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

[sweatypowderpig]

i heard fantastic news from my bootfitter
apparently dalbello makes gripwalk plates for DRSs and they are compatible with most if not all solid soled boots.
opens up a lot of doors for those of us who like GW but also prefer the snug performance fit of the higher end boots!

[Yukonrider]

Bootfitters:

Just bought some Lange XT3 Tours, and would like to heat mold the liners. Every online source says "go do this at your bootfitter" For whatever reason that isn't an option.
How should I do this?

[mntlion]

Bootfitters:

Just bought some Lange XT3 Tours, and would like to heat mold the liners. Every online source says "go do this at your bootfitter" For whatever reason that isn't an option.
How should I do this?

you should just go ski them. Heating a liner will help to pack it out more, same as just skiing it for a few days.

Or any store (lange or not) can do this too


why do you want them heated? what problem are you trying to solve?

[Yukonrider]

you should just go ski them. Heating a liner will help to pack it out more, same as just skiing it for a few days.

Or any store (lange or not) can do this too


why do you want them heated? what problem are you trying to solve?

I only have about 2 ski weeks left, and any BC missions I go on right now will probably be bigger days and I don't want to risk having to turn around due to foot destruction.

I could take the up to the resort and put a few laps on them, which is the current plan, but due to conditions is more difficult than it sounds.

No issues yet, just trying to stack the deck in my favor and speed the break in process to enjoy the few days I have left

[mntlion]

I only have about 2 ski weeks left, and any BC missions I go on right now will probably be bigger days and I don't want to risk having to turn around due to foot destruction.

I could take the up to the resort and put a few laps on them, which is the current plan, but due to conditions is more difficult than it sounds.

No issues yet, just trying to stack the deck in my favor and speed the break in process to enjoy the few days I have left

have you skied them yet? and they are feeling OK? Odds are that will just get better as you go...

but yes, go ski them on hill a bit

ask your local shop to do a heat mold.


you will be fine

[Yukonrider]

you will be fine

Thanks doc

[Yukonrider]

Skied the XT3 Tours a bit, and I am getting pain on the outside ankle joint. The big one where you ankle seems to hinge.

This has never been an issue for me before, so not sure where to start on that.

Additionally I just need more toe room. Seems like the roof of the boot is too low, and I have a hard time curling my toes like you should be able to do. I experimented by taking the stock footbed out to get some more room, and that felt nice, but gave me too much room and messed up my heel pocket (but interestingly enough helped with the ankle bone issue).

My regular bootfitter is closed for the end of the season, and the one thats open I don't entirely trust.

[jackattack]

Skied the XT3 Tours a bit, and I am getting pain on the outside ankle joint. The big one where you ankle seems to hinge.

This has never been an issue for me before, so not sure where to start on that.

Additionally I just need more toe room. Seems like the roof of the boot is too low, and I have a hard time curling my toes like you should be able to do. I experimented by taking the stock footbed out to get some more room, and that felt nice, but gave me too much room and messed up my heel pocket (but interestingly enough helped with the ankle bone issue).

My regular bootfitter is closed for the end of the season, and the one thats open I don't entirely trust.

The xt3 took some time for me to adjust to.
The toe box is very tight vertically. I did quite a bit of grinding in there and some aggressive punches for the big toes.
The stock liner is total garbage and might be too thin where your ankle pain is. Replaced with the stock xt3 liner and it’s perfect for me.
I use a custom footbed in mine to stabilize heel and arch that helps prevent toe splay in the toebox.

[Yukonrider]

Bump

[GravityDT]

Question - I"m no stranger to Intuition liner molding at home with the wife's convection oven (12+ pr with great success), looking to heat/mold a new pr of Salomon boots with their 'Custom HD' shells. Need a tick more instep and forefoot room, have neoprene padding/toecaps etc.... What is the word on the new generation shells with Temp/Timing if I was to do a home heat/mold job? TIA

[gregL]

Question - I"m no stranger to Intuition liner molding at home with the wife's convection oven (12+ pr with great success), looking to heat/mold a new pr of Salomon boots with their 'Custom HD' shells. Need a tick more instep and forefoot room, have neoprene padding/toecaps etc.... What is the word on the new generation shells with Temp/Timing if I was to do a home heat/mold job? TIA

In the shop, we do 10 minutes with a cold oven, 8 minutes with a pre-heated one. The temp on every shop oven (they are all made by the same company) is set to 117 C. (something like 242 F.) Make sure you stand on a flat hard surface for the cool down period (~14 minutes) and don't walk around - natural ski stance (width), bend your knees to mimic the 13 degree forward lean. Use 3/16" adhesive foam, medium density, over the instep and lateral aspect of the forefoot.

[El Chupacabra]

Do I need a shop oven to heat mold boot shells? I've done plenty of liners myself, never the shells.

If there's a thread here somewhere describing how to DIY shell molds, could someone point me to it?

FWIW, the boots are Atomic Hawx from a year ago.

[gregL]

Do I need a shop oven to heat mold boot shells? I've done plenty of liners myself, never the shells.

If there's a thread here somewhere describing how to DIY shell molds, could someone point me to it?

FWIW, the boots are Atomic Hawx from a year ago.

No, but convection is nice. In my home oven, I can only fit one boot in at a time (sideways) and my wife thinks I'm poisoning the family. You would rather do both shells at once so you can stand in them evenly weighted simultaneously. FWIW, the 6 minutes recommended by Atomic is usually not enough; the bootboards curl at the toe at around 11.5 minutes (though you can flatten them with a heat gun if this happens or you can remove them before sticking the shells in the oven). Amer supplies cold packs to speed the cooling process, personally I think you get a better mold letting them cold more slowly at room temp (can't substantiate this, but usually the slower approach to moving and cooling plastic is more permanent). At any rate, the cold packs only save you ~ 6 minutes and I'm not in that much of a hurry to get the customer out the door.

[GravityDT]

Thanks GregL - after posting I had the brainstorm to look for a shop tech manual and found a Salomon tech shop manual from '21 They called out 100*C for 2 mins for their new generation Custom HD shells. Seems really short.....

[gregL]

Thanks GregL - after posting I had the brainstorm to look for a shop tech manual and found a Salomon tech shop manual from '21 They called out 100*C for 2 mins for their new generation Custom HD shells. Seems really short.....

It's too short unless the boot fits fine already. Salomon's oven (and everyone else's) is made by K-Tech in Germany and is set to 117 C. In Europe they have the disturbing habit of putting anyone who complains about pain in a bigger boot, not modifying a shell that fits but has a few issues. Ask onenerdykid about this.

[GravityDT]

Awesome. Thanks for the input. That totally makes sense.

[MacFive]

Does anyone know of or done a foot mold and used that to mold a boot?

[mntlion]

Does anyone know of or done a foot mold and used that to mold a boot?

seems like it would be hard to insert into a boot?

[tompietrowski]

Does anyone know of or done a foot mold and used that to mold a boot?

You can get wooden foot lasts which are sometimes used during bootfitting but my question would be what are you trying to achieve? Why would you not use your own foot for the mold?

[MacFive]

Alright I have done it.



What I was trying to achieve was a better shape in the forefoot of my boots. What I did was make a mold of my foot using plaster paris, then poured cement in the mold. The reason for cement was it was cheap. Next time I would like to use epoxy, though I worry it might deform when heat is applied.

How the mechanism works is there is a bolt in the cement, a nut that tightens and pushes against a tube which expands the mold to the front of the boot.

It seemed to work decent, but I got to aggressive with the tightening and it broke the toes of one of the molds. So the second time I was more gentle with the tightening and the heating process. It worked out well, it lengthened my boot for my big toe.

I want to do a haglunds punch with this method but I have hawx ultra xtd and the walk mechanism is in the way. I believe this method could also put me in a smaller boot. As a side note I am looking at a Lange xt3, and curious if anyone knows how tight the heel pocket is? And if I could make a 28cm foot fit into a 26 boot?

thanks for reading my blog post.

[MacFive]

Should clarify a Lange xt3 LV

[Supermoon]

Can I ask the reasoning for shoving your foot into such a small boot?

[MacFive]

I have really small heels with a hagelunds bump, wide fore foot, and a long big toe. So my thinking is that my foot without the long big toe and haglunds bump would turn into something like a 27. So that means I should be able to fit into a 26 boot after a haglunds punch, a toe lengthening and a lot of fore foot widening.

My reason for all this is because every (touring) boot I try has horrible heel hold and I want good heel hold. So I would like to find a boot with a very small heel pocket that can be punched out for a haglunds, like the lange xt3. I asked about the lange because there is only one shop in my area that has that boot and they only have it in a 27.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I have really small heels with a hagelunds bump, wide fore foot, and a long big toe. So my thinking is that my foot without the long big toe and haglunds bump would turn into something like a 27. So that means I should be able to fit into a 26 boot after a haglunds punch, a toe lengthening and a lot of fore foot widening.

My reason for all this is because every (touring) boot I try has horrible heel hold and I want good heel hold. So I would like to find a boot with a very small heel pocket that can be punched out for a haglunds, like the lange xt3. I asked about the lange because there is only one shop in my area that has that boot and they only have it in a 27.

ZipFit GFT?

[DarthMarkus]

I have really small heels with a hagelunds bump, wide fore foot, and a long big toe. So my thinking is that my foot without the long big toe and haglunds bump would turn into something like a 27. So that means I should be able to fit into a 26 boot after a haglunds punch, a toe lengthening and a lot of fore foot widening.

My reason for all this is because every (touring) boot I try has horrible heel hold and I want good heel hold. So I would like to find a boot with a very small heel pocket that can be punched out for a haglunds, like the lange xt3. I asked about the lange because there is only one shop in my area that has that boot and they only have it in a 27.

I feel like you and I have had very different experiences with small heels and the xt3. My experience was quite the opposite of heel hold with that boot. I also punch for haglunds and 6th toes.