Boots for Narrow Feet - Help

"Dmitry" wrote in message news:oWYVb.269839$na.436108@attbi_s04...
"Dmitry" wrote

Like everyone else with narrow feet I have a pair of Salomon boots.
The latest versions of the Malamute AND the Synapse have heat moldable
liners, note that from what I've heard these liners are nothing
compared to the Intuition/Thermoflex liners, but they do work to some
degree and you don't have to pay extra.

My feet are very skinny, ankles too. Salomon Synapse didn't make it
for me - lots of isolated pressure points and the boots were all wrinkled
and squished with the bindings tightened. Pads gave some improvement,
but still not enough to get anywhere close to comfortable.

Yesterday I went and paid $180 for fitting Intuition liners. Haven't been
out in them yet, planning to ride some tomorrow night. The place that
did the fitting has a "fit guarantee" and they seem to know well what they
are doing so I guess I'll just keep coming there until everything fits perfectly.

I'll report the outcome of my fitting effort here when it's done.

Happy ending! First, it didn't look all that good, I had to bail out
an hour early on Friday (mandatory after-work session at Stevens).
Hit the same problem as before - there was a pressure point in my
front foot, about an inch up from where the big toe begins.

Went to the shop on Saturday, and they pressed out that spot in both
liner and boot tongue plastic.

Yesterday it was Baker, riding all day and no foot pain at all! I'm
still getting pretty beat up when I hit the black moguls, but that's
just lack of proper technique and stiff board/boots combination that
gets me. Carving feels _very_ good and completely controllable because
the boot-foot match is good so that it's possible to feel what's going
on down there. Was getting air between each carve going down even
hardpack all the time, such a rush!

On a side note, rode some of the Burton stuff they were demoing
at Baker. The verdict: P1 Carbon doesn't work at all with Salomon
Synapse boots - the highback is higher than the boot and cuts into

So I'm just checking you are currently riding Salomon Synapse boots
with Intuition liners? I just wore my Synpase boots (size 26) for the
4th day and they are beginning to pinch a little but the sides of the
liner tongue, in particular the boots get all wrinkled and squished in
my SP4 bindings as well. I bought the boots at REI and am wondering if
the Salomon Malamutes are any better or if I should got for the
Intuition liners.

--Arvin

So I'm just checking you are currently riding Salomon Synapse boots
with Intuition liners? -SNIP- I bought the boots at REI and am
wondering if
the Salomon Malamutes are any better or if I should got for the
Intuition liners.

This may not apply because it was in fall of 2000, but I tried on the
then-current Malamute and Synapse at the same time (one of the left, one
on the right) and the fit was seemingly identical, the only difference
was the stiffness.

"Mike T" wrote in message ...
So I'm just checking you are currently riding Salomon Synapse boots
with Intuition liners? -SNIP- I bought the boots at REI and am
wondering if
the Salomon Malamutes are any better or if I should got for the
Intuition liners.

This may not apply because it was in fall of 2000, but I tried on the
then-current Malamute and Synapse at the same time (one of the left, one
on the right) and the fit was seemingly identical, the only difference
was the stiffness.

That's what I figured, the problem for me is that my ankle is so thin
that if I tighten the boots a lot the tongue of the liner tucks in
under the sides and around my ankle and I don't think the liner was
designed to fit like that because the double "layer" of the liner
creates pressure points. The only wrap around liner would wrinkle and
pinch off with the extra width also creating a pressure point. Does
Tognar sell a pad to put inside your liner tongue? Should like a shin
bang issue?

--Arvin

"Arvin Chang" wrote

So I'm just checking you are currently riding Salomon Synapse boots
with Intuition liners? I just wore my Synpase boots (size 26) for the
4th day and they are beginning to pinch a little but the sides of the
liner tongue, in particular the boots get all wrinkled and squished in
my SP4 bindings as well. I bought the boots at REI and am wondering if
the Salomon Malamutes are any better or if I should got for the
Intuition liners.

Yup, here's a picture for ya to get a feel of how it all looks like:
http://www.azazello.net/misc/synapse-intuition.jpg

Intuition liners are great, but if you're paying for fitment it's
quite expensive. I'd say they're still worth the money though
if you ride a lot. Malamutes have the same basic design but
are even stiffer, so I would guess that they'll be even worse
as far as fit and comfort goes.

It's interesting that ThirtyTwo boots actually are using Intuition
liners straight from the factory, so it looks like if heat molding is
included in the boot price they're an ultimate value in boots,
because I paid around $180 for those Synapses last year and
another $180 for Intuition liners, while the top 32's boots are
280 - quite a saving. I'd probably go that route if I'd be doing it
again.

You could try to buy liners and do the heat molding yourself, which
is somewhat cheaper. It's a bit involved and takes three people to
actually do it, but it's no rocket science at all. I can try to describe
the process if you want to do it yourself.

--
Dmitry

buy some new ones dude. wider one this time maybe

You could try to buy liners and do the heat molding yourself, which
is somewhat cheaper. It's a bit involved and takes three people to
actually do it, but it's no rocket science at all. I can try to
describe
the process if you want to do it yourself.

I had a shop do it once, it was expensive, and they didn't do anything
that isn't in the following set of instructions:

http://www.yyzcanuck.com/tech.htm

I re-did them a few months later at home and got even better results.

You can remold them I think 6 times, so if you mess up, just do it
again! Just don't mess it up too many times


Mike T

"Mike T" wrote in message ...
You could try to buy liners and do the heat molding yourself, which
is somewhat cheaper. It's a bit involved and takes three people to
actually do it, but it's no rocket science at all. I can try to
describe
the process if you want to do it yourself.

I had a shop do it once, it was expensive, and they didn't do anything
that isn't in the following set of instructions:

http://www.yyzcanuck.com/tech.htm

I re-did them a few months later at home and got even better results.

You can remold them I think 6 times, so if you mess up, just do it
again! Just don't mess it up too many times

Yea, but you saw them do it once so you got the idea. I'm still
hesistant to do it for my softboots (definitely doing it for my
hardboots once I get the proper shell). I don't mind paying for it if
they do it right. I'll ponder it for a while.

--arvin

After all of the help on my narrow feet, I decided to get some Salomon
boots. I was looking at the Malmutes and the F24 and decided to go with the
F24. I will let you know how it works. Anyone use the Flow bindings as well?

Thanks

It's interesting that ThirtyTwo boots actually are using Intuition
liners straight from the factory, so it looks like if heat molding is

My girlfriend uses the liners from her old ThirtyTwo boots in her new
salomons. Works great.

"tg" wrote

After all of the help on my narrow feet, I decided to get some Salomon
boots. I was looking at the Malmutes and the F24 and decided to go with the
F24.

Note that you don't have an option of using a custom liner with them
later, the factory liner is not removable.