Ski boots - where to get them?

[Kemik]

Hi guys,

I think I might be lucky enough to go on two ski trips this year and after coming away with bleeding toes from hired gear I figured it was time to buy some custom fit boots.

Does anyone have any recommendations of places to buy them from that will be competitively priced but have staff who know what they are talking about? It's relatively easy for me to get to Chill Factore (Manchester) or London at a push.

Thanks!

 

[Kemik]

Chill Factore - Manchester
Decathlon - Warrington (Do quite a bit of skiing gear here too)

Cheers.

Any particular shop in Chill Factore? Snowandrock have a decent guide on their site but want to make sure I'm not going to get someone who is clueless. Obviously that is a risk with everything.

I should note, I live in Reading so any stores round there are fine too. My parents live in Widnes, Cheshire so the benefit of getting some from near there is that I can pop into Chill Factore to try them out.

 

[Kemik]

The best bootfitters I know about are Rivington Alpine in Chorley and Solutions4Feet in Bicester. The level of training and experience these guys have are on a completely different level to staff at the big chains.

Thanks for the recommendation. The guys at Bicester would be a good location for me but unfortunately they seemed a bit up themselves when I emailed asking if they price matched, their costs, etc (or maybe I'm just outside of their highly skilled target market?):

our diary is fully booked for weeks ahead so I am afraid I am not going to get into the price matching debate

£150 price difference for the Salomon X Max 100 is quite big.

 

[Kemik]

I ended up (accidentally) at Ellis Brigham in Milton Keynes. Three hours later and I walked out with a set of Atomic Overload 100's with custom soles and heated inners (my technical speak is noob). I know it is a freestyler boot but it was the best fit and I can have them set forward with a soft setting to help my technique skiing.

I tried on three different boots after she took my measurements and looked at my feet and legs from all angles. My problem is my toes need a fair bit of height space in the boot to prevent nail injury but these ones seem to do the job and gave the best feeling on my shins. I hate bruising the shins with rental boots!

They said it comes with an 18 month guarantee. If I have any issues, bring them back and they will adjust. If it still isn't fine they refund 70% of the cost. Sounds reasonable to me!