yet another boot fit problem..

[xxguitarist]

Well, last year my raichle 124s fit alright.. this year, not so great. My feet haven't grown that I know of, running shoes etc still fit the same.

The 124 have the stock liners & footbed inserts. The liners are going to need some work regardless.. some rips etc. after a season of use, but I'd rather not spend the money on a set of thermomold liners unless members here are pretty confident that they'll solve my problem. Even then, I'd rather not, if there are alternatives.

My right foot, especially, has a pressure spot over the bony bit between my arch and ankle, on the inside of my foot. With my foot inside the shell alone, sans liner, I can see where the contact occurs, and there isn't a ton of extra space with my foot centered. This is what I need advice on fixing.

These boots were very inexpensive, from a member here. The liners were included per my request despite the sale being "shell only" , as such, I suppose I'm somewhat hesitant to spend too much to get them to fit well, because I'll probably upgrade to a more modern boot eventually. (this assumes there are significant enough benefits to a newer boot)

My feet thank you for the help!

[pebu]

I'll tell you what. Thermoflex liners are worth their weight in gold. Granted, they don't weigh much, but still, they're awesome. I'd get those and use them for the rest of the life of the 124s. You should only need to mold them once if you do it right, maybe possibly twice. Then, another cool thing is when you get new boots, you take your liners with you and mold them to those boots. I wouldn't think you'd need to mold them any more than once a year and that would mean you get liners for a good 6 years. They're pretty great, that's what I'd recommend.

[Mike T]

... and it's hard to have fun when your feet hurt.

If your shells don't have any damage then no reason not to use them. The liners on the other hand... you probably want to replace with Thermoflex, and get a professional fitting job done.

If you upgrade your shells later, you can always reuse the Thermoflex liner. If you were to say buy a pair of Track 225/325 in the same size as your 124, you would most likely be able to drop your Thermoflex liners that were molded to your 124's right into the above Track models, as I don't think the molds have changed.

[xxguitarist]

I understand that I could re-use the liners in new boots, but thing is, the new boots already come with thermomold liners which would make my old ones redundant...

I suppose I just deal with that & make the upgrade.

It was the tracks that I've been looking at, wishing to switch to.

anyone have the link to those cheaper moldable inserts? I found it earlier today on a school computer.. something to the scale of $45 rather than the superfeet etc prices.

[Hans]

My right foot, especially, has a pressure spot over the bony bit between my arch and ankle, on the inside of my foot. With my foot inside the shell alone, sans liner, I can see where the contact occurs, and there isn't a ton of extra space with my foot centered. This is what I need advice on fixing.

If you buy yourself some other boots, you can experience some with your old boots. Do you have a pressure point because there is something in your shoe overthere that pressures on your foot? May be you can place some ducktape or a thin piece of neoprene over your liner or in your liner, or place it innerside the hardshell itself so you can divide the pressure more. I had a screw once in my hardboot that I have replaced with a newer flatter one and away was the pain. An other try is but irriversible, is to cut out a piece of your liner. But as said again, custommade liners like thermo's or foam shoes in combo with good insoles are the way to go. Other things are just amateur solutions. Just like these mentioned.

[xxguitarist]

The pressure area seems to be around the location of the ankle strap attachment, and there is a screw there, however the general profile of the boot also has an indent there- probably to hold your heel back somewhat more.

[BlueB]

Ha, interesting, I have the same pressure point on my left foot, to greater or lesser extent, in every pair of boots. However, mine is from a bone growth as big as the ankle itself, while yours appears to be from boot irregularty or feature.

Fixes that worked for me on non-moldable liners:

1) Add more arch support on that foot - it would stop the foot from rolling in and will allign the bones slightly different. It can be achieved by sticking some neoprene foam at the bottom of your liner, or at the bottom of the foot bed, or by using foot bed with higher arch support.

2) Remove some liner material on the outside of pressure point. It creates more space for the bone.

3) Add some neoprene on the outside of the liner around the pressure point. It would distribute the pressure on bigger surface.

4) Punching or grinding might work too, but don't do it unless you knew exactelly what you were doing.

With moldable liners:

Stick some neoprene to your foot at the pressure point itself, before molding the liners. It would create extra space in molding process.

Good luck.

Boris

[xxguitarist]

Thanks BlueB, I guess I'll start playing some.. see what I can come up with, and how much it helps.

Any likely sources for neoprene locally?

[BlueB]

- Old mouse pad

- Old wet suit

- Chair/table leg padding patches (dollar store). These also make good stomp surfaces for your board.

- Window/door sealing tapes (dollar store). Available in various thicknesses.

[xxguitarist]

Well, turned out I had a piece of neoprene laying around- wetsuit patch or something.

The neoprene did a little, but not enough.

How would I go about removing liner material? I think I need to make some more space rather than take away by adding stuff, even if that stuff is pleasantly squishy.

If that doesn't work...

I will probably pick up some yoursole brand insoles/footbeds and see if that alleviates my foot issues enough, if not, looks as though I'll be getting some thermomold liners.

Seems punching them out would be a good option, thermomold or not... do most ski shops offer this?

[BlueB]

How would I go about removing liner material?

Cut in carrefully with razor or crafts blade, holding it almost parallel to the surface of the liner. Dont cut a lot at the time, rather bit by bit.

I think I need to make some more space rather than take away by adding stuff, even if that stuff is pleasantly squishy.

Add the neoprene AROUND the pressure point, not onto it. It often works pretty well as it aleviates the pressure from the critical spot and distributes it to the larger surface.

[xxguitarist]

PROBLEM IS FIXED:biggthump

I cut a good deal of liner material off.. any recomendations on a tape or something to seal the sections that I took down to the soft inner foam with & repair some rips in other areas?

duck tape..actually, probably gorilla tape.. will be my standby, otherwise!

regarding footbeds/inserts, I stole some out of some older nike running shoes that I wasn't wearing.

These boots are actually approaching the point of being comfortable!

here's to ghetto-rigged gear :D

[Hugh]

Liners or inserts? Seems that there may be many uses for the same words.

Thermoflex liners are #1 for my foot needs. Quality footbeds (inserts) are also needed for my feet to be happy. I use Zaps, Down Unders or Superfeet, basically anything other than the cr@ppy paper-thin footbeds that come with boots or shoes.

Another thing about 124's, those are only three buckle + strap. My advice is any 4 buckle snowboard boot is better than a 124 with only three buckle.

I wear 413's with Thermoflex and also UPZ with their moldable liners, I forget who I sold my 124's too.

My $0.02,

Hugh

[xxguitarist]

whoops, got all mixed up. fixed now. thanks Hugh.

I may consider some "yoursole" brand footbeds/inserts in the future..

Thermo liners probably won't come 'till I pick up some new Deeluxes in a while...I'm quite pleasantly surprised by how much taking a knife to the liners helped, I just had a pile of foam-rubber left on my desk afterwards :rolleyes:

gorilla tape as a liner tear and cut-away-section sealant, anyone?

[Corey]

I'd probably just use duct tape - it'll likely stay on for a season if it's well stuck down right when it's first put on.

Also, you can add the 4th strap to the 3-strap boots. Just need the parts from Bomber and to drill out a couple rivets for the velcro strap. The holes are already in the boots just waiting!

[abakker]

gorilla tape should be fine. just make sure you get a good bond by making the liner dust free and clean. if the liner every gets wet, you don't want it leaking into your foot.

[xxguitarist]

Thanks for the reassurance on duck/gorilla tape- I figure if duck will do it, gorilla will do it a bit better as that its roughly comprable to army 200mph tape.

Adding a strap is an interesting idea.. I suppose that'd make the boot a bit more controled and hold the liner in better etc...

as listed at http://www.bomberonline.com/store/boots/parts_sb.cfm I'd need part 1 and 9, the strap and buckle x2 each, is that all? how about that housing for the base of the strap?