Dodge Boots: Review

[jbotti]

I bought some Dodge boots early in the season. I require a lot of alignment work and I need a lot of forward lean in my boots (I am 6 3" and all legs). Harald did some extensive work on the boots dialing in my alignment and forward lean. I had the boots with me in Montana for two weeks over the Holidays but it snowed almost every day and I just didn't want to mess with my boot set up in my Raptors which was working well. I was back in Montana for the past 3 days and I skied the dodges 2 of those days. They are by far the most amazing boots that I have ever skied!! Very simply, it feels like I am 50% quicker edge to edge and I am getting the skis to a much higher edge angle much earlier in the arc than I have ever done before. The pop that I am getting from the skis also feels to about 2x what I was ever getting, and I actually need to dial it back some because if I go full bore it is popping me literally way off the ground. Now here is the killer, I skied these off piste for half the day the past two days. I was a different skier. I was tipping to initiate the turns and the skis were snapping through the turns. I was shocked. Turns that I would have had to muscle some or at least wait for, I would tip and my skis would come right around. It was like magic. My brushed carved turns on groomed terrain were completely different because of the level of tipping that was happening naturally. My carved arcs on steep terrain were the tightest I have ever skied.

It may actually all be about how light they are. I feel like I have fast feet for the first time ever. I was skiing chop over bumps and it seemed easy and PMTS technique was effortless. I was shocked at times at how fast the skis came around in a perfect (Haraldesque) brushed carve turn. This is new for me.

The boots are real stiff. With a velcro power strap there is no give either. I suspect that with a booster strap you could dial in some more flex in the upper part of the boot. The only place where I would not want to ski this boot the way it was set up today (with velcro power strap) would be in hard bumps. Skied some harder off piste stuff at one point today and there is no give in these boots. Having said that everywhere I skied them today offpiste they skied great and we had a funky day. Rain at the bottom and wetter snow up top for much of the day. Lots of funky variation in the conditions. I actually love the stiffness. You get instant feedback if you get back at all because it transfers immediate pressure to the tails (again no give).

I am skiing the boot with the Nordica foam liner and these were foamed for my Raptors. I have tried sking in other liners and I just can't do it. Without the foam liner I just can't tip that much because I always feel the hard plastic of the shell and I get a abrasions on my feet rubbing up against the liner. With the foam liners these boots are close to perfect. Using the technique that Harald showed me about getting them on and off they are quite manageable (but not easy either as the foam liner doesn't allow the use of the back canal that is built into the boots).

I have never been able to tip this much and this quickly. I am carving tighter arcs that I ever thought were possible. To some degree I expected some percentage of this on groomed snow (but I really did not expect anything to this level). Where I have been totally shocked is the off piste performance. Becuse I can tip so much further and faster, terrain that seemed challenging now seems easy!! I also love the stiffness because I get instant feedback if I am back or not centered. More importantly, when you get forward and pressure the tips, wow does the ski bend. I have not taken these boots into gates, but I am pumped to do so!

I am not sure I have ever experienced a performance gain so significant in my years of skiing. I remember going to a well fit race boot and the gains were significant, but it was maybe 40-50% of the performance gain I got in one day in the Dodges.

Next time I am out I will try and get some video shot.

[A.L.E]

That sure is one hell of an endorsement!

Chris will be busy during race camp week. Would be smart to show up a few days early if you want boots.

[arothafel]

jbotti....

Welcome to the club!

These are amazing boots and will become the direction among serious "performance" skiers. It's no hype that these boots actually change your skiing for the better. I agree with you that the light weight offers new "quickness." I also think they improve or extend one's range of motion... (but that might just be in my head).

I have the stock liners and they go on stiff.. but within 20 minutes seem to mold to my feet and are quite comfortable.

Now, if they would just invent a boot that fixed my arm swing and rotation....!

[Max_501]

How about some before and after video. I don't doubt the changes but would like analyze the changes that are visible.

[jbotti]

You have more "before" video of me than I do. Let's see if I can come up with the after.

[ddodge]

Thanks for the great review.

For those of you that think the Dodge boot might too stiff for you, the forward flex can be easily softened to any flex desired.

[jbotti]

ddodge, I like them this stiff but how do you soften the forward flex? Thanks for designing such awesome boots!!

[h.harb]

I have plenty of before skiing video of John, in fact, there is one on my You tube channel. Agree with Dave Dodge, the boot doesn't have to be stiff, I never thought it was that stiff, I never feel the stiffness because it centers me so well. I don't hang on the front of the boot. I don't often run into the front, "hard" even in the bumps. It's excellent in all terrain skiing. How many ski boot designers, owners and inventors come onto any web site and actually discuss their product with skiers? None! Except Dodge!
Thanks Dave.

[geoffda]

Thanks for the great review.

For those of you that think the Dodge boot might too stiff for you, the forward flex can be easily softened to any flex desired.

Or you could just learn how to ski . Agree w/ Harald. I don't notice the stiffness. I had a little shin-bang early on, but it disappeared once I got used to the boot. I've now switched the power strap out to a Booster strap which feels great. Rumor has it that the Dodge power strap is being redesigned for a more "boosterish" feel.

Thanks for the great boot & great support Dave!

BTW, I've got probably 60 days now in my Dodge boots skiing all conditions. They work great everywhere. Yesterday I was skiing hip deep powder with them, two days before that it was nothing but bumps and hard pack. There are no limitations to these boots.

[h.harb]

You dog, I'm over here in Aspen with nothing but hard pack.

[geoffda]

You dog, I'm over here in Aspen with nothing but hard pack.

Heh, Breck was as deep as I've ever seen it yesterday. Better head for home; it's still dumping. I can barely see my neighbor's house. Tomorrow should be another great day!

[h.harb]

I'm home now, Do you think I need my wide boards, Peak 78?

[geoffda]

I'm home now, Do you think I need my wide boards, Peak 78?

I'm taking my wide boards to Copper today (Dynastar Mythic Riders 88 mm). They only got 8" which normally wouldn't cause me to change skis, but as deep as its been over the last three days, I think something with a bit more beef is warranted.

[jbotti]

Here are a few more of my thoughts on the Dodge Boot. Carbon fiber is much thinner than plastic. I skied the Raptor in a 313mm BSL and my foot fills it up inside with almost no space betwen the heel and back of the boot when doing a shell fit. I ski the Dodge in a 305mm BSL and it fits almost exactly the same in a shell fit. That means the thickness of the pastic is adding 8mm in length to the boot. This reduced length does help, wth some incerased fore aft leverage. However where this thinner Carbon fiber really makes a difference is laterally. Again, the dodge is 8mm thinner, or 4mm on each side. Boots are much smaller across than they are long, so reducing the width by almost a centimeter is huge when you think about the added leverage for tipping that it produces and you can feel this immediatelly when skiing the boot. As well the boots are substantially more stiff laterally than either my raptor 130's or my Raptor 150's. When the weather would get a little warmer I really could feel less stiffness in my Raptors especially laterally and it was bothering me. It is easy to understand why people who tip their skis first are raving about this boot. When you add to that the substantially reduced weight, it is no wonder that the boots feel so quick edge to edge. The added leverage combined with increased lateral stiffness in my opinion are the big keys to the performance gains that I am seeing.

[cheesehead]

How much do these boots cost? I have a feeling they cost a bit more than my $40 rear-entry boots. (Hey, at least I have awesome skis -- Head Supershapes)

For the incredibly ignorant, what is involved in getting a boot fitted -- I don't know what you mean by "shell fit" -- do you get the shell fit, and then you get the liner fit ? Then what ??

I am showing my ignorance of basic boot fitting here, so if someone wouldn't mind making me a little less ignorant, I would greatly appreciate it.