Anybody upsize boots because of wide feet/high arches?

[Helvetico]

I have a pair of Head Stratos Pros (26.5) that I've had punched out three times to accomodate my wide feet (26.3 L, 25.8 R: both are 11 cm. at their widest point). I've also had custom footbeds and liners made by the local boot guy, who poked around in the shell and said they were the right size.

Haven't ridden the new liners yet, but the right shell still feels tight on my right toe, which is odd, since it's the shorter foot. It does have the higher arch, so maybe that's the problem. I wore both for a while on the carpet last night and the right toe started to tingle after half an hour or so.

This wouldn't bother me so much if it weren't for the fact that my toes are still somewhat numb from my first ride of the season, which was TWO weeks ago. Admittedly it was in very cold weather, but most of the time I regain feeling by the end of the day. I really like hardbooting, but I'm not interested in destroying my feet in order to continue doing it

I've read some postings in here from folks who had to upsize because of high-volume feet. Is it possible I need even larger shells? Has anyone out there done this successfully?

If I could I would buy custom-made boots, but no such things exist for hardboot snowboarders. Should I consider another brand, such as UPZ?

[Hans]

I have ridden a few boots because I also have some more than average wide feet (no that wide but wide). I also have a huge arch in both feet. Tried several boots of different brands and always had that arch-toe problem. Since I went over to custom foamed innerliner my problems are gone. And there was also no need to adapt my outershell. The foamed innerliner solved all the problems at once (combining with a hot-backed-formed footbed). I wish I had done this earlier. Than I would have saved a lot of bucks on different hardboots.

[leeho730]

I also have wide feet and high arch. I measure 25.5cm long and 10cm wide. I also have thick toes.

I've been using Track 700T. Took a while to pack in but I love it now (was afraid to "cook" it).

Was quite painful before it was packed in, but now comfy as.

One thing: trim your toe nails as much as possible (if you haven't done so already; I understand why some athlets would surgically remove their toe nails) and use thinnest snowboard socks. I personally use inner socks.

And I agree with Hans. I believe the liner is quite critical.

Hope this helps :-)

[Helvetico]

Thanks for the resposes, guys. Hans, I sent you a message but don't know if you got it. In any case, you answered my question. Did you get your liners done at Strolz in Austria? I'm in Switzerland, so I could make a weekend trip to Lech to get them done.

Are their liners that much superior to the thermoflex stuff most bootfitters sell?

[ursle]

To me boots consist of the liner and shell, the liner is more important than the shell, it interfaces the foot to the shell.

How do the shells fit your feet with no liner, if it's already a tight fit on the sides of your toes you need a larger shell.

If there's room around your toes then a foam in liner is definitely the way to go, Strolz or Conformable are both excellent, expensive but worth every penny. The foam (silicone and cork) is forced in around the heel and ankle, the toes are surrounded by a stretchy foam material (conformable) that's low volume, so if your feet fit the shells without a liner then they will fit with the foamed liner also.

Orthodics inside the liner before foaming, no sense spending the money on liners to skip the orthodics...after foaming you get total heel lock down with no packing out of the liner, a win-win situation

[Helvetico]

I think you hit the hit the nail on the head: in bare feet the sides of my feet are touching the shell, especially the inside of the right big toe. This contact would explain why they get cold and go numb so quickly.

I guess I have no choice but to move up a half-size to 27 and buy new shells. It's going to suck, though, since I'm not going to be able to find anything unmodified that will fit properly, so picking the proper size will be a guessing game.

[ursle]

I would suggest asking the forum it's opinion about the widest shell model(upz,head etc), someone must have all the different models in their hands and can tell you whose boot is widest in your size.Or take the shell to any boot fitter and have them heat and mold the toe area to make it wider, or buy a larger size and hope it's wider

If you work with Bomber they will get you into the correct shell, shipping might be a bitch

[Kex]

ive had similar trouble with my boots, so im interested as well. I bought some deeluxe indys according to my size (mp26) with heat moldable liners and have found them unusable. my feet are crushed width-wise, and when i lock down the straps, it puts pressure on my arches. I was able to slightly alleviate the pain by removing the footbeds to give myself a little more room(allowed be to ride for a little over an hour at a time before pain was unbearable and a break was required), but it didnt solve the problem.

when i molded them, i did it with the footbeds, a little extra padding on high pressure areas, and medium thickness socks. I dont know if its just because im used to a looser fit with my softboots, but the 26s just havent worked for me. I havent tried getting them remolded or punched out because im thinking it night be a better idea to just sell these and size up instead of going through all the expenses and effort(college student = little time or money:()