Hey guys, first Happy and Prosperous New Years to all!
As a member of Real Skiers and a huge follower and believer of Harold Harb, I've been watching with great interest the controversy regarding footbeds that allow the ankle to tip more freely inside the boot.
A friend and local boot technician is fitting skiers with Conformable footbeds and offered to do a set for me. His philosophy of 3 points of contact and an arch that allows more tipping motion of the ankle seem interesting. I have been very happy with my current footbeds, but always currious about new technology.
Harold made my Superfeet for me 3 years ago and it is more rigid than the Conformable. I pronate with both feet, more with my left. My left knee is out 1.5 degrees, bowlegged corrected with cantable sole from my Lange Comp 120.
When comparing both footbeds on the ground as I stood in them, I did notice the Conformable allowed more tipping motion of my foot than the posted, more rigid Superfeet. So, me says to meself " let's give it a go"! I headed for the snow and spent 4 hours cruising around.
What I found was that my inside ankle of the left leg rubbed up against the boot on each turn made. When I took out the footbed to compare both products, I looked more closely to see what was happening when using the Conformable. I noticed when standing on the Conformable when tipping my left ankle to the inside, the softer arch area did indeed flex, but what also happened was I noticed that the pronation that was stabilized by the more rigid Superfeet, was out of control with the Conformable.
Is there a proper footbed that would allow more tipping in the ankle and still keep it in stable and in a neutral position?
Appreciate your thoughts here,
Gary