Rental boots feel better than my fitted boots

[ADKmel]

I would ask to buy the rental boots- Many shops DO sell them usually at the end of the season. It's worth a try.

 

[James]

fwiw, when the edges of my feet touch the edges of the shell during a shell fit (which is what I think I'm reading), it feels like my foot is folded up like an inverted taco when it's in the liner and is not comfortable at all. Others may feel this is the "right" fit, but for me, I can't even imagine skiing in the boot for enough time for it to pack out so that my foot can sit flat.

You definitely don’t want a shell that constricting. You’ll likely develop a neuroma, which is bad news and will just get worse and worse if you stick with that boot. At some point it’s irreversible without surgery.

Where has this book been hiding?

Well it probably would’ve been updated by now. Sadly, Stephen was killed in 2020 riding his bicycle from somewhere in the midwest back to Jackson, WY. As I remember it, someone driving fell asleep, went off the shoulder. Then they suddenly woke up, over corrected, and swerved to the opposite side of the road striking McDonald on his bike.

 

[rcc55125]

@giddyup9 Your comment about completely numb feet struck a cord with me.
A little while back I had a never-ever student with numb feet. We were chatting in the staging area before getting on the lift and he mentioned his feet were completely numb. I wound up taking him back to rental to see if there was anything they could do. He was in the biggest size boot that had and they had tried three different brands of boots. We noticed his boots were buckled extremely tightly, specially the top buckles. He was told to do this by a relative who is an avid skier. After walking around the shop without boots on to get circulation back he tried the boots on again. This time taking care not to buckle too tightly, specially the power strap. Walking around the shop in the lightly buckled boots caused no issues. He completed the lesson without further foot numbness,
My point being, your problem may not be in the clog but in the cuff. If you have large calfs you may be restricting blood flow and/or pinching a nerve leading to the foot. The rental boots, being a size larger than you have been wearing should have a larger opening for the calf meaning you weren't squeezing it as much. It may be worth trying a looser buckle on the cuff of your 26.5's. Also Don't forget to buckle from the top down; the two cuff buckles first, flex to push the foot back in the heel pocket then buckle the instep buckle.
You can do a shell fit on your 26.5's at home. Pull the liner, put the foot in and slide forward till your big toe just touches the shell. Then measure the space behind the heel. If it's 1/2" to 3/4" the 26.5 may be the right shell.
If you have an extremely high instep you may have to go to a larger shell. However, of the three shops you've been to, one of them would have caught this. If all three said 26.5 I would guess that's the right shell size. The met head punch is an easy mod. Stretching the clog for a wide forefoot is an easy mod. If these don't work the next option may be an aftermarket liner that is thinner.
With all this said, the completely numb foot is typically a tell for too tight a calf closure on the cuff.
For the record: I wear a 11A street shoe. My boot is a 26.5 with a met head punch a toe punch and an after market liner.

 

[Bruno Schull]

To the OP, it's great that you found boots that you can ski in! If your feet are in pain, it\s hard to have fun! I sympathize.

I assume that the rental boot is not only largher but softer. I wonder what is helping you the most, the size or the flex?

Have you tried a equivalent larger size boot (27 or 27.5) in a stiffer flex? Or, perhaps an unlikely avenue toward sucess, a smaller boot with a softer flex?

Just trying to think outside the box, but, hey, if you found bots that work for you, great!

 

[JPL]

I've heard of this happening before, in fact it happened to my wife. Before we met she had a horrible custom boot fit, then rented some boots and at the end of the day bought them. I asked her what she did with the custom boots " threw them out". Some people can use super snug boots, for others the pain and possible cold feet don't give them better performance, just less time on snow because you can't wait to take the boots off.

 

[James]

If your boots are causing that much pain or discomfort, they’re just wrong. Has nothing to do with a performance fit or being “custom”.
The problem here, is they felt good in the store. But that doesn’t change the ultimate issue- they didn’t work when skiing.

At the least, I would expect the shop to try another boot at hugely reduced cost.
Numbness isn’t good either, but can often be cured by very minor adjustments.

 

[dan ross]

fwiw, when the edges of my feet touch the edges of the shell during a shell fit (which is what I think I'm reading), it feels like my foot is folded up like an inverted taco when it's in the liner and is not comfortable at all. Others may feel this is the "right" fit, but for me, I can't even imagine skiing in the boot for enough time for it to pack out so that my foot can sit flat.

It won’t. Even if it did you are doing harm to your feet likely.

 

[Sibhusky]

My Head boots came with a cool "last adjustment" feature that I used to tighten them as the liner packed. I think those should be in every boot. I don't think they are anymore.

 

[crosscountry]

The problem here, is they felt good in the store.

That's probably the key issue that needs to be looked at. What's different between standing around in the shop vs skiing!

Did the feet changed out in the cold? Did they change shape with the weight of the skis attached? Or the movement of the lower legs changes how the feet felt inside the boot?

Or, if the pain only came on after an hour, is it possible there's circulation issues that only slowly gets worse gradually?

 

[Viking9]

Years ago I also went the rental boot route and I skied all day in pure comfort, the performance was noticeably bad but very comfortable.
When I try to put a footbed in my work boots they become uncomfortable.
Im a big fan of cutting a superfeet foot bed in half and a liner that utilizes a sock style front end , Zipfit.
If you look at the Atomic boots everyone is loving they have a sock style front end.
The new Fischer Boa boot that Andy tried comes with a sock style Zipfit Liner.
There HAS to be something that comes with that style, roomy and forgiving.
Just like that rental boot.
Good luck.

 

[Zirbl]

a sock style front end

What is sock-style?

 

[Viking9]

No ribs , seems , ruffles should be soft and be able to bend every which way think of being able to ring it out if it should get wet.
Neither of my adult children have EVER complained about their boots, they use the stock throw away liners.
My beautiful bride complains, you guessed it, custom foot bed.
Let the eye rolling begin !!