How tight should boots fit out of the box?

[Lord Thomas]

Sounds to me like you are maybe nothing more than a liner bake away from a good fit. Starting with a shell that is too small in a few places but fits the shape of your foot is way better than a shell that is too big just about anywhere. You can almost always strategically make them bigger where needed; not so easy to make them smaller. This is what your friendly neighborhood bootfitter is for. If you can wear them buckled for an hour without nothing more than feet getting sleepy then my speculation is that you are very close to a good fit. Like others have said above, you are probably just a few mm away...at least till the liners pack out.

I'm fortunate in that the Lange RS/RX LV shell almost perfectly fits the shape of my foot and leg, all I need is a navicular punch. Even with my original RS liner that has over 200 days on it my leg-heel-ankle-forefoot is still held solidly. If you feel like your toe is touching the end of the boot it's probably just hitting the end of the liner. I regularly run one size larger liner in my boots to gain toe clearance without hitting the shell.

[Danno]

The idea that boots should fit at all out of the box in a world with heat moldable liners is really weird to me. Get the shell fit correct, mold the liners, and THEN ask questions if the fit still isn't correct.

[NWFlow]

It’s really important for all of us middle aged skiers to have extremely painful boots in order to quickly ski around all the cliffs and difficult terrain that a performance boot would be mandatory for if we still skied that type of terrain.

Haha. Cheers. Can't let that gem go unlauded.

[RShea]

A few variables that Dabello boots have that you do not mention- Which liner- the Intuition Wrap liner I.D. Pro (that can be fully heat molded and custom fitted, or the Tru-Fit more traditional liner like this picture that has the separate tongue like a traditional boot usually?
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6cbd0aae57.jpg

Dalbello also (at least my Krypton KR2 120's) came with 2 different foot platforms in the base also. One was orange and much higher the other was white and lower.
https://thumbs.newschoolers.com/inde...&size=400x1000
and the orange:
https://i.imgur.com/7PvaoGC.jpg

So that is another variable in the arch pressure and possibly something to check out. Then you get into the actual footbed and arch as well as the buckle adjustment. High arch and low arch can be different. Too much buckle pressure of course can cut off the circulation and cause pain and lack of blood flow to cause what you are describing. Does it help to back off the buckle a notch (or even loosen the micro-adjustment on the buckle and leave it on the same notch if you are not fully unscrewed on the buckle.

So better with no footbed, or if you loosen the buckle a bit at the center buckle over the arch? It is hard to say what is the cause.

As recommended- start with the shell fit, no liner and put your foot in the boot. Measure the heel gap with the toes touching. Then go back to the other adjustments like is your heel in the boot pocket (sounds like it if you are stating there is a bit of pressure on the Achilles area, but if the boot is forcing your foot forward and not down in the heel pocket, then you could have too much arch pressure as a problem of the heel area also. Even the Tru-fit liners can be heated in spots and worked by a good boot fitter- (Mine did both liners and then some grinding for pressure spots on the boot sides...) He also took s bit of material off my custom molded Amfit footbeds, and also took the white base pieces out of the boot and hit them slightly on the grinder all as part of the various processes to get the fit right without pain (second visit after the initial visit for the grinding of the boot shell, etc.)

[stuckathuntermtn]

Well, for me, if there's no pain when inside and new, they will probably be too big in a season or two.

I'm not really kidding.

I like it. Good rhyme.

[XXX-er]

Choosing boot to get the right fit its important to grit yer teeth when you hit the BUY button

[Hood26]

It’s really important for all of us middle aged skiers to have extremely painful boots in order to quickly ski around all the cliffs and difficult terrain that a performance boot would be mandatory for if we still skied that type of terrain.

Performance fitted/stiff plug boot probably not needed. A well fitted boot, performance or not, still needed.

I bought boots one time with a British Tourist fit and about blew my knee out once they became sloppy on a mild spring corn trail. I wasn’t middle aged, and still I am not.

To the OP, my advice is to take what you got to a reccomded boot fitter in your area. Maybe they steer you into returning them, but probably not. If they are close out of the box, then maybe you are good to go.

Feet going numb and high instep sounds like the blood vessels on the top of the foot are constructed. That’s fixed, by a boot fitter, with a heat gun and a softball pretty quickly. I am not a boot fitter and that might not be the problem, but I just share it as an example. Also, a footbed is a must. Either molded or out of the box, are a major improvement to the thing the manufacturers throw in there expecting it to be thrown away

[GoldenBC]

Tight instep will make your toes go numb.
Tight achilles will make your heel and sole of your foot go numb.

Take the liner out of your boot. Slide your barefoot in the shell. Centre your foot in the length of the boot and then slide it all the way to the inside (medial) of the boot. are you touching on the outside? Are you really close? That could be a tight point. Is there more than 5mm? Too wide. How much room is around your ankle? 20mm space is decent. The ankle often stops the heel from moving all the way back in a dalbello and that could be why you are feeling your toes with that 15mm length.

Mold your liner with a foam pad on your instep. Dalbellos are notoriously hard to get the heel to the back of the boot so you will have to crank that ankle buckle down tight. Flex forwards and kick your heels a bunch. It sounds like the boot is probably a little big if you can stay in it fresh out of the box for an hour. I'm guessing you just have these two small pressure points and thats it.

[old goat]

IME numbness can be a sign that a boot may be too big (not necessarily length). If you have good ankle and heel hold the lower buckles should be just snug enough to not pop open when you ski. When you have to crank the lower buckles to get the boot snug enough you're compressing the foot side to side which pinches the nerves between the foot bones. I have a very low instep and even when the length is good by shell fit the forefoot has too much room--even with a 98 mm last. I cured my numb toes by using bontex shims to raise my foot in the boot so I didn't have to crank the lower buckles.

[waxman]

Have you skied them? Or are they numb standing in your living room? How many days are you going to ski in a season. Did you check out mntlions "whats wrong with my boots" thread?

[muted]

Performance fitted/stiff plug boot probably not needed. A well fitted boot, performance or not, still needed.

I bought boots one time with a British Tourist fit and about blew my knee out once they became sloppy on a mild spring corn trail. I wasn’t middle aged, and still I am not.

Your comments aren't relevant to my joke at all.