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March, 2024

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Good freestyle boots but affordable?

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pkick
Posts: 154 - Karma: 697
Lookin for solid boots for next season any advice
Mar 18 2014 9:09PM
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Crazy_E
Posts: 121 - Karma: 268
Wait for a spring or summer sale and go see a bootfitter, give them your price range and theyll set you up with something that fits
Mar 18 2014 9:12PM
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Espen519
Posts: 552 - Karma: 969
the answer for any boot related question is to always buy Full Tilts
Mar 18 2014 9:51PM
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Deforestation
Posts: 1606 - Karma: 3,192
Get leather relemark boots. They actually fit with alpine bindings and are super flexable and warm.
Mar 18 2014 9:54PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
How much are you looking at spending? It may be a case that buying in parts works best. It's not just a boot you need you will need custom footbeds too. They run 150-200 so I would suggest save and buy those first. Them at the start of next season go have some boots fitted. The end of the season is really not a good time to be fitted as they won't be much choice left.
Mar 19 2014 5:29AM
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lineskis413
Posts: 124 - Karma: 1,708
just buy last seasons full tilts its the only way to go.
Mar 20 2014 10:02AM
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Dylhun
Posts: 2 - Karma: 1
A lot of people forget about Dalbello.

http://www.dalbello.it/en/product-boss-210

The Boss is a great boot, and tanner hall rides these

http://www.dalbello.it/en/product-il_moro_quot_t_quot_i_d-205
Mar 20 2014 10:33AM
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snugs
Posts: 966 - Karma: 4,090
atomic overload 100s. i bought them for under 200 online. they are great
Mar 20 2014 8:10PM
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gabew34
Posts: 500 - Karma: 497
Spks fo sure
Mar 20 2014 8:48PM
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raymondcabral
Posts: 747 - Karma: 1,094
Hit up a bootfitter during the summer for a good deal. Only a proper fitting boot will feel good
Mar 20 2014 9:02PM
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thedanimal
Posts: 490 - Karma: 180
Like Everyone has said; BOOT FITTER! I cannot stress this enough.
Mar 20 2014 11:59PM
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ZachAndCheese
Posts: 816 - Karma: 5,116
I had the same type of funding problem. Go see a bootfitter when their shop isn't packed and find a boot/ liner combo that you like. Tell the bootfitter you just got a crazy text from your friend and have to leave ASAP. Go home and find the boot online for half the price. I know its a dick move not support your local shop but if you're ballin on a budget try this out.
Mar 21 2014 6:36AM
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Substitute
Posts: 1375 - Karma: 2,270
Boot fitter, then find those boots online
Mar 21 2014 6:59AM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6638 - Karma: 10,532
Super dick move. The shops exist to help you and to serve you. They've spent lots of money and time training their staff, buying all of the tools, and working to make your experience better. The price of boots is set during the normal course of the year, so you won't find crazy online deals in the normal season on current year product. Plus, when you buy from a shop you get to have a boot-fit guarantee where the shop will support you with making sure the boot fits right now and later during the season. If you find the right boot online for cheaper, ask the shop to price-match for you and they will most likely do it.
Mar 21 2014 8:17AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
But how are you going to fit them? Do you have the means to make footbeds, strech shells, mol and modify liners ect. Having a boot fit is not just trying them on in a shop. So even if you buy online you will still need to pay a boot fitter to fit them. This fitting would have been free if you for the boots from the shop in the first place.

Overall it may seem tempting to buy online but don't it may well end up costing more.
Mar 21 2014 8:27AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
I tried to quote this for my above response.
Mar 21 2014 8:32AM
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ABalls
Posts: 2091 - Karma: 3,754
ALWAYS SPEND MONEY ON BOOTS... Seriously though it's the one thing that you want to fit. And haha I don't think I've ever seem tompietrowski post without mentioning something to do with foot beds. The dude knows his shit.
Mar 21 2014 9:12AM
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
How rich are the people you fit? You always offer the ideal solution as the only solution, and getting custom footbeds, new boots, booster straps and punching is just more than most people can afford and more than a lot of them will need. I would love to do that for every customer but it's just not realistic for most people, especially members on this site
Mar 21 2014 3:14PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
I do a boot and custom footbed for all customers generally. No more usually and all fitting is free. So say a boot is 270 and a footbed £66.50 so that's £336.50 in total. For boots I would say that is not to bad really. Most people here will spend more on skis and bindings when boots are more inportant.
Mar 21 2014 5:59PM
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Lemuel
Posts: 14477 - Karma: 10,515
Never set a budget for boots. Pay whatever it takes to get a boot that fits properly and works perfectly for you. Spend the money where it counts the most, if you are looking to save money on gear, save it on skis, bindings, helmets, goggles, outerwear etc... stuff that isn't as crucial to your skiing ability / comfort. You can find all that stuff for low prices if you look around.
Mar 21 2014 8:02PM
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MartianMan
Posts: 1101 - Karma: 2,098
Really? Some boots online are unbelievably cheaper, like in some cases $200 or more. Would you just ask the fitter to match the price?
Mar 21 2014 11:24PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
Yes if he had the same boot in stock. Very good deals like the one you describe would usually be old stock. Current season boots will usually only be slightly cheaper online.
Mar 22 2014 12:47AM
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BskiP
Posts: 1369 - Karma: 223
Check out some ROXA freesouls. Rad.
Mar 22 2014 12:58AM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
I wouldn't say you "need" custom footbeds. Lots of people have success with generic footbeds and I don't see why you wouldn't consider those as the first option. Sure they're awesome, but to say they're absolutely necessary seems a bit over the top.


I'll also toss my hat in the ring for the try not to have a budget argument. I know that's not a very understanding thing to say, but the value of a good fitting boot is paramount. Just be honest with your bootfitter and I'm sure they can help you find something that works. It's amazing what an awesome fitter can do with $60 of stretching and a simple heat mold. I've seen horrible boot fittings fixed by great fitters later on. Not ideal, but you get the idea. There are options and they'll help you.

I'm not a bootfitter by the way. Just speaking from good and bad experiences of the past.
Mar 22 2014 1:28AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
Over the 10 years I have been fitting I have never really seen a foot work well with a ttf. If you are buying boots go full custom or nothing
Mar 22 2014 2:42AM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
Just to follow up (I wa boarding plane before) if you are getting boots fitted then really you should never skimp out on the footbed. A footbed is like the foundations for the whole boot. It is how we secure you foot in neutral in the boot. Really it's the most inportant part of the whole fit. If you don't go full custom there is no way I can garentee where your foot will sit. Because of this I can't garentee you may not get pressure points as your foot move during skiing. Honestly any fitter who recommends anything but full custom is doing the customer a disservice. Trim to fits generally are not much cheaper then a full custom £40 for ttf or £66 for custom. So for the sake of £26 you would be crazy not to go custom. One day I will have all the trim to fits out of ski boots for good.
Mar 22 2014 2:51AM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
I've used cheap trim to fits most of my life and I don't experience foot pain. Are you saying I'm living in a fantasy? I understand that my customs were amazing, but the shops I frequent charge about $180 for a full custom foot bed or $35-40 for trim to fit foot beds that I've had success with.

I totally agree that they are better and important, but sometimes the cheap ones do work rather well. If the price difference was more like what you are describing I would go custom every time.
Mar 22 2014 1:21PM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6638 - Karma: 10,532
In my experience it is very foot dependent. Many times, tossing in a colored Superfeet causes more problems than it solves and the foot becomes more pronated because of the lateral support they have. The only trim-to-fit that actually does a good job is Aline.
Mar 22 2014 1:34PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
This is unfortunalty the reality of it. Superfeet can cause as many issues as thy try to sort out. I woul agree with Dustin and say te you may be able to ski pain free but that does not mean your boots are fitted as well as possible. What I mean by this is people always equate pain to a bad boot fit. But you can have a bad boot fit with no pain. A good boot will transfer your power to the ski. If you use trim to fits and your foot is not totally secured you may be moving even slightly in the boot so some power transfer is being lost.

Overal yes you may be able to ski pain free with a ttf but you will not be getting the most out of your boots.
Mar 22 2014 2:04PM
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7099 - Karma: 17,043
I answered why you will still be better off with customs in my post above. But short answer you may be able to ski pain free but you will be working harder and using way more energy then if you just had the boots fitted.
Mar 22 2014 2:06PM
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6638 - Karma: 10,532
A good analogy I like to use is that your boot is like a Porsche, but the Porsche comes naturally with tractor-grade steering. Adding a basic footbed makes things perform more like a Ford and a dialed footbed allows the boot to perform like the full fledged Porsche it was designed to be.


Mar 22 2014 3:05PM
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Dustin.
Posts: 13839 - Karma: 7,704
Very interesting, thanks for the insight guys!
Mar 22 2014 4:34PM
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AJizzle
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 522
Yes if you don't want to spend an extra $250 on the work that needs to be done.
Mar 22 2014 5:31PM
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