Hi apache. Of course, your best bet would be to find a PMTS fitter. But, barring that, since I also have too much fwd lean and a high instep (though I suspect my instep:width ratio is higher than yours; my instep is definitely high, and my feet are merely E and D) -- and since I've been seen by PMTS fitters for two different boots -- perhaps recounting my experience will help you. Note that I am not an official source of PMTS info., and that what works for me may not necessarily apply to you, etc. etc.
I. FIT. People with high insteps are a minority of the population, and the usual shell-fitting rules don't apply. Specifically, I fit the shell by the circumference, not the length. And the PMTS fitters have agreed with my approach, for me. Currently, with a thin, broken-in Rossi Z-series lace-up race liner and a Conformable foam tongue, I have essentially no extra room in my Scorpion SR130's (with one key exception). Indeed, I don't even fasten the instep buckle, and the toe buckle only v. lightly. So by any reasonable definition, I have a performance fit. Yet a shell fit (and this is the exception) shows I have 25 mm of length in front of my toes. The bottom line is this: If you have both a high instep and a wide foot, you may have about the same instep:width ratio as someone with a lower instep and narrower foot. I.e., a low-instep race boot might have just the right shape for your foot, and if you size up sufficiently it might also be the right size (by which I mean size up until you have close but not painful contact all the way around, except for isolated pressure points, which can be stretched or ground). Given this, what you should do is try every race boot you can get your hands on and see if any match the shape of your foot, and don't be afraid to size up to make it work. Another tip is to find yourself a thin, comfortable (sufficiently stretched-out to accommodate your foot) liner, and use it, instead of the stock liners, to try on all the boots (sometimes shops will have slightly-used race liners that they can sell cheap, from when a racer decides to upgrade to a custom liner). That way you will know you are comparing the shells themselves, rather than the differences between stock liners. Also, since you have a wider foot relative to instep than I do, you may need a lower instep boot to match your foot. The only way to tell is to try.
Of course, I might be able to find a boot that, with a 10-15 mm shell fit (i.e., in a 23 rather than a 24) is high enough in volume to accommodate my foot. But that would have to be a very high-volume boot, which means it most likely would be a recreational boot with nowhere near the performance of my Scorpion (and, in particular, far too soft), which would have been unacceptable to me. That's why I chose this approach instead -- I need to be in a race boot. [One caveat: when sizing up, you need to be sure the boot isn't too tall for you -- you might need a short-cuff version, or to confine yourself to boots with lower cuffs.]
II. FWD LEAN. Standing up the cuffs is risky. Harald has mentioned doing it on his B2's:
h.harb wrote:Highangles, on this topic, I just straightened my Raptor B2, 150s, again today, because they felt too far forward for me.
....yet, without having an expert do it, you risk changing the fit of the boot in a way that might not work for you. Further, once it's done, it may not be reversible. Again, you should talk to a PMTS fitter. But, barring that, here are two much less radical modifications that might make you more comfortable: (1) Check your binding delta. If it's high, try a pair of skis with a much lower delta and see if that improves things enough. [It takes a lot of change in binding delta to change fwd lean -- 5 mm per degree -- so you likely won't be able to get the cuffs as straight as you'd like, but it might be enough to help.] If yes, consider raising the toes on the bindings on your own skis and see if you like it. If yes, and you have multiple pairs of skis, consider having your boots gas-pedaled. Note also that this will reduce your bootboard zeppa. (2) Get some of those spoiler shims and flip them around to the front (putting them between the shell and the liner). This will reduce fwd lean, though at the expense of moving your heel out of the pocket (this clever kludge was suggested to me by a PMTS fitter). It's not ideal, but it might help.