The Optimal Slalom Boot

[gavski]

@adamhcaldwell - my bad....a rigid/ hard footbed is obvious - i think...cork or hard plastic that does not deflect/ move at all..your foot is locked in place, unable to flex/ move...

 

The other footbed - think SIDAS:

 

https://goo.gl/FUqHNN

 

The material is a little more flexible and just as supportive under foot...however, the arch support is a little more pliable. in other words your arch is supported, but still able to move/ flex in a natural fashion, as opposed to just collapsing flat...imagine running with a flat foot - ouch....imagine running with a rigid footbed - ouch...

 

The footbed is not padded, thick, spungey etc.

 

i have cut my footbed down to 3/4 length so that my toes and ball of foot are in direct contact with the liner...only my arch and heel are supported...

[scottbell]

The orthotic footbeds are typically ver hard and rigid. I have them in my running shoes after I tore my lisfranc tendon back in 2009.

 

@gavski .... I was referring to my molded LINER in my boot, which does have a moldable base as well. I have had better luck with the molded base vs. inserting a footbed or Orthotic, although I have not tried my actual Orthotics. I would need to do some customization as my boots already have heel lift. Might be worth a try though.

 

I agree with the movement of the foot; in a static or a straight gravity situation. When being pulled by a boat and strapped in, I can tell you 100% my fast twitch is dramatically reduced when I'm tied into my shells and being dragged. I keep going back to less points of failure.

 

I feel like centering and general balance in the boot is critical. Every foot is different, but then so is everyone's stance and gate. How about twist and Canting? The pigeoned toed or duck footed? Knock kneed or bow legged? A true boot fitter would likely be the ultimate option, although that's an entirely different animal.

[gavski]

This will give you an idea about the power of canting...not a great video, but you will get the idea:

 

[gavski]

Some reading around the subject - will give you a better understanding and a quickfix that i have successfully used on snow and water....

 

https://goo.gl/2wP54v

 

[Adam Caldwell]

@gavski - was your objective to get the front knee traveling directly over CL of the ski when flexed forward?

 

What did you target for the back shin/knee/leg? Same?

 

I know back when I used a a rear rubber and r-style boot a small amount of displacement from CL was good on the back foot. But now, after being in a kicker, I really like having the back foot much straighter. Once in a while my rear plate will slip and I am not at all happy with the resulting impact on my hips being more open then I want them.

 

[gavski]

@adamhcaldwell - i would definitely aim for the front knee to track straight over the CL of the ski. This will give you the most balance to your turns - ie it requires equal amounts of pressure to get the ski on edge. Think of your car with neutral tracking of the wheels...otherwise it will be heavily biased to one side - your HS...

 

I have had my front boot laterally rotate outwards - i couldn't work out why i couldn't ski anymore until i took a good look at my strada boot..difficult to spot that it had rotated outwards because the securing screws had loosened slightly....

 

As for the rear boot - sadly i have no insight..i know that there is some 'magic' tuning to be had as KLP 'whispered' my ski setup that included the rear boot..

 

tbh, i have only rotated out the rear boot to release lateral pressure on my knee and to allow the hips more range of movement...i have seen some rear bindings inwardly rotated...looks awkward..whenever i have skied on a rtp, i could always feel my heel twisting out to the side of the ski - so i went to a rear boot..having said that, my rear boot is completely loose - it might as well be a rtp, but my heel is held laterally..

 

sorry - not much help..

[Fehlindra]

This is mine setup i twist both bindings to the left to get an more even pull on and offside you can see how much compared with the laserline centered on the g10, and on my rear binding there nr1 is an tray thats act like an teeter helps me move rear leg(right hip)forward nr2 tray thats is mounted only on left side of the shell to create some extra tilting to the right whiles the other side hangs more free in the air (want more on my offsides) nr3 is just bigger kitchen protective pads for the hight adjust of the rear heel i prefer nr 4 is the original spring from Goode that i cutted in half that way i got less resistance to make an heel lift (or boot lift yee u know the deal weaponedge etc etc.) My rear boot is very flexible sideways more to the right even milled a track in the shell on the right side to soften it up a litle more

 

[Adam Caldwell]

@Fehlindra Do you have any lower back problems? I am trying to wrap my mind around what in the world that would feel like. Might have to try this just to know...

[Fehlindra]

@adamhcaldwell i strive to have the same angle when crossing the wakes on both sides but before i started twist the bindings to the left (LFF) it hurt the lower back cos of lack of mobility on offside, espec closer behind the boat where the angle and strong pull twist the upper body towards the boat to much while lower body followed the ski path. But the main reason why im testing so much things with bindings is issues with bowlegged that prevents me from doing an offside turn in an regular centerd binding cos of unbalanced weight over the front foot or rather all weight towards my little toe makes it impossible to finish the offside turn with an accepted and working angle. but when i got the Goode powerplate with all its setting possibilities that have helped me move my weight on the ski from left side to the right so now it rly turns i think i can be alot of people that can have sim problems but dont know the root of whats cause some of there issues this is where we call in @gavski and the cant plate boot/bindingplate and the important in line the knee-cap over the center of the ski for the best conditions. Out of the box i think Goodes powerplate is one of best binding for ppl with conditions like the one i have, i know that you can change Radar profile boot left and right (vapor) but dont think its possible to move them as much as the Goodes ones can offer and i needed. with some modding on Reflex release plate so can you have some small adjustment aswell Gonna jump on the new c-65 to the spring and try to learn all the new things Gate aim for the buoy forget all what we

learned or almost lol .

 

[eleeski]

@Fehlindra Be vary wary of that setup. The unusual foot twist was a factor in my broken hip. Just pulling out for the gates overloaded it until it popped. Skied well that way but it did hurt me (and earlier when I also tried it). Your results may be different but I won't ski with that twist.

 

Eric

[Adam Caldwell]

@eeleski, I can see that. The only time I have ever seen a crossover position like that is in a throwing sport where you are trying to gain maximum rotation in the hips before unwinding and opening up. Definitely can see that putting 'load' on the body with the hips in that kind of position could be no bueno!

[Adam Caldwell]

@Fehlindra

 

Were you not able to correct the angle issue with fin adjustments???? That seems like some extreme footwork to overcome forces on the fin that are fighting your leveraged position. But understand the bow-leg situation can cause issues.

 

Did you ever play with 'canting' below the shell to force the foot into a rolled position such that the knee would then sit/travel over the CL of the ski (as @gavski video above shows?) 2-3 degress under foot can move the knee laterally a significant amount!

 

Also, FWIW, the high cuff on the back leg is physically working in opposition to the front foot in terms of 'roll' of the ski during the preturn. This effect would be multiplied by a bow-leg. One huge reason people in double boots struggle to have a good off-side turn.

 

I'm sure you are beyond messing around with boots, but it would be interesting to see you wedge the plate to move the knee over Cl of the ski, and cant the front boot so the toe is 1/4" toward the off-side turning edge. Then I would run the back boot with out a in a slightly open position and cut away the plastic from the base on the outside of the ankle.

 

Any other bow-leg cowboys have a good solution? I know there out there!

 

[mwetskier]

@adamhcaldwell -i think @gavski offered up the best solution to the bow legged dilemma which is inserting cants between the boot and the plate its mounted to.

 

when i'm standing on flat ground with my ankles together you could throw a grown cat thru the gap between my knees. following a similar discussion on this forum a few years back i canted my bindings front and back and it improved my skiing. it also made a huge difference in my comfort level.

 

[Adam Caldwell]

@mwetskier - a grown cat....is that a new unit of measure? :D :p

 

So assuming the cant on the rear leg was enough to influence the rear knee closer to CL also?

[mwetskier]

@adamhcaldwell -not only is a grown cat a unit of measure, it can also be used to show the relationship between rod length and angular velocity of a pendulum by swinging it around by it's tail.

 

and yes canting my bindings brings both knees together over the center line remarkably well -much better then the bungee i tried years ago to *pull* them together.

 

also i'm kidding about the tail swinging thing -our cat is a manx. (no cats were harmed in the crafting of this joke)

[gavski]

The more i think about it, (sweeping statement coming up) all the problems that ‘we’ have been experiencing have all been since we switched to hardshells...i firmly believe that because of the fact that the hardshell provides sub-optimal alignment, everything else has been a sticking plaster to offset this problem...i don’t seem to remember anyone on rubber boots having any similar issues at all....

 

If you get your front boot aligned properly, both lateral and fore/aft, then everything else just clicks into place. I appreciate that a rigid rear boot is probably not going to help matters unless you get that aligned also - just like @mwetskier......I guess the optimum setup would be hardshell front and rubber rear....

 

Just a point of clarification on terminology....canting is the wedging of the boot/ binding plate in order to facilitate a knee that tracks fwds over the CL of the ski...laterally rotaing the boot is pivoting the boot either clockwise or anti-clockwise - normally associated with the rear boot...

[chris55]

One thing I noticed when I moved from rubber to Reflex white boot is the tip of the boot makes like an arch. And I do remember Andy was skiing bare foot when skiing with rubber, the foot directly on the surface of the ski saying he could feel the reaction of the ski. So he could feel the ski even with his toes, flat on the surface of the ski.

Which is not the case at all with the Reflex. Also a main difference with ski boots, the soil is flat. I just want to point out as a 34mph 15 off skier the fact that I do not have a flat soil and not having feeling with and on my toes is of the ski not optimal. I wish I have a relfex with a flat soil that I can put directly on the plate.

Does this boot exist ? If not maybe it shoule be ....Or does anyone made some modification for having a flat boot ?

[gavski]

You can heat the boot up to flatten the sole...that would go some way to redressing the tendency for hardshells to position your heel lower than your toes....if you place the boot on a hard surface and press the front of the boot down - so the the flat area under the ball of the foot is flat, you wil notice that the heel of the boot lifts. The amount of lift is different between the various boot manufactures and can be quite marked..if you were to place a ‘wedge’ under the heel that filled this space, i guarantee that you will be in a better fore/aft balance position...remember, these boots are modified hockey/ skate boots that for some reason are missing the heel peice....

 

Apart from your bare feet and a couple of specialist running shoes, almost all of our footwear has a heel raised higher than the toes...especially those that require ‘dynamic’ balance...

 

The other slight issue with hardshell liners is that there is very little pressure applied on-top on the toes, unlike in a rubber boot...the issue is that lack of pressure applied to the top of your toes effects your ability to maintain ‘fine’ fore/aft balancing...only when you rock back enough for your toes to touch the top of the liner/ hardshell, will your body react...by that stage, you have fallen back onto your rear foot....this was discoverd by AM...

 

you can test this for yourself..stand barefoot, feet parallel..gently lean back and take note of what feebback you are getting you are about to tip backwards...what happens to your toes? How quickly can yu react?. Now get someone to apply a downwards pressure to your toes and repeat...were you able to pick up a rearwards movement earlier? Could youl apply a corrective movement quicker?? Were you getting quicker feedback??

 

Try sticking some foam ontop of the toe section of the liner..the idea is to pack out the space between the liner and the boot...$100 you can fit your fingers in the space - especially if you have thin liners....the foam needs to be thick enough to apply a snug downwards pressure to your toes....

[Adam Caldwell]

@chriss55 - your right on. We heat and flatten the reflex boot base. I go a step further and cut out the bottoms of the intuition liners so my skin is directly on the hard plastic which has a layer of grip tape on it to increase the grip under foot. This is against the recommendations of a few people on this forum who support the soft footbed theory. I do not. Note that I do not have a high arch. Even still, in my mind, I would still opt for the hard bottom. Makes more sense to me to allow the foot to do what it was designed to do naturally. Also, there is hard evidence of pressure data under the foot from the snow ski race world that shows better performance with-out the foot-bed & arch support under the foot.

 

I recently tried a liner with the bottom in tact. It was amazing how much tighter I had to make the shell in order to 'feel' pressure on the bottom of my foot and feel snug. That then caused the problem of a lot of pressure on the sides of my foot, and up into my arch that after 4 or 5 passes started to feel bruised and fairly uncomfortable. I had to open up the buckles at the end of every pass. I can keep them latched the entire set when my foot is directly on the hard plastic.

 

Going back to a liner with no base made my foot feel much more firmly planted without the need to 'crush' the foot so much from the sides to feel 'secure'.

 

I did put some plastic up in the toe above the liner to fill the volume lost from cutting out the bottom of the liner as @gavski mention. I put enough material above the toe so that I cant lift my toes off the bottom of the shell at all - thats BEFORE tightening the buckle down.

[Chef23]

@adamhcaldwell when you flatten the toe of the Reflex boot do you have to lower the toe bar somehow?

 

Separate question for anyone on double hard shells or Radar boots is there an issue with getting the feet close enough together? It seems to me the feet are pretty far apart given that your toe is likely not right up against the front of the liner and there is space created between the liner and the end of the book. I ski with an RTP and can get the feet very close (I do keep a little gap) but one of my ski partners has a double Vapors and it seems his feet are pretty far apart and he tends to be on the tail. I wonder if that is part of the problem.

[ALPJr]

My vapors seem to be as close as I was in animals and 97's.

[Fehlindra]

Cant on snowskis gives great improvement first of all you control just 1ski per 1leg not as on a waterski sharing 1 ski with 2 legs that fight against each other espec in my case !!! canting works (mycase) LFF if i put wedge on both front and rear binding, wedge on leftside on my front boot and right side on my rear thats tucks my knees more together again but the downside is what i think @gavski year ago mention is that you lock down your ankle joint and dont be as flexible to the sides ffw and aft works normal tho, the feeling is more like waterski with an snowskiboot thats steer more with the shin.... this spring im gonna test out some combination of cant the hardshells and side ways movement on the bindingsplate to sort out the extremes and go something mid. ill link the one of the post we talked boot canting think there are more of them

[Chef23]

@ALPJr with the open toe on the Animals I think your feet can be closer than on the closed toe boots.

[gavski]

@adamhcaldwell - were those footbeds you tried ‘custom’? I hate footbeds that are bought off the shelf - they make my feet really hurt...if you cut the footbed down to 3/4 length, you will still have the balls of your feet and toes touching the ski/ hardshell or liner...remember that a ‘soft’ footbed is not spongey and soft...i am only referring to the arch support...your foot is held in neutral and your arch is allowed to flex and move naturally...it is not blocked or held....you maybe one of the lucky ones that doesn’t need a footbed to have a ‘subtalar’ neutral foot..

 

@Fehlindra - i think you would benefit hugely from cut down hardshells....

[Adam Caldwell]

@gavski - just the foam in the bottom of any off the shelf liner is enough to cause an issue for me in terms of feel - let alone adding a footbed to compound the issue - of course- thats after knowing what its like having a bare foot on a hard & grippy surface.

 

I was wondering of what else might be a good way to look at this foot bed topic. One idea - albeit a little abstract - is to say, if you were going to walk on your hands or balance in a hand stand what would it be like if you; 1. Had to do it wearing winter gloves. 2. Walk on a very spongy surface like a wrestling mat in bare hands. 3. Be on a hard slippery surface with low friction, (think - wearing sox on a polished wood floor). 4. Walk on a very firm high friction surface in bare hands

 

If we pick 'comfort' we go for gloves and/or wrestling mat - but knowing that our balance and performance will be compromised as we will loose 'feel' and not be able to react fast enough to remain balanced. If we pick hard and slippery, we know we will reduce our ability to transmit torque and subsequently be working a lot harder to maintain balance. If we pick the firm, high friction surface, the likely hood of success would be much higher.

 

So my question is, why would we want anything different under our feet?

 

[BraceMaker]

@adamhcaldwell that's the reason I posted the Bauer speed plates.

 

They're textured plastic, heat moldable, with a grippy surface. I think for a home gamer you could couple that with a splash/aqua liner in most any binding. And can bake it.

[chris55]

@adamhcaldwell I agree with you regarding the modification on your liner and the comparaison with the handstand. I know we can have enourmous feeling with our foot and our toes as well and if we can have that feeling right under our front foot directly on the plastic of the boot, it should help with finding and having a better balance and a forward CG. We do have a ton of nervous sensors under our feet, we need to feel them. I am even tempted to ski without any liners but just a thin sock. I will let you know as we start the season in March here in Geneva.

What I like about this is there is so much room for improvment.....(like the fin,I know it is another subject.....:) )

[Adam Caldwell]

@Bracemaker - I almost ordered some, but I'm not sure I really see a gain given my current setup. Seems like more 'stuff in the way'.

 

Not sure if its been mentioned in this thread yet, but one big consideration I have is the number of 'slip planes' between the bottom of the shell and the foot.

 

Ever ski in rubber bindings without getting all the soap out? Why it feels so terrible when skiing has to do with the reduction in shear forces that kill our ability to transmit torque through the boot and into the ski.

 

Each layer of 'stuff' ( liner & footbeds) is acting like a little soap at the interface. Here are the number of surfaces/interfaces depending on the shell/liner configuration;

 

Foot directly on hard surface - 2 surfaces (1 interface)

Foot/Liner/Shell - 4 surfaces (2 interfaces)

Foot/Liner/Footbed/Shell - 6 surfaces (3 interfaces)

 

The more interfacing surfaces there are, the more 'energy loss' there is in transmitting torque into the ski.

 

Even the performance of a boot like the 'strata' can be enhanced significantly with the addition of adding grip tape in the appropriate areas between the liners/footbeds/and base of the shell.

 

The bio-mechanical torque generated in the body is much better transferred to the ski if we can increase the friction between all surfaces under the foot.

 

[ALPJr]

@Chef23 yes I mounted the front of my rear animal plate under the rear of the front plate to get them closer together. That also added a slight heel lift in the front. With my Vapors the front of the rear boot is pressed against the the rear of the front boot, compressing the rubbery trim to get them as close together as possible.

[Adam Caldwell]

@ALPJr What is your heel to heel measurement on the radars?

[ALPJr]

About 11 5/8 size 10 boots.

 

[KRoundy]

As a lurker on this thread since the beginning I finally have a question to pose to everyone. @Fehlindra noted that on snow skis there is one foot per ski, which drives boot and ski design. Slalom water skiing has both feet on a single ski, so are we dealing with issues more akin to snowboards? I know we stand facing forwards vs sideways, but the two-feet/one-ski analogy is there. And snowboards in general have very flexible bindings especially when compared to snow skis.

 

I'm not nearly the level skier of many here, but what I like on a binding setup is for my foot to feel locked down, but not my leg. Ideally I'd like my feet to be bolted to the ski but my ankles allowed to flex so I can pressure the ski appropriately. I've been considering trying a hard shell this next summer to see how it feels. As others have said, I like to be "down" on the ski. HO bindings in the '90s lifted you up off the ski by a 1/2" or more and I hated how that felt. Get me down "into" the ski as much as possible. Personal preference I suppose.

[dchristman]

A little surgery, a couple shims....

[skialex]

@dchristman foot was originally made for walking, you need to flatten the bottom for slalom B)

[skialex]

Very interesting thread, I'm flattening an old shell, I have modified the hinge to allow to cant the cuff and I will bolt it forward at about 20° and see what's going to be like.

Also when you use a flattened shell you need to lower the toe block. It's easy if you are using the one with the spacers. If you have the newest one you will need the help of a machinist if you don't have the tools yourself to extend the threads of the bar.

 

[gavski]

@skialex - I would be interested to see how you modified the cuff to be angled outwards...interestingly the new supershell has this feature incorporated...

 

The further up the foot/ leg you make your adjustments, the greater the amount you have to make...canting underfoot requires the smallest amount of correction, however is a the hardest to achieve simply...(does that sentence even make sense???))

 

@adamhcaldwell - fully agree with you re: surface underfoot effecting you’d ability to balance....don’t forget that static balance is very different from dynamic balance...just because your setup is good for stationary balance, doesn’t necessarily make for good balance when moving...balance required to ride a bicycle is different to balancing a stationary bicycle...

[Gar]

Connelly HP’s put your foot on the ski good. But release was tough broke my ankle on those.

[skialex]

@gavski I always modify the hinge rivets on my shells, I drill them and put a screw with a stainless steel prong nut to the inside so I can loosen them a little since the cuff's fore aft Movement off the self is a little to tight for my likings. So I put my foot in without the liner took the right rivet out pull the cuff up and back and centered it around my leg. Then I marked the position and slotted the hinge hole in order to reposition the river and keep the cuff into the aimed position.

The shell I'm modifying has a broken heel tongue and I don't like it as is (loose and less safer), I'm going to bolt it in place so keeping the cant would not be that difficult.

Ps I put another shell to my right foot to stand level when measuring the needed cant.

[mmosley899]

@ALPJr closer is not always better. Steven Schnitzer has a good explanation of binding spacing on his website. I use size 10 boots and my spacing is at 12". Also I cut 3/4" off the front of my rear boot and the liner still does not stick out.

 

@skialex I have always removed the 'heel tongues' from my boots so that I was not restricted in my ankle flex, allowing me to move my center of mass forward over my front foot easier. This does not create an issue with Achilles safety since the cuff movement forward is stopped by the cuff buckle striking the top arch area of the boot before over flexion forward.

 

@adamhcaldwell in the early "90"s i was running Connelly boots with no bottom, no pad and no plate. Foot directly on the ski. I switched to hardshell boots in '93. The hardshell boot gave so much more control than I previously had, I have not tried to go that far again. I have lowered my boots as much as practical on my release system, but perhaps some of your ideas are adaptable to my setup.

 

I have never been bothered by the additional height off the ski common to most current ski boots. But I think that Adam's ideas on connection to the ski are worth trying! There are a lot of items that you can adjust, but as I have said before, each skier has to figure out what works best for him.

[skialex]

@mmosley899 a friend broke the tongue of my shell while trying it between my sets and the second set did not feel right. I took few more not so consistent sets and reluctantly change to a new shell and everything went back to normal.

Reluctantly because I've been using that shell for 9 years and had something like 6 modifications that I had to replicate on the new one and took my few hours to do so.

[mmosley899]

@skialex definitely any change to the boot would affect how it felt and how it would react to your input! It would take some getting used to.

[eleeski]

@adamhcaldwell My experience with my liners is that they are stickier than my feet. Especially when oily feet, muddy feet and soapy feet variables are factored in. If the slip planes don't slip then they don't matter.

 

When working on my kick in rear hardshell, the reassuring feel of my liner was paramount to my skiing performance. But the initial versions did allow some slipping. I remedied that by poking some little holes with a soldering iron to increase the roughness, tightening the rubber strap (like the picture @wish posted) and putting some surf wax in the shell. It's very sticky now. I was able to feel the lack of screws in the heel (an experiment to get more movement that didn't help).

 

Surf wax is a proven trick I use to improve grip on my handles, boots and toe harness. Good stuff.

 

Intuitions give the right balance of comfort and control. Better than the skate liners I used to modify which were much thinner underfoot. Maybe a little damping from the Intuition is a good thing. Certainly for me.

 

@skialex 9 years?! That's amazing longevity. Time for new plastic. And more experiments?

 

Eric

[dchristman]

Here's my serious contribution to the discussion. The optimal slalom boot ought to have enough horizontal space in the toebox to allow your toes, especially the big one, to splay out naturally when applying pressure. I don't have wide feet, and I feel like my toes are being squeezed together even with a boot a size larger than what the charts say I should use.

 

 

 

God I hope the ice melts soon so I can stop staring at my feet!

[mmosley899]

@dchristman that is why no one boot works for everybody, different shaped feet! The 'Supershell" has a much wider toebox than the other Reflex boots. The Powershell is somewhat in between. The Radar Profile boot has a bigger volume than the Vapor. The Connelly boot has a slimmer fit than some others. They all have their own 'feel' as to how they ski.

 

My boot mods link.

[Than_Bogan]

@dchristman No wonder you are good at skiing -- two right feet!!

[skialex]

@eleeski I do experiment but that was my trusty shell that I could go back and ski well on.

I have put almost every shell on Reflex system, flattened, cut, drilled, changed or added more buckles etc many shells during my skiing life and luckily enough I had some friends willing to try those mods as I don't have as much skiing time as I want to try them all my self.

[ryno65]

@dchristman you just described my struggle with bindings. Bootfitters describe my feet as "square"

"To have enough horizontal space in the toebox to allow your toes, especially the big one, to splay out naturally when applying pressure."

My shell would need to be 5 inches wide !

[Jordan]

Something interesting I noticed watching the winter Olympics. While watching the mogul event, I noticed that virtually every competitor was using the Full Tilt ski boot. Now for those who don't know, that boot is a remake ( I was going to say "reboot" but the pun was just too awful) of the Raichle Flexon. The main characteristic of this boot is a huge amount of forward flex. It has a front piece that is corrugated like a bendy straw. They achieve flex by the tongue piece flexing rather than by the cuff deforming the lower boot. They also incorporate a tab along the achilles that can preset forward lean.

 

The point is that what suits the racers is completely different than what suits the mogul skiers. I think that ankle flex is imperative on water ski.

 

the shell itself would be too stiff and bulky for waterskiing but the design ideas translated to a skate boot could be interesting. Anyhow, more food for thought.

[dchristman]

As I sit here this morning contemplating my right foot again, it struck me that "the optimal slalom boot" is analogous to the "blind men and an elephant". The optimal slalom boot can only be seen from the perspective of your foot.

[BraceMaker]

@dchristman something your foot has going on is that your arch length compared to foot length is long - ie. you have an oblique fit, and fitting you based on your foot length is going to generate a narrow toe fit. When sized off the length of the arch you'd take a longer shoe which wouldn't require such a wide fit. Thats what the sliders do on the old metal shoe measurement tools.

 

 

 

Brings up the poll - if a company like reflex or MOB was making custom plastic shells, possibly just based on a few measurements and tracings, or a scan of the foot, what would you pay for said shell?