# How tight it too tight?



## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Make sure your foot is seated into the heel pocket by kicking the heel on the floor a few times, and tightening up the lacing as if you were going to ride. Heat molding is a big deal. Hot EVA moves from compressed areas where your toes are to low volume areas of the liner. It gets out of the way instead of just compressing. You can heat mold with a little extra sock or foam over the parts of your foot that are hot spots. Finally, heel lifts can bring your toes back from the front a bit.

I sized down in boots this season, and they took a little bit of work to get comfortable. I did everything listed above, and my boots fit like slippers now. I'm so happy for the extra response and limited toe drag. Good luck!


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

WigMar said:


> Make sure your foot is seated into the heel pocket by kicking the heel on the floor a few times, and tightening up the lacing as if you were going to ride. Heat molding is a big deal. Hot EVA moves from compressed areas where your toes are to low volume areas of the liner. It gets out of the way instead of just compressing. You can heat mold with a little extra sock or foam over the parts of your foot that are hot spots. Finally, heel lifts can bring your toes back from the front a bit.
> 
> I sized down in boots this season, and they took a little bit of work to get comfortable. I did everything listed above, and my boots fit like slippers now. I'm so happy for the extra response and limited toe drag. Good luck!


Thanks Wigmar, I kicked the heel back and it did help a bit. I also tightened as if I were about to set out on a shred and that helped too. I actually had insoles put into my old boots to help them fit better but putting those in these boots seemed to make the problem worse not better. Now i need to see if I can get any heat molding around here, else it is a DIY job.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Left-Moment said:


> Thanks Wigmar, I kicked the heel back and it did help a bit. I also tightened as if I were about to set out on a shred and that helped too. I actually had insoles put into my old boots to help them fit better but putting those in these boots seemed to make the problem worse not better. Now i need to see if I can get any heat molding around here, else it is a DIY job.


Forgot to say, nice one on the better fit of your boots, it must be rad to be able to go down a size and still feel comfortable!


----------



## WigMar (Mar 17, 2019)

Left-Moment said:


> Forgot to say, nice one on the better fit of your boots, it must be rad to be able to go down a size and still feel comfortable!


Thanks! It's been a bit of a journey, but I'm really digging the drastically reduced footprint. Heat molding on your own isn't that hard. You can do it if you have to. My friend waited till he was at the resort and heat molded right before riding. Good luck on your quest!


----------



## NT.Thunder (Jan 4, 2020)

WigMar said:


> Thanks! It's been a bit of a journey, but I'm really digging the drastically reduced footprint. Heat molding on your own isn't that hard. You can do it if you have to. My friend waited till he was at the resort and heat molded right before riding. Good luck on your quest!


I was wondering about this. i have a pair of Ride Lasso boots arriving next week. I'm 2000km's from the closest snowboarding shop or boot fitter so was wondering if I should give this a crack or maybe get someone in Queenstown NZ to do it on the day I arrive? Is it best to walk around as much as you can to break them in and then heat mould at a later date? I won't be in NZ until mid July.


----------



## OldSnow (Nov 20, 2019)

I bought these boots a few months ago and just did some weeks in them. I had some real toe problems too.. the one thing that turned these boots from a mistake into a miracle was getting custom foot beds. The arch support in them is severly lacking!


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

WigMar said:


> Thanks! It's been a bit of a journey, but I'm really digging the drastically reduced footprint. Heat molding on your own isn't that hard. You can do it if you have to. My friend waited till he was at the resort and heat molded right before riding. Good luck on your quest!


Yeah is aw the link to the REI video on boot fitting 101 from Angry and it didn't look too hard and certainly a decent compromise from the real thing.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

NT.Thunder said:


> I was wondering about this. i have a pair of Ride Lasso boots arriving next week. I'm 2000km's from the closest snowboarding shop or boot fitter so was wondering if I should give this a crack or maybe get someone in Queenstown NZ to do it on the day I arrive? Is it best to walk around as much as you can to break them in and then heat mould at a later date? I won't be in NZ until mid July.


Check out the REI video on DIY heat moulding. It won't be as good as th real deal but it will be a lot better than nothing, at least that is what i would assume.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

OldSnow said:


> I bought these boots a few months ago and just did some weeks in them. I had some real toe problems too.. the one thing that turned these boots from a mistake into a miracle was getting custom foot beds. The arch support in them is severly lacking!


Very good point. I have custom footbeds in my old boots but seen as that guy couldn't even discern that I needed wide boots I am not overly confident that he will have done a good job with the footbeds (Superfeet carbon green). I have quite high arches and the aim was to bring the toes back a bit but I wonder if these actually did that.

Anyone know if custom footbeds are something you can also do at home?


----------



## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

If they're available, spend the money on some Sidas custom molded footbeds. They're thin, low volume inserts so they won't take up a lot of room in the boot. But they are shaped and molded to your foot from the git. 

Did wonders for my boot fit.


----------



## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

I know you're in the right size boots 'by the numbers', but Burton themselves say you may need to go up half a size in their boots if you've got the 'Life' liners, as they compress less than standard liners. That could make things a bit uncomfortable for you as you're right at the upper limit in your mondo range. If you've got much pressure on the end of your toes now when wearing thin (or no) socks, boots done up & knees bent in riding position, you may need to go up half a size, bearing in mind that someone with 1mm longer toes than you will be in 5mm longer boots.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Radialhead said:


> I know you're in the right size boots 'by the numbers', but Burton themselves say you may need to go up half a size in their boots if you've got the 'Life' liners, as they compress less than standard liners. That could make things a bit uncomfortable for you as you're right at the upper limit in your mondo range. If you've got much pressure on the end of your toes now when wearing thin (or no) socks, boots done up & knees bent in riding position, you may need to go up half a size, bearing in mind that someone with 1mm longer toes than you will be in 5mm longer boots.


Thanks that's interesting. They are super tight but do get slightly better when I get into riding position and they might be even better with molding and foot beds. Unfortunately when you get to my size the next is 31 rather than 30 so no half sizes. I wish they did a 30.5 and then I'd be in the perfect balance zone.


----------



## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

Left-Moment said:


> Thanks that's interesting. They are super tight but do get slightly better when I get into riding position and they might be even better with molding and foot beds. Unfortunately when you get to my size the next is 31 rather than 30 so no half sizes. I wish they did a 30.5 and then I'd be in the perfect balance zone.


Ah, well that does simplify things in a way as you are definitely in the right size in that case. If you take the liner out & stick your bare foot in the shell, toes touching the end, & can get your fingers down the back behind your heals, you'll know it is just the liner causing problems if a heat mould doesn't fix it. In which case switching to a normal (non-Life) liner may be a solution.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Radialhead said:


> Ah, well that does simplify things in a way as you are definitely in the right size in that case. If you take the liner out & stick your bare foot in the shell, toes touching the end, & can get your fingers down the back behind your heals, you'll know it is just the liner causing problems if a heat mould doesn't fix it. In which case switching to a normal (non-Life) liner may be a solution.


That is a great idea and I cannot believe I didn't even think of this! Will do this when i get back and see how it comes out.

Had no idea you could switch the liners either, that is another option.

Reassuring to know I have the right size though, just got to make it work now!


----------



## Radialhead (Jan 3, 2018)

Intuition do a range of aftermarket liners with different thicknesses. Not cheap but should outlast a few pairs of boots. Choosing a Liner Model – Intuition Liners


----------



## Paxford (Jan 7, 2019)

Wired is spot on about getting you in to 300 double E's, however you can't forget about the last. Burton lasts don't work for me. Same with 32's. Not sure why, but they don't. But they work for plenty of other people.

Ride, K2, Salomon fit my foot. You unfortunately don't have many options with that double EE. I'd ask myself if the Burton is a great fit everywhere except for the problem area (toes). If it is then I'd keep them and get to bootsmithing. If not I'd look to a single E in another brand and get to bootsmithing the width on those.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Radialhead said:


> Intuition do a range of aftermarket liners with different thicknesses. Not cheap but should outlast a few pairs of boots. Choosing a Liner Model – Intuition Liners


I am sure that one of my previous pairs of boots had those as standard but I could be wrong. I will check these out, thanks.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Paxford said:


> Wired is spot on about getting you in to 300 double E's, however you can't forget about the last. Burton lasts don't work for me. Same with 32's. Not sure why, but they don't. But they work for plenty of other people.
> 
> Ride, K2, Salomon fit my foot. You unfortunately don't have many options with that double EE. I'd ask myself if the Burton is a great fit everywhere except for the problem area (toes). If it is then I'd keep them and get to bootsmithing. If not I'd look to a single E in another brand and get to bootsmithing the width on those.


That is a really good point. One thing I did notice was that the Burtons made my heel hurt a bit so I am worried, although that is with the standard footbed. However I am not exactly what you mean by "the last". I know I (eventually) fitted in my K2s and I know Salomon do a 30.5 so I am tempted to have a look, although the lack of width is a problem and I love the Burton boots in terms of construction and general feel.


----------



## drblast (Feb 28, 2017)

Boot fitting is such a pain because for a really good fit you won't know if they fit or not until heat molding and 5+ days of riding. Any boot I've had that's comfortable before heat-molding and without a break-in period of at least 5 days ends up being too large.

So I think the best way is to find a boot that is "correct" according to your measurements that doesn't cause pain, and trust that with heat molding and some break-in it will pack out to the perfect size. There's a bit of luck involved too. When I found my boots I tried on every brand in my mondopoint size and they were the only ones that didn't cause pain. I thought I had made a mistake when after 4 days my feet were still going numb after a few hours, but that got progressively better after that. Toward the end of the season in them I tried going back to my old boots a half-size larger and felt like I couldn't even control the board.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

drblast said:


> Boot fitting is such a pain because for a really good fit you won't know if they fit or not until heat molding and 5+ days of riding. Any boot I've had that's comfortable before heat-molding and without a break-in period of at least 5 days ends up being too large.
> 
> So I think the best way is to find a boot that is "correct" according to your measurements that doesn't cause pain, and trust that with heat molding and some break-in it will pack out to the perfect size. There's a bit of luck involved too. When I found my boots I tried on every brand in my mondopoint size and they were the only ones that didn't cause pain. I thought I had made a mistake when after 4 days my feet were still going numb after a few hours, but that got progressively better after that. Toward the end of the season in them I tried going back to my old boots a half-size larger and felt like I couldn't even control the board.


Thanks that's really interesting and kind of confirms what I'm worried about I.e using half a holiday to get comfortable and really only breaking it in towards the end. I'm just not sure I want all that pain when I'm not in a position to go boarding 100 days a season and really break them in. On the other hand I don't want a boot that goes like a slipper after a few days and gives me heel lift. It's a very fine line. Oh well ill look into it more and might half size up if I can find it.


----------



## Lamby100 (Feb 4, 2020)

I'm in exactly the same boat as you Left-Moment. Got myself some Burton Photon at my mondo size based on Wiredsport's advise. They arrived yesterday and I'm wearing them now. My toes are rammed to the end and it's very uncomfortable! There's absolutely no way I'd have bought this size if I'd have tried them on first.

But it's just the liner, there is plenty of space for my foot in the shell, so I'm going to stick with it and hope it gets better soon.

I tried the heat molding on that REI YouTube video and it didn't really work for me. Don't think the liner got hot enough. Might have to take to a shop


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Lamby100 said:


> I'm in exactly the same boat as you Left-Moment. Got myself some Burton Photon at my mondo size based on Wiredsport's advise. They arrived yesterday and I'm wearing them now. My toes are rammed to the end and it's very uncomfortable! There's absolutely no way I'd have bought this size if I'd have tried them on first.
> 
> But it's just the liner, there is plenty of space for my foot in the shell, so I'm going to stick with it and hope it gets better soon.
> 
> I tried the heat molding on that REI YouTube video and it didn't really work for me. Don't think the liner got hot enough. Might have to take to a shop


Hmmm I think they'll give but given they are £300 boots it is a big gamble. Not to mention the fact that they ruin your holiday if they don't fit. 

I don't doubt wire's advice I just wonder if it might be for a more frequent rider. I'm probably going to return mine as I have 6 weeks till I go and I'm sure they'll come down in price but I might try again in the summer if I can get a good deal.


----------



## OldSnow (Nov 20, 2019)

Lamby100 said:


> I'm in exactly the same boat as you Left-Moment. Got myself some Burton Photon at my mondo size based on Wiredsport's advise. They arrived yesterday and I'm wearing them now. My toes are rammed to the end and it's very uncomfortable! There's absolutely no way I'd have bought this size if I'd have tried them on first.
> 
> But it's just the liner, there is plenty of space for my foot in the shell, so I'm going to stick with it and hope it gets better soon.
> 
> I tried the heat molding on that REI YouTube video and it didn't really work for me. Don't think the liner got hot enough. Might have to take to a shop


I was sceptical of Wired's advice for these boots too, but seriously - take them to get fitted properly. Don't just whack inserts in off the rack and hope it gets you there. I found a fantastic fitter who showed me where my support was lacking and worked on that area of support and adjustment, and it improved my fit so much that even with newly forming black toe nails that were uncomfortable to sleep with I was able to walk around in the boots after a day on the mountain.


----------



## drblast (Feb 28, 2017)

Left-Moment said:


> Hmmm I think they'll give but given they are £300 boots it is a big gamble. Not to mention the fact that they ruin your holiday if they don't fit.
> 
> I don't doubt wire's advice I just wonder if it might be for a more frequent rider. I'm probably going to return mine as I have 6 weeks till I go and I'm sure they'll come down in price but I might try again in the summer if I can get a good deal.


Yup, I ride 50+ days a year, so five days is not that bad for me and worth the comfort for the next 45. If you ride 5 days a year, you're going to have a crappy vacation that first year, with maybe an improvement in the next few. It's more of a gamble for you, cause if my boots don't fit after that 5 days I haven't ruined my entire season.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

drblast said:


> Yup, I ride 50+ days a year, so five days is not that bad for me and worth the comfort for the next 45. If you ride 5 days a year, you're going to have a crappy vacation that first year, with maybe an improvement in the next few. It's more of a gamble for you, cause if my boots don't fit after that 5 days I haven't ruined my entire season.


I'll get 13 days this year so 5 is a pretty big deal. On the flip side though you do want to make the most of that time and well fitted boots would certainly help. If I see the photons on deal I'll probably chance it! (used burton's free delivery and returns system to try these).


----------



## Lamby100 (Feb 4, 2020)

Got mine heat moulded today and they're definitely better. Toes still at the end but not as much pressure. I've got 4 weeks before my holiday so hopefully I can get a bit more give from the liner before then. I can't be bothered to send them back so will push through. Aside from the toes they're pretty comfortable.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Lamby100 said:


> Got mine heat moulded today and they're definitely better. Toes still at the end but not as much pressure. I've got 4 weeks before my holiday so hopefully I can get a bit more give from the liner before then. I can't be bothered to send them back so will push through. Aside from the toes they're pretty comfortable.


Nice, good luck with it, let us know if you break them in.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Lamby100 said:


> Got mine heat moulded today and they're definitely better. Toes still at the end but not as much pressure. I've got 4 weeks before my holiday so hopefully I can get a bit more give from the liner before then. I can't be bothered to send them back so will push through. Aside from the toes they're pretty comfortable.


Hey Lamby, just looking for an update, you been wearing the boots? Have they got better? Think you're off soon so just wanted to hear back in case I go for them too.


----------



## Lamby100 (Feb 4, 2020)

Hi lefty. I've worn them for a few hours indoors. They're a pretty good fit after the heat mould. I don't think I'll have any major prpblems spending all day in them now so I haven't been wearing them as much. They're snug but no pressure points anywhere. 

Credit to Wiredsport for the advice on the mondo sizing as I've also been able to drop down to a medium size binding too.

The heat mould made the big difference. I tried the REI method first and it did help a little, but the shop one worked well. You could get it done in a resort and you'd be fine, probably ?


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Lamby100 said:


> Hi lefty. I've worn them for a few hours indoors. They're a pretty good fit after the heat mould. I don't think I'll have any major prpblems spending all day in them now so I haven't been wearing them as much. They're snug but no pressure points anywhere.
> 
> Credit to Wiredsport for the advice on the mondo sizing as I've also been able to drop down to a medium size binding too.
> 
> The heat mould made the big difference. I tried the REI method first and it did help a little, but the shop one worked well. You could get it done in a resort and you'd be fine, probably ?


Hey lamby

Thanks for the update that's great news, you're off soon so sounds like it's worked out. 

I've taken the plunge and ordered myself a pair on sale so I'm committed now. Think I'll be looking for a proper heat molding place even if it means driving to Bristol (in Exeter). Did your place mind don't it even though you didn't buy the boots there? 

I'm looking forward to dropping down on footprint size too as I've always had an issue with overhang so finger's crossed. 

Thanks for getting back to me and best of luck with them on your hols.


----------



## Lamby100 (Feb 4, 2020)

They didn't mind, they just charged me £15. I phoned ahead first and they were pretty helpful. 
I think in your shoes I'd do the same trip to Bristol. You could get them moulded in resort, but personally I'd rather get them sorted out before hand so I don't have to worry about it.

Good luck with your boots I'm sure you'll have a great trip. I'm super excited to go, 5th March so not long now.


----------



## Left-Moment (Jan 17, 2020)

Lamby100 said:


> They didn't mind, they just charged me £15. I phoned ahead first and they were pretty helpful.
> I think in your shoes I'd do the same trip to Bristol. You could get them moulded in resort, but personally I'd rather get them sorted out before hand so I don't have to worry about it.
> 
> Good luck with your boots I'm sure you'll have a great trip. I'm super excited to go, 5th March so not long now.


Cool, sounds like it's worth the effort for sure and yeah I'm not wanting to muck about when there so yes think I'll go for it beforehand. 

Have a great trip mate and thanks for the update.


----------

