So we are on to the Dynafit Beast Boot

[cat in january]

I picked up a pair of Khion's at a good price at my local shop. Fit well and I was fine with putting the liner on first. Taking them off was a pain literally as one hand held the boot as I pulled out and I did not have two to open the shell.

The Khion is dead. Dynafit is recalling all of them and replacing them with the Beast. http://www.dynafit.com/us/blog/news/recall-khion/

Saw this first on wildsnow today
https://www.wildsnow.com/20642/news-...16/#more-20642
I had read one report online of the problem Mack described in the comments after buying and it did concern me. Good on Dynafit for swallowing this, I am sure it is going to cost them plenty

From an online shop quick search it seems Dynafit has alerted retailers to shut down sales-cripplecreak still has it listed, but guessing they just have not updated their online presence.

There is this article from Earn your turns on the Beast. It seems to be the only report and photos of the boot. Lou in an earlier blog post said the khion was going to return unchanged, but renamed the ft1.
http://www.earnyourturns.com/33666/f...st/#more-33666


Although I liked the boa liner, I will not cry its passing-just more dynafiddle. The masterstep inserts sound like they might be easier to step in and might be stronger and might open up new binding heal connections. A higher cuff with a light detachable power strap could be nice. Please not the awful yellow color they had in Europe or the new Vulcan color, yuck. Stronger lower boot in the ms please.

[gregL]

I hope they got it right. There's some stiff competition in the 1500 gram class.

[cat in january]

There certainly is. I picked up the last ones because my local shop carried them, they fit well and the price was very good. If I was buying full retail, they would not have been at the top of my list.

[shafty85]

Are the khions, now beast I suppose, an upgrade over the much beloved Vulcan/Mercury? Weights are similar, but is the performance?

[sethschmautz]

I bought a pair of these used a few weeks ago. I haven't even had a chance to ski them. Will probably be taking advantage of the trade in, but I've requested more info from Dynafit on the Beasts. A little nervous about the Nov 1 ship date of the Beasts. I'm wondering when I woudl *actually* see that boot arrive at my door. I'd be more than a little bummed to miss out on a few weeks of ski season because I didn't have any boots.

My carpet test (Shafty) is that they flex much better than the Vulcans (my version was without the bump stops), but fit is really similar. I was hoping for wider forefoot as rumored, but I'm not sure that the difference is very much.

[shafty85]

In what way do they flex 'better'? Might be worth missing a couple weeks of early season rock bashing to get the new boots - avoid some potential injury from boot failure?

[cat in january]

The pre-production boots Dostie had show a second screw at the base of the magnesium spine.


I share those concerns Seth, but am hoping that the changes are just updates to the existing boot and little retooling is necessary.

Your stops are gone? Not the red external bumpers just forward of the hinge?

[sethschmautz]

Sorry, I obviously wrote that without spending much time reading it.

My Vulcans were the original, Gen 1 Vulcans. They did not have the bump stops, so they flexed more progressively than the later version - I did not feel the "brick wall" feeling that many spoke of. That said, they were not as stiff without bump stops as the later generation boots were. I skied them inbounds and in the backcountry, and for my weight (~190) they were really good about 95% of the time. Occaisionally I felt that they would buckle (forward) a little bit - even with the tongues in. My very unscientific carpet test results are that the Khions seemed to get a little stiffer the more you flex them forward - more progressivein feeling than the Vulcans were. However, it's certainly possible that I'm just exhibiting confirmation bias because of everything I've read. :-)

I think it's worth getting the new boots for safety at minimum. If Dynafit is recalling all boots in NA, I would assume that the problem is VERY concerning to them. A recall like this cannot be cheap.

Seth

[cat in january]

Bleary coffee read this am on my part-made sense second through. Just carpet tested mine too. I liked how the boots fit my foot and how I felt the flex from the start all the way through. The external bump stops are real different for me in a boot in that it seems the design is to have the whole boot flex with the ankle and not just the part above the hinge. Not sure how the feel on snow would be.

Beyond the safety concern I think the boots from the review might possibly be improved in the following ways based on the one review: new insert design, taller cuff, booster strap, simpler liners, possible stiffening of the boot. Dynafit promises an August reveal.

As gregL said the competition is stiff in this category. The cost and publicity of the recall is going to put some heat on the Dynafit design team connected to the Khion to not just get a good hit relative to the competition, but to really get it right.

With the Star Trek theme why not name the boots Chang

[auvgeek]

The cost and publicity of the recall is going to put some heat on the Dynafit design team connected to the Khion to not just get a good hit relative to the competition, but to really get it right.

I think they're under a lot of heat already because the Khion didn't sell that well, they discontinued the vastly more-popular Vulcan, and the competition in the 1500g "free-touring" boot class is now far tougher than when the Vulcan come out.

[Cocximus]

I got my khions pretty dialed in. I put a lot of work in them and skied over 400 days this winter in them. On one hand they are pretty beatten so a new pair would be nice, but I really dont want to go through all the punching in font and foam filling at the heel. They might not be the best boots out there but they are the best for my feet.

Just in: Dynafit is recalling all North American Khion boots for a somewhat mysterious safety issue that we’ll hopefully detail, soon. The recall info doesn’t go in-depth as to the reason. Our guess is it could be anything from failing tech fittings to defective plastic molding. Dealers tell me that the reasons are everything from cracking plastic, to the lean-lock failing, to the difficulty of the fit.

WTF does that mean they are changing the fit?

[cat in january]

The first turns article (only thing so far on the net) says they are switching out the Boa laced liner to a more standard tongue liner. Guessing if they are doing that there will also be some serious changes to the boot as I think you need that laced up liner to use the boot as is. Hopefully more comes to light soon.

Props for the 400 days this past winter, guessing those boots are toast.

[auvgeek]

Props for the 400 days this past winter

Seriously! I'm lucky if I get 365 days a year.

[Cocximus]

Seriously! I'm lucky if I get 365 days a year.

5 days trip out west!
10 days for skiing the GOAT at stowe
14 days on the treadmill with the skis on my back
73 night I dreamed about skiing
298 days I logged on TGR

[sethschmautz]

I often get 4 or 5 days of skiing on a Saturday alone, so I don't think that it's unreasonable to get 400 days in a winter. :-)

[sethschmautz]

298 days I logged on TGR

Ah ha ha

[cat in january]

Gotta pull the doubles to get to 400

[XXX-er]

IF the Vulcan/Mercury shell fit you it was a great touring boot with a liner that sucked dead goats

But you could change the liner, the shell had fantastic ROM, I put up some big days on that boot

Yeah it had brick wall on/off stiffness but at least it was stiff and it had ROM

to follow it up with the Khion which had boa problems and that spine problem was pretty lame

MEC had the Khion on sale 27% off before new years so it appears they were just were not selling

I got small feet so i tried on a 24, there was a newbie girl sitting next to me with the same size feet so I handed her the Khion, she couldn't get it on her foot due to the boa thing and gave it a pass

I wonder how many other people did the same thing??

I don't get what is the basis of the recall??

[cat in january]

Guessing the threat of American Tort Law and they threw Canada in so they wouldn't feel bad.

I asked Dynafit NA if there were stiffness changes that Dostie alludes to in his article. The response was that both the carbon and non carbon version were unchanged in terms of stiffness. He described the new liner as a huge improvement.

[XavierD]

My understanding is that there is a much improved liner for next season. My guess is they just want to stop the bad press and experiences folks were having with the boot.

Plus, get the boots back, toss the old liner, stamp the new name on the boot and you saved yourself a new shell

[XXX-er]

they didn't seem to care about the tri-step toe and the shit show that has been the Radical 1 binding but maybe Dynafit are starting to clean up their messes after them?

Fit wise in carpet testing I thot the Boa liner would be > the Vulcan liner but that is a pretty low bar, would it kill Dynafit to spec an Inuition liner that their customers will actualy use?

I'm pretty sure they can NOT reuse the boot shell?

If Dynafit tosses the BOA liner then they are able to hang a power strap on the Beast which couldn't be done on the KHion cuz the BOA dial is in the way right where a power strap would go

Being able to actulay get the boot on might make it more marketable

I hit a tree when my Rad top plate came apart, maybe i can claim suffering?

[sethschmautz]

One of my favorite parts (theoretically, since I haven't skied them yet) about the khion was the lack of a need for the power strap. If the boot has not changed at all, I'm wondering why they put the booster back on? Maybe they took it off for the reasons that XXX-er mentioned - it wouldn't work with the Boa - and then sold it as a "feature".

Any real world experience about the need for a booster on this boot?

[Cocximus]

That lock really did not much. It does not affect forward flex in any way. The boot might move back a bit if someone got far in the back seat, but it was still mainly held together by the upper buckles. I skied with them open a bunch of times and did not notice a difference. I can't see dynafit recalling them just for that lock. Liner... yea it kinda sucked but many other boots come with shitty liners. The recall must have something to do with safety like inserts pulling out?

[sethschmautz]

Heard back from Dynafit already. Here is what they say about the changes for the Beast (bold and underline is mine):

In regards to the Beast, I don’t have a pamphlet as of yet to hand out, but I can provide you with the following information as to the major improvements we implemented.

1. Double riveted reinforcement at rear hinge of magnesium spoiler.
2. Ski/Walk Mechanism fixed for more secure integration.
3. Master Fit inserts offering easier step in.
4. New Liner, offering better fit and easier entry.
5. Power Strap
6. Improved Spoiler

The shape of the boot mold is the same. In order to uphold our standard of quality and our dedication to providing our customers with a top-of-the-line product, we felt these changes were necessary.

They are also asking me the Location of my purchase. I've tried to contact the seller to find out, and will let them know that I bought them used if I can't get the info because from the original owner. Does anybody know why this is important to Dynafit? Are they trying to determine whether these boots were purchased legitimately (i.e. still belong to the original owner) or are they trying to determine if they are one of the affected boots? I would think that if the recall is due to a safety issue (i.e. Ski/Walk mechanism doesn't function properly and could create an unsafe environment) that they wouldn't care whether you were the original owner or not. They would likely be liable for an injury regardless if you were original owner, so probably the latter.

Seth

[XXX-er]

just tell them you aren't sure or the boots were a present from your wife who doesn't remember or sft