Boot question, went to a fitter, have a few options

Peter.

Peter.

Active member
Alright, so i have been up at killington for the past few days, and had the chance to go to a few boot fitters. i got fit into three different boots, 1 being a full tilt level 1, a nordica patron, and a dalbello panterra 100. I truly cannot decide between these three boots. i have super skinny legs and all fit well in the calf area. they all felt very similar, so i am looking for some opinions. i like the full tilts a lot because of the customizable liner, but there was slightly more room at the top of the boot than the other two.

i ski mainly park, like 90% east coast park, so i was looking for a more park specific boot.

any tips would be great if you have any of these. i want something that isn't gonna pack out too much / too quickly
 
I'm not super familiar with those boots, but I imagine the fitter SHOULD be able to guide you to selecting the right one out of those, according to feet/ankle/calves and which liner/boot will best conform to your needs.

I would would look at: replaceable heel and toe lugs? Buckle material? Ease of on/off? Quality/type of materials? Footbed options? Adjustability?
 
A bootfitter should tell you which boot is best for your foot, not just have you try in a couple of boots. If that is what happened, go to an actual bootfitter. Don't worry about what is marketed for park and what is not, fit is paramount. Obviously I can't see your foot, lower leg, or amount of flexion so I can't tell you which boot is best for you, but I would say don't ever buy anything that feels kinda loose in the store as it is gonna cause issues, and make sure you get a full custom orthodic made by a trusted bootfitter. Do some research on bootfitting shops in the area, go to the one that has the best reputatio and keep your mind open to ANY type of ski boot as long as it is flex and fit appropriate. Let the fitter do his thing and tell you which boot is best for you.
 
explain

i know that the full tilt and patron are both 99mm last, and i have a narrow foot so they put me in a narrow low volume boot. the panterra has a winder last, 100, but is still low volume
 
ok, so if your foot works well in all of these different boots, ask yourself the following questions to help rule out some of the boots:

-do you need a boot with a walk mode?

-do you want to have a boot with replaceable grip pads?

-do you prefer a very light boot?

-do you want to have a boot with variable forward lean?

-do you want to have a boot with adjustable flex?

answering these questions will help reduce the 3 options down to hopefully 1
 
There is a lot more to a bootfit than just forefoot width, if the patron or full tilt fit you there is no way I would ever reccomended skiing in the panterra because of the amount of room the panterra has in the instep, it's just not going to hold you back nearly as well. The panterra is also pretty high volume around the ankle. And no, the panterra is not a low volume shell.
 
This makes sense. In that case, what do you recommend between the full tilts and the patron? The full tilts had a little room around the calf, but I liked the idea of a heat molded liner. The patron was super snug but felt nice, no room up top.
 
alright. i was only thrown off from the patrons a little because the fitter was pretty adamant that i get some sort of footbed for it. also, do you know if the patrons from last year are any different than the ones from this year? i found them online for like 240, which is a steal for boots.

final question, if the shell of the boot i was fitted in said UK 8 and UK 9, does that mean an 8.5?
 
Because he knows what he is talking about. If you buy a boot without a good footbed, then you are basically wasting money. Look at it this way- a high end new boot is like a brand new Porsche. But sadly that Porsche comes naturally with Buick steering. At the very least, a good footbed allows that boot to perform like it should. It creates the interface between your foot and the boot which allows the foot to work seamlessly with the boot.
 
yeah, the thing is i am not able to afford a porsche hahaha. the footbed was an extra like 150. he said with the full tilt i'd be OK since it seemed to have some sort of arch already in there
 
I could be wrong, but I believe that the Full Tilt intuition liners come with a moldable footbed already in them. I know that the Pro Liner (that you buy separately) does have that feature. I think the pro liner comes stock in all FT boots, but again not totally sure on that.
 
The liner has no sort of a mouldable foot bed. The liner has a layer of heat mold foam on the base and although your foot may sink into it, it will in no way surport your foot. A custom footbed is still required to properly stabilise the foot in the boot.
 
A fully custom footbed is literally the most important thing you can buy for a boot, it's not like buying a Porsche, it's like buying a car with or without a properly functioning transmission.
 
It fucking drives me crazy that people even say that shit...You need a fucking foot bed.
 
so if i get a footbed in each one, it comes down to whether or not i like the intuition + a little more space around the calf vs. less space yet no heat moldable liner

 
Youre better off just skiing the intuition anyways, i do a ton of heat molding and it almost always results in a looser, poor fitting boot in the long run.

and honestly, if the 150 for a custom is too much for you, try a trim to fit. I have customs but i dont use em, i use my superfeet, i like how they work in my boots better, and i aleready have enough arch i dont need the support.
 
This is just bad advice. A liner will not pack out more by being moulded. The only reason a liner will pack out is if the shell is big to begin with.

An personally I would never recommend a trim to fit. They still cost about 40 bucks and barley ever work so you just end up spending more when you end up switching to a full custom. Like has been sai it's your most inportant thing for a good fit. Always go custom.
 
My fitter actally heats the FT intuition liner for about half the time he would on a standard intuition to get the same results. I have a FT intuition in my Nordica's, I'm going on 90 days with no slopiness whatsoever.
 
Yeah I am; i don't know about you, but I am not a boot fitter, and have never been able to afford custom footbeds in my boot, so this is new to me.
 
There is a big difference. When you look at a proper footbed you can see that it is a structural foundation, compared to the soft foam of the bottom of a standard Intuition liner. Compare it to house's foundation- would you rather the foundation be built upon stable ground or sand?
 
Jut to add to what onenerdy said the other two mahout factors are impact reduction and longevity of the boots. If your foot is I surported it will move slightly every time you flex. This movement will mean the liner will pack out quicker then if the foot was held still.

As for impacts it can be hard to grasp but a solid footbed will deflect impact better then a soft liner. Think of it this way if you put a pillow on your arm and someone hit it with a hammer the hammer would go straight through the pillow an you feel the hammer head. Now if you put a piece of wood there and Simone hit that you would feel much less as the impact I tacked by the wood and the force spread out. The same thing applies in boots. A good custom footbed will spread the loads through the foot much better.

So overall always go for a custom footbed no matter the boot.
 
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