docmartin wrote: I have to admit that I am very surprised that some, most prominently Harald, have gone back to "rubber" boots. It would make me cry if I had to.
There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to the Dodge Boots and Plastic plug boots. Dodge boots have a distinct advantage over plastic boots at the very top of the High C portion. The grip with Dodge here is other worldly and incredibly confidence inspiring. But plastic boots are superior lower in the arc at the apex where there maximum pressure has been built. The dodges don't give and they lack feel in the apex of the turn. On ice they simply chatter at this portion of the arc and that is why no one on the WC uses them. Everyone loves the grip at the top of the turn but no one can stop them from chattering on ice. I find as does Harald that I can get more ski bend throughout the arc with plastic boots and while it requires more finesse in the high C with plastic boots, the ability to bend the ski more is of greater benefit to me than is superior grip in the high C.
There are two other reasons who some have switched back to plastic. First the dodge is a 98mm lasted boots and that is too wide for many of us. Head Raptor B2 150's are significantly tighter than the Dodges and the B3's are quite a bit tighter as well.
Lastly, with so much less give in carbon, the Dodges are definitely tougher on the knees. I have mild tendinitis in both knees. In my two (might have been 3) seasons in my Dodges my knees barked the whole way through both seasons. I thought I was just getting older. When I switched back to plastic all those issues went away immediately and I go through the whole season now with no tendinitis issues.