Advice needed on Lange Exclusives

The saga to fix/replace my beloved, but packed-out, Lange CRL90s continues...

 

During our (New Zealand) summer I had sent to me a pair of Intuition Luxury liners.  I heat moulded them at home,  then had them re-done by a very switched-on young boot fitter here at my ski mountain (the guy is an ex-FIS racer and has boot fitted around the world)...both times they were way too tight on the front half of the foot, and had near zero heel retention.  Even after shaving off some of the liner, the forefoot is still not happy, and we're going to have to add major amounts of padding to try and get some semblance of heel retention.

 

So, I'm looking at replacing the boots altogether.  I've tried on a pair of Exclusive 80s in a size 25, which shell size to just a touch too long (two fingers and a tiny bit more) and don't have sufficient heel retention.  After nearly a week, a pair of size 24s arrived, which shell sized lengthwise to just a little less than one finger.  My big toes are not at all happy in them, and after a while the circulation is cut off across the top of the foot, but my heels are in heaven!  I am currently waiting on the only pair of Exclusive size 24.5 in the country to be couriered to the shop.  From the results of the shell sizing, I strongly suspect that they will turn out to also be too small for me.

 

My problem seems to be that in the time since I bought my CRL90s, Lange have moved to mondopoint sizing and my ideal length is smack bang in the middle of the two shell sizes now.  My CRL90s are 291mm, the Exclusive 24s are 283mm and the Exclusive 25s are 299mm.

 

So, I suspect I will be left with a difficult choice:

(1) Buy the 25s and hope that padding them out appropriately will work

(2) Buy the 24.5s and hope the toe box can be pushed out sufficiently whilst not making the boots leak terribly (my CRL90s leaked after I had them stretched ever so slightly at the side of the little toe, so I'm used to leaky boots, but I wouldn't like it to be much worse in the new ones than it is in my current pair)

 

I'd be grateful for any and all advice.  I know that buying a pair of boots that are "too big" is a no-no, but what is "too big" and if adding foam to them is simply adding more of (essentially) the same material that the liners are made of, is it really that big a no-no?  What is the problem?  Or am I better to risk buying the 24.5s if they feel "nearly right" and hope that they can be made to work?

 

I can't tell you how much I miss my pre-packed-out CRL90s!  As the song says, you don't know what you got till it's gone... :-(((((

exclusives sizing run is screwed, but for you it will work

24.0 =  283
24.5 = 291
25.0 = 299

so you SHOULD be fine, or at least in the right ball park.

FYI:   cm or mm is more accurate than fingers for measuring.    5-15mm is a good real number to look for.

Thanks mtnlion, this is interesting...are you saying that the 24.5 shell is a different length than the 24 and the 25?  I was under the impression that shell sizes only changed on the full size and the half size was "simulated" by having a liner with different characteristics (tighter stitching, slightly smaller/bigger) than the liner for the full size ?????

Also yes when I shell size boots myself I do it with little pieces of polystyrene that I cut to 5mm, 10mm, 15mm etc, but I feel a little silly taking them to the shop so I let the salesperson tell me how many fingers there are behind the heel!!

yup,  that is one of the few boots that change on the .5, but only in the 24.0, 24.5 and 25.0  Ask lange,  I have NO idea why.   screwed up my stores order BADLY one year.  (like some of the salomon 22.0 and 22.5 where 23 shells with a puffy liner)

Oh man!  You have NO idea what good news this is to me!  I've had my hopes raised and then dashed several times in the past 3 weeks, so I'm afraid to believe this is actually going to be the case (not that I think you're wrong, just being paranoid here, perhaps Lange make a different shell for NZ than the rest of the world...see I told you I was being paranoid!!!), but to find a shell that is actually the RIGHT length for me would just be heaven!!!  Ooo I can't wait until they arrive now!!!

buy me a beer one day.....  (if it works)

 

if it doesn't, then dont trust what you read online  ;)

I sure will!  (the beer, that is)

Boots arrived today, tried them on, bought them.  They need a bit of padding to push me back into the heel pocket, and strangely, they're not as tight as the CRL90s were when brand new, but they're the right length, and after all the troubles I've had recently, it's like coming home to be in these babies.  I ski them tomorrow, with my two-day-old Stockli Laser SLs...woo hoo!

Thanks again for making my day yesterday 

http://www.levelninesports.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=LB52210

CRL's for $100.  hard to beat if you like that boot.
just email them to confirm BSL vs mondo size

Geez, wouldn't you know it, I'm a 24.5 and it's the only size they don't have!

Many thanks anyway mtnlion, the thought is much appreciated 

BTW, my boot man has got the Exclusives just about dialed-in now, and has been working on revitalising my CRLs also, as a backup boot.  Must say I enjoy the CRLs more than the Exclusives, I find the flex too hard in the latter.  Hope they will "break in" at some stage!  Unfortunately my ski season is now over, so it'll be a year before I get back in either pair...

http://www.levelninesports.com/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=0&inc_subcat=1&keywords=CRL&Submit=Search


if you like the exclusives softer, then get the boot fitter to make them softer?  

Thanks for this...I didn't realise they had them in the 80 flex also.  I emailed them and asked if they could possibly send photos of the heel area of the liner since I'm so far away and there's nowhere in this country that has CRLs any more...they not only agreed to do it but took photos of the rest of the boot and liner also!  Seriously wonderful people.  I think they did it because I am so far away, so people, please don't overwhelm them with weird requests!     Unfortunately I suspect there isn't enough foam in the heel area so I'm going to walk away from this purchase, the heel area looks just like my Exclusives    I'd LOVE another pair of CRLs but not if they are just going to disappoint, like my "wonderful" idea to use Intuition liners did.

As for the flex in my Exclusives, I'm going to work on that this coming southern summer.  Hopefully they'll be a bit more "playful" next season.

Thanks again mtnlion, you are truly a lion among skiers