Full Tilt Fit Questions

[jgb@etree]

Hoping that someone will know enough about these to be able to help me out as I've never worn a raichle or FT. My 10yo son has been wearing the FT Growth Spurt (small) boots for 2-3 seasons. They are an adjustable boot that allows you to adjust the size from 18 - 21.5. He has always LOVED these boots. Wears them skiing all day, and will sometimes sit around with them on for hours after because they're so comfortable. I had him try them on in early November and he claimed they still felt great and said he didn't need new boots. He was either full of shit, or his feet grew in the past 90 days. After his first full day, he complained that the toes are too tight. I pulled the liners out and he was a pretty tight shell fit, and his toes were stretching the liners. Fuck. Full Tilt used to make a Growth Spurt in large (22-25.5) but apparently they stopped making them a couple of seasons back. Double Fuck. I checked out the FT website, and found the Drop Kick S which is designed for kids. Since he's had such good luck with these we went to 5 shops that carry FT and only 3 carried the Drop Kick S (shorter/smaller version of the drop kick for kids) but those 3 shops only had 24.5's in stock (the S is only offered in 22.5, 23.5 & 24.5). He was measured at 2 of the shops - one said he's a 21.5, the other 22. I scoured the interwebz, and it seems like the 22.5's are out of stock just about everywhere. I eventually found a shop half way across the country in Michigan that had 1 pair in stock and ordered them.

He put them on tonight, and said everything except for the toes felt awesome, but said he had to curl his toes (like he has been doing the past 7-8 ski days since we realized his boots were too small). He's a solid 2 finger shell fit (which I think is fine, especially since he's 10 and still growing constantly) but still said the toes were tight in the liner when it was out of the shell. At that point I noticed that due to the shape of the liner his heel wasn't all the way into the heel cup. Once I slid him back in he had decent room in the toes. So I put the liners back in and he wore them for an hour or so without complaint. While it's far from scientific, my wife has the exact same shoe size as my son and her langes are 22.5 with a 266 bsl (the FT's are a 268) so I asked her to try them on. She said they were torturous and couldn't get them off of her feet fast enough.

So now I'm not sure what to make of it all. He claims they fit, but he likes the way that they look so that may be clouding his judgement. I remember how desperately I wanted the flourescent yellow dachsteins with orange buckles as a kid:

https://images.app.goo.gl/arQu3yZWUNYDYurn7

Fortunately, I eventually got them in the right size but I probably would have suffered the pains of hell to wear them even if they were too small

Anyhow, looking for suggestions from those familiar with how FT (they're FTO shells, which i think are basically identical to the raichle's) fit goes. Based on the shell size I think heat molding the intuitions will probably do the trick, but if that fails I can't return them and I'm out $300 and still need to buy the kid some boots.

What say you, bootfitting experts of TGR?

Thanks.

[babybear]

I have zero experience with children's boots but I sized down a half size from my old dalbellos to my full tilts (1st chairs) so I would say from my experience they run slightly larger. but just 1 anecdote
my husband is a FT athlete but I'm pretty certain he won't have much input on the kid's version either but I'll ask him when he gets home
on the positive side- pm me your address and I'll send you some stickers for your son since he loves them so much

[wooley12]

I know about FT's and I know about kids but not much about kid's FTs. Shell fits? Mold the liner. Worth $300 even if you're wrong.

my $.02

[whyturn]

Mold liner and sink heel. Toe cup like normal and basic footbed. You can always punch later. Don’t overthink it. If shell fit is right your good.

On an aside I skied full tilt for 10 seasons and just switched to dalbello. Maybe look at those as he grows. Ski and repeat


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[zlatham]

There’s a 22.5 on fleabay i think.

[jgb@etree]

I have zero experience with children's boots but I sized down a half size from my old dalbellos to my full tilts (1st chairs) so I would say from my experience they run slightly larger. but just 1 anecdote
my husband is a FT athlete but I'm pretty certain he won't have much input on the kid's version either but I'll ask him when he gets home
on the positive side- pm me your address and I'll send you some stickers for your son since he loves them so much

Appreciate any input he might be able to provide. I'll definitely PM you later to take you up on the sticker offer - he'd be sooo stoked, especially coming by way of a spancered athlete. Very kind of you to offer. Thanks!

Mold liner and sink heel. Toe cup like normal and basic footbed. You can always punch later. Don’t overthink it. If shell fit is right your good.

On an aside I skied full tilt for 10 seasons and just switched to dalbello. Maybe look at those as he grows. Ski and repeat

Solid advice, thank you. Any tips on sinking the heel? I've been replacing stock liners with intuitions for many years, and position my feet during molding by feel and decades of experience on how I like my boots to fit. Not real sure how to accomplish this when doing it for someone else who may not fully understand (or listen) to what I am telling him to do.

[whyturn]

Appreciate any input he might be able to provide. I'll definitely PM you later to take you up on the sticker offer - he'd be sooo stoked, especially coming by way of a spancered athlete. Very kind of you to offer. Thanks!



Solid advice, thank you. Any tips on sinking the heel? I've been replacing stock liners with intuitions for many years, and position my feet during molding by feel and decades of experience on how I like my boots to fit. Not real sure how to accomplish this when doing it for someone else who may not fully understand (or listen) to what I am telling him to do.

My advice is get boot fitter to direct him. It’s like when I taught my wife to ski, should have paid for lessons. Better to have someone else direct the fitting for sure and just stand on the side. The 1-2 inch board on toes helps sink heel and bend while leaning forward to pressure like ski stance


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[mntlion]

would this work?
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Roces-Idea-F...l_1ZEezJPKkRbA

22-25

[jgb@etree]

My advice is get boot fitter to direct him. It’s like when I taught my wife to ski, should have paid for lessons. Better to have someone else direct the fitting for sure and just stand on the side. The 1-2 inch board on toes helps sink heel and bend while leaning forward to pressure like ski stance


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Definitely. I think you're right on the $$$. Thanks again.

[jgb@etree]

would this work?
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Roces-Idea-F...l_1ZEezJPKkRbA

22-25

He was in a pair of those Roces that adjusted from ~15.0-18.0 before the Full Tilts. They worked very well and would likely fit the bill again, but he definitely noticed a big difference in comfort when he moved into the Full Tilts so we're trying to stick with those if possible. I'd like the Roces better as they'd probably last him 2-3 seasons, but he spends a LOT of time on the snow with his freeride team so total comfort is key. Might end up going that route if these full tilts don't work out. Going to take him to the bootfitter that I use this weekend to see what he thinks he can do. Thanks for chiming in. Your recommendation to have my boot boards ground down 9-10 years ago was a game changing experience, so I really respect your opinion as a bootfitter. Wish I weren't thousands of miles away.

[mntlion]

https://www.corbetts.com/2016-full-t...ior-ski-boots/ ?

[whyturn]

I have some full tilt stickers as well since I converted to dalbello. Send me pm with address and I can mail them


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