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Nancy Hummel

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I am in the RS130. I had footbeds/canting done by bootfitter. The heels were a bit loose so I went back and he put in a heel cup.

Yesterday, I took out the footbeds and found 1/4 inch heel lifts in both boots.
Is this normally done with heel cup placement? Why is this done? I skied without the heel lifts and my stance/balance issues are much more where I want them to be.
 

Marker

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Last season I added about 1/4 inch of heel lift to my RS130 and they felt much better to me. However, I suspect the aftermarket moldable insole had started to lose some integrity. If this persists this season, which hopefully starts for me next weekend (!), I'll be investing in new custom insoles.
 

KingGrump

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For some "boot fitters", it is de rigueur for women to have heel lifts in their boots. :nono:

Mamie had an incident with a boot fitter at Taos late last season. She took her boots in to get the hinge rivet tighten and order a set of replacement hinge hardware.
She had trouble skiing the next morning. I took her boot apart and found a 3/8" heel lift under the foot bed. I took it off with a multi-tool in the lodge and went back skiing.
Spoke with the shop owner in the afternoon while we were skiing with her. Don't think the guys lasted long after that.
 

Andy Mink

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The fitter may have felt the lifts would get you a little further up in the boot to the area in the liner that the ankle bones fit into. If your heels are still loose without the lifts (and you like the lower height) there are other ways to lock your heel in. Foam C pads may help without lifting the heel any further than the cup already does. I'd go back and ask why they put the lifts in without telling you.
 
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Nancy Hummel

Nancy Hummel

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I am not pleased. I think the assistant did it when he put the heel cups in. I have a new pair of boots and am going to ask some questions this time.
 

Josh Matta

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unless you need a more open ankle and more forward ramp angle.
 

Andy Mink

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Nancy Hummel

Nancy Hummel

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Same bootfitter did my last pair of boots. Rossi Exp 130 which is in my understanding, similar to Lange RS. No heel lifts.
 

Pat AKA mustski

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Heel lifts can be a mixed bag IMHO. I had lifts put in my Kryzmas - probably needed for poor dorsiflexion, but the lift pushed me up out of the heel cup and I kept losing circulation due to pressure from the ankle buckle. I ripped those babies out in the lodge and had a much better skiing experience. However, if they hadn't been pushing me up and out, I did like the assist so I would try again in a different boot.
 

RuleMiHa

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Whether the heel lifts are good or bad is not the issue. To me you don't do something like that to my boot without telling me. Seriously? F*** You.

P.S. I have and love heel lifts, but every single change to my boots changes my skiing, so I am not ok with someone else making a decision like that for me and not telling me.
 

Average Joe

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Heel lifts change ramp angle.
Ramp is a critical component of fire and aft balance.
If a bootfitter wants to hold the ankle and heel down there are a few other ways to do it without changing ramp. The bootfitters on this forum might have some .02 on this question.
 

VickiK

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Whether the heel lifts are good or bad is not the issue. To me you don't do something like that to my boot without telling me. Seriously? F*** You.

P.S. I have and love heel lifts, but every single change to my boots changes my skiing, so I am not ok with someone else making a decision like that for me and not telling me.
^ This. I think this is where @Nancy Hummel is coming from.
 

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Resurrecting this thread as my wife just switched boots. Last 3-4 pairs have been tecnica and a recent move to the ladies Rossi alltrack 110. Loves the fit and performance but now noticing the cuff is slightly more upright and feels slightly back on steeper terrain. Mind you this is the princess and the pea I’m talking about, she skis at a demo team level and even the slightest change and even a hair off center and she feels less than perfect.
So, thoughts are......
moving to a DIN sole to lower the toe ?
Going back to the tecnicas and putting in a intuition liner to take up volume ?
Installing a heel lift or adding a spoiler

Other thoughts ?
 

DanoT

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The trend in boot design these days is toward a more upright stance.

If there is room, a wedge at the top of the boot, back of the leg, would create a more forward leaning, less upright stance.
 

Andy Mink

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Different binding with a slightly higher heel? Of course that only fixes one pair.
 

Noodler

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Resurrecting this thread as my wife just switched boots. Last 3-4 pairs have been tecnica and a recent move to the ladies Rossi alltrack 110. Loves the fit and performance but now noticing the cuff is slightly more upright and feels slightly back on steeper terrain. Mind you this is the princess and the pea I’m talking about, she skis at a demo team level and even the slightest change and even a hair off center and she feels less than perfect.
So, thoughts are......
moving to a DIN sole to lower the toe ?
Going back to the tecnicas and putting in a intuition liner to take up volume ?
Installing a heel lift or adding a spoiler

Other thoughts ?

You're dealing with
1) A fitting concern inside the boot
2) A stance alignment concern outside the boot

The first concern is to ensure that her available dorsiflexion range is matched to the angle formed between the top of the bootboard and the rear spine of the boot. The goal is to be able to raise her toes far enough to be able to adequately pressure the roof of the boot. Heel lifts change the bootboard ramp angle (and also impact the boot shell fit as they may raise the heel/ankle to the point where they no longer are well matched to the shell's heel and ankle pockets). The spoiler changes the effective forward lean angle (closing the ankle joint), but can reduce the available dorsiflexion RoM to the point that there is no longer an effective RoM available for maintaining balance while skiing. Note that the effective RoM would not change if you increase both the forward lean and the bootboard ramp by the same amount (you only tilted the position of the "angle" forward). There are limitations in the modifications that can be done inside the boot due to constraints in forward lean adjustment and bootboard grinding (since this will change the fit). This is why I prefer to address final fore/aft stance alignment outside of the boot.

The second concern is to get her fore/aft alignment well balanced (when clamped into the skis). For this the entire boot may need to be tipped forward or backward. The goal is to be able to pressure the skis across their entire length and be able to modify that pressure at will to increase/decrease what the skis are receiving between the tips and the tails. Tipping the boot requires sole plating and/or modifications to the binding delta (heel vs. toe heights).
 

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