And it feels good to be working on Dodge Ski Boots again.
Trip to ISPO and component suppliers was good, successful, fun. But also tiring. I’m waking up and falling asleep way too early, still on Euro time.
Dave & I completely rebuilt our personal boots yesterday with some new components to test, including buckles, catches, tongue and a liner coating. Think we’ll take them on the hill tomorrow and see if we can get the cobwebs out. (Played hockey this morning for the first time in 2 weeks and that felt good to work off some of the great food and beer from overseas!)
We’re getting some really good feedback from people who’ve purchased the boot. And we’re already incorporating some changes into our test boots.
One thing that is becoming even more apparent is how much the alignment of the cuff is on the boot. We’ve talked about it before, but you will recall how our cuff is much more sensitive (and reactive) to side-to-side alignment than the cuff on a rubber boot. Well, we’re also seeing the effect of its positioning on forward lean and hip position.
See, leg length and forward lean have a dramatic interaction that changes the hip position. If you have a short leg and too much forward lean (even 1 or 2 degrees) you will have to drop your hips too low to maintain a balanced position and the result feels like skiing from the back seat.
Conversely, if you have a long leg and not enough forward lean, you will ski too upright and have difficulty dropping your hips in a turn to get good angulation.
On a Dodge boot, it’s easy to change the forward lean by changing the side bushings. But, with our existing bushings, if you’ve already changed the side-to-side cuff alignment by 2 degrees, you’re out of adjustment.
So, we’ll be testing some new bushings with a greater range of adjustment to achieve both side-to-side and forward lean alignments. I’m looking forward to it as I know Mark is.
We’re also hearing from some of the guys skiing on the Europa Cup that they’re not used to having so much toe room and would like to feel more pressure on the top of their toes. (Imagine that, complaining about having a boot that let’s you wiggle your toes!) Easy solution for people who must confine their foot is to put a pad on top of the toe of the liner.
Lots more to discuss, but I have to get into the shop to work on boots. I’ll update more as the week progresses.
Looks like a fun ski bum race shaping up for next week.
Bill