping Jack Flash, As a general rule snowboard boots have very wide heel pockets compared to ski boots. In order to get a good heel fit there are two things that are important;

1. Good heel retention system inside boot. Many cheaper boots just dont have one.
2. The outer boot needs to be stiff; test this by squeezing either side of the ankle, the less movement the better. A stiff heel pocket means that foam or plastic frames can be added to increase heel grip (if this is done in softer boots it is common that the outer boot just deforms around the extra material so no real extra grip is achieved).

Thirtytwo make really good boots, stiff and really well made with reliable lacing systems.
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i'm sure you know the answer really - those that fit you well.Laughing

i've your shaped feet and have salomon F22s. they hold me down really well.

the bootfitting bods don't like them because you can't take the liner out, but if they fit well......
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infact heal lift is directly caused by poor technique.

try this
if you stand in snowboard position and bend your knees to make your legs into a house, push your knees outa nd roll from (what would be) front endge to heal edge, if your doing it right you will not get heal lift.
now try the same thing but just put presure on your toes and not worry about your knees or position, lots and lots of heal lift.

Go practice, work on the technique cos any boots will give you heal lift if you forget your technique.
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Ski Boots is the answer to this thread question, how many more times do you you lot need to be told? Toofy Grin
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for what its worth.. had a similar problem, headed to foot locker - they had these 'sports insoles' worked a treat...
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snowangel., "Go practice, work on the technique cos any boots will give you heal lift if you forget your technique."

Sorry but that isn't true. Good quality boots that have been fitted properly (i.e. are the correct size, shape, have had an orthotic footbed fabricated by a bootfitter and then been heat moulded) will hold the heel inplace regardless of technique.

I'm not however advocating poor technique......
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Best system ever was the Salomon Malamut circa 2004/5 with internal velcro heel retainer, stiff and narrow in the heel. As NZK points out, as a brand Thirtytwo are hard to beat and thier high end freeride models, second to none. The Raichle/Deeluxe GTI was is the narrowest/stiffest soft snowboard boot in history, if you can pick these up you're set for life. (We have a couple left in stock PM NZK for sizes.) Otherwise and this will make some of you choke, but that that i saw at ISPO, the ski boot manufacturers make the best Snowboard boots, but will you crazy BURTON/VANS fashion victims move over, i hope so. Atomic/Salomon and Rossignol being my pick of the bunch.


rogg, The F22 is, as you say an awesome boot but as you point out, the non removable liner, limits our options for correct fitting. Puzzled
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Glad my first pair of boots are Salomon Symbio then! Very Happy
Bought them 'cause their were cheap but nice at Decathlon but I am very happy and found them very comfortable and no heel lift...
They are beginners ones though. The lacing system is nice and easy, although the "clip handle on the side" sytem don't work really well as the handle always comes off (but stays trapped in the trousers snow skirt so no big issue really..
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Thanks for all the advice. I'll start have a go with them all on Saturday.

SZK - Thanks for that, I need them for Verbier on 15th March so I guess Chamonix is a bit far to come in the meantime (I'm only there for four days, otherwise I'd come round and see you lot).

Cheers

Jack
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Oh yes, this may sound silly, but un-lace all of the boot before you put them on and really tighten the laces at each point of lace holes, a really tightly laced boot may just help a bit too.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, I have Boa VANs, quick to do up, comfortable, no heel lift, all round SUPERB boot. No 'fashion victim' about the choice at all, the other manufacturers just weren't up to the fit I needed.

Jumping Jack Flash, you just have to try different manufacturers & boots, its time consuming and a pain but you need a pair to fit properly. I tried on every boot out that season when I wanted mine, VANs were my last choice, but they were the only ones that fitted snugly. They rock & I wouldnt change 'em !
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Obviously a good move to get the best fit possible, but I'm with snowangel - get your technique right and you won't think about heel lift.
My boots are old and quite sloppy (with regards to fit) and when I am boarding with bent knees i don't notice any heel lift.

When I get knackered (or suffering from the night before) my technique goes and I notice quite a bit of lift.
This then tends to cause foot ache as you try to over compensate with your toes.

When I first started boarding I was obsessed with it - constantly doing up my laces etc to minimise the slightest bit of lift.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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guys Jumping Jack Flash has rented boots before and if they do not fit then no matter what your technique is like you are likely to suffer with a bit of heel lift which can be a nuisance at the end of a days riding when you are a bit knackered and the boots have been taking a bit of a bashing too. The difference between rented boots and boots that have been bought because they fit well is massive (I bought my first boots at the beginning of last season so it is still fresh in the mind). so simply buy a pair of boots that fit the best. After that technique can eliminate it (if there is any) as Snowangel says but if the boot is a good fit, heat moulded etc then as NAKEDZOOKEEPER says you should have no problem anyway.

Jumping Jack Flash, With a decent fitted boot it allows that little bit of laziness when needed, so whatever you buy will be better than rented and the heel lift will be a lot less
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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?
Its all about the socks. If you riding in regular street socks you are asking for heel lift. If someone doesn't think its important then they just don't know any better. Some boarding socks are better then others but anything is better then street hosery.
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3snowboards, Sure socks are important, but it's certainly not all about socks.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER wrote:
3snowboards, Sure socks are important, but it's certainly not all about socks.




Between recommending ski boots and posting about some old salomons not made anymore, you need to pick apart my post? Quite a lofty place you must be posting from.
The guy is wondering about heel-lift in a pair of rental boots. Hello... The fact is just about everyone would get major heelrise if they snowboarded in a pair of boots with who knows how many wet days of different sized people squeezing their chubby or skinny ankles into them. The guys feet are probably not so different that any heat molded liner won't be tight and comfy. If they fit correctly, any boot on the market is going to be an big upgrade from renting.
It is assumed that a person looking for, or expecting a good fit from rental junk would not be aware of the benefits of snowboarding socks.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, 3snowboards, I suggest a DUEL using only the sock of your choice !
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DebbiDoesSnow, no sock puppets in this section please Very Happy
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first one to lift their heel loses?
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we should stamp out this kind of posting Shocked and tell everyone to put a sock in it Little Angel
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It's kicking off now.
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Swirly, step in to and toe (sic) the line with the rest please Laughing
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turning into a right shoe in.
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enough I think Shocked
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Can we put the boot in too?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
DebbiDoesSnow, sock it to them.

rayscoops, never
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Swirly,
careful, you never know when the shoe might be on the other foot?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
edmundf, in that case I would side-step the issue.
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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?
is heel lift the sole issue here ?
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Swirly, assuming you have carefully sized up the issue?
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Laughing

I just love it when a thread derails like this! Very Happy
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3snowboards, No problem my friend, you're post intimated that the solution to the problem, was "It's all about socks" which is not true. My Job, Bootfitter and has been for 12 yrs, Snowboard, Ski, Telemark and Randonnée, i'm quite happy to discuss Snowboard boots because they are problematic, we see around 4-5 pairs of them a day. Feel free to contribute, i'll pick at your post as i see fit given that the solution you offered was to change socks. I agreed, socks are important but only to fine tune fit not as a one stop answer to all Snowboard boot fitting issues. As i'm sure you may have only ever fitted your own boots i thought perhaps the advice of someone whom has fitted hundreds, maybe thousands might be of help. That's 'Socking it to ya.' Cool
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, perhaps 3snowboards is, unbeknown to us, in fact a sockfitter with some considerable experience. Laughing
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rogg, There's alot of money in 'Socks', especially when used as a 'cosh'.
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rogg, he must work in The Sock Shop

Although they stock a huge range of gaudy designs, notably there is no anti heel lift variety on offer wink
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On the sock front, when boarding I wear Lidls snowboard socks and a pair of Nike sports socks that are too small so they are really tight and barely comes over the ankle, this helps provide a good snug boot fit .... I just thought I would share that fact Very Happy

Also I am currently limping around with a tweaked achilles/lower calf pull on my left leg which is really p$ssing me off because I go to Morzine on Saturday Crying or Very sad
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