Dynafit HOJI unicorn boot -

[XXX-er]

well ya fiddling with tongues AND that ONE buckle but I'm not gona cut a hole in the pant cuff to get at that buckle altho Dynafit made some pants with the holes to get at the buckles

when you think about it Salomon had a one buckle closure 25 yrs ago on the 92

You were looking for a pair did you ever find em ?

I think I sold my pair of 92's for 40$ about 15 yrs ago and was pretty happy to get that much

[swissiphic]

well ya fiddling with tongues AND that ONE buckle but I'm not gona cut a hole in the pant cuff to get at that buckle altho Dynafit made some pants with the holes to get at the buckles

when you think about it Salomon had a one buckle closure 25 yrs ago on the 92

You were looking for a pair did you ever find em ?

I think I sold my pair of 92's for 40$ about 15 yrs ago and was pretty happy to get that much

Yeah, shoulda known that a guy so particular about keeping his DWR at a state of perfection in an interior climate where ya don't even need it wouldn't be too keen about hacking apart his G.T. pants.....sigh.......

As for the solly boots, sure did XXX'er...when it rains it pours. Have three free pairs of sx91 -92 generously donated for my frankenboot project. Can't wait to start cutting, plastic welding, fiberglassing and heat molding!

[LeoK]

Yeah, shoulda known that a guy so particular about keeping his DWR at a state of perfection in an interior climate where ya don't even need it wouldn't be too keen about hacking apart his G.T. pants.....sigh.......

As for the solly boots, sure did XXX'er...when it rains it pours. Have three free pairs of sx91 -92 generously donated for my frankenboot project. Can't wait to start cutting, plastic welding, fiberglassing and heat molding!

Do you what you are doing ;-) - Old Salomon Boots are a piece of design history now in the museums. Check for it`s creator Roger Tallon who did the French high speed trains TGV as well. I really like his work.

[XXX-er]

probably more about making the pants look like ass & compromising the durability when I could just lift the cuff a few times a day

[swissiphic]

probably more about making the pants look like ass & compromising the durability when I could just lift the cuff a few times a day

"Look like ass...compromising durability..."

LOL, so bulkley valley bourgiousie...

Cut to aesthetic shape, aquaseal the perimeter and use yer masking tape border delineation system. Factory look. Done.

[XXX-er]

it would probably look like you got a dick growing out of yer head

[gramboh]

Isn't that #pantsdownalways thing a reference to not having to loosen the power strap/top buckle on the Hoji boot as they do not impede range of motion in walk mode? I thought I read that or saw it in one of Lee's videos on BigLines. Kind of a nice feature I guess.

[LeeLau]

Isn't that #pantsdownalways thing a reference to not having to loosen the power strap/top buckle on the Hoji boot as they do not impede range of motion in walk mode? I thought I read that or saw it in one of Lee's videos on BigLines. Kind of a nice feature I guess.

That's the marketing spin. It's a feature that exists on rando race boots and on the LaSportiva Spectre among beefier boots. Whether it's meaningful to you is another question

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[LeeLau]

I just sent questions to Dynafit. Will report back.

Big one is Beast, Kingpin, Tecton compatibility. I couln't read Wildsnow for a while so here's the Masterfit thing that Jon mentioned about halfway down from the article
- article here https://www.wildsnow.com/23312/hoji-...it/#more-23312

- Pic here https://www.wildsnow.com/wp-content/...py-525x266.jpg

- The heel fitting is here https://www.wildsnow.com/wp-content/...py-525x266.jpg

Still don't see how this work with Beast/ Kingpin/Tecton

[galibier_numero_un]

With respect to the Tecton, are we saying that the entry slots are wider than a standard tech heel and that the Tecton's power struts will have play?

... Thom

[2wheeler]

Tried these on last week. My understanding was the main goal was to create a boot with virtually no play in the cuff in ski mode. That's been accomplished. Very nice feeling of support and flex with zero play. Great walk mode. The fit is wider than the old Vulcan in the toe box, which worked for me. The overall fit felt good and firm throughout the foot (with my baked intuition liners). Interested to see what comes out in the wash with binding compatibility, but overall an impressive and solid feeling boot.

[auvgeek]

^^Does the flex feel more "alpine like" than other touring boots, like the Vulcan?

[2wheeler]

It felt more "Alpine" than my new Maestrale RS's. I was never able to squeeze my foot into the Vulcan so I can't give you a comparison for that boot. Mind you my last Alpine boot was a 2009 doberman 130.

^^Does the flex feel more "alpine like" than other touring boots, like the Vulcan?

[LeeLau]

^^Does the flex feel more "alpine like" than other touring boots, like the Vulcan?

The flex felt very like a Mercury. It felt no more or less "alpine like" then any other boot I've tried on carpet. Since that data point is impossibly useless I never offered it up in my review but there it is nevertheless

[Roberto]

Took the Beta tester leap of faith and ordered a pair. Hoping the 103 last will be a good platform to modify for my wide feet and throwing in my pro tour intuitions should beef it up a bit. I'll report back here with some actual skiing impressions and how they stack up as a freeride boot with stiffer liners.

[Spyderjon]

Tried these on last week. My understanding was the main goal was to create a boot with virtually no play in the cuff in ski mode. That's been accomplished. Very nice feeling of support and flex with zero play. Great walk mode. The fit is wider than the old Vulcan in the toe box, which worked for me. The overall fit felt good and firm throughout the foot (with my baked intuition liners). Interested to see what comes out in the wash with binding compatibility, but overall an impressive and solid feeling boot.

I tried the Hoji's on this week at the UK trade show. I'm in a 27/27.5 Mercury with a 15mm shell gap and the 27 Hoji was huge on me but the 26 was a great snug fit with about a 12mm shell gap. The Hoji has a bit more height across the forefoot than the Mercury and the toe box is wider. The ankle fit was great but maybe not quite as narrow as the Mercury which is pretty tight. Didn't pay much attention to the factory liner but I did take my own footbeds to put in them.

I've listened to the Hoji/Blister podcast and couldn't get my head around Hoji's comments about the wide forefoot width not being an issue if the rear of the foot is stabilised but after trying the boot and playing with its very clever mechanism I now understand what he means. And I confirm that there is absolutely zero play between the cuff'n'clog and the flex seemed very progressive.

The walk mode is just superb which a huge range of movement, especially rearwards, but with the foot held very snug. And there's no resistance at all when rotating the cuff with the pivots being super smooth. If you accidentally ski off in walk mode you're not gonna get very far as you can't feel the cuff at all. It's gonna be a great dancing on tables boot!

The demo boots at the show were the full grilamid Pro Tour model but in white as opposed to the production Pro Tour boot which will be asphalt in colour. The demo boot was fitted with a new heel insert that I've not seen before. In the 18/19 Dealer Hardgoods manual the heel insert is called a 'Masterstep Light Heel' and it specifically states that it is not Beast binding compatible. I queried this with my Dynafit rep and he didn't know if it would be carried in to the production boot but it would be a real pisser if the boot couldn't be skied with a Beast binding (note that the Masterstep heel inserts are internally fixed so the Beast binding Power Insert cannot be fitted to the boot). I've asked my rep to challenge the factory re this.

Here's a scan from the 18/19 Hardgoods Manual re the heel inserts:

[auvgeek]

I've listened to the Hoji/Blister podcast and couldn't get my head around Hoji's comments about the wide forefoot width not being an issue if the rear of the foot is stabilised but after trying the boot and playing with its very clever mechanism I now understand what he means. And I confirm that there is absolutely zero play between the cuff'n'clog and the flex seemed very progressive.

The walk mode is just superb which a huge range of movement, especially rearwards, but with the foot held very snug. And there's no resistance at all when rotating the cuff with the pivots being super smooth. If you accidentally ski off in walk mode you're not gonna get very far as you can't feel the cuff at all. It's gonna be a great dancing on tables boot!

This is all great news.

Would absolutely buy if I could get a carbon-cuff version without the stupid speed nose that's 130 flex, preferably around 1500g.

[kid-kapow]

that it is not beast-binding compatible shouldn't be a deal breaker at this point - that binding has been well and truly surpassed by first vipec/kingpin and then rendered obsolute by tecton/shift. And with regard to the two latter - i do not get thi point of this boot. Dynafit does not currently offer a proper alpine performance style binding, so getting this boot is tantamount to choosing poorer freeride skiing performance at a limited gain in terms of walkability at the cost of an immense increase in complexibility. The radical and its iterations ain't it - aka a better binding and their lack of frontal elasticity relegates it to a soft snow ski only binding or for people who downplay safety and ride comfort over perceived performance.

So, is the walking that much better over for instance a Hawx130xtd that is worth the lack of compatability and added complexity? Their skiing ability sure as hell ain't better (my last boot before the hawx was a beast carbon)

not to be negative, but i do not get this boot, other than thinking that big D need to get some fresh blood aboard who are more concerned about optimizing current designs than thinking of the new revolutionary design.

[swissiphic]

I've listened to the Hoji/Blister podcast and couldn't get my head around Hoji's comments about the wide forefoot width not being an issue if the rear of the foot is stabilised but after trying the boot and playing with its very clever mechanism I now understand what he means.

Did the deep dive over at https://skimoves.me/ and learned a lot about the crucial areas of fit tension in a boot. The takeaway seems to be have a well supported heel/ankle pocket/instep and allow for lots of room for metatarsal/forefoot spread.

[Andyski]

This is all great news.

Would absolutely buy if I could get a carbon-cuff version without the stupid speed nose that's 130 flex, preferably around 1500g.

Which, save the speed nose deletion, is what Hoji basically said was in the works in the blister podcast. MSRP, I assume, will be roughly equivalent to the annual GDP of France.

[XXX-er]

that it is not beast-binding compatible shouldn't be a deal breaker at this point - that binding has been well and truly surpassed by first vipec/kingpin and then rendered obsolute by tecton/shift. And with regard to the two latter - i do not get thi point of this boot. Dynafit does not currently offer a proper alpine performance style binding, so getting this boot is tantamount to choosing poorer freeride skiing performance at a limited gain in terms of walkability at the cost of an immense increase in complexibility. The radical and its iterations ain't it - aka a better binding and their lack of frontal elasticity relegates it to a soft snow ski only binding or for people who downplay safety and ride comfort over perceived performance.

So, is the walking that much better over for instance a Hawx130xtd that is worth the lack of compatability and added complexity? Their skiing ability sure as hell ain't better (my last boot before the hawx was a beast carbon)

not to be negative, but i do not get this boot, other than thinking that big D need to get some fresh blood aboard who are more concerned about optimizing current designs than thinking of the new revolutionary design.

some good points^^ especilay the new blood comment and I don't get it either

Big boot wise Dynafit hit it out of the park with the Vulcan and then screwed up on the Khion and then screw up on the Beast and and then had to go back to flogging the beloved Vulcan

I think they paid EH to design the lock mechanism then they diddled with the boot and did what they wanted

From comments I've read nobody who is not a rando racer wants the bullet nose so how do you build a boot for your consumers and design in a feature nobody wants is beyond me?

Apparently the walk mech is incredible but then the fit is huge, my source said it fit bigger than his maestrales

I guess the proof is in the pudding ... how many boots are they gona sell?

I don't need boots any time soon but If I did right now I would be looking at whether the Hawx130 shell could be heat molded to my foot

[stuntmanbo]

@Spyderjon do you remember the BSL of the 26 or 27 Hoji ?

[Spyderjon]

@Spyderjon do you remember the BSL of the 26 or 27 Hoji ?

IIRC:
26 = 290mm
27 = 300mm

[summit]

Floor test:
Stiff
USABLE range of motion = very similar to Vulcan and Hawx XTD
One switch walk mode is the truly amazing part. I'm the guy who unbuckles everything (EVERYTHING) completely and totally for the skin up... buckles off the catches, power straps totally undone because I want the pressure off and the full range of usable motion. This is truly finally not necessary on the Hoji. Undo the ankle lock and you are truly good (maybe unlock the forefoot to release pressure). Locking/unlocking is effortless and not fiddly, unlike the Vulcan/T. The Vulcan is the longest transition, fiddly, finger smashing boot ever devised. Hoji is literally the opposite.

Binding compatibility:
Not compatible with the Beast
Not compatible with Shift (duh)
"Compatible with Kingpin"
"Compatible with the Tecton and Vipec EVO, but the toe will hit the bumper so your stride will be shortened"

I'll test that last bit on Tuesday. No Tecton compatibility, no WTR/Gripwalk, proprietary crampon (which can ice up) = I'm buying a Hawx XTD

IIRC:
26 = 290mm
27 = 300mm

26/26.5 is 291mm (vs 297mm for a Vulcan)

[Spyderjon]

......26/26.5 is 291mm (vs 297mm for a Vulcan)

Just checked my notes and yes, the 26 is 291mm and the 27 is 301mm. But the Vulcan/Mercury is 294mm and 304mm respectively.