Thread: Your Dynafit Titan Ultralight Mods

Hi All,

Just got me a pair of new ones - with hard-earned money. I was wondering what modifications others have done to the buckles, straps, t-bolts for soles, glue, tape, liners, etc..

Share it all right here in this thread.

Cheers

PS - please keep it specific to this boot model.


weight without liners.

The first thing I did was ditch the stock liners, replace with Intuition PWs and custom footbeds. Next, I skied them. I found that the velcro strap didn't do much, for one, and two, didn't expand big enough when in tour mode to keep it velcroed together. Also, the plastic cuff clicked (like everyone has commented on) when I was in tour mode. When I got home that night I removed the cheep velcro strap. For me, the boot is stiff enough with the PW liners that I don't need a strap. The next thing I did was move the top two buckles to the one size smaller position (they come stock in the widest setting). This allows me to use the free float buckle position while touring and NOT get the clicking!!! I repeat, this eliminates the clicking! This might not work for everyone, depending on your calf size, but it'd be worth trying before you go cutting plastic off your new $800 boot. That's all for now. They feel and ski great!

^^ Thanks for the scoop

I Went to Intuition tonight and bought the Pro-Tour. Did one heat moulding and it seems like a nice snug fit. May need to do more fitting after skiing them. GREAT WALK MODE. The folks at Intuition are really dialled-in and totally dedicated to making it all fit. "THANKS INTUITION"

I did what SCS did re moving the upper buckles and it worked.

The Power straps are pretty pathetic and I'd ditch them. I'd replace them with the Scarpa style booster straps

I'd remove that lower buckle. It does nothing for me.

I'd drill a new hole for the second buckle and move it a bit closer to my instep - that's my personal preference though

I'd put Intuitions in.

Oh yeah - thx for pointing out the cant/no cant thing. Man I feel like a dumbass for that mistake.

As a test, I just skinned a sample boot cuff with 2 layers of plain carbon fiber weave. It bonded real well, stiffened the cuff by a factor of 2.5-3 and only added 4 grams weight (with 2 layers and only 1/3 the total cuff area).

I could drill out my Titan Ultralight ankle rivets, remove the hardware and do the same to most of the exposed plastic. If it works, I'll have the first Carbon Fibre Titan Ultralight. If it doesn't ... the worlds stiffest mother of a boot.

The only thing I am deciding is if to make the cuff on the sides or front a little taller (I'm liking 1/2 inch to an inch more)

Originally Posted by canwilf

As a test, I just skinned a sample boot cuff with 2 layers of plain carbon fiber weave. It bonded real well, stiffened the cuff by a factor of 2.5-3 and only added 4 grams weight (with 2 layers and only 1/3 the total cuff area).

Now, I'm thinking, I could drill out my Titan Ultralight ankle rivets, remove the hardware and do the same to most of the exposed plastic.

If it works, I'll have the first Carbon Fibre Titan Ultralight. If it doesn't ... the worlds stiffest mother of a boot.

Let me know if that works. I really dig the fit of the Technica Agent BC120, but it's too soft and the cuff is too short.

Originally Posted by canwilf

I was going to get the Power-Wrap Plug for resort skiing. Was. Will try the Pro-Tour and see if it works at the resort.

I have a really tight shell fit in my Factors and bought and moulded the Power Wrap Plugs I bought from Intuition. Little did I know that the liners were too thin to take up the space around my skinny shin/calves. Intuition sent me Power wraps even though I had molded the plugs, awesome service. If your Pro-tours work but you still want a wrap liner, I would recommend the standard Power Wrap unless you have thick lower legs.

As a preliminary, I wanted to see if the Dynafit Titan Ultralight Carbon Cuff reinforcement serves an intended purpose. That is, does it prevent the cuff from bulging out under flex at the rivet point? Reinforce the hinge? Add some backbone?

The carbon fiber part flexes very easy in a few directions (pinch, pull-apart and twist) with almost with no force applied. The only way it can serve as a reinforcement is with the fore-aft movement of the cuff and the ankle pivot. It possibly keeps the top cuff piece from stressing the hinge of the soft Pebax when the the boot flexes forwards and provides a more solid connection between the rear 'spine' part of the upper and the hinge. It does not seem to be reinforced and connected in a way to beef up rearward flex.

It does not prevent the cuff from bulging at the sides when the boot is flexed forwards as it provided no support in that area. It most likely allows Dynafit to use the softer plastic for the boot upper.

The older Titan has a plastic part there for reinforcement and a carbon fiber part of this size may weigh a bit less.

edit: No beefing up of this part would ever beef up the boots forward flex. As designed, it does all that such a design can do already.

Hey Canwilf,

Any feedback with the pro tour in the titan? What size liner vs boot shell? Want to do the same, just looking for some feedback before I pull the trigger. Thanks.

Originally Posted by kevino

Hey Canwilf,

Any feedback with the pro tour in the titan? What size liner vs boot shell? Want to do the same, just looking for some feedback before I pull the trigger. Thanks.

Hi Kevin, The Pro-Tour is really great. I am in a 26.5 boot shell and the liner is a 27 Medium Volume. Make sure that you get both the toruing tongue and the freeride (stiff) tonguewhn you buy yours.

... and the rest of the story ... I baked my liners again using the oven method (as per the tgr oven method) and they got all puffy and then molded really nice to my foot. All was well until I got skiing and I noticed that the liner molded too well (if there is such a thing) and it is now slightly shorter than my shell inside. So, when walking, I can feel the liner shift fore and aft. My bad.

edit: the liner now actually fits perfectly. A few weeks later and there was a minute amount of rebound and the liner now fits the shell purrrfectly.
Using the oven method with the cold rack (explained somewhere on TGR threads) really does work well.

What I learned, don't overcook them! And also, make sure that your boot is the right size. I am borderline 8.5 mens (left foot) 9.0 (right foot)
and I see now that I might have fit into a size 25.5 shell. If so, then the tighter shell would have been perfect for my newly formed ultra-fitting-too-short liner.

... Also ... I thought the boot was stiff enough for my inbounds skiing. Wrong. It is a bit too soft laterally and even a bit too soft fore-aft for my liking. It is not bad, much better than my previous Radium. My old Garmont Axon (God Bless the Axon!) worked great until the tech piece busted... wish I had that boot for daily use at resorts now.

BTW, I am 215lbs, 6' and ski hard blues and blacks on 186cm Line Prophet 100s.

I say pull the trigger on the Pro-Tour. Mine fits snug and with the laces it is so easy to get my foot in-and-out of the shell. Just lace up the liner and then slip foot in. On skis 100mm or less, skied moderately, the boot is very good. as a mixed touring/freeride type boot.

The pro-tour stiff tongue is better for inbounds.

blah blah . it is late. So I'll leave those thoughts with you.

Thanks for the quick response. So going up one shell size worked well for you, eh?

As far as stiffness goes, I come from a short background of skiing, and only in AT boots, so these guys work well for me (including up to 123 mm waisted ski inbounds). Also come is a real booster strap, not that useless too short piece of velcro dynafit includes.

Originally Posted by kevino

So going up one shell size worked well for you, eh?

The 26.5 and 26 are the same shell size. I think that the Intuitions only come in full sizes and Intuition gave me a 27 to fill any excess volume. And that was now pointless because I home baked them and now have some excess volume.

With skiing, I'd say better to go down one shell size if possible. If the boot fits OK without the liner than one or two heatings of the liner will ensure that it is thin enough where needed.

Caution - I was told that the boot is hard to punch. So, if in doubt go with correct size, not smaller. And smaller might be good for skiing but worse for touring.

Originally Posted by canwilf

As a test, I just skinned a sample boot cuff with 2 layers of plain carbon fiber weave. It bonded real well, stiffened the cuff by a factor of 2.5-3 and only added 4 grams weight (with 2 layers and only 1/3 the total cuff area).

I could drill out my Titan Ultralight ankle rivets, remove the hardware and do the same to most of the exposed plastic. If it works, I'll have the first Carbon Fibre Titan Ultralight. If it doesn't ... the worlds stiffest mother of a boot.

The only thing I am deciding is if to make the cuff on the sides or front a little taller (I'm liking 1/2 inch to an inch more)

can you shed a little more light on what you did with the carbon here? My titans are getting pretty soft, and I'd love to beef them up and possibly lighten them in the process. How hard is it to work with carbon fiber? Any photos?

Has anyone ever ground off the forward lean stops on your titans? were there any problems? I was thinking it would help them climb very steep snow and ice better, as it would enable you to drop your heel a lot further.

Originally Posted by canwilf

Caution - the boot is hard to punch. So, if in doubt go with correct size, not smaller.

The regular Titan is quite easy to punch, so maybe consider that one if you're looking to downsize and the boots don't fit well out of the box.

Originally Posted by LeeLau

I did what SCS did re moving the upper buckles and it worked.

The Power straps are pretty pathetic and I'd ditch them. I'd replace them with the Scarpa style booster straps

I'd remove that lower buckle. It does nothing for me.

I'd drill a new hole for the second buckle and move it a bit closer to my instep - that's my personal preference though

I'd put Intuitions in.

Oh yeah - thx for pointing out the cant/no cant thing. Man I feel like a dumbass for that mistake.

How much are you able to move the instep buckle back? Do you have a photo of your mod? I feel like having the buckle closer to the ankle would help heel hold down while skinning and skiing. Right now tightening it just crunches the top of my foot more than it secures the ankle.

I've skied my Titans with Intuition Alpine wrap liners and the stock liner. The stock liner didn't hold my narrow foot well. The wrap liner skies nicely but tours poorly in my opinion. It really restricts the stride on a boot that otherwise has decent cuff movement. I'm going to try touring with the intuition liners out of Scarpa Maestrales. (Like a pro-tour liner.) The flex zone gives a much easier stride and I think that the laces will help with my blister problems. The liner takes up less volume than the wrap, but I seem to be able to buckle the boot a few more notches without discomfort. We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by samthaman

can you shed a little more light on what you did with the carbon here? My titans are getting pretty soft, and I'd love to beef them up and possibly lighten them in the process. How hard is it to work with carbon fiber? Any photos?

Has anyone ever ground off the forward lean stops on your titans? were there any problems? I was thinking it would help them climb very steep snow and ice better, as it would enable you to drop your heel a lot further.

Hi samthaman. The boots are still in progress. I am installing new canting ankle bolts today and then to do the carbon fiber layup in all the right places this week. I hope to have some pictures in a week to post.

As for removing the forward stop. I would leave it as it prevents the front cuff from scrunching against the boot top when you lean forward. The leaning also make the sides bulge outwards at the ankle hinge area. If you remove that, it might bulge a lot more as the boot top spreads apart the cuff sides. Also, all the pressure would become focussed on the spine metal bar and it is held by a metal pin in the spine plastic and that might break.

As for working with Carbon Fiber, it may take a bit of trial and error to get used to working with the material. I learned a lot in the last two weeks making samples of various thickness (1,2,3 layers) bonding it to an old ski boot cuff (now as stiff as could be) and making the wife some carbon fiber shinpads backed by foam (which I had to redo one and used a blow-torch to burn off the foam and the carbon fiber part was unafected by the flames.) It is pretty neat stuff to have around the house and you can do other fun stuff with it.

Here was my supplies list:
* 1 square metre of Plain Carbon Fiber weave, not twill, light weight, easy draping. Better to get triaxial weave if they have it.
(Bought at a plastics supplier in Vancouver)
* G/Flex epoxy. Most Marine Supplies stores have it in stock. Only use this stuff, nothing else. It is more flexible when cured than regular Westsystems Epoxy and sticks to a lot more stuff -- expecially better on PU plastics. Virtually indestructable.
* 80 grit sandpaper. All plastics need to be sanded and also flame treated with a blow-torch. See the G/Flex website for instructions - you just oxidize the surface.
* Good office scisors. Stir sticks, little clean yogurt cups, spreaders, a cheap stiff plastic roller. Clamps. Glad Wrap doesn't stick well to the epoxy.
* Good quality 10 pack of disposable gloves.
* Easy peel-off masking tape to put down on the weave when making shapes and cutting.
== $75 or so. But the Epoxy can be used for other projects and you can now get a job at NASA!

More rambling ..... The easy peel masking tape is a must. Every time I was cutting the fabric little bits would come off and then I noticed that each strand is made of 100 micro strands. They get up your nose and cause a lot of nasal tickles that don't go away untill you put water up your nose and wash them out. Tape over all the lines you are cutting to stick to the little fibres and pevent the unpleasant need to nose wash.

More rampling #2 .... The Epoxy is one part BPA one part Catalyst. If you get the BPA on you, it is the same as the bad stuff they banned from plastic baby bottles and old Nalgene bottles. The uncured Epoxy BPA "mimics estrogenic activity and impacts various dopaminergic processes to enhance mesolimbic dopamine activity". In other words, you will get a high voice, grow tits, and have female sperms, maybe even cause you to ramble a lot. Clean everything with Acetone that gets that stuff on it.

** Caveat. The boot is not done. So, who knows, it could be a BIG FAIL on my $950 new boots! ** Just going slowly to make sure I get it right.

Here are pictures from my sample boot plastic piece and wifes new shinpads:

Piece of a boot cuff skinned with two layers. Practice, not perfect by any means.


With foam backing and before foam backing. Weight of two-ply Carbon Fibre piece = 10 grams. Strength = Good also felxible. Three ply would be quite stiff and less bendable.

Originally Posted by canwilf

As for working with Carbon Fiber.

Don't forget the kick-off point where the epoxy starts to smoke and melt the container and harden instantly. Fun times messing about with this stuff.



The easy peel off masking tape for cutting shapes is something I had not considered for keeping the edges of the fabric nice and tidy.

Hey dromond. It was adimmen's mod not mine. I couldn't really drill holes in boots that were given to me for testing as that'd not be the nicest thing to do. I'll ask him if he can put up pictures.

Originally Posted by Dromond

How much are you able to move the instep buckle back? Do you have a photo of your mod? I feel like having the buckle closer to the ankle would help heel hold down while skinning and skiing. Right now tightening it just crunches the top of my foot more than it secures the ankle.

I've skied my Titans with Intuition Alpine wrap liners and the stock liner. The stock liner didn't hold my narrow foot well. The wrap liner skies nicely but tours poorly in my opinion. It really restricts the stride on a boot that otherwise has decent cuff movement. I'm going to try touring with the intuition liners out of Scarpa Maestrales. (Like a pro-tour liner.) The flex zone gives a much easier stride and I think that the laces will help with my blister problems. The liner takes up less volume than the wrap, but I seem to be able to buckle the boot a few more notches without discomfort. We'll see how it goes.

Originally Posted by LeeLau

Hey dromond. It was adimmen's mod not mine. I couldn't really drill holes in boots that were given to me for testing as that'd not be the nicest thing to do. I'll ask him if he can put up pictures.

Awesome! It sounds like a nice halfway point to the full-on frankenboot hoji ankle buckle mod.

to the OP, i have to ask, what's your background with skiing? you seem to be rather fearlessly taking apart these boots. What are you replacing the shitty ankle rivets with? I've toured in mine so much that they've developed a good 1/4 inch of play in all directions, and it'd be nice to firm them up again..

Edit: it just occurred to me: if you've got access to them, it might be interesting to replace the buckles with the wire ones from BD quadrants, i have no numbers to verify, but they seem to be a lot lighter.

Originally Posted by samthaman

to the OP, i have to ask, what's your background with skiing? you seem to be rather fearlessly taking apart these boots. What are you replacing the shitty ankle rivets with? I've toured in mine so much that they've developed a good 1/4 inch of play in all directions, and it'd be nice to firm them up again..

Edit: it just occurred to me: if you've got access to them, it might be interesting to replace the buckles with the wire ones from BD quadrants, i have no numbers to verify, but they seem to be a lot lighter.

Take them to a shop with a rivet press and have them repress the cuff rivets. They'll tighten up again just like new. Any cuff rivet will loosen over time, just a matter of how much you use it.

Originally Posted by samthaman

to the OP, i have to ask, what's your background with skiing? you seem to be rather fearlessly taking apart these boots. What are you replacing the shitty ankle rivets with? I've toured in mine so much that they've developed a good 1/4 inch of play in all directions, and it'd be nice to firm them up again..

Hey sam - what prodigy said. I did that with my ZZeus boots.

Originally Posted by samthaman

to the OP, i have to ask, what's your background with skiing? you seem to be rather fearlessly taking apart these boots. What are you replacing the shitty ankle rivets with? I've toured in mine so much that they've developed a good 1/4 inch of play in all directions, and it'd be nice to firm them up again..

Edit: it just occurred to me: if you've got access to them, it might be interesting to replace the buckles with the wire ones from BD quadrants, i have no numbers to verify, but they seem to be a lot lighter.

Pressing the ankle rivets: If all you want is to tighten them then take them to a shop and have the rivets pressed. They are made of magnesium or something very light and a somewhat brittle. Re-pressing them is definitiley worth. One original rivets weighs all of 8 grams. The steel replacement rivets I am using weigh 20 grams.

Me: I am just your average weekend warrior skier. I do 10-15% ski touring and the remainder in-bounds mostly blue and blacks. I would like to do more ski touring and really like that I can use one boot for both. My previous boot was the Radium. It was OK for inbounds and OK for touring, and the wrong size ... which is why I bought the Titan UL. The swappable soles is great. I was surprised that the Titan was so good at walk-mode but the cuff height, lateral support and stiffness left me wanting a bit more.

I am doing the left foot boot first. That way if I mess it up royally ... I can sell a one-legged person a good condition almost-new ski boot

I obtained canting ankle rivets from Fanatico and Eric Hjorleifson was kind enough to give me some pointers with what he did and on how to grind the cuff and shell to get them to fit the boot. It does require a lot of work because the boot bottom ankle holes need to be ground to the right diamater (different for inside and outside), and the cuff upper holes need grinding to get them to fit properly, and also the cuff interface between the plastic and carbon fibre needs to be mated perfectly and then permanenetly fixed with epoxy (G/Flex again) in order to make them work with the new ankle assembly. Needless to say, I am going very slowly and checking everything twice.

Here are pictures of the parts and the epoxied in-place boot side connectors:


Old part drilled out.


Inside canting assembly on the left. Outside assembly on right. Different views.


How it all mates.


Boot lower with parts fitted and epoxied in place. Also needs a bit of grinding on one side to make it flush.

Re: cuff canting, my shop had a different solution.

They removed the stock fixed rivets, then vertically elongated the holes on the lower boot. Then a t-nut with teeth was installed at the top of the elongated hole, clamping the alignment in the correct spot. So far, I haven't had any slipping and it has held up well.

^^ Sounds a lot easier! Can you post pictures?