Best place to get fitted for boots near Seattle?

dadunda

Member
I live on Bainbridge Island (just west of Seattle) and am looking for the best place in Seattle to get fitted for some boots. My feet are messed up and I would need a lot of work on these boots most likely. Looking for custom footbeds, popouts, the whole 9 yards.

Where should I be looking to go and who should I ask for?
 
If you need actual boot work done (grinding stretching etc) Evo does not have the equipment. Sturtevents main store in Bellevue is the only one that I know of that I has a fully functional boot tech shop complete with all the expensive boot work equipment that not every ski store carries. I find they have a slightly better boot selection as well. Evo is awesome, great deals and I love the staff there, but for boot fitting the crotchety old race dudes at Sturtevent's tend to know their stuff a bit better then the younger staff at Evo.
 
Nope.

Strike number one for Evo boot fitting came when I was buying boots many years ago and I found some Nordica speed machines that I tried on in a size 23 and that had a good fit but were a size too big. They told me that there was no problem, they'd order the 22 and everything would be golden. Long story short after riding the "22" for several days I come to find out that the 22 was not in fact a 22 but the same BSL as the 23 that I had already tried on and decided was too big just with a fluffier liner that would of course pack out in a dozen days. They made it right by store crediting my boot. But I still had to spend a season in ill fitting boots because they failed to tell me that the 22 was not a "true" 22, something they should have known, and been up front about to begin with.

If Evo does have a boot punch machine now, then they must have bought it this year, because as recently as a year and a half ago they did not. I had a lot of boot work done (multiple grindings) and after the third time I was told explicitly that they couldn't grind the boot anymore and that they do NOT have the equipment to stretching/punches.

Fast forward to last year when I started going to Sturtevents, I wanted to see if I could possibly get more grinding done, despite Evo saying the boot couldn't be ground anymore. First thing the boot fitters at Sturtevents say is "Who did your previous boot work? It looks like someone took a dremel to this, they didn't smooth out your plastic, also they cracked your boot board (the hard plastic piece that sits at the bottom of your boot). Sure enough I see the cracked boot board and I feel the rough sharp pieces of plastic sticking out where they ground the boot, no wonder my pinky toe was in pain with those sharp pieces protruding. They then go on to literally take me into the shop and explain the equipment they use to do boot work, and then worked on my boot while I watched. Turns out it could indeed be ground some more, as well as stretched. They feathered the grind so that the plastic inside the boots stayed smooth. They walked me through the whole process while I watched, and I was out of there within an hour.

Compare that to Evo where despite being a loyal customer for many years, most of the staff knows me by name. I would always have to drop my boots off and return for them a couple days later for boot work (very annoying to do in the middle of the season).

Evo tries their best, and for their niche they do a good job, but for bootwork Sturtevents wins, hands down.
 
This may be what you were intending to say, but just to clarify; many manufacturers use the same shell for 22/23 boots and the 22 will come from the factory with a thicker liner. There are still true 22's available, but not in all models. I wasn't sure if you were insinuating that evo attempted a bait and switch on you and replaced the liners themselves, but if you were, that is most likely not the case - don't remember off the top of my head.
 
Yes that's what I was saying. Many manufacturers lie about a boot being a "true" 22.

The only thing I'm accusing EVO of is not informing me of this very vital piece of information when they sold me the boot.

I sort of expect someone whose expertise is boots and bootfitting to have full knowledge and full disclosure about the boot they are selling me. Instead of leaving me on my own to find this out and ultimately be dissatisfied with my boot. I could have saved us a both a lot of trouble if they had been up front about this fact.
 
I'd been skiing for 12 years, primarily in Rossi boots. I went to Tom and despite my apprehension over switching to a 2 buckle Salomon, I took his advice. The foot cramps and loss of transfer power are gone. I've never been happier in a pair of boots. Guy knows his stuff.
 
Plum bindings, Dynafit Vulcans, and DPS skis. Duh.

Next day mounts is pretty legit though. You can drop your skis off, pick up a hooker, rent a motel room for an hour and your skis will likely be done around the same time you are. All for a little less than the cost for a mount plus expedite fee at most other shops.
 
the only reason they can do next day mounts is because they are never busy enough to be backed out beyond a day.

and to say that pro ski is the only legit shop in the area is just dumb ignorance.
 
id say proski is a pretty legit ski shop... yeah its super small but it definitely seems like you get more help and experience at shops like that than big name super stores...... support your local shops.
 
Back
Top