How much do Intuition (or some other) liners improve fit?

[lynseyf]

I have never had a pair of ski boots I am 100% happy with. I live in Germany and went to what seemed to be the best of the local fitters, unfortunately I didn't have a great fitting experience on the day and mainly ended up with the boot I did through a lot of guidance from myself rather than the fitter. I probably shouldn't have bought the boots but I had left my old ones in the UK and had no plans to spend any time anywhere else in Europe where I had heard other fitters recommended. I ended up in a 98mm shell and from doing a shell check am reasonably happy with the shell fit (around 15mm) so the boots shouldn't be too big but..... I have skied 10 days with the boots and my left foot feels pretty good but the fit on my right foot still feels off. I feel I have too much space then when I crank the boot down I am in agony. I plan on going back to the shop I got fitted at and maybe asking to speak to a more experienced fitter than I saw previously. I am aware one of the options open to me is custom liners and am wondering how much of a difference they make in fit? I have never had custom liners and could really do without the expense but if they are going to end my boot woes I would be happy to pay up so am just looking for a little advice before I go back to the fitter. If they don't provide that much of a difference in fit then I will just be looking at modifying the existing liner, maybe some padding round the heel?

 

[Christy]

I don't think they are a panacea. I think your plan to go to a better fitter and get another opinion is a good one. I have Intuitions and I have a couple of cautions based on my experience: First, make sure it's a great fitter that molds them to you. When I first had mine molded, it was in a reputable store, but they didn't take care to make sure they were snugly fitted on my calf, and I had wayyyy too much room up there. Of course I didn't notice this in particular until, still frustrated with my boots, I went to our city's best fitter and he said whoa, who did the molding on these??? Luckily you can remold so he did that and it was much better. I also have a hard time with how high the Intuitions come up on my lower leg; my fitter had me use the power strap differently, which helped, and now I'm getting a booster strap installed. My fitter also told me if I really wanted a performance fit I should go down a shell size (which is scary--I'm pretty snug in my boots already), so the Intuitions can't compensate for everything.

Boy, do I feel your pain about never having had boots you were 100% happy with. I have high hopes I might get there with my current pair once the booster strap is on. I have dumped so much $$ into my current pair.

 

[marzNC]

I added Intuition liners last season. Did it during the late season Alta trip so haven't really used them that much. My boots fit just fine before changing the liners. My guess is that you should work on the fit first instead of hoping that new liners would fix whatever the problem is. Nothing in my research about custom liners mentioned fixing a poor fit.

Did find that my feet were warmer with the Intuitions. They are molded with "toe caps" so even though overall the fit is nice and snug, the toes end up with more room and better circulation.

 

[beckylh84]

I'm planning on getting some Intuitions this season, mostly for the warmth factor. I hope I like them.

 

[Lilywhite]

Have you got custom foot beds? If not, I'd go that route first, might get a little longer out of your current liner, footbeds can move between boots and it's probably something a decent fitter will suggest as well as the intuitions, most of us do have one foot larger than the other and decent footbeds will help even things up.

 

[pinto]

My current pair cost about $220 including molding.

 

[lynseyf]

I have footbeds and I think in theory the boot should be an ok fit so I was juts wondering if the perfect fit I am after is only attainable with custom liners. I think I will try to get them to work on the shell first though and maybe splash out on the liners when I am happier with the fit overall

 

[pinto]

I have footbeds and I think in theory the boot should be an ok fit so I was juts wondering if the perfect fit I am after is only attainable with custom liners. I think I will try to get them to work on the shell first though and maybe splash out on the liners when I am happier with the fit overall

Yeah, I think that it's possible that the perfect fit requires custom liners. I'm guessing not too many pro skiers are in stock liners, you know? I had one of the US's top fitters working and working on mine, and I still had an issue around the ankles. I finally gave in and got the Intuitions, and it immediately solved the problem that padding wouldn't.

 

[KatyPerrey]

I'm in the Nordica Doberman Pro 130 with a "stock liner' but I do have custom footbeds. My foot is pretty easy to fit (so the bootfitter says). Go see the bootfitter and go with what works best for you.

 

[Elangirl]

I have low volume feet--am in a Dalbello with a 98 mm forefoot. I bought Intuition liners five years ago and I will never go back to stock liners. I love them. They fill up my boots for my skinny calves and make the boot a little stiffer too. They are warmer and once they are molded properly there is a custom fit. I also have custom footbeds. I ski about 100 days per year--get new boots every year.

 

[Celestron2000]

I have low volume feet--am in a Dalbello with a 98 mm forefoot. I bought Intuition liners five years ago and I will never go back to stock liners. I love them. They fill up my boots for my skinny calves and make the boot a little stiffer too. They are warmer and once they are molded properly there is a custom fit. I also have custom footbeds. I ski about 100 days per year--get new boots every year.

How often do you replace the liners?

 

[tinymoose]

I got Intuition liners at the tail end of last year. They were the only thing that worked for my feet, even with my 98mm boots. My heels, especially the heel on my right foot, are incredibly narrow, and I couldn't find a boot with a stock liner that really held that heel down and in place. I still need to go back and have them tweaked a bit, since they're too tight in the toebox, but they were a lifesaver for me compared to the stock liners!