the answer to "WTF is wrong with my boots?"

[mntlion]

what Auvgeek said.

[Ottime]

Here is my boot fitting question.

I've been trying on all tech boots I can get my hands on, and like the feel of the Dynafit Mercury the best so far. Everything else with the stiffness I liked seemed way to roomy inside the boot.

My favorite boot right now is an old pair of Solly Guns 26.5. They are great for skiing and touring.

The 26 Mercury shell is about a 4mm shell fit, and foot is barely touching the sides. But when I put the liner and footbed in I can barely buckle the boot and get painful pressure across the instep, and along the side of my foot. And on one foot the forefoot is painfully tight as well. But mostly just across the instep. If I try to flex my foot at all, it cause increased pain. OTOH, my foot is held like a vice, with a little toe wiggle room. No noticable difference with replacing my foot bed with the thinner stock foot bed.

The 27 Mercury shell is obviously about 14mm shell fit, and seems like it is in the 1-2mm side to side fit. With the liner and my foot bed, there is slight pressure across the top of the forefoot, but the boot feels absolutely cozy inside. I can force a little heel lift, but my heel won't naturally lift, as the boot still has a tight grip through the middle of my foot. Walking around in the boot it feels perfect. There is a lot of toe wiggle room, but the foot is very secure through the middle of my foot. The heel pocket does feel bigger, but I have to force the heel lift, and I can not lift my heel straight up while the boot heel is secured to the ground.

My concern will be 27 too big and when things pack out I will begin to swim. Should I actually try the 26.5 liner if I can find one? Should I be looking at the 26 shell with a lower volume intuition liner? Or should I trust that the shell fit is within the range, and fits my foot better when considering volume. Thoughts?

Also, when shell fitting, do you measure the area behind your foot along the foot bed of the boot? That is what I have been doing, but, then there is the part of the boot just above the foot bed that arches out, which would be a longer measure.

I did the jump off a 1' (more like 18") with the 27, and had no toe bang.

[mntlion]

the shell fit is key, the liner (.0 or .5) just pack out to be the same after 10 days.

I would try the smaller shell, and the thinner inuition and see if you can go there? (or try with a used packed out, thin liner to just try it on?)

if you are looking at this as a walking boot, then maybe the bigger shell, but if this is a skiing boot, that you walk on a bit, I would at least try to go smaller

[Ottime]

I'll see how my super packed (150+ days) out Gun liner fits. Actually think the reason why that boot fits so well is the shell fit is so precise.

The Mercury will be a touring boot for me and maybe used on occasional powder days inbounds. But pretty much just for tours.

Thanks for the quick reply.

EDIT: HOLY SHIT!! I put the Gun liner in and it made a huge difference. No pinches. Still a touch tight, but I've been in them for 15 minutes, which is the longest I have endured. My right foot is feeling a little numb pain at this point, but nothing like a hot spot. And when I put them in walk mode, it immediately is relieved.

So would the idea be to get an Intuition Pro Tour, or should I look for a 26.5? I imagine I could use the Gun liner, but I'd like to keep those in the Gun shell, as I would still use that boot many inbounds days. I have an early Ghost that I also use, but it is way too stiff to ski with the 3 yr old.

It now seems like the 27 would be too big. Even though these will be a walking boot, I still like the idea of a tight fit I think. I toured in the Guns/Dukes for years with no complaints, so I imagine these would be fine considering the super comfy walk mode.

[XXX-er]

go for shell fit first, the 26 and 26.5 are the same shell with a different liner, the 27 would be the next larger sized shell

Read the vulcan thread, many people found the instep pressure on the mercury/vulcan to be excessive, there is a 3mm thick piece of elastic/Naugahyde stitched to the instep of the stock liner that is easily removed, I couldn't ski the stock liner until I cut off that piece but by that time I had already bought power wraps, you got lots of ROM with that boot don't be afraid to go with PW's

I went for a tight fit, did some very long days, 2 seasons on the mercury great boot for me, I use it to drive lotus 120's in/out of bounds ... lots of power there

[Ottime]

Yeah, I understand the shell fit. The 26 is short, but not too short. The 27 is long but not too long. With the 26 liner, it is a bit too tight/short for my foot (as in painful). 10 years ago, I would have just applied some heat and go skiing and stretch that thing out. But these liners are denser, and my feet are older.

I am now leaning hard toward the 26, because with my old packed out (Gun) liners, the 26 seemed to fit nice and tight, but with very little, almost no, pain.

Anyway, my question now is do I go through the process of looking for a 26.5 to try on (most likely will need to mail order), stick with the 26 and break that fucker in (and maybe cut out the Naugahyde) or keep the shell I have and spend money on an after market liner. Thing is, I don't really have money to spend, so I'd rather keep the stock.

[mntlion]

buy 26 now. both 26.0 and 26.5 will pack out to be the same after 10 days, or the same after an aggressive heat molding.

[Ottime]

Cool. Exactly what I needed to know. So liners really have not changed all that much over the years

[XXX-er]

I would go with the 26 and cut the naugahyde/elastic piece off the liner, its really easy to do, I couldn't ski the stock liner at all till I did this, I have since skied a day or 2 on the modded liner and I think I could have put up with the stocker if I had known at the time but now I got Pw's so I use them

The only thing with that mod is you need to sew lace loops into the bottom of the liner or figure out another way to keep the boot tongue in place

[auvgeek]

So I still haven't been able to ski my Vulcans yet, and I don't want to spread misinformation so take this with a big grain of salt. But it seems like I had a similar experience as you—right between 26 and 27. Bought the 27, which crushed my instep with the stock liner but was too long. Sold it and bought a 26 that seems to fit quite well (on the carpet)...with my molded stock Intuitions (from the Scorpion SFs, which I *think* are Dalbello branded Power Tongue, but could be HD Race). I'm convinced the key to a comfortable low-volume fit is the liner. I like an Intuition plug liner (HD Race, Power Tongue, etc). Pro Tour is too high volume for my foot. Haven't tried the PW plug, but I'm really liking how low volume the lower in moccasin-style liner is.

Another option I would consider is a new liner from Sidas/Conformables--I think it might be the Central High Slim?? A bootfitter showed me his personal pair, and it fits like an HD race (6mm or something thick) but with a flex zone in the back ala Pro Tour. I thought his molded pair was higher volume than my molded pair, but that could be because he has a larger shell fit so the liner probably didn't compress as much during the molding process.

[XXX-er]

http://www.sidassport.com/en/our-pro...orts-16-2.html

I've had one of the conform'ables tongued liners for 8 seasons in 3 boots including the mercury and they have always worked pretty well altho I needed to build up the tongue area with spenco to make them work with my chicken ankles, keep in mind this was a liner from 8 yrs ago and doesn't look like anything on their site , the liners are pretty much retired this last season

How do Conform'ables liners compare in cost to Intuition liners ?

Did you notice that site shows a couple of ski boots ?

[mntlion]

similar cost, Our store mostly sells the sidas ones, but can order either.
$250 all heated, molded and out the door.

[auvgeek]

http://www.sidassport.com/en/our-pro...orts-16-2.html

Yeah, it's the Central High Slim. When I posted that, I was having trouble getting their site to load for whatever reason. Your link works, tho.

[csmith]

Quick question. Have a pair of boots that are a fairly good fit. Touching on the sides and around a one finger shell fit. First true day spring skiing in warm temps I developed some painful swelling on my heel/ achilles tendon. Is this likely too much movement in the heel or not enough room in the heel? My first thought is that over flexing the boot leveraged my heel up into the heel cup too hard but I have no idea.

[mntlion]

overflexing due to softer plastic?

so heel might be slipping (heel lift), or the boot might be flexing more then you can (so tendon injury)

[csmith]

Yup due to softer plastic. They are plenty stiff at normal skiing temps. Also my dorsiflexion is fairly good so dont think thats it. Think a butterfly/ x pad thing could fix it?

[mntlion]

Yup due to softer plastic. They are plenty stiff at normal skiing temps. Also my dorsiflexion is fairly good so dont think thats it. Think a butterfly/ x pad thing could fix it?

The problem is soft plastic (solvable by making that boot stiffer, or getting stiffer boot)

the symptoms are heel lift (solvable with heel lift, "L" or "C" pads, or more padding over the instep/flex point of the foot) the Butterly might push you too far forward in the boot.


I would solve the problem, not just accommodate the symptoms. YMMV

[csmith]

Thanks for the help. Will try another bolt in the spine

[mntlion]

bump for fall questions.

[mfozz]

Here's one that I don't think has been answered:

Boot: Dynafit Titan Ultralight

Fitted by a pro, have proper custom footbeds etc. The boots fit perfectly. No complaints over the fit or comfort.

Problem: They leak.. After a full day of riding, there will be a layer of snow build up between the liner and the shell. Because this happens on both boots, I don't think it is a defect. I've added some gorilla tape as a bit of a make-shit seal between the overlays ontop of the foot, and this seems to work well, however the tape doesn't last too long.

Any suggestions on what causes this and how to fix this problem?

[mntlion]

its a boot so it leaks. If you have parts that open (so you can get your foot in) water/snow will also get in.

but the taping is a good solution, as is weather stripping/foam on the overlaps. Boot gloves will help to cover the front of the boot too.

[PhishingME]

What's the easiest way to get rid of movement in the heel? I'm going from 26.5 cs pros to quest max 130s and dialing them has been a challenge.

[mntlion]

the quest is bigger volume, so yes, this would/should be a problem

is the movement ....

1) side to side?
2) up and down
3) a pronation rolling of the ankle?

4) should you have gotten a 25 shell? whats the shell fit like on the boots?

[mcski]

What's the easiest way to get rid of movement in the heel? I'm going from 26.5 cs pros to quest max 130s and dialing them has been a challenge.

Shims in heel pockets if narrow heel is the problem. A good orthotic will help created a nice pocket for the heel which might help as well.

[PhishingME]

Up and down by flexing calf. Pretty sure the last went from 98 to 100 so should have gone w/25. Guess I can try shims as my footbed helps but they're not quite there yet.