How much heel lift is too much?

deathcookie

deathcookie

Active member
I have always had bad luck with ski boots. My feet are so weird that even after going to good bootfitters and spending lots of money I have not been able to find the perfect boot.

Nevertheless, the boots I have now are Dalbello Kryptons. I have footbeds and molded intuition liners. If I try, I can probably lift my heel about 3/4 cm. Am I just overly paranoid about boot fit, or is it worth going to another bootfitter and spending $800 to try again?
 
I like my boots to have a pretty solid hold on my heel, but 1/3 of an inch isnt too bad. I wouldnt spend 800 on a new pair, the amount of lift your having is an easy fix.... i would just have some J Bars/Y bars sewed into your liner. Your intuitions may already have a J bar, but you still need a little more padding to get a precise fit. sew em' up

You could do it yourself, or pay some guy 50 bucks to do it, dont spend 800.
 
any lift while skiing and exerting is too much. look to get at the very least a custom footbed and maybe a different sock.
 
Not sure exactly what they are called but there are add ons that are designed to go around the ankle on the back side, and these fixed all of my problems with heel lift.
 
The human foot is always going to be more flexible than the rigid plastic thing (a ski boot) around it. So, if you try, you will always be able to lift your heel while standing in a ski boot. Ideally, less is always better but don't be worried if you get some heel lift when trying to do so. Also, in my experience, you always think the heel movement is more than it really is. 3/4 of an inch is actually an insane amount of movement and the reality is closer to 1/4 (unless you are grossly oversized which it sounds like you are not).
 
OP said 3/4 cm, so right in line with what your saying.

OP, if your gunna listen to anyone, it should be this guy.
 
I am the same as you about heel lock down. Even if I don't get heel lift when I ski, I like being straight up locked down into my boot. If I can point my toes like, ballerina status, and lift my heel, I put a heel lift in and J bars. Usually does the trick.

I just got fitted for some Dalbello Lupos. Literally the exact same boot as the Krypton 2 but with a walk mode. While skiing(pressing on the tongues, and flexing), no lift, but if I wanted to lift my heel in the boot, I could. We put in very small heel lifts, and now I'm locked in. I'd recommend a small heel lift to start. I'm super fussy just like you and that fixed everything.

If you care about forward lean, removing the spoilers (assuming you don't have chicken legs), while adding a small heel lift, should keep you at about the same angle, I think. I feel pretty centered in mine right now, so like, yeah.
 
Look up 4frnt tech talks with LVV. There is an episode about bootfitting where he takes about a piece of foam and puts it over the heel to make a deeper heel pocket. I did it to my boots and it locks my heel down really well.
 
this is so true

You can put a ton of force into lifting your heel up but that kind of force will never happen when your skiing normally

3/4 cm is perfectly acceptable
 
For my old boots I just picked up a couple little pieces of boot fitting foam. I cut it to fit my ankles and just shoved them in my boots in front of my ankle. Either that or get some insoles to fill space.
 
It's possible to be at zero heel lift but it will take a lot of work and boot fit trips. The primary thing you want to look for in boot for max heel hold is the shape of the shell. Most rec shells are just tube shapes, simple cylinders that get their shape from the liner. Get into the burlier race boots, especially plugs and semi plug boots (95 last width or smaller) and you'll see more of a teardrop shape in the cuff. This is the shape you really want for maximum heel hold.

Here's where all the boot work comes in. Plugs and semi plugs are not meant to be worn straight away. The shells are extra thick so that you can carve out a custom shell. It's a long process (took me around 12 visits to get mine dialed right), but well worth it if you really want your foot completely locked down. My heel would rip off before it lifts in my current boots.

This is a intensive process and not for everyone. You can certainly ride just fine with a bit of lift. If you are like me and picky about having that rock solid fit with absolutely zero lift, it is possible to get there.

Otherwise, more common and less costly solutions include adding foam butterflys or j bars, you can buy these off tognar.com they just adhere to the outside of your liner. Or you can look into high density liners like intuition, make sure you get their extra dense liners not the normal alpine ones they try to sell you in most shops. Also zipfits have a good rep because you can add more material as they pack out.

As to how much is too much, it's all up to you and what you want.
 
2 things to consider that have not been brought up, are you lifting up when your stood straight upright. If this is the case lean forward in the boot and rock onto the toe. If the heel still lifts you need it working on.

What type of footbed are you using? footbeds will align your ankles and also raise the instep.

That brings me on to the next point, check the instep volume. Quite often heel lift is due to too much space above the foot. If this is the case there are multiply things that can be done to correct it, all need doing in a shop though, so really take them to a shop and have the fit assessed if your worried. An initial fit assessment should not cost you anything.
 
This guys has got a point. Do you experience the heel lift while you ski? Or when you weight the ball of your foot and lift your heel? It is likely that regardless of what size boot you're in, if you pull up on your heel you'll get some movement. If you notice it when you're skiing, I would take it to a shop and discuss it with a bootfitter.
 
This, if you lift while forward, you have a problem, but if you try to force your heel up in the boot you will always be able to. In all likelyhood if you have someone try to pad the heel until you cannot lift if you try while standing straight up, you are going to put too much pressure on the blood vessels around you heel and cut off circulation. A side note, I can lift my heel if I try to in a 96mm World Cup boot.
 
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