Touring boots for wide calf muscles

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 girlymonkey 13 Jan 2019

I have been running more recently and my already huge calf muscles have grown. My touring boots were always a bit tight at the top, now they are absolutely no good. Any ideas on the widest available? I have wide feet too (I might just be a hobit! Lol), so I guess I'm looking for generally wide boots.

 Fiona Reid 13 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

Might be worth asking on the Snowheads forum too. There are various ski boot fitters on there that might be able to tell you what the best brands to look at are?

FWIW, I have chunky calves and use dynafit boots if that helps any.

 

 daWalt 13 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

as a first I would suggest speaking to a good boot-fitter to see if they can re-shape the shells. Alain Baxter is has his workshop in Stirling.

never used him myself - but I would suggest he knows a wee bit about skiing

OP girlymonkey 13 Jan 2019
In reply to daWalt:

Great shout, thanks. It hadn't even occurred to me that remoulding might be an option!

 Fiona Reid 14 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

daWalt's suggestion re the shells made me think of another option. 

Can the buckles on your existing boots move? They often have multiple mounting points to allow for different leg sizes.

OP girlymonkey 14 Jan 2019
In reply to Fiona Reid:

Yeah, they are already as far as they can go. I always have to move ski boot buckles out. 

 HeMa 14 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

Bootfitting (moulding liners and stretching the shell) helps, but best to start with a good boot that fits. 

 

Womens specific boots are Sometimes lower and shaped to accommondate larger cards. So start there. The other option is to look for the light weight options (a’la Dyna TLTs or lighter), as they often are lower. Though, If you wan’t downhill performance, these might not be an option. 

 

So, go see a GOOD bootfitter with a big selection of posssibly suitable boots. AFAIK no that many in UK (but then again, a trip to CHX isn’t that bad).

OP girlymonkey 14 Jan 2019
In reply to HeMa:

At my size, women's fit is the only option! I wonder if it is particularly problematic because I am very short. So my muscles will start lower down that someone taller (although you would think that boot designers should take that into consideration with smaller sizes, not sure if they do though).

I might try chatting with Alain Baxter, as I am in Stirling anyway, and see what he suggests. If he thinks it's best going for something else then I will start that very tedious task!!

 ClimberEd 14 Jan 2019
In reply to HeMa:

Who's good in Cham at the moment?

 blurty 14 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

I have a similar physique (in the lower leg department anyway)!

The new M's Maestrales seem a bit wider at the cuff than the old ones.

Have you tried male/ unisex boots?

OP girlymonkey 14 Jan 2019
In reply to blurty:

They don't make male boots down to my size. I'm a 23.5 mondo. I will look and see if there is a women's equivalent though.

 Frank4short 14 Jan 2019
In reply to HeMa:

Everything ^^^ HeMa said above ^^^

 

Plus and this is key as i'm quite similar to you, in that i have massive calves and have had a lot of trouble to find a boot that would fit in spite of visiting a number of well known boot fitters in France. Timing is everything and by that i mean you really need to be visiting the shops probably some time between Christmas and February. As if you are an unusual fit or size stocks in the shops will be limited. I learned, the hard way, a key part of the issue i had was that i would typically take my ski holiday in March by which time lots of the stocks were depleted, so the fitters just didn't have the selection left to offer. Most good boot fitting shops, even a major one, is only likely to have one or two individual pairs of boots that will fit you once they're gone they're gone. Cause remember most of these shops will be small independent traders and the cost of their stock for the season is massive. 

So yeah find a good fitter, call them to see what their stock situation is and get there early in the season. 

Post edited at 16:02
 daftdazza 15 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

Scott Celeste are a good high volume boot worth a try, 

Also dynafit neo are fairly wide around the cuff.

Boots with a thermo mouldable shell like atomic backland might also be worth looking at.

 TobyA 15 Jan 2019
In reply to Fiona Reid:

> FWIW, I have chunky calves and use dynafit boots if that helps any.

I've been told that I have huge calf muscles many times over the years (one old climbing partner once said quite loudly at the climbing wall while belaying me "If we were in an air crash in the Andes, I'm eating Toby's legs". This was surprisingly disconcerting!). But I've also got Dynafits, TLT 5s IIRC, and they've worked for me too. So might be worth checking out girlymonkey.

 

 galpinos 15 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

My wife has a similar issue (5ft 1 and strong legged) and refuses to change her ancient ski boots as they are the only pair she had ever found that are comfortable enough. He calf starts really low down, close to her ankle so a lot of her is in her boot were as my calf is mostly above the top of my boots, even though they are tallish boots. 

No actual advice bar seeing a good bootfitter (no idea in Scotland but Baxter has a good rep) but plenty of sympathy!

 

 GraB 15 Jan 2019
In reply to girlymonkey:

My wife has very similar problems. Last year she bought some Atomic Hawkx. I think they do quite a few different versions and not all of them are touring boots, but the ones she bought are...I think they might be the XTD Ultra. They're not 100% perfect and they still had to be blown out a little, buckles moved etc, but they were much much better than anything else she could find. They're pretty light, stiff enough for a touring boot and have a good system for switching from ski to walk mode. Certainly worth a look.


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