Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Hey all,

To those of you who offered me advice on my boots last year many thanks.

I went to Ellis Brigham and had a new fitting this year to find that I had been sized incorrectly last year by the other store and decided to buy new boots. I was originally given a Dream thang 10 boot in a size 26 (i'm a UK 6 normally) but before I even skiid in them was having problems with pain down the sides of my feet. Some of you suggested moulded footbeds, I have taken this method with my new Edge +11 boots in a size 25.5. The centimetre makes all the difference and obviously there's a little extra volume in the .5.

The fitter in EB said that the dream thang boots are a narrower fit but slope from the top to the outer edge also, so because my feet are quite wide they would put abnormal pressure on the top and also that my ankles roll when I walk so it forces my feet outwards... this explained the redness on my feet and the excruciating pain I had whilst skiing last season. I was told in EB that the edge +11 doesn't taper too much at the edges and it more suite to the wider foot but also that a moulded footbed would help stop the roll on my foot therefore eliminate pressure on the sides/redness.

I am now intending to go back to the original store and complain that I was sold boots not fit for purpose. Despite the main problem being explained before I ever skid in them it was not corrected and i found myself trying to tell them what I thought the problem was resulting in them un-necessarily stretching an already too big boot and damaging one of them in the process.

I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice, should I be looking for cash campensation or store credit etc? I spent 230 on those boots with a footbed (not moulded) expecting to ski for years in them.

I feel now I can get the comfort I was after from my new boots. Last year i had no idea what i was looking for whereas this year I felt a little more prepared.

Sorry for the long mail. Thanks in advance for any replies

Rach

Hi Pete,

The damage was caused when the heated the shell to streatch a bubble by my little toe (it felt crushed and this is the solution they came up with). When the guy asked me to put my foot back in so he could close all the buckles he overlapped the plastic shell the wrong way and preceded to use a pair of scissors to lift the teeth up to fit the plastic underneath. I had to point out that it was not flush and the had overlapped the sides wrong. The scissors caused score marks on the buckle by the teeth. (2nd buckle up my boot from the toes). After this the boot had to go into workshops to get part of the flap attached to the toe box again (if that makes sense, if you look at a dream thang 10 it is the yellow bit on the toe box). It is just held on by a stud. When i went back to collect my boot i found that this part was no longer flush with my boot because the boot was cold when they managed to re-attach therefore there is basically a ledge on the front of my boot which will gather snow.

Again apologies for the long winded mail, hope it's understandable

Rach

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

I was just a bit worried by your comment about your foot turning outwards when you put pressure through it. The unfortunate truth, and I have the same problem, is that widening you boot to acommodate this may not work because your foot will continue to turn out until it hits the boot shell however wide that is. Its when this happens that you can get sever foot pain and the crushed toes feeling. Im hoping that you dont have the same severity of problem as I do. If you do continue to suffer there are various stretches that might help. You might need to see a podiatrist though.

I dont want to put a downer on your excitement over the new boots buts it better that you are aware of the possibility of further trouble. Better to try them out sooner rather than later I would suggest.

I feel like a real doom monger now though, sorry

cobra,

thanks for your concern. I was assured that the moulded footbed would practically eliminate the turn as it holds the arch so the pressure on the foot does not collapse the arch which is what causes the outwards turn.

So far in the house even after 2 hours when i removed the boots I had no red marks on the sides of my feet so I'm hoping the problem is gone.

It was my old boots that were stretched (incorrectly as you've said) which just made them roomier. I've no intention of stretching the new boots but i'm pretty sure if there are any problems Ellis Brigham will be on hand to sort them out.

I don't see you as a doom monger

Rach