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#1
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more ski boot advice sought
I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being
well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Thanks Timo |
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#2
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Timo wrote:
I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Check at a full service boot shop for longer bails for the top buckle. Should open the cuff enough to relieve your calf pressure. Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Take it as a challenge and start cutting and welding the plastic - let us know how it comes out... |
#3
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lal_truckee wrote:
Timo wrote: I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Check at a full service boot shop for longer bails for the top buckle. Should open the cuff enough to relieve your calf pressure. Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Take it as a challenge and start cutting and welding the plastic - let us know how it comes out... Har! Got a new pair of Raichle Flexons and did a little of that in spots I knew would need it. Hand grinders are a wonderful thing. I then took them to Sure Foot for custom inserts and additional fitting. The boots I bought were Mondo 28 when I should have had Mondo 28.5 (a little wider). Sure Foot did a great job on these AND my Lowa AT boots. When I was there, I checked out what Sure Foot had to offer. They do a complete foamed custom shell and liner right there in the shop. They should be able to do almost anything for anybody. Now, Sure Foot is probably only as good as its manager/staff. It is something of a chain and the owner probably isn't there. The shop here at Killington is currently run by a true believer in the system. He's opened and run Sure Foot shops in various parts of the country and is VERY good at what he does. The prices they charge are comparable to other shops in the area. Another good place to look is Dale Boot in SLC (www.dalebootusa.com) also a complete custom fit which is comparable in price to other national brands of ski boots. I would rely on a GOOD professional boot fitter to get what you require in ski boots. Now, who is GOOD and who isn't. Sure Foot will get almost any boot fitting correctly for the price of a pair of custom inner soles which you should have anyway. This, of course, doesn't count if you bought a shell which was way too big. If I had to buy a boot at some shop, I go for the tighter fit and then have it pushed and pulled to fit my feet. Don't count on a hard plastic boot EVER "breaking in" to your foot. Won't happen. Make it fit. Why the tighter fit? That's so that I don't need to buckle the boot very tight at all. Once I learned this and to buy a custom inner sole, I've had comfortable feet skiing for a lot of years now. Various ski shops get good reputations for boot fitting. Seek them out. Here in the east, the very best is Greg Hoffman at Green Mountain Orthopedics at Stratton. Not only can he fit your boots correctly, he can and will correct your stance to make you the very best skier you can possibly be. I know a couple of people who have gone to him and are much more than delighted with the result. My stance is good and I'm in the right place over my skis, so I have never gone to him. There is another of such exulted reputation, I think at Aspen. By the way, It is almost never OK to by ski boots by brand. Buy the boot that fits you best with the features you want. I've always had almost racing boots for a long time now, and am just starting to go with softer boots. My AT boots are way soft and I find I can ski them in almost any conditions the area has to offer. Then I can walk around comfortably when I need to. There, that's a lot of writing. I hope some of it helps. If not, go with LAL's suggestion of saws, grinders and plastic welders. VtSkier |
#4
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Getting a custom fit is reasonable advice, whether from Dale or Surefoot,
and I'd take that advice in a second without thinking twice, but I'm going broke, you see, so custom fitting isn't really an option: one of my kids is a senior in college and the second one's going in year. So I was hoping to find at least one maker of ski boots that would have an HVL model that would fit me off-the-shelf, and more importantly, at off-the-shelf prices. After all, there are a number of street shoe makers that serve those of us with wider forefeet and/or higher insteps (New Balance, Dunham, Sebago, Converse, Propet, ...). But HVL seems to be E or 2E at the most. The irony is that when I do finally find a toebox made to accommodate my foot (the Tecnica 7 Senses) it turns out to have been designed for people with skinny calves! They're tight at the calf even when the buckle is unfastened. The only reason I've been shopping by brand is because I've been told here on r.s.a, or have read in reviews, that specific models have more volume. I'm a recreational skier and my feature demands are minimal: bloodflow. Timo "VtSkier" wrote in message ... lal_truckee wrote: Timo wrote: I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Check at a full service boot shop for longer bails for the top buckle. Should open the cuff enough to relieve your calf pressure. Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Take it as a challenge and start cutting and welding the plastic - let us know how it comes out... Har! Got a new pair of Raichle Flexons and did a little of that in spots I knew would need it. Hand grinders are a wonderful thing. I then took them to Sure Foot for custom inserts and additional fitting. The boots I bought were Mondo 28 when I should have had Mondo 28.5 (a little wider). Sure Foot did a great job on these AND my Lowa AT boots. When I was there, I checked out what Sure Foot had to offer. They do a complete foamed custom shell and liner right there in the shop. They should be able to do almost anything for anybody. Now, Sure Foot is probably only as good as its manager/staff. It is something of a chain and the owner probably isn't there. The shop here at Killington is currently run by a true believer in the system. He's opened and run Sure Foot shops in various parts of the country and is VERY good at what he does. The prices they charge are comparable to other shops in the area. Another good place to look is Dale Boot in SLC (www.dalebootusa.com) also a complete custom fit which is comparable in price to other national brands of ski boots. I would rely on a GOOD professional boot fitter to get what you require in ski boots. Now, who is GOOD and who isn't. Sure Foot will get almost any boot fitting correctly for the price of a pair of custom inner soles which you should have anyway. This, of course, doesn't count if you bought a shell which was way too big. If I had to buy a boot at some shop, I go for the tighter fit and then have it pushed and pulled to fit my feet. Don't count on a hard plastic boot EVER "breaking in" to your foot. Won't happen. Make it fit. Why the tighter fit? That's so that I don't need to buckle the boot very tight at all. Once I learned this and to buy a custom inner sole, I've had comfortable feet skiing for a lot of years now. Various ski shops get good reputations for boot fitting. Seek them out. Here in the east, the very best is Greg Hoffman at Green Mountain Orthopedics at Stratton. Not only can he fit your boots correctly, he can and will correct your stance to make you the very best skier you can possibly be. I know a couple of people who have gone to him and are much more than delighted with the result. My stance is good and I'm in the right place over my skis, so I have never gone to him. There is another of such exulted reputation, I think at Aspen. By the way, It is almost never OK to by ski boots by brand. Buy the boot that fits you best with the features you want. I've always had almost racing boots for a long time now, and am just starting to go with softer boots. My AT boots are way soft and I find I can ski them in almost any conditions the area has to offer. Then I can walk around comfortably when I need to. There, that's a lot of writing. I hope some of it helps. If not, go with LAL's suggestion of saws, grinders and plastic welders. VtSkier |
#5
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Timo wrote:
Getting a custom fit is reasonable advice, whether from Dale or Surefoot, and I'd take that advice in a second without thinking twice, but I'm going broke, you see, so custom fitting isn't really an option: one of my kids is a senior in college and the second one's going in year. So I was hoping to find at least one maker of ski boots that would have an HVL model that would fit me off-the-shelf, and more importantly, at off-the-shelf prices. After all, there are a number of street shoe makers that serve those of us with wider forefeet and/or higher insteps (New Balance, Dunham, Sebago, Converse, Propet, ...). But HVL seems to be E or 2E at the most. The irony is that when I do finally find a toebox made to accommodate my foot (the Tecnica 7 Senses) it turns out to have been designed for people with skinny calves! They're tight at the calf even when the buckle is unfastened. The only reason I've been shopping by brand is because I've been told here on r.s.a, or have read in reviews, that specific models have more volume. I'm a recreational skier and my feature demands are minimal: bloodflow. Timo Timo, most of here reply to posts at the bottom of the post we are addressing. This keeps the thought process consistent and logical. My reply to you is at the end, but it looks like I'm replying to myself. Also to address strongly your first sentence. A custom fit is a necessity. A custom boot is not a necessity. "VtSkier" wrote in message ... lal_truckee wrote: Timo wrote: I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Check at a full service boot shop for longer bails for the top buckle. Should open the cuff enough to relieve your calf pressure. Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Take it as a challenge and start cutting and welding the plastic - let us know how it comes out... Har! Got a new pair of Raichle Flexons and did a little of that in spots I knew would need it. Hand grinders are a wonderful thing. I then took them to Sure Foot for custom inserts and additional fitting. The boots I bought were Mondo 28 when I should have had Mondo 28.5 (a little wider). Sure Foot did a great job on these AND my Lowa AT boots. When I was there, I checked out what Sure Foot had to offer. They do a complete foamed custom shell and liner right there in the shop. They should be able to do almost anything for anybody. Now, Sure Foot is probably only as good as its manager/staff. It is something of a chain and the owner probably isn't there. The shop here at Killington is currently run by a true believer in the system. He's opened and run Sure Foot shops in various parts of the country and is VERY good at what he does. The prices they charge are comparable to other shops in the area. Another good place to look is Dale Boot in SLC (www.dalebootusa.com) also a complete custom fit which is comparable in price to other national brands of ski boots. I would rely on a GOOD professional boot fitter to get what you require in ski boots. Now, who is GOOD and who isn't. Sure Foot will get almost any boot fitting correctly for the price of a pair of custom inner soles which you should have anyway. This, of course, doesn't count if you bought a shell which was way too big. If I had to buy a boot at some shop, I go for the tighter fit and then have it pushed and pulled to fit my feet. Don't count on a hard plastic boot EVER "breaking in" to your foot. Won't happen. Make it fit. Why the tighter fit? That's so that I don't need to buckle the boot very tight at all. Once I learned this and to buy a custom inner sole, I've had comfortable feet skiing for a lot of years now. Various ski shops get good reputations for boot fitting. Seek them out. Here in the east, the very best is Greg Hoffman at Green Mountain Orthopedics at Stratton. Not only can he fit your boots correctly, he can and will correct your stance to make you the very best skier you can possibly be. I know a couple of people who have gone to him and are much more than delighted with the result. My stance is good and I'm in the right place over my skis, so I have never gone to him. There is another of such exulted reputation, I think at Aspen. By the way, It is almost never OK to by ski boots by brand. Buy the boot that fits you best with the features you want. I've always had almost racing boots for a long time now, and am just starting to go with softer boots. My AT boots are way soft and I find I can ski them in almost any conditions the area has to offer. Then I can walk around comfortably when I need to. There, that's a lot of writing. I hope some of it helps. If not, go with LAL's suggestion of saws, grinders and plastic welders. VtSkier Go back to the original advice and have the boots fitted properly. Find the bootfitter in the shop which has leftover boots from last year. Ensure that their fitting is guaranteed. They will fit you to last year's boots as accommodatingly as they will fit you to this year's boot and give you a substantial discount. Most boots can be made to have increased volume in the forefoot by taking out the bottom bed and grinding off some material. Most boots can be made wider by stretching. Now you have enough money left over to buy the custom inner soles which you will need. Probably the store you eventually buy the boots from can make these at a somewhat lower price than surefoot. Dale Boots. Their prices are very competitive with off the shelf boots and will give you the custom fit. You just won't get a discount for last year's model. Another tack might be to find out what fits closely, then finding it on ebay and taking it to SureFoot or some other reputable fitter. My Raichle's cost $65, yes $65 and add the $195 that the SureFoot footbed and fitting service cost, I have a great pair of boots for $260. The Raichle's are not being imported any more, so the model is 2-3 years old but the boots were new with tags. Raichle considers the model I bought to be racing boots. I've skied in stiffer boots, but not by much. I'm told the boots retailed for about $450. Please don't cheap out on your feet. VtSkier |
#6
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VtSkier wrote:
Timo wrote: Getting a custom fit is reasonable advice, whether from Dale or Surefoot, and I'd take that advice in a second without thinking twice, but I'm going broke, you see, so custom fitting isn't really an option: one of my kids is a senior in college and the second one's going in year. So I was hoping to find at least one maker of ski boots that would have an HVL model that would fit me off-the-shelf, and more importantly, at off-the-shelf prices. After all, there are a number of street shoe makers that serve those of us with wider forefeet and/or higher insteps (New Balance, Dunham, Sebago, Converse, Propet, ...). But HVL seems to be E or 2E at the most. The irony is that when I do finally find a toebox made to accommodate my foot (the Tecnica 7 Senses) it turns out to have been designed for people with skinny calves! They're tight at the calf even when the buckle is unfastened. The only reason I've been shopping by brand is because I've been told here on r.s.a, or have read in reviews, that specific models have more volume. I'm a recreational skier and my feature demands are minimal: bloodflow. Timo Timo, most of here reply to posts at the bottom of the post we are addressing. This keeps the thought process consistent and logical. My reply to you is at the end, but it looks like I'm replying to myself. Also to address strongly your first sentence. A custom fit is a necessity. A custom boot is not a necessity. "VtSkier" wrote in message ... lal_truckee wrote: Timo wrote: I've got a pair of Tecnica 7 Senses ski boots, which were reviewed as being well suited for a wider foot. Tecnica were also recommended to me here on r.s.a. These boots actually accommodate my wide forefoot better than any others I've tried but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Check at a full service boot shop for longer bails for the top buckle. Should open the cuff enough to relieve your calf pressure. Another boot I've tried, which worked out very well for the high instep, was the Nordica SMARTech, though it was not as roomy in the toebox as I need it to be. A hybrid of the Nordica SMARTech and the Tecnica 7 Senses would be ideal. Take it as a challenge and start cutting and welding the plastic - let us know how it comes out... Har! Got a new pair of Raichle Flexons and did a little of that in spots I knew would need it. Hand grinders are a wonderful thing. I then took them to Sure Foot for custom inserts and additional fitting. The boots I bought were Mondo 28 when I should have had Mondo 28.5 (a little wider). Sure Foot did a great job on these AND my Lowa AT boots. When I was there, I checked out what Sure Foot had to offer. They do a complete foamed custom shell and liner right there in the shop. They should be able to do almost anything for anybody. Now, Sure Foot is probably only as good as its manager/staff. It is something of a chain and the owner probably isn't there. The shop here at Killington is currently run by a true believer in the system. He's opened and run Sure Foot shops in various parts of the country and is VERY good at what he does. The prices they charge are comparable to other shops in the area. Another good place to look is Dale Boot in SLC (www.dalebootusa.com) also a complete custom fit which is comparable in price to other national brands of ski boots. I would rely on a GOOD professional boot fitter to get what you require in ski boots. Now, who is GOOD and who isn't. Sure Foot will get almost any boot fitting correctly for the price of a pair of custom inner soles which you should have anyway. This, of course, doesn't count if you bought a shell which was way too big. If I had to buy a boot at some shop, I go for the tighter fit and then have it pushed and pulled to fit my feet. Don't count on a hard plastic boot EVER "breaking in" to your foot. Won't happen. Make it fit. Why the tighter fit? That's so that I don't need to buckle the boot very tight at all. Once I learned this and to buy a custom inner sole, I've had comfortable feet skiing for a lot of years now. Various ski shops get good reputations for boot fitting. Seek them out. Here in the east, the very best is Greg Hoffman at Green Mountain Orthopedics at Stratton. Not only can he fit your boots correctly, he can and will correct your stance to make you the very best skier you can possibly be. I know a couple of people who have gone to him and are much more than delighted with the result. My stance is good and I'm in the right place over my skis, so I have never gone to him. There is another of such exulted reputation, I think at Aspen. By the way, It is almost never OK to by ski boots by brand. Buy the boot that fits you best with the features you want. I've always had almost racing boots for a long time now, and am just starting to go with softer boots. My AT boots are way soft and I find I can ski them in almost any conditions the area has to offer. Then I can walk around comfortably when I need to. There, that's a lot of writing. I hope some of it helps. If not, go with LAL's suggestion of saws, grinders and plastic welders. VtSkier Go back to the original advice and have the boots fitted properly. Find the bootfitter in the shop which has leftover boots from last year. Ensure that their fitting is guaranteed. They will fit you to last year's boots as accommodatingly as they will fit you to this year's boot and give you a substantial discount. Most boots can be made to have increased volume in the forefoot by taking out the bottom bed and grinding off some material. Most boots can be made wider by stretching. Now you have enough money left over to buy the custom inner soles which you will need. Probably the store you eventually buy the boots from can make these at a somewhat lower price than surefoot. Dale Boots. Their prices are very competitive with off the shelf boots and will give you the custom fit. You just won't get a discount for last year's model. Another tack might be to find out what fits closely, then finding it on ebay and taking it to SureFoot or some other reputable fitter. My Raichle's cost $65, yes $65 and add the $195 that the SureFoot footbed and fitting service cost, I have a great pair of boots for $260. The Raichle's are not being imported any more, so the model is 2-3 years old but the boots were new with tags. Raichle considers the model I bought to be racing boots. I've skied in stiffer boots, but not by much. I'm told the boots retailed for about $450. VT: Don't forget to buy some garage sale Raichle's for parts - they break buckles occasionally, and all of the buckles are easy to replace. Also the heel stricker is screw on - and can be replaced trivially from junk boots when they wear. Back to the original poster - Much good advice as to how to fit boots properly - my advice is to follow it down the money trail as far as you can afford to go... However, if you will be living with these boots anyway, do check every shop you come to until you find the extended buckles/bails for the top buckle - it should be easy to replace, cheap (maybe even free, if they come from the shop's parts basket) and should relieve your calf pressure. If lengthening the buckle alone doesn't open up the shaft, you can dip the shaft of the boot into boiling water for a few moments and then open it up with a rolled up magazine. Sneak up on this - increase the boiling time (i.e. softening time) slowly until you get what you want - it's hard to reverse the process. By the way, I understand your money pain - high level multi-ski racing kids are a dollar drain like no other, AND MY KIDS ARE BOTH IN COLLEGE! So think of it as a challenge - the very same challenge that started me down the path of ad hoc self-bootfitter. Good boot fits are not rocket science - it's a combination of best possible initial fit and a slew of tricks of the trade to modify the fit and position the foot properly. Lot's of liturature and hints - scour the library and the net and collect fitting tricks and start hacking and softening. You CAN do it yourself. You might want to experiment on old $3 boots first. Please don't cheap out on your feet. VtSkier |
#7
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"Timo" wrote in message ... but they're painfully tight at the calf. Will this upper area of the boot loosen up with use or is this a reason to return them and keep looking? Take them back to the shop and they'll probably move the top buckle. Most boots accomodate this change with a minimum of fuss (they usually have several holes drilled ready). They might also take a bit of plastic out of the back achilles area to make more room. Depends on how it presents. ant |
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