Dave & I just got back from Stowe. Took about 6 non-stop runs. Dave was on his GS skis so you know we weren’t dilly-dallying. Snow was mostly hard, with some spots on North Slope that were just plain slick.
The Dodge Ski Boots were really feeling and performing great. Cold weather (about 12 degrees) and feet stayed reasonably warm. Best of all, the boots had the same nice flex at 12 degrees as they do at 70 degrees inside the shop.
I am doing various mods on my personal boots so I can have first-hand experience with how they can be affected. Today was the first day with a softening modification. The way we’re doing it is by cutting down the height of the back of the lower shell instead of cutting the cuff. It maintains a good linear flex rather than an abrupt flex. I softened them more than I would like for normal use, but found a good flex for someone who’s smaller than me. That’s the point of this testing.
The next test will be to take another, un-softened pair of shells and do side-by side comparisons to really see how the ski is affected.
Then I’ll be trying some playing around with the ankle bushings to change cuff cant and also forward lean. Dave has changed one of his cuffs and says the effect is much greater than on his “rubber” boots.
More as we have it.
Bill