 Poster: A snowHead
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owned me own ski boots for 2 years now, translating to 20 something days on snow, + a couple of snowdome and some hiking up uk hills. Ill be honest, i just went and picked them out, based on them looking ok, being my shoe size, and boots by the same manufacturer feeling ok in that size in decathlon.then threw it all out the window, and bought some 1/2 a size bigger than that, because they were £80 cheaper.
So i most likely started out on a boot a good size or so too big for me, then went up half a size, now the liners have packed out,I could swing a cat in my liners.So im in the market to get new boots,and am going to do it the right way.
a bit of background, im 24, got around 50-55 days on snow experience, would class myself most likely as something of a ballsy intermediate (Ill hit blacks, and in canada hit the odd double black, without falling, I can carve, but my technique leaves something to be desired). With regards to what I ski, its all mountain, but as of late im finding myself in the air a lot more. I'd like to go back to skiing really hard stuff, but unfortunately the group I holiday with now, no longer contains people who want to do this, they are happy to ski reds and leave it at that, Hence me finding myself looking for bumps/jumps/transitions to leave the snow on these runs, just to keep myself entertained. I'll quite often find myself going to the park whilst they're having lunch (they take the whole holiday a bit too leisurely for my liking).
I've been looking at the full tilt boots, with #6/#8 tongues(konflicts,hot dogger, seth morrison, classic etc) as they seem to suit my needs, fun all over the mountain, but would be totally at home if I wanted to spend a week in the park, or a week skiing double blacks in canada, whilst being stiff enough if i was to spend a week just learning carving etc on the piste. I also like the idea of a lightweight boot, and having an intuiton liner out the box seems like a benefit(although having never used one, I dont know). any thoughts on the full tilt range??
also, is it a good idea to walk into a ski shop with the above,and let the bootfitter work out which one would be best for me, or should i just go into the shop, and let the bootfitter pick me out boots (I tried this the season before last, and every shop either sent me straight to like 120 flex race boots, or a park boot without actually measuring feet or the like )
or are there any other boots out there, that I should be looking into??
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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CEM and smallzookeeper will be along in a minute.
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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?
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Go to a good boot fitter (like CEM or SZK) without any preconceptions of what boot you want, tell them honestly about your skiing and then let them do their job!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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It's all but impossible to recommend boots for someone, as davkt says you need to talk to a boot fitter. Take a look at this thread in this forum for a recommendation.
If the Full Tilt boots suit you then I'd go for it, there are very good reasons to believe them to be excellent, but if they don't suit your feet then they are no good at all.
The reason Full Tilt are so good, IMHO at least, is that they use the last from the former Raichle Flexon. They are more or a less a direct copy of the Flexon (quite legitimate I hasten to add - they bought the lasts from the owners). Raichle ditched this boot years ago, and since then boots and spares have been treated like gold dust. If they fit your foot you'll likely never ski on anything else, those the use them tend to rave about them.
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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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yea, I plan on going to a boot fitter and getting them done properly. Just thought it might help to have a shortlist of boots that fit my requirements.
the reason I was asking about preconceptions/shortlists, is the first time i was buying boots(as above I went and resorted to trying a pair on in decathlon, then ordering them off ebay, but going half a size bigger because I could save some pennies). My experience went something like this;
walk into bootshop
stare at shiny boots
get approached by a boot fitter
he asks how much ive done, what I can ski down,if theres any boots in particular i like the look of.(not a lot, most stuff in resort, not really although i dont like pink)
tells me I want to be looking at these boots *takes me over to the wall with the advanced/expert boots*
looks around, pulls a £350 boot off its little plinth, starts talking technical stuff about why its better than the rest of the boots
"right looks like weve got the boot for you, now just to get you sized up, lets start, what size shoe do you take"
in one shop, the salesperson asked me if I was interested in jumps, to which i told them, "ill occasionally leave the ground, but not really, its not that i dont want to do them, its just we never really venture into the parks" who at that point walked me straight over to a salomon spk boot, and told me it was ideal for me. "great on the piste, great in the park".
Is this what to expect from the big chain snowsports shops? or are certain ones better than others? or should i just go to an independant shop for the best service??
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sounds about right for the high street branches of the big chains, I certainly got far better from the EB at Tamworth fridge but guess it helped they are all skiiers/boarders who happen to work in a sports shop rather than sales people you happen to work in the ski dept! They didn't even hint at a boot choice till we'd had a long chat about the skiing I did and wanted to do and they had spent a good while measuring my feet.
Think you'll get better from an independent like say Lockwoods (Leamington Spa) or Rivlington Alpine (Chorley) than a highstreet sports shop that does ski stuff though.
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to be fair ive just searched leamington spa, and its a damn site closer than i thought it was, which is pleasing.
the people who tried pointing me towards the boots in the above instances, where both at different branches of S+R.
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kev182, you went to the wrong shop.
When I need some new boots:
>Book appointment with a respected bootfitter (CEM@Bicester and smallzookeeper@chamonix are commended on SHs)
>answer questions asked (honestly)
>let bootfitter inspect feet
>let bootfitter choose boots
>get boots fitted
>get boots and pay
>done
I've been at CEMs shop in bicester and he didn't have the right boot in stock (for a previous customer) so he sent them somewhere else (where they stocked the right boot) and told him to come back later (for actual bootfitting). After knowing this I was more than happy for him to take the decisions out of my hand.
Don't bother reading the marketing blurb.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| kev182 wrote: |
to be fair ive just searched leamington spa, and its a damn site closer than i thought it was, which is pleasing.
the people who tried pointing me towards the boots in the above instances, where both at different branches of S+R. |
Lockwoods in Leamington are ace.
Slush'n'Rubble and EB mainly seem to employ school kids at weekends, with no idea of what they're doing.
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kev182, ...although you may be set on fulltilt (ex raichle flexon - superb boot) it's more important to get a boot which matches your basic foot shape - a really good fitter (such as Lockwoods) usually will evaluate your foot and see if it's a tecnica shape (high volume, wide in the forefoot) or Lange (narrow) etc - far better to get a shell which is basically the right shape than to fix on a particular model and try to get it in the right size - there are so many variables (and all main boot manufacturers make excellent boots now) that getting the right shell shape is the most important issue, with flex coming a close second. A good fitter will also know how easy a given model/make will be to modify (by being blown etc) in the areas which are necessary for you. For example, I am a basic 'salomon (pre-falcon)' shape, and just need the inside toe knuckle blowing out a bit, or 5-8mm on the 'falcon' shape shell. Although the fulltilt is truly excellent, it may or may not be the right shape for you.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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think it has been pretty well summed up, no one can give advice on boot fitting on an internet forum other than to say see a boot fitter, on valais2's point, it is worth noting that lange et al don't just make boots of a single shape/last any more, they all want a piece of every ones business to make boots ranging from ultra narrow full blown race boots to what can only be described as buckets to get you from coffee stop to coffee stop on a green run.
it is not only about the boot fitter asking you questions, but you asking them questions, boot fitting is a two way thing, ask about custom insoles/orthotics these are the foundation of the fit and a critical part of making the boot work really well for you, some people can get away with an off the shelf product, but ask the fitter why they think you should go with their recommendation, if they palm you off with an off the shelf product ask them if custom would be better and vice versa if they can't give you a good answer then they may not be the right person to help you
on a side note, we are at Birmingham ski show next weekend if you want to pop by the stand would be happy to take a look and recommend something (we are not selling at the show, just promoting, and happy to point you in the right direction) there is also a 30 min boot Q&A session every day in the lecture theatre
good luck getting sorted
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| Quote: |
buckets to get you from coffee stop to coffee stop on a green run.
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I'd also recommend James Chularton at Outdoor Traders in Abingdon. Also has a dynamic gait machine which reveals much about how your foot operates and where the sole pressure areas are - instep height etc.
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You know it makes sense.
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colinstone, an RS scan mat can tell you where the pressure is on areas of the sole of the foot, it cannot however tell you anything about arch/instep height etc
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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kev182, lots of good advice above, mine would be to book a session with CEM at Bicester and see what he recommends.
As for high street chains, I'd avoid Slush and Rubble like the plague and be wary with EBs but they do have an excellent boot fitter in Aviemore and their stores at Tamworth and some of the other domes have been mentioned positively too.
As for other places here and there I'll let other people comment.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| CEM wrote: |
| colinstone, an RS scan mat can tell you where the pressure is on areas of the sole of the foot, it cannot however tell you anything about arch/instep height etc |
Agree - poor choice of words - but if there is no pressure under the instep, then a pretty good indication of a higher instep than a trace/map/scan with pressure in the instep area?? or not??
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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colinstone, it can tell how much "contact" there is under the foot, but many people can have a long low arch (not contacting the ground) or a high arch (not contacting the ground) so it can't tell anything about arch height
it often amazes me the number of companies who scan your feet on a 2D scanner like this and send the results off to have a 3 dimensional orthotic device made?????
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FAQ
