queequeg Posted January 6, 2008 Report Share Posted January 6, 2008 PARAMOUNT ADVICE:biggthump - Starting gate was great in the day, and I'm sure they still rock. Great bootfitters rarely live far from the mountains...at all. Yeah, tex was right. I was hoping for an NYC option so that bootfitting wouldn't cut into my riding time, but I'm pretty convinced that the surefoot people (in nyc at least) are not much good for anything but custom footbeds. get it done at the mountain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bell Posted January 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Just now checking e-mail for the first time in few days while on vacation. That is definitely good to know. Kind of surprising. I may just leave mine as-is till I can get them to the real deal at Okemo or the like. Thanks for the informative post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 no prob John - It's a bummer because it would be nice to have them set everything up all nice and cozy so that you don't have to waste precious time at the mountain, but thems the breaks I guess. The bootfitter I worked with was a big avuncular guy with a bad eye and a short grey/black beard, in the back of the ski shop of the main lodge, best of luck and have fun out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 4, 2008 Report Share Posted February 4, 2008 Hey John - more bootfitting info here. Today I rode at stratton and it felt as though I was getting some heel slippage on my rear foot, and towards mid-afternoon, I was really starting to feel some pain on the lateral side of my achilles tendon, due to rubbing. I went to the info counter at the mountain and asked if they had a bootfitter,so they suggested "green mountain orthotics" which was right in the little shopping area at the main lodge/village area. Had a very good experience with them, and they were immediately able to resolve the heel-lift problems. They also had some interesting info about surefoot ... turns out their custom footbeds are not really custom, they have a zillion different footbed shapes, to satisfy most feet, and when they measure your feet with their little foot measuring machine, they are really just trying to figure out which footbed is the closest fit. He suggested that surefoot footbeds are a good place to start but that they always need a bit more hands-on customization. Anyhow - "green mountain orthotics" had a good experience with them today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bell Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Jose--thanks for the info, man! Glad to hear the folks in VT got you fixed up. I just got back from a hellacious work trip and am only now reading my e-mails.) I might still try Surefoot out, since all I need is to have the liners molded. Take it easy! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Hey no prob man. If you try surefoot for molding the liners, make sure they do it right. I tried them for liner molding and they either didn't heat the liners up enough, or let the liners cool down too much. I ended up just moulding them at home in my oven with *much* better results. If you have a pair of used liners with only one or two moldings left in them - I would not take them to surefoot, as there is a good chance you will need to remold them. When I told them I wanted a toe-box they did give me a neoprene toe-cap to wear, but balked when I said I wanted to put cotton balls between my toes. When I re-moulded at home, the cotton balls made all the difference. They're nice guys but I think their knowledge does not extend much past the surefoot system. Notably, they also had me do both boots at once, which make it hard to get your feet in fast enough before the liner cools too much. One other thing - make sure they tape down the intec cable in the right place, or you'll find that they just shove the liner in over it without paying any attention to where it is supposed to be (WTF?!) You won't do your liners any damage by taking them to Surefoot NYC, but in my experience, its a waste of time - you're better off doing it yourself. I don't mean to speak badly of them because their customer service is good, but they just really aren't that great at what they do over here in NYC beyond making those custom insoles. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but that was my experience moulding liners with them :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bell Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Wow--I may just try doing it myself, then. Great info--thanks again, QQ! I'm assuming you just used a regular oven (rather than a convection oven), right? BTW, the best bacon I have ever eaten was cooked in a convection oven. Wish they were more common. Convection ovens, I mean--not bacons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Yeah, I did it myself in a regular oven. I was moulding the Deeluxe Speed liner that bomber sells, in a pair of Head Stratos Pros. I followed the instructions provided by YYZCanuk and they worked really well, took an evening to do both boots. I think the most important part is to have your foot set up properly before inserting it in the boot, and to make sure that none of your toe-work or padding shifts when you insert - that's the trick in my mind. I think I left my liners in the oven a bit longer than YYZCanuk suggested, they to leave them in for 8-10 minutes, but that they had seen them left in as long as 15 minutes successfully, so I left mine in for 12.5 minutes, to maximize my setup time. I kept the boots on for 25 minutes each afterwards. Worked like a charm - my boots are *insanely* comfy now ... Once I moulded them I was 99% there to perfect boots. Had to see the bootfitter to eliminate some heel-lift on my rearside but thats it. http://www.yyzcanuck.com/E_tech_cooking.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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