The U.S. dealer replied that I would have to contact the Taiwan factory for custom figure skates.
One of my friends bought a pair of these. She had me trace her feet, which didn't inspire my confidence in the sizing procedure at all, since I have zero training in fitting anybody.
If the boot maker actually used the foot tracing to make a custom boot, that could be used to create a lot better fit than can be made from a small number of measurements.
A really good fit would be fully 3D, but few fitters try to do that - they rely on the heat mold to take care of that, or don't care.
As far as I can tell, the keys to making a foot tracing that reflects the actual size and shape of the foot is to use a very narrow pen or pencil, and keep it vertical. Also to do it on the bare foot - adding socks adds a little extra size, and the half-thickness of the pen or pencil already adds a little extra.
The best fitters may also add indications for the position and size of the heel bones, high or low arches, the position of the balls of the feet, blisters, bunions, and any other 3D issues that a simple 2D foot tracing can't handle.
A few also use impressible foam to profile the shape of the bottom of the feet - e.g., arch heights, left/right foot bottom tilt, and send the foam into the boot makers too - but most pro shop fitters don't do that - or mis-use it, having the person stand on it with both feet, which can be very bad if your legs aren't the same exact length. Also, people with arches that collapse painfully deep should reduce the pressure, and not put all their weight on it - e.g., make the impression while sitting. Mike Cunningham (a well respected fitter I watched work) has many people do that anyway - though he is experienced enough at judging foot shapes not to need impressions with everyone.
But, AFAICT, all most pro shop custom fitters do is measure the foot length, using the longest toe, and sometimes the foot width. If they are a little fancy they measure width at heel, mid-foot and toe. A foot tracing, if you were at all careful, is way better than that.
I'm not a professional fitter, so I may be missing something.
...I wasn't crazy about the backstrap - it reminded me of ski boots, where the athlete is forced into a forward-pitched stance...
Any figure skates sort of do that to me, because I'm not very flexible - I would prefer a boot that had a much lower heel. It's one of the reasons I've considered using roller boots.
(BTW, last I knew, only alpine ski boots force you into that stance - the XC and most telemark ski boots I've had don't do that.)
Did you make that quote on another discussion board? Which one? If they have a lot of technical equipment discussions, it would interest me, since I've had bad luck with custom boots, and keep playing with the idea of making my own boots.
Topic: "Golden Horse" "inexpensive custom figure skates" (Read 7798 times)