Author Topic: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot  (Read 1694 times)

ToddW

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Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« on: September 02, 2010, 03:50:10 pm »
Jim,

I don't know about carbon fiber skis, but the carbon fiber Dodge boots did quite well in NorAm GS this year and a non-ski-team fellow on them beat Ligety and Bodie a few weeks ago in GS at Coronet Peak.? Several sponsored athletes have done well racing them "off the record" in FIS competition but are bound by their current sponsorship agreements.?

10 years from now, we could all be skiing in carbon boots.? The word is they're great in powder and bumps too, but we'll have to see since those testers are elite athletes, not "real skiers."? HH is wearing an early model pair in part of his upcoming DVD and reportedly is a fan.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2010, 11:03:32 pm by jim-ratliff »

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jbotti

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #1 on: September 02, 2010, 04:55:13 pm »
Yeah, I have spoken with Harald several times about the dodge boots. He says they will shortly, within 2-4 years be dominant on the WC circuit because for racing they are vastly superior. When we last spoke about them he had not yet tried them for free skiing and off piste. I will ask him again next time we speak. It's possible that he has not had a chance yet to try them in all mountain conditions. If you are hearing that they are also great off piste, then my guess is that you and I will be in a pair in the next season or two!! Harald just raves about them for hard snow!!

Philpug

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #2 on: September 03, 2010, 02:48:31 am »
We have a couple of Dodge boots at the shop. Jim has been one of the go to guys in the R&D, he is not one to throw around praise often with a new boot but has said this boot is an unfair advantage on a race course.

Ron

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #3 on: September 03, 2010, 07:44:12 am »
why woud a carbon boot not be good in powder/ chop other than being too stiff?

jbotti

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #4 on: September 03, 2010, 08:16:32 am »
I think that question needs to be answered. Stiffness isn't necessarily bad off piste. Lots of great skiers ski in 150 flex boots in powder and bumps. I ski my 130 flex boots off piste in Montana when it is 0 degrees and they are as stiff as a 150 flex boot (which is not to say that I am a great skier!!). Clearly people need to try these boots off piste. I think we will get some early reads this season from Harald Harb and others (Jim Schaffner) and we can all decide if it sounds like they are worth tryng.

Ron

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #5 on: September 03, 2010, 08:46:33 am »
sounds like a plan. If they are lighter, that's a good thing for starters.

Philpug

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #6 on: September 03, 2010, 10:08:27 pm »
I just had a production one on today. Although it was a 24 shell, I could feel the power.

jbotti

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #7 on: September 05, 2010, 09:08:17 am »
Maybe one of the moderators will move this portion of the thread into a new one entitled Dodge Boots.

I think Jim was asking for the link. I put it below. Of the four authorized dealers one is Harald Harb and the other is Jim Schaffner. I don't think it's a coincidence that the two best bootfitters in the country are now selling dodge boots!!

http://dodgeskiboots.com/Index.htm

midwif

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Re: Ski Logik Ullr's Chariot
« Reply #8 on: September 05, 2010, 01:25:55 pm »

Uh, Phil, you hve the power at your fingertips.
Hit new topic button and take it away! ;D

Maybe in the boot section?

Jim is without cmptr. This is sent from my droid.
"Play it Sam"

jim-ratliff

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #9 on: September 07, 2010, 08:08:38 am »

Jim is no longer without computer. Thread moved as requested.   ;D ;D ;D
"If you're gonna play the game boy, ya gotta learn to play it right."

jbotti

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #10 on: September 07, 2010, 09:40:57 am »
BTW, I now remember what Harald told me about these boots. Not only do you get a race fit that is unparalleled but these boots are easy to get on and off. I have skied in tight race boots now for years. I would never give up the fit or the power that you have with the boot, but getting them on and off can be a chore especially after a day of skiing in very cold temps. Evidently the dodge boots open right up and come off instantly with no pain and no grunting. A lot of it is the design but some of it also is the fact that carbon fiber does not get stiffer with colder temps. The stiffness is the same at every temp.

I thnk that most skiers would happily pay an extra $700 for boots that will give them race boot performance with on off ease of a cushy intermediate boot. Cost on these is $1500 which sounds high but again, if they are easy to get on and off, many will jump just for this reason.

Again, if they end being great in all mountain conditions, these may be the ticket for many skiers!!

Ron

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2010, 09:50:18 am »
hmm, not this skier! ;D  700 dollars for ease of gettig in and out? no...

jbotti

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2010, 10:24:19 am »
Yeah $700 may be a lot. But I think if you asked most guys that ski in race boots they would say the one thing that they dislike the most is how hard it is to get them off in the cold. As well msot skiers in race boots don't want to trade the fit and performance for ease of on and off. If you are already in boots that are easy to get on and off, why would you pay $700 for that same feature, and you wouldn't. Still I know many guys that reallly struglle with getting race boots off and they would more than likely look quite hard at the dodge boots for the improvement in ease.

I actually don't really struglle with on and off in my Raptor 130's. I have a new pair of Raptor 150's that I will ski on some days this year and these are real bears to get on and off.

jbotti

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2010, 02:39:19 pm »
This is a comment today from Harald Harb on Dodge boots. Still waiting to hear how they are for freeskiing:

"The latest on Dodge Boots.

We know that Warner Nicherson who has been flirting with making the US Ski Team for the past ten years has been skiing great on Dodge Boots this spring and summer. He podiumed in every US Nations event and beat Bode and Ligety and Neureither in FIS races, (all World Cup winners) in New Zealand.

Now Ace Tarbury, former Nor Am racer, from NH, who is not on the US Ski Team radar, is running times with Ligety and Miller. Dodge boots are a game changer. They are going to change the face of ski racing and skiing."

jbotti

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Re: Dodge Carbon Fiber uber boot
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2010, 11:29:59 am »
Here is an article I found on Dodge Boots.The fact that these boots weigh half as much as regular boots is huge. Think about doing hop turns and how much less energy they will take having to lift 10 lbs less on each hop. Think about skinning and carrying that much less weight up hill. If these ever go into mass prduction, they will be able to bring down the cost. Retail price for a full on WC boots is currently $950. It won't take a lot of volume for them to get to that price. My guess is that ultimately they can get it to $600-700 per boot. Assuming they can adjust the flex (which they say thay can with no problem), this will be a huge hit with the TGR crowd as well as the entire back and slack country crowd. My prediction is that in less than 5 years these (or copies of these) will be the biggest selling boots in the industry. If I were Lange or Head or Nordica I would buy these guys up quickly!!

Here is the aricle:

The End of Plastic Ski Boots?
When it comes to ski boots, David Dodge thinks carbon fiber, not plastic, is where it?s at. Find out more about his new product, Dodge Ski Boots, which are lightweight carbon boots that even ski racers are endorsing.
By Kirk Kardashian emailprintsharecomm entrelated tags: Gear carbon fiber ski boots Dodge Ski Boots Alpine High Performance Alpine Ultra-High Performance AT Boots
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Dodge Ski Boots
Enlarge PhotoBob Lange revolutionized the ski industry in 1959 with his plastic ski boot. Since then, every other piece of equipment has made great leaps in technology, materials, safety and performance. The modern ski boot, however, is still made the same way it was 50 years ago, by injecting melted plastic into a mold, cooling it, and sticking a liner inside. ?It hasn?t changed at all, really,? says David Dodge, a mechanical engineer who has worked for Rossignol, Burton, and Lange in his 30-plus-year career.

Dodge got tired of waiting for the ski boot to evolve, so he decided to force the issue. In December of 2008, he and his business partner Bill Doble founded Dodge Ski Boots in Doble?s three-bay garage in Essex Junction, Vermont. Their mission was to create a light, stiff, comfortable, carbon-fiber boot that?s easy to get into.

Making such a boot is harder than it sounds. A handful of companies have tried and failed. Dodge worked for a short time with Rossignol on the idea. They put together a prototype that Hermann Maier endorsed, but the boot wasn?t practical: It lasted a just a few days before falling apart, and it was nearly impossible to put on. Eventually, Rossignol stopped funding the project.

Dodge took what he learned from the experience and started experimenting. A year later, in December of 2009, the boot became available to the public, and it?s attracted the attention of three World Cup racers, who have been skiing on them in practice for a few months.

So far, the feedback?s been surprisingly good. ?Every test we?ve done where we?ve had a good comparison between a skier?s regular boots and our boots on a timed run on decent snow, they?ve been faster on our boots,? Dodge says.

What?s the difference? Two things: weight and stiffness. When you decrease the weight of a boot (Dodge?s is half the weight of a plastic boot) and increase its stiffness, it vibrates at such a high frequency that the skier can?t even notice it. That means more control and greater precision, Dodge says. And his boot-testers are bearing that out. One said that the boot allows him to set an edge angle at the beginning of the turn and not mess with it until the transition. ?I think you?re really onto something here,? the World Cup skier told Dodge. ?I feel like I don?t have to use as much knee in the turn. That should be a real advantage once I get used to it.?

The advantages should be the same for freeskiers, or anyone looking for a system that transfers their energy and position directly into the ski, with as little slop and deflection as possible. In addition, the substantial weight savings means that Dodge?s technology would be perfect for alpine-touring enthusiasts. High-level randonn?e racers use carbon-fiber boots today, but they lack the stiffness that most skiers want for the descent. Dodge is looking to partner with companies that have experience in those niches.

Whether plastic boots have met their demise is still an open question. Dodge is a little wary of being the instigator of the transformation, because others can come in and improve upon what you?ve done. ?Sometimes it?s better to be the second one on the scene,? he says.