There are a lot of reasons you can be having problems with your boots. It isn't ALWAYS the manufacturer. It can be how the boots were fit: have you put on/lost weight? were your feet cramped the day the fitting was done? what kind of socks/tights/(if any) were you wearing when the measurements were taken? did you just do a drawing of your foot? did you let the plaster cast set up completely? had you just been skating or were you wearing some other kind of shoe prior to the fitting? And remember whatever at any manufacturer tells you about another bootmaker... they ARE competitors! So they do have a conflict of interest.
As for Tim Goebel and his "boot problems" -- George Spiteri made more than a dozen trips to wherever Tim was to fix whatever problems Tim was having with his boots.. and publicly Tim just kept saying he was having boot problems.. turned out he was having BODY problems... he had an injury (don't remember if it was leg or back) that made him favor one side, which changed his posture, which changed how he landed jumps, which he then blamed on the boots. George made SEVERAL new pairs of boots for Tim during that time.. and all Tim did was complain about his boots. When Tim changed coaches, the first thing he had to do was get a complete check-up.. and VOILA.. a physical therapist discovered the problem with his back/leg/body.. and started working on that.. and now his boots are just fine... along with his body.
Remember, Michelle Kwan has done rather well in her SP-Teris. The only year she had serious problems was the year she was in Reidell boots because of an endorsement deal. She's been back in SP-Teris and has won how many National titles? How many World titles? How many Olympic medals?
I admit I may be biased. I've worn only SP-Teri boots since my second pair (my first pair were Reidells) and I've only had one problem in 15 years. The tongue of one boot started slipping to the outside.. so I had a hook installed on the tongue and now my boots are fine again.
When buying new skates explain any problems you've had in the past. If you have a problem after you buy boots, take them back and explain thoroughly what the problem is.Different boots fit differently... even custom boots may not fit immediately... since they are usually built on the last of the company's stock skates. Some stock skates are built for narrow feet, some for wide feet, some for wide balls and narrow heels. .find what fits YOU best!
I'm pretty sure ALL the bootmakers are trying to do what's best for their customers... they all want us to keep coming back to them.. so they ARE trying to keep the skaters happy.
). They feel just fine - in fact, I was doing axels the first day with just a bit of pain in the ankles. The pain cleared up after the first few days.
