Who skis without a footbed in their boots?

[auvgeek]

Any recommendations for how to find a good custom footbed?

Go to the best boot fitter you can find. You should have no problem in SLC.

I tried the green Superfeet liners and the experience was very painful on the top of my foot especially. Nice skinning up, horrible skiing down.

As greg said, the footbed was too thick for the amount of instep room in that boot. Many ways to create more room: plane down the footbed, (re)mold the liners, or stretch the shell.

I'm in green TLT6Ps that are probably 1 shell size big (28.0, I really am more of a 27.5 / US 9-9.5 in most things) but they're just slightly long, not really loose in any other way. Anyway not TOO bad but closer to 2 fingers in the heel than 1. It hasn't given me problems in probably 150 days touring in them without footbeds, but I sometimes would like a slightly snugger fit. I also am running the stock liners, unmolded.

Maybe it's just "buy new boots" time but I would give a custom footbed a try, just no idea how one goes about doing such a thing. Also maybe just a higher volume Intuition + a good bake will be sufficient.

IMO, using a footbed to take up volume isn't the right way to approach things. Use the footbed to achieve the desired level of support for your arch, and then find the right volume shell for your (now supported) feet. For me, personally, my unweighted footbeds let me use much lower volume shells because my feet pronate substantially. (Though, to be fair, my footbeds are unusually thin and flexible forward of my arch compared to many others I've seen made.)

[Kenny Satch]

I've struggled with a lot of problems trying to fit a boot with no pain until I tried a Superfeet Blue one size smaller.
Sizing says I should be using a D but I use a C.

I found out the arch support was slightly too forward for my foot on my past footbeds. It was causing the pinch at the top of my foot along with a loss of circulation. Mind you my toes are at the edge of the footbed now but with no issue.
Total game changer.
No Pain !

[XXX-er]

I once put a sole in one boot and a 300$ custom in the the other boot and went skiing,

At the end of the day i couldn't remember which boot had which footbed which is good
cuz it means I don't need to spend extended medical $$$ on footbeds anymore

SO you don't really need a custom foot bed if you can find what works for you off the shelf for 40$

YMMV but I tried some green super feet that came in a used boot and they don't work for me

[GeezerSteve]

IMO, using a footbed to take up volume isn't the right way to approach things. Use the footbed to achieve the desired level of support for your arch, and then find the right volume shell for your (now supported) feet.

IME a footbed usually provides the right amount of arch support and and also takes up just enough volume to make the boot fit right. YMMV

[Swine]

I've never been able to ski/run or play sports with an orthotic (I had custom orthotics growing up), incredible pain resulted. I threw them all away in college, I did try a footbed 5 years ago and it sucked and reminded me of being a kid trying to ski with orthotics, so I quit that and just used the flimsy stock thing until last year. I have now adopted a 9 dollar memory foam footbed that has no rigid arch support and it's awesome. I have them in my ski boots and running shoes. Game changer. My feet are super flat and I have no cartilage in my sub-talar joints, so I'm a unique case. But footbeds absolutely do not work for me.

Sent from my XT1575 using TGR Forums mobile app

[RShea]

Any recommendations for how to find a good custom footbed?

I tried the green Superfeet liners and the experience was very painful on the top of my foot especially. Nice skinning up, horrible skiing down.

I'm in green TLT6Ps that are probably 1 shell size big (28.0, I really am more of a 27.5 / US 9-9.5 in most things) but they're just slightly long, not really loose in any other way. Anyway not TOO bad but closer to 2 fingers in the heel than 1. It hasn't given me problems in probably 150 days touring in them without footbeds, but I sometimes would like a slightly snugger fit. I also am running the stock liners, unmolded.

Green Superfeet are not custom footbeds. Custom footbeds would be either from a ski shop, a higher end shoe store, some Physical therapists, or Podiatry type of specialist or Doctor that will either mold or take a scanned image of your foot. From there they use the various companies like Amfit or a number of others that will then create the footbed based on the image or mold. There are semi-custom footbeds that you can heat up and then you stand on them have them mold to your foot. There are also rigid footbed materials (cork, harder foam or rubber, etc.) and also softer footbeds that can flex when you walk in regular shoes. Most skiers usually end up on a harder material since you are not able to bend and flex your foot inside most ski boots- touring boots even with a walking mode are the closest thing.

[gregL]

IME a footbed usually provides the right amount of arch support and and also takes up just enough volume to make the boot fit right. YMMV

The amount of volume you'll want to fill with any footbed will vary substantially from a new boot and one that's been skied on 6-8 days. I build super thin "break-in" footbeds out of discarded Dynafit insoles posted with 1/8" cork and use them in new boots; after the liners pack out I switch to thicker posted SIDAS customs. People who don't have access to footbed supplies/tools may be able to do approximately the same thing by running thin stock insoles until the liner packs out.

If you have a snug performance fit in an existing boot and suddenly throw a thicker footbed in, it's bound to feel too tight (whether or not it fits the plantar surface of your foot better and improves your stance) unless you modify something as auvgeek suggests.

[Soups]

I always skied without footbeds up until this past year when I finally started to get some foot pain in my arches and above the ankle due to flat feet. In my normal shoes I would use Superfeet and Sole, which seemed to help a little but never really lasted. BTW the new Sole footbeds with the cork SUCK, they will break the first time you put them into any shoe that you will have to cram them into, especially boots. At least they still make the old ones.

Finally went the custom route, for my ski boots I got some Masterfit insoles which were around $280 I think and for my regular running shoes/hiking/etc I went to the podiatrist and got some orthodics. Night and Day between the off the shelf and custom route, although you pay for it. In all reality, at the end of my last long hike in broken down Superfeet I would have gladly paid what I did to not experience that again. Also, both my custom orthodics and Masterfit insoles are lower volume than anything you can get off the shelf and will last much longer.

[tuco]

Superfeet are not custom footbeds

I have 2 pair of Superfeet cork foot beds. Both custom molded

[XXX-er]

weren't super feet the orginal custom cork footbeds for ski boots like 30 yrs ago? can you still buy them like that cuz nowdays I see them on the display rack in different colors for different feet for 40$ and the pair I have in the quiver are foam and neoprene ??

IME you don't necessarily get what you pay for cuz I can get a good fit off the rack for 40$, i can't even drive to the foot doc for that much money and so I buy off the rack and I can spend those HCSA bucks on Viagra instead of paying the podiatrist to make a footbed

My dad had a pair of super thin stainless steel orthotics he got from the classifyeds in national inquirer which sounds sketchy as hell but he put in his steel toed work boots and walked miles every night around the plant ... they worked

I got a pair of 3/4 orthotics from 1982 that are thin clear hard plastic, I can see thru them, my last foot guy told me all the podiatrists who made those back in the day got cancer from dealing with the plastic

[Ocean]

thinking about ditching my footbeds and sewing an arch cookie into my liners.

I knew that my idea wasn't original, finally remembered where I read about it ...

'sewing center where they do prototypes and custom work. This guy is stitching a customized liner for a skimo racer, with a shimmed sole to avoid the heinous weight gain of using custom footbeds'.

https://www.wildsnow.com/21922/la-sp...-center-italy/

[hutash]

I have had custom cork superfeet foot beds, and just about ever color of off the shelf superfeet, and for me is doesn't matter, I ski badly with all of them. I have forgot my foot beds a couple of times, and then my skiing really sucks, so I need a foot bed, it just doesn't matter for my feet what type it is. I have used other brands in hiking boots, running shoes, approach shoes, etc, and again, for my feet it just doesn't matter. Over all I have pretty generic feet and rarely have fitting issues and can wear just about any boot of shoe if sized correctly. I go barefoot a lot all year round, wear Birkenstocks or Crocs at work, which I think helps overall foot health. Shoes really can fuck up your feet, and I don't wear them often.

[RShea]

I have 2 pair of Superfeet cork foot beds. Both custom molded

Are they the green Superfeet, off the shelf footbeds as mentioned by mbillie? I know each of the color Superfeet are for specific support generally and different flex. I have a pair of Amfit custom ski bootbeds, and a pair of Superfeet Green mentioned for cycling, hiking boots, etc. The cork Superfeet are something I have never seen, probably because there is nobody in my area that handles and makes their custom. Superfeet I see are sold at a few stores based on color and an A-D foot length that corresponds to a shorter range of shoe sizes.

[RShea]

I've struggled with a lot of problems trying to fit a boot with no pain until I tried a Superfeet Blue one size smaller.
Sizing says I should be using a D but I use a C.

I found out the arch support was slightly too forward for my foot on my past footbeds. It was causing the pinch at the top of my foot along with a loss of circulation. Mind you my toes are at the edge of the footbed now but with no issue.
Total game changer.
No Pain !

Arch support position is key- somewhere I saw a video that basically stated do not worry about the footbed length as much as where the heel and arch support hits your foot. (IE take a longer or shorter off the shelf footbed and make sure the arch support in fact is positioned under your arch, and then buy that one without worrying about if it was your shoe size.

[tuco]

weren't super feet the orginal custom cork footbeds for ski boots like 30 yrs ago? can you still buy them like that cuz nowdays I see them on the display rack in different colors for different feet for 40$ and the pair I have in the quiver are foam and neoprene ??

I have one pair that is over 20 years old- its a full length footbed that is only 3/4 cork-its supposed to flex for use in tele boots but also work for alpine.
The other(full cork) I had made 3 summers ago(2 seasons old now), I think they were old stock and I got lucky,

Are they the green Superfeet, off the shelf footbeds as mentioned by mbillie? I know each of the color Superfeet are for specific support generally and different flex. I have a pair of Amfit custom ski bootbeds, and a pair of Superfeet Green mentioned for cycling, hiking boots, etc. The cork Superfeet are something I have never seen, probably because there is nobody in my area that handles and makes their custom. Superfeet I see are sold at a few stores based on color and an A-D foot length that corresponds to a shorter range of shoe sizes.

One pair is red and the other is black(which are pretty new and I can still see printed 'Superfit by Superfeet' on the black topskin)
Cork is heat molded, which is how these were done. The kind your talking about you unwrap and throw in your footwear(cept maybe for trimmin).

[tuco]

The House. com has Superfeet Kork

[gregL]

One pair is red and the other is black(which are pretty new and I can still see printed 'Superfit by Superfeet' on the black topskin)
Cork is heat molded, which is how these were done. The kind your talking about you unwrap and throw in your footwear(cept maybe for trimmin).

There used to be a Superfeet Kork trim-to-fit footbed with a red cover (I don't think they offer it any more) that wasn't moldable. You just trimmed it to match your stock insole and put it in the boot.

Superfeet Kork Customs involve heat molding a blank with the foot totally unweighted using vacuum bags, after which the bootfitter applies the cork posting material - entirely different footbed. Not sure which shops offer this, but a store's choice of footbed supplier usually entails buying a wide assortment of their custom and trim-to-fit products and is more complicated than it sounds.

[tuco]

There used to be a Superfeet Kork trim-to-fit footbed with a red cover (I don't think they offer it any more) that wasn't moldable. You just trimmed it to match your stock insole and put it in the boot.

Superfeet Kork Customs involve heat molding a blank with the foot totally unweighted using vacuum bags, after which the bootfitter applies the cork posting material - entirely different footbed. Not sure which shops offer this, but a store's choice of footbed supplier usually entails buying a wide assortment of their custom and trim-to-fit products and is more complicated than it sounds.

I'm aware of how kork are molded and fit to the boot

They also made what they called 3/4 cork as you can see in the picture above. It is sitting right next to a full cork for comparison

[XXX-er]

those would be a waste of money FOR ME ...not enough arch support

[tuco]

those would be a waste of money FOR ME ...not enough arch support

that is the bottom---

[XXX-er]

It looks like the top footbed was showing the bottom

[9922]

I have skied with stock and custom modes footbeds, it made no difference to me. It was a $160 experiment I guess. I don't have high arch not totally flat. I ski about 50-60 days/year.

[iriponsnow]

Fwiw, I'm a PT & ski w none (intuitions) or thin (lace up plug liners) for 2 reasons-

A) the foot needs to move to initiate/ fine tune the turn

B) if your boot fits correctly, there is really not a ton of room to add a custom orthotic; there's a reason the liners come w thin insoles.

Just my 2 cents

[Ocean]

Hmm, been standing in front of the mirror on various footbeds. I thought I needed arch support, now I'm starting to think that what I actually need is the 'canting' effect that is a side effect of arch supports.

ie Arch support makes the medial side of the footbed higher than the lateral side, which shifts the way the knee tracks, and has a similar effect to canting the boot soles.

[tuco]

It looks like the top footbed was showing the bottom

Fwiw, I'm a PT & ski w none (intuitions) or thin (lace up plug liners) for 2 reasons-

A) the foot needs to move to initiate/ fine tune the turn

B) if your boot fits correctly, there is really not a ton of room to add a custom orthotic; there's a reason the liners come w thin insoles.

Just my 2 cents

I'm no PT, but for my feet, I don't agree. Here's why

A- I like my boot to mirror the movements of my feet. Foot movement inside liner =no Bueno
B-My feet are jammed into the smallest possible boot I can fit, but don't find much trouble inserting custom footbed(exception being brand new boots/liners)
I also use intuition.
Orthotics are footbeds made by drs. and are all custom made. Footbeds can be custom, made by ski shops and such or off the shelf and trimmed to fit by consumer
I have long skinny feet, with high arch and instep + a skinny heel. I can go without them, but also highly prefer them. I can use off the shelf footbeds, but I have $50 into both pairs of corks I have so I think I've came out ahead