Do I Need Custom Boots? How Bont Customs Are Made and Who They're For

Written for OurSkates. Reviewed and verified by Vincent Henry, 50x British National Champion and FISS Level 3 coach. Last updated July 2026.

A full custom boot is not a stock boot adjusted. It is a boot that did not exist until your foot was measured, built around a mould of you.

How it is made

It starts with capturing your foot: resin-impregnated Bont Sox, a laser scan, or plaster bandages, alongside the alginate and plaster technique Inze Bont developed in 1974 that started all of this. The mould is then sculpted, trimming the soft tissue areas and shaping the Achilles region, because a raw cast of a foot is not yet the shape a boot should hold. The boot is built directly around the finished mould, layer by layer, then the mould comes out and the boot goes in a box to you. Bont has been doing this longer than anyone, currently builds more custom boots per week than every other maker combined, and every bootmaker on the line has at least fifteen years of experience.

Who actually needs one

Skaters with bunions, prominent bones, or lumps that stock boots press on. Feet that differ meaningfully from each other. Anyone whose narrow or wide fitting still is not right. And skaters at the level where the last percent of power transfer is worth paying for, because a boot with zero internal movement wastes nothing. Beyond the fit, customs open the options list: your colours, padding, stiffness and boot height.

Is it worth it?

If a stock or semi custom boot fits you well, honestly, you do not need one. If nothing ever has, or you are racing at a level where equipment margins matter, yes, without hesitation. The everyday alternative is the semi custom, which fixes most fit problems at a lower price, and if you are unsure which side of the line you sit on, send us a foot drawing and we will tell you straight.

Ready to start? Browse custom made inline speed skating boots, or get in touch to arrange foot moulding with Bont Sox.