Dynafit Stoke 191/ BD Quadrant- First Day

[idamanzz]

Hi Gang
First post here so bear with me.
I got out today with my new setup:
Dynafit Stoke 191
Dynafit TLT bindings
BD Quadrant Boot
Me: 6'3" 200lb, 35yrs skiing, 20 yrs in the BC
Other gear: Most used = 193 Rossi XXX with fritchees. Older Scarpa Denalli. Custom 183 voile split board. Old teli junk. Demo K2 Coomba,
Conditions:
20" fresh. 50% tracked, warm, heavier conditions (for Idaho). Easy climb. 20% breaking trail. Poor visibility.
The climb:
Compared to what ive been skiing on, this set up is wonderfully light and breezy to walk with. The dynafit TLT's pivot is farther back than the fritchees which makes for a more natural stride. Awsome simple elegant design. While I had some doubts about the rigidity of the design, I can say the lock down mode is more stable and solid than my old blue fritchees. I played around with the din with skis and boots on the carpet and somebody standing on the skis. They are amazingly solid
The Quadrant boots have a smooth easy flex. Overall this new kit shaved at least 6 lbs off my feet which is absolutely night and day.
The down:
Open heavier powder on top, 50% cut up, some tighter trees with multi tracks. No ice, no wind pack.
Overall the ski is magic when allowed to run in open / uncut. They arc nicely when opened up and will wiggle in the trees with marginal effort. Due to the rise tip they ski shorter than a 191. The softish tip did buckle a bit when crossing old tracks so its not a crud buster on the same scale as my old Rossi XXX -(But what else is?) I looked pretty closely at the BD Drift but just based on flexing in the shop, im glad I got the Stoke. The Drift is significantly softer throughout and i think would not be as well suited for variable conditions with a heavier rider. The Stoke has a fairly meatly midsection which carried the ski despite the soft tip.
The Quadrants were a nice balance of weight, stiffness and comfort. I suppose at my weight (200) and in tougher conditions, slightly more stiffness would be nice but ill keep the weight savings.
I cant wait to get some more time with them. In reality it was a pretty short day but im Stoked!
Cheers

[TripleT]

nice, good info.
I'm in Idaho and curious where you went to get a better idea of the terrain you skied? I might be looking for a specific BC powder board for Idaho and had thought of the stoke...

[idamanzz]

I just spent half a day on the Galena pass. The Stoke is a nice ski and might work ok in other states or even countries.....

[ktmtruckee]

Thanks for the post, I would be curious if you have any additional input on the Quadrant. I just bought the boots but have not molded yet. The fit and flex seem great, I wanted to walk around the home for a few hours to make sure they felt good and not exchange for a 26. From a shell size I am clearly a 25.5 but the liner seems super small, a 26 liner fits much better but I think will be too big once they mold and pack out. I contacted BD and they do say the liners fit small. I was curious if you had this same issue and if they fit better after baking? Too bad I cant get a 25.5 with a 26 liner, that seems to match up much better.

[idamanzz]

Regarding the Quadrants and fit -
I was seriously concerned about them being too tight when stuffed into uncooked liners. (shell has about 1.5 fingers clearance off heal) It was so tight i could not even wear around the house.
My local baker suggested they be cooked with toe cups and thin sock only - no footbeds. Only a light buckle. The no foot bed is a first for me but i went along with it. After baking the fit was still snug but bearable enough to do a few short hike / climbs locally w/o skis. Now after the hiking and a short tour I think i have room for a foot bed. So to answer your question, yes they will feel realy tight and yes they do pack out somewhat. Ill know more after the next tour but i am considering doing some localized baking to get more toe room on right side only. The logic of not using a footbed was 1) to leave some room for packing out 2) To allow the foot to imprint localized somewhat into the liner sole then add the bed later.
Seems to have worked for me.
Anybody have any tips on performing localized liner baking / forming with the idea of not having to rebake the entire liner thus using up valuable baking cycles? Hair drier on the little toe etc...?

[randosteve]

the quadrant liners will stretch enough when molding. go with the correct shell fit...NOT the correct liner fit. a convection oven works best for heating the liner if you really need to stretch it. the stack ones will also do the job, but maybe leave the boots on it for a little longer so they heat up really well.

you should be able to bake the quadrant liners 4-5 times...at the least. assuming they weren't burnt to a crisp or have 100+ days on them.

btw...the drift is quite torsionally stiff, which gives it good performance on the firmer stuff and adds stability.

[ktmtruckee]

Thanks again for all the advice and help. I just got done with the heating and it seems to of come out nearly perfect. Have not skied yet, will get out as soon as the rain stops. I did a pretty fat toe cup and about half the side on the wide part of my forefoot and my toes still touch standing but not curled or painful, they pull back from touching in the ski mode when flexed, I think with some days on the boots they should be GREAT. Fired up, new to the forum and already stoked! With every ones help I made the right choice for a performance fit that should still be good touring. I hope BD doesn't lose too sales as it seems so off compared to other brands when just trying on the boot but if people stick with it I think the boot is a winner and as they sell more boots the shops will be able to guide people here. The boot fitter just replaced some Radiums with the Quadrant so that was helpful too. This boots should be great with my Dynafit setup and G3 Barrons for light weight and still feel solid enough to drive the Gotoma's with the Freerides.

[ktmtruckee]

Today was day one on the Quardrants, did 3 short laps in the rain, we really need snow here in Tahoe NOT rain. Bottom line, I love the boots, super comfortable and to tell you the truth far stiffer than I expected (this is mostly a good thing). Flex was pretty progressive, hoping they soften up a little bit, I have plenty of power for some 105 mm Gotama's, I was concerned about this. I did 2 laps on the Goat's and 1 on the G3 Barrons with Dynafits, much much lighter, no surprise of course. I am uncertain what position I am in for forward lean. I need to do a little research on this, it was fine on the Goat's but not quite as forward as I like on the G3's. I think I am going to try and get out to a ski area for some tweaking. Anyone know off hand how to tell what lean angle I am at, I am sure I can figure it out if not. Great boots so far, will post more after some more days. I made the right choice with these!