Any boot designers or engineers out there?

[burrito]

I'm an industrial designer, and I occasionally spend a my free time working on random design ideas for products within the ski and snowboard industry. One thing that I've always been curious about is what the primary driver of cost is for ski boots. A good pair of boots is your most important piece of equipment, but the fact that a lot of top-end models approach anywhere from $750 to $1000 can make them prohibitively expensive for a lot of people. My hunch has always been that it's driven by the cost of the insane amount of custom, injection-mold tooling needed to create all of the different molds necessary for a full range of sizes. I've done a lot of footwear design in my career, and even the relatively simple tooling for an athletic shoe can get really expensive. Is there anyone out there with industry experience that can offer some insight into this part of the process? Thanks.

[ghosthop]

The molds, dawg

one of the atomic engineers posts on newschoolers under the handle onenerdykid or some variation, if you go through their version of tech talk you will be able to find his posts, he had some to say with the development of the backland/hawx 2.0

[abraham]

Wildsnow says ~100k per mold. From here https://www.wildsnow.com/4292/backco...skiing-scarpa/

[east or bust]

This was one of the UVM M.E. capstone projects this year:



I'd love to hear some guesses as to the idea behind it.

[Skidog]

This was one of the UVM M.E. capstone projects this year:



I'd love to hear some guesses as to the idea behind it.

Das Stupid

[Shredhead]

This was one of the UVM M.E. capstone projects this year:

I'd love to hear some guesses as to the idea behind it.

http://www.dallasnews.com/lifestyles...ep-skiing1.ece

[Sessiøn]

The molds, dawg

one of the atomic engineers posts on newschoolers under the handle onenerdykid or some variation, if you go through their version of tech talk you will be able to find his posts, he had some to say with the development of the backland/hawx 2.0

Yah, probably the best source of info that actually engages the online skiing community

[nickinbc]

This was one of the UVM M.E. capstone projects this year:

Reminds me of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nava_System

I did actually see it on the snow once.

[ill-advised strategy]

what I want to know is how long before I can 3D print my shells?

[swissiphic]

what I want to know is how long before I can 3D print my shells?

+1,000

[gregL]

what I want to know is how long before I can 3D print my shells?

Companies are prototyping boot shells with 3D printers now (K2 Pinnacle comes to mind) but the choice of plastics that will go through the printer are limited so far - the ones I've seen are so hard you can't really put your foot in them.

[wasatchback]

Size run of molds cost 'round a million euros usually.... Doesn't count R&D dollars. Whole boot project from start to finish is quite spendy.

I bet 3D printing will be the future but we're a LONG way out.

[Charmander]

What I wonder is what causes the price discrepancy between a tecnica mega and a race plug? I don't think materials cost is responsible for 6-700 difference in final map pricing. Obviously the molds are a relatively fixed price investment.

[burrito]

What I wonder is what causes the price discrepancy between a tecnica mega and a race plug? I don't think materials cost is responsible for 6-700 difference in final map pricing. Obviously the molds are a relatively fixed price investment.

Aside from the drop in quality of the materials and hardware (which still could not possibly account for a drop in price of hundreds of dollars,) my guess for boots at that end of the spectrum has always been a combination of:
A. The shells are made from molds that have either already been created or they plan to keep in their line for a long period of time.
B. They share shells across so many different models that the amortized price of the molds become negligible.
C. Variations of those boots are sold in bulk as rentals, spreading out the up front costs even more with guaranteed sales every couple of years.

[Dshack89]

I think another factor at play is that manufacturers are pricing to maximize profits rather than using a cost-plus approach. Having a tiered set of products allows them to maximize profits by extracting value from those who are most willing to pay for it.