Well, here's my boot buying experience. It's a bit long and drawn out, but some things to think about, considering the boot I ended up buying.
I'd been skiing on a pair of Lange CRL70's for the past few years. A decent intermediate boot, and with footbeds and a little customizing they've been great as I've progressed in my skiing. But late this past season I noticed that they were getting packed out very quickly. I was tightening the buckles during the day, and wearing thicker socks to keep the boot snug. So I promised myself this season I would get new boots.
I'd already had an idea of what I wanted-- the Lange Freeride, in a 90 or 100 flex. I liked the fit of the CRL70, so figured I was a "Lange" foot. I was willing to keep an open mind, though, for whatever the bootfitter brought out. The hubby and I had the day off of work, so we went up to Taos and picked up our season passes and stopped at the boot fitters to see what they had in stock. Not all the new gear was in, but enough samples to try on.
The first boot was the Lange Exclusive 90, on my right foot. Felt ok, but a little pinchy across my instep. While another person is helping put my old footbeds into the Lange's, the boot fitter goes and brings back another boot to try on the left foot. This was the Technica Attiva Flame Ultrafit. This one felt a bit better-- no pinch points and a good snug fit. Plus, it felt a bit stiffer fore/aft than the Lange Ex. 90.
I was now outside of my known territory. I had already planned to get another Lange, and hadn't really researched the other manufacturers. So the Langes get put back in the box, and I now have both Technica boots on, with my own footbeds. Nice. A little roomy in the toebox, and the heel needs to get modified some (I have VERY narrow heels), but a good overall fit, and the flex felt about right.
For comparison, I had tried each of these boots against my "old" CRL70, and was surprised at how good the fit on my CRL70 was. I would have figured that a new boot should fit better (more snug), not worse, than my old boot. I told the boot fitter that I really wanted to like the new Langes, but they just didn't feel quite right. He commented that boot fitting should be done blindfolded, so you didn't know what brand you had on, you just go by how it fits.
So I'm standing there, just about ready to buy the Technica Attiva Flame. In one last chance, I ask the bootfitter, "Is there ANYthing else out there that I might be interested in, just for comparison?". He says, "You want to try something that's better, but not necessarily stiffer?". "Yes", I replied. He goes out and brings back a Salomon box. Takes a boot out and I put it on my left foot. WOW! I was completely wrapped, and I didn't even have my custom footbeds in. It was the best fitting boot right out of the box. I took off the Technicas, then put in my custom footbeds in the Salomons, and walked around with both boots on for a bit. Nice! Solid, snug fit all the way around, no pinch points. Flex is good. A little beefier than the Technica, but not unmanageable. I LIKED this boot, then I looked at the price tag. Ouch! The boot fitter saw my look, and he said, "There's a reason they cost more." I was willing to pay the price, though, because I knew that any future boot work was included, and it was at my home mountain, so it would be easy to pop in and out for future fittings. "Let's do it", I said, and we proceeded with the heat molding of the liners, and I walked around some more in my new boots.
Did you guess? I ended up buying the Salomon Instinct 9. Did I have any idea what type of boot this was when I bought it? Not really, all the boot fitter told me was that it was at the top of the women's boots for Salomon. Yeah, but so was the Technica...
So I came home this evening and tried to look up the Instinct 9 in my SKI buyer's guide. It wasn't listed! Well, that bothered me, so I looked it up on Salomon's web page, and the Instinct 9 is right up at the top, the only entry in their "race" category for women. I was surprised! I wouldn't have guessed that it was a race boot. (Not that I have any other race boots to compare it to!) All I knew was that the boot fit like a glove (?!) right out of the box.
I guess the point of this long saga is that the fit of the boot is most important, not what brand or model is on your foot. Usually I try to do all my homework before a major purchase, but in this case I hadn't. But was this a bad thing? I was in unknown territory, and I relied on the bootfitter and the fit of the boot to make a decision. Had I known the Instinct 9 was a race boot beforehand I might have not bought them, second guessing myself and my skills even though the boot fit was superb.
After checking some more reviews, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice. All I have to do now is try them out on the snow, and I can't wait to do that. I'll follow up again once I have some time in the boots!
I tried them on, and I must admit they fit really well. 
