J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by cem

xt600 wrote:. I've looked at various websites offering various footbeds costing around 35 quid. Seems like qiute a lot of cash for what it is, can anyone recommend a particular type/brand and are they really worth buying?Any advice appreciated... :-)

are they worth the money ?...YES
are they correct for you? well that depends on the boot the foot and the fit between the two, without seeing your feet it is impossible to say


i would love to know where the ski instructor who posted earlier has his boots done, my money would be that he needs more than just a moulded footbed or at least more than a badly moulded footbed...again without seeing his feet impossible to say what will work best, but there are not too many people out there who will not benefit in some way from a well made footbed or an off the peg one. i offer a 100% money back guarantee on all the custom beds i make, i see on avaerage 1 pair back a month and i build over 700 pairs a year for all sports footwear, ski boots and day to day shoes

badly made footbeds are definately not worth the money a suitable well made one is a valuable part of the ski boot fit

sounds like they did not get sufficent heat into the plastic to have the stretch stay,

the tools are pretty specialist and expensive... although i know of an engineer who made himself a stretching tool as he was convinced nobody could do what he wanted [he just hadn't spoken to anyone other than a boot seller]

it takes time to stretch a boot effectively and there must be enough heat and the boot needs to remain on the press until the plastic is cool, or the boot can be sress stretched with heat and over stretching techniques which is a neat way to get a diffused stretch over an ankle

it may be best to leave them with the shop overnight and let them work on them when they are quiet rather than trying to rush them while you wait

it shouldn't be a problem to fix a boot with the heel raised s you say, it is possible to lift th heeland then fix the boot so that it remains in a forward position but your foot held t 90degrees inside

Hirsty..... ouch....but... perfect it will fit better in most ski boots now :wink:

suprisingly common, about one in ten people have a longer second toe [or depending on the biomechanics a short first metatarsal which leads to the impression of a short big toe

as for boot fit , again it depends on the person, if you look at the toe box of "most" ski boots the longest point is around the middle second to third toe now if your feet are that way then it solves a load of fit problems however.... recently boot manufacturers hacve started to realise that not everyone has this long second toe/short first toe.... Atomic with the B tech and Lange with the new shark nose have squared the toe box witha bias to the medial side to accomodate the big toe

the biggest issue that i would like to see addressed with regard to fit in the toe box is the manufactuers go back to true sizing ie size 27.5 is 27.5cm +1.5cm for the liner + the toes...then when someoen measured a 27.5 they could be fitted in the boot size that they measure rather thn having to down size to get a realistic fit...people find it acceptable to wear the size they measure or a size up if it is just too tight but trying to explain why we need to down size is a real issue.... the reason it happened and they moved from this was they were loosing sales by people trying their percived size on and feeling it too tight...so the boot companies increased the toe box length to make it feel better
/rant

depends on the size differencial, if small it is normally easily accomodated by slight modifications to the boot, aim to be as small as you can without causing pain/damage to the larger foot, boots can be stretched and ground out to acomodate the larger foot, shrinking the boot is a lot tougher and rarely works ;) when nthe difference is vast then the only true oprio is to have a split pair or have a shell custom made with a filler in it, i have a couple fo clients who have to use this type of option [4 sizes difference due to birth defect] they both opt for the split shell sizes option , most of our suppliers will try to help out with pricing or odd boots form a sample set to save paying full price for 2 pairs of boots

if in doubt don't do it, suffer one more trip and get it right before you go again.
remeber the other one to look at was the full tilt, a bit softer but still a 95mm last and probably more available

good luck

Tima, the Ti 100 is this years, Atomic do not put Ti models on the web site, they show the CS models [and some times the Ti150 which is the "standard" race flex, the 100 is used for juniors and lighter racers for super G and Downhill the softer flex allows more feel whereas they would use a stiffer boot for slalom/GS where they require more aggression..... the Ti stands for Team Issue which is why they do not appear in many places on the website...they don't even figure in the dealer catalogue, as such there are not many places you can buy them, in the UK i think it is just ourselves and Bartletts if they have any left
the only other issue with them is the price ..at £350 they are not cheap, but this is due to all the reasons mentioned above the 95mm last, the Team Issue etc etc this means they sell less and have to pay for the moulds hense the price

as Trencher has suggested the other option is a junior race boot [which i suppose the Ti100 technically is] on eof the only other ones in that sort of flex is the lange world cup team, but make sure it is this years last seasons was a 98mm last, this years is a 95mm....most juinot race boots are like this [98mm last]

hope that helps

Colin