I am posting my comments from the Ask The Boot Guys section. It took a bit of doing but I really dialed them in. See below. Sorry, it's lengthy.
Hi guys. Well, after two more days of pain and then numbness, I cried uncle and visited the shop. My wife came as well, as she was the voice of reason (I am the cheap one of the family). I was told that I am wide in the toe area and have narrow heals and small ankles. Lucky for the shop, I happen to fit best in one of the most expensive models (given what I was also looking for in a boot).
I got fitted for the the Falcon CS. Wow, what a difference. I had one hot spot caused by a prior broken pinky toe which now kind of sticks out further than it should. The fitter fixed that problem in a jiffy. I barely have to buckle the lower buckles and it feels super snug; like a glove. The funny thing was that the boot literally felt like it was half the weight of my old boot. I think it came from the fact that this boot has absolutely no play when my foot was in it; I mean NONE. He set up me just right. He looked at my superfeet inserts and said a custom was not necessary since a prior shop did a decent job of posting them where needed. As a matter of fact, prior to putting those in there, I felt like my heels did not want to get planted in the boots. I felt a bit like I was tip-toeing. Put in the superfeet and problem solved. He kept my ever so slightly canted inward, although it was flatter than in the old boots. It still felt the same edge to edge when skiing. The boot has a more upright feel than the old ones. It took a bit of getting used to on the slopes, but it was much more comfortable when standing in line. I also lost the slight pain in my knee cap, which showed up this season (getting old).
Oh yeah, no pain, no numbing, just all day happiness. Worth every freakin' penny. For those of you suffering, take it from one cheap bastard, it's worth it.
UPDATE:
After about 10 days in the boots I started to feel like I had too much room in the boot. My feet were slopping around but I felt like I had too much space in the toe area (up and down and side to side) and I felt like my left foot in particular had too much space. Now, I am being totally anal here, but I was really looking for a snug fit. I felt like I really had to put level pressure on my left foot, meaning heel and ball, for it to feel right when edging.
So, I went back to the shop and asked for some help. We first tried a thin shim in both boots. My right was getting crushed at the top and it made the left a bit better, but nothing great. I went back the following day and sat down with a very well informed bootfitter (they three or four in the shop). I explained to him what was going on and he said "I hate to tell you this but I think we need to size you down". He explained that their is a fine line between comfort and and a truly snug fit.
My foot is a tad over 28.0. He suggested the Falcon 10 in a 27.0 because for some reason it appeared to be narrower in the area vs. the Pro. I had zero room in it from side to with the liner out, since the edges of my feet were touching both sides. Front to back I was lucky to jam a finger in there. It was very tight when I got into the boot. I even felt a tiny bit of pressure on top of my big toe. However, the minute I leaned a bit forward, all pressure points disappeared! I didn't appear to have any hotspots but it wasn't the most comfortable neither. He asked me to give it a chance and try it out for a couple of days before making any changes to the shell. However, if I noticed any pain after taking the boots off, bruising, etc., then I was to come back imediately. He also kept the footbed that came with the boot in place, since he felt that my superfeet my make things too tight for now. He felt that I would appreciate a custom footbed, but felt that I should get at least 20 or say days of hard skiing in so the liner can break in a bit.
Fortunately, the next day was very warm so the boots did not shrink onto my foot. After a few hours the boot felt great. I could feel everything in the boot and the response was much quicker and precise. Mind you, I am not a racer, just a 42 year old guy that loves to ski. Even I could tell the difference.
Well, I put close to twenty days into these things and we didn't have to change a thing. The liners definately started to break in and I started to feel a bit of that left foot action that I spoke about earlier. Not nearly as bad though, I am just being a pain in the ass at this point. So I went back to the shop and visited my favorite boot guy. Told him what was going on, and I explained that I almost felt like maybe one part of the foot is caving in, thus floating another part. I think it is time to talk custom beds.
He recommended a semi custom footbed (he felt that it would do the job and the cost of a full custom will not justify the small added benefit. I guess I have a fairly normal foot.). Once he put my foot on the vacuum aparatus (I am sure it has a name) He immediately noticed that the ball on my left foot was pushed in fairly deep. He thought that may be the cause of the "floating" feeling I get. So he molded the footbed and posted up some of the areas underneath. He also added a tiny bit under the heel to help me a bit with forward lean.
Well, that made for a snug fit. I mean, things were pretty tight before. In the past, I basically just snugged the two front buckles down because they were there. It is even tighter now. But the feel is unreal. No more "floating" feeling. My feet are finally totally wrapped. I am so much more accurate edge to edge; it may be just in my head but those footbeds rock. Even more noticeable in the trees and bumps. Finally I feel like I know if I am going to move my feet, the skis will follow immediately. A good boot will wrap around the front, back, sides and top. The custom fills all those unnecessary spaces underneath. The gaps may be subtle, but they are there, and they suck. Oh yeah, there is the whole alignment thing as well and the ability of the boot guy to get you in the right position. I found that I am much happier being just a tad more forward, even though I sacrifice some comfort when standing in line.
For those of you looking for a truly snug fit. I understand why racers size down. They take it to the extreme but I think I found the happy medium.
One more thing. The flex of the 10 is a bit softer than the Pro. It felt very nice. Never thought about flex ratings before. It makes a difference, even for everyday bombing around. I believe the falcon 10 is rated 110. Much easier to flex and there was no way I was going to crush it. I weigh 170lbs. Great boot.
Done.
