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Troubleshooting new boot fit and fitter.

bitflogger

Putting on skis
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Jan 1, 2023
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Upper Midwest
I have new boots purchased with the seller's pro fit services. Now with 6x use I still have a very annoying problem that seems like boot (liner or shell) is just not same width as the other but the fitter insists it is me even after a 2nd visit to tune fit that included reheat the liner of the boot that seems so squeezed.

The boot fitter insists the issues are "because all of our feet are different between each other" and "we are not symmetrical as we think". Sure but I have 60+ years experience with these feet. I repeat buy a same running shoe, MTB shoe, and hiking boot not feeling such a difference. I've never needed boot buckles so different between boots in 51 years of skiing. The third party footbeds they insisted on make it worse. I had to remove them for stock insoles or the squeeze was unbearable.

If I take liners out I can see one tongue is not sewn in or assembled as the other. You can see some asymmetry in cuff stitching but serial #s are same. The seller/fitter is dismissive of that. I don't expect perfection but again, there is a lot of experience and history here.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I don't want animosity with the dealer and I'm not sure this is an industry where manufacturers do a good job standing behind their stuff. As for manufacturer they are Nordica Pro Machine.

Any advise here would be much appreciated. They are at once a great improvement for weight and flex but wow is it annoying to have one foot feel so much more squeezed.

Thank you.
 

slidingmike

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You could try a 3rd party liner (Intuition, Zipfit, etc). They will be better made, more symmetric, and likely to better adjust to your feet. Of course that will add more cost -- but when it comes to comfort, performance, and a good fit, many feel it's worth it.

It certainly is possible that something happened during the making of the footbeds. But it sounds like you've removed them from the equation. Generally, they will put your feet on a more even platform, though it may cause a slightly different fit in each boot.

I have never had issues nor noticed any foot differences in any kind of shoes or boots (in my paltry 55 years) -- including climbing shoes, mountaineering boots, hockey skates... until I stepped into real performance fit ski boot shells. Truly, our feet are never identical. Nor is it likely that an athletic person could make it this far through life without some foot injury that caused at least slight deformation / imbalance.

But nobody here can tell you, without an examination, whether it's your feet or the boots or the liners that are the issue. It's probably *not* the boot shells, at any rate. Good luck with the quest!
 

James

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24,419
Tongues aren’t necessarily symmetrical.
Without photos, who knows.

It’s not surprising one foot feels different than the other in ski boots. The fitting issue is to make both feet comfortable so you can ski. Not just one.
 

MissySki

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Is the issue that the fitter has been unable to make the one foot comfortable still? I'd focus more on that than arguing with him on whether the issue is your feet or the boots. If he can't make both of your feet comfortable, that's a problem. What are his suggestions for getting the one foot to feel as good as the other in that boot?

I personally always need different little tweaks done to each of my boots depending how they feel the first 8-10 ski days on them. I think with my current pair I only had to tweak one of them actually, after the initial work we did to get them to fit both of my feet in the first place.
 
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bitflogger

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Is the issue that the fitter has been unable to make the one foot comfortable still? I'd focus more on that than arguing with him on whether the issue is your feet or the boots. If he can't make both of your feet comfortable, that's a problem. What are his suggestions for getting the one foot to feel as good as the other in that boot?

I personally always need different little tweaks done to each of my boots depending how they feel the first 8-10 ski days on them. I think with my current pair I only had to tweak one of them actually, after the initial work we did to get them to fit both of my feet in the first place.
No arguing going on and keeping it that way is my point of looking and thinking elsewhere on the topic. Not arguing with the seller is really important in a few ways.

Put simply, from the start I saw the promise of something much better but this annoying difference was there early. Some new shoes don't have any feel with such differences just like older boots going in a dumpster today or tomorrow. I made a call to Nordica to have someone believe there could be a defective liner or boot but was told to work with the dealer who seemed pretty firm on that being impossible.

The liners taken out do not look as symmetrical whether that's how sewn or how they sit as the liners for my old Tecnica and Scarpa boots do. The tight fitting foot shows more of the shell mold shape in the cork after the heat than the better fitting foot.

My idea on the tongue is they have enough thickness where one that appears sewn in about 4-5 mm closer to toe might be part of it.
 
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James

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I don’t get it. If you brought your car in for repair, do you care if it’s a bit different than it’s supposed to be? You just want it fixed.
 

Dwight

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You could try Madison or Twin cities for boot fitter? Not ideal but might be worth it.
 

cantunamunch

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I don’t get it. If you brought your car in for repair, do you care if it’s a bit different than it’s supposed to be? You just want it fixed.

AFAICT, and to continue your analogy, the car is *not* fixed, the mechanic says it's completely fine and it's all in the driver's head.

So the driver got out of the car, did a walkaround on their own and noticed ...asymmetries.
 

Bad Bob

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Is there another fitter in the same shop? If so get them into the conversation. Another head full of ideas would not hurt.
 

James

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AFAICT, and to continue your analogy, the car is *not* fixed, the mechanic says it's completely fine and it's all in the driver's head.

So the driver got out of the car, did a walkaround on their own and noticed ...asymmetries.
Is it true the mechanic thinks it’s fine?
Pointing out asymmetries is a dead end. It takes the onus off the fitter also.

Saying it hurts, or doesn’t work, either ends when it’s fixed, you give up, or the fitter admits there’s nothing they can do.

Maybe, when the fitter gets frustrated, they’ll go, “well, I finally figured it out! The damn liner is sewn differently on that foot.”
 

cantunamunch

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Is it true the mechanic thinks it’s fine?

Dunno, ask OP.

Pointing out asymmetries is a dead end. It takes the onus off the fitter also.

Not sure I see how on the second point, but :huh:not my idea.

If I was hunting asymmetries it would be way further down the rabbit hole, after nerve and blood vessel impingement was looked at.

...but then I use Fischer liners with the super-easy-to-modify-no-restitching tongues.

Saying it hurts, or doesn’t work, either ends when it’s fixed, you give up, or the fitter admits there’s nothing they can do.

No argument here.

In the name of experimentation, I wonder if OP might try wearing medical compression socks, just to see if the problems stay the same.

 
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jrc17

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Regarding after market liners. I have cuff alignment problems that any of the boots I've ever had can't accommodate. Im sure someone or many will confirm this is a stupid idea but .......I have some old Lange sx 110 shells that have cuff alignment one one side only. Has any one very moved a rivet and installed it in a position that permits more cuff alignment adjustability. It looks doable and the old liners are packed out. New after market liners are not budget breakers so for now I'd like to try something to limp through the season and not have my boots tied up in the shop. I have new mach 1 mv 110s that are comfortable and adjusted as much as they can be but Im skiing like crap compared to my old boots and can't put my finger on it.. I live in a wasteland for good boot fitters so at the end of the season Ill take my boots to Vermont and see what adjustments I need. For now I don't want my boots tied up the shop. On that note anyrecommendations for boot fitters in Vermont? Any area for Vermont is accessible for me in 3 hrs. or so.
 

Zirbl

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Dec 22, 2021
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Regarding after market liners. I have cuff alignment problems that any of the boots I've ever had can't accommodate. Im sure someone or many will confirm this is a stupid idea but .......I have some old Lange sx 110 shells that have cuff alignment one one side only. Has any one very moved a rivet and installed it in a position that permits more cuff alignment adjustability. It looks doable and the old liners are packed out. New after market liners are not budget breakers so for now I'd like to try something to limp through the season and not have my boots tied up in the shop. I have new mach 1 mv 110s that are comfortable and adjusted as much as they can be but Im skiing like crap compared to my old boots and can't put my finger on it.. I live in a wasteland for good boot fitters so at the end of the season Ill take my boots to Vermont and see what adjustments I need. For now I don't want my boots tied up the shop. On that note anyrecommendations for boot fitters in Vermont? Any area for Vermont is accessible for me in 3 hrs. or so.

See also one (of two) of Tom Gellie's two Global Skiing podcasts with Harald Harb.
 

MissySki

Rogue Assassin of Bad Puns.
Ski Diva Tester
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Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Posts
851
Location
MA
Regarding after market liners. I have cuff alignment problems that any of the boots I've ever had can't accommodate. Im sure someone or many will confirm this is a stupid idea but .......I have some old Lange sx 110 shells that have cuff alignment one one side only. Has any one very moved a rivet and installed it in a position that permits more cuff alignment adjustability. It looks doable and the old liners are packed out. New after market liners are not budget breakers so for now I'd like to try something to limp through the season and not have my boots tied up in the shop. I have new mach 1 mv 110s that are comfortable and adjusted as much as they can be but Im skiing like crap compared to my old boots and can't put my finger on it.. I live in a wasteland for good boot fitters so at the end of the season Ill take my boots to Vermont and see what adjustments I need. For now I don't want my boots tied up the shop. On that note anyrecommendations for boot fitters in Vermont? Any area for Vermont is accessible for me in 3 hrs. or so.
Torin at Totem Pole (right near Okemo) is great!
 

cem

Out on the slopes
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Industry Insider
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Nov 12, 2015
Posts
601
Location
a gridlocked town in middle England
I have new boots purchased with the seller's pro fit services. Now with 6x use I still have a very annoying problem that seems like boot (liner or shell) is just not same width as the other but the fitter insists it is me even after a 2nd visit to tune fit that included reheat the liner of the boot that seems so squeezed.

The boot fitter insists the issues are "because all of our feet are different between each other" and "we are not symmetrical as we think". Sure but I have 60+ years experience with these feet. I repeat buy a same running shoe, MTB shoe, and hiking boot not feeling such a difference. I've never needed boot buckles so different between boots in 51 years of skiing. The third party footbeds they insisted on make it worse. I had to remove them for stock insoles or the squeeze was unbearable.

If I take liners out I can see one tongue is not sewn in or assembled as the other. You can see some asymmetry in cuff stitching but serial #s are same. The seller/fitter is dismissive of that. I don't expect perfection but again, there is a lot of experience and history here.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I don't want animosity with the dealer and I'm not sure this is an industry where manufacturers do a good job standing behind their stuff. As for manufacturer they are Nordica Pro Machine.

Any advise here would be much appreciated. They are at once a great improvement for weight and flex but wow is it annoying to have one foot feel so much more squeezed.

Thank you.
ok so having read through this i pick up on a couple of things and lots of confusion in some of the following posts

it is perfectly possible you have a "friday afternoon boot" i have had a couple of boots through the store over the years where they have been shipped with completely odd liners, one i remember well the boot was 27.5 and one liner was 27.5 the other 26.5, customer didn't pick up on it at try on and neither did we, but dam he felt it when he went skiing, we got the brunt of his anger and a pair of boots thrown at us.... only to discover it was a manufacturing screw up..... a couple of pictures would certainly help as other have said

if i am reading you correctly one boot is good and the other crushes your foot? then either the one that is crushing your foot needs some adjustment or it is the liner that is in need of replacement can you try on a liner from a different pair of the same model??

manufacturers normally work well in this industry to support their dealers, so long as the dealer doesn't take the piss
 

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