Hoji Free touring boot

[cantspin]

Anyone tryna dump some 28.5s?


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[Crow]

I picked up a pair of these in January and got to know them pretty well this past season. Lots of day tours, a hut trip in Yosemite, and a Shasta trip. I previously had an older pair of Scarpa Maestrale RS and I just could not get them to fit my feet well. For alpine I have some Fischer RCPro vacuums that fit me like a glove. Disclaimer: I have some hobbit feet. Very pointy + tall instep, fat midfoot.

I had a bootfitter at my LSS say he could get the Hoji to work for me by creating some more room around the instep. See picture below. It took a few tries but he got this pretty dialed and things felt good during a few resort laps. When I got them out on the skin track, I started getting some arch pain. I tried a few different insoles and and I found that no insole actually worked best for me. Go figure...



Running them with no insole, these are comfy while I'm touring and ski pretty damn well. If I ski these for a few days in a row I can really get comfortable but when I switch back to my Fischer's I do notice one big difference. Heel hold. Maybe this is due to whole Fischer vacuum treatment but the heel pocket on my Fischer's is dialed, absolutely locks me into place. In the Hoji Free I can occasionally get a little heel lift, feels like my ankle has too much breathing room. Maybe this is a result of the extra room created for my instep? Maybe I have skinny ankles? Regardless, if I can improve the heel hold in my Hoji's the performance will be getting really close my trusty alpine boots. There are definitely other differences like flex profile and weight but the Hojis are pretty confidence inspiring and IMO can drive a big ski fairly well.

As a first try, I snagged some ankle spacers off tognar. See picture below. I figured can't go wrong for $8. In my living room, they feel like they have a made a difference by taking up some volume around my ankle. They have also shifted my foot slightly forward but I think this will be ok. I'll report back after I get them on snow.
https://www.tognar.com/boot-fitting-...-wrap-pads-pr/



Has anyone else experienced a lift in these boots? If so, what did you do about it? Am I crazy to try to get the same heel hold that I get in my alpine boots?

[XXX-er]

not a boot fitter but I think that extra pad would definatley push your foot forward due to the extra thickness at the back of the liner, I have seen pads that stick on either side without that thickness at the back, you can always alter those pads by removeing the padding at the back

if you took out the insoles that would create more slop in the heels, YMMV but I personaly couldn't ski without a footbed

[Toddball]

I have never even seen this boots in person, much less used them, but I have been dealing with heel hold in Salomon MTN Labs for a few seasons with exactly this method. That ankle wrap pad + Pro Tours has been a great combo for me.
I would consider cutting the pad down along the back of the liner so it doesn't cover much of the flex zone, but I guess if the walk mode still feels fine maybe don't worry about it. Like XXX-er said, you can get pads that just stick on the sides of the boot (either L- or C-shaped) that try to hold your heel down from the sides, but I've never tried these.

I use green or orange Superfeet insoles, by the way.

[rfconroy]

I wouldn't trust anything that Crow posts, that guy sucks at skiing.

I have never even seen this boots in person, much less used them, but I have been dealing with heel hold in Salomon MTN Labs for a few seasons with exactly this method. That ankle wrap pad + Pro Tours has been a great combo for me.
I would consider cutting the pad down along the back of the liner so it doesn't cover much of the flex zone, but I guess if the walk mode still feels fine maybe don't worry about it. Like XXX-er said, you can get pads that just stick on the sides of the boot (either L- or C-shaped) that try to hold your heel down from the sides, but I've never tried these.

I use green or orange Superfeet insoles, by the way.

Also dealing with heel hold on my MTN Labs when skiing hard, in process of doing the "Ruben's" mod (Moving the lower buckle down, and adding a Maestrale ankle strap). I'll update the 3rd buckle thread once have some more info.

[XXX-er]

personaly I'm a SOLE man, the medium vol red ones which are of course faster

From things I've read I kinda wonder if MTN lab is the right boot for skinny ankle/low volume foot ?

The Freeskitv guys were trying to shoot a movie up here about the time the MTN lab was introduced, 5 pro's with matching boots, you couldn't even buy the boot yet and one of them had already retro fit an instep buckle

[Crow]

XXX-er: I do use customer insoles in my alpine boots, maybe this is a big factor. With the Hoji's I tried a few different super feet thicknesses and tried to use the insoles from my alpine boots. Insoles are fine while skiing but seem to give me brutal (tour shortening) arch pain while skinning. I'll add this back in as a variable and see if I can get it figured out.

rfconroy: Dude you're forgetting something. Tahoe... California... We're better than you!

Toddball: Interesting to hear you are seeing this in MTN lab as well. I'm going to try pads as they are to start but will consider trimming the back.

[XXX-er]

I have a whole quiver of foot beds going way back

both custom and off the shelf sole & superfeet

IME if a footbed works it doesnt have to be custom

I tried on a Hoji 110 on last week, I think the shell might work but not the liner FOR ME ... cuz everyone is a special flower

[rod9301]

I picked up a pair of these in January and got to know them pretty well this past season. Lots of day tours, a hut trip in Yosemite, and a Shasta trip. I previously had an older pair of Scarpa Maestrale RS and I just could not get them to fit my feet well. For alpine I have some Fischer RCPro vacuums that fit me like a glove. Disclaimer: I have some hobbit feet. Very pointy + tall instep, fat midfoot.

I had a bootfitter at my LSS say he could get the Hoji to work for me by creating some more room around the instep. See picture below. It took a few tries but he got this pretty dialed and things felt good during a few resort laps. When I got them out on the skin track, I started getting some arch pain. I tried a few different insoles and and I found that no insole actually worked best for me. Go figure...



Running them with no insole, these are comfy while I'm touring and ski pretty damn well. If I ski these for a few days in a row I can really get comfortable but when I switch back to my Fischer's I do notice one big difference. Heel hold. Maybe this is due to whole Fischer vacuum treatment but the heel pocket on my Fischer's is dialed, absolutely locks me into place. In the Hoji Free I can occasionally get a little heel lift, feels like my ankle has too much breathing room. Maybe this is a result of the extra room created for my instep? Maybe I have skinny ankles? Regardless, if I can improve the heel hold in my Hoji's the performance will be getting really close my trusty alpine boots. There are definitely other differences like flex profile and weight but the Hojis are pretty confidence inspiring and IMO can drive a big ski fairly well.

As a first try, I snagged some ankle spacers off tognar. See picture below. I figured can't go wrong for $8. In my living room, they feel like they have a made a difference by taking up some volume around my ankle. They have also shifted my foot slightly forward but I think this will be ok. I'll report back after I get them on snow.
https://www.tognar.com/boot-fitting-...-wrap-pads-pr/



Has anyone else experienced a lift in these boots? If so, what did you do about it? Am I crazy to try to get the same heel hold that I get in my alpine boots?

If you use these pads, they will push your foot forward and your toes will not the front of your boot when you kick steps.

Use the pads just on the sides of your liner.

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[Crow]

That's a good point on kicking steps, think that would be miserable. I've removed the pads and ordered some of the C shaped pads to put on the side of the ankle. I also picked up a really thin pair of socks from Darn Tough. I'm going to see if the thinner sock frees up enough volume for me to run some footbeds.

[foreal]

Massive heel hold issues in MTN Lab solved by intuition liners (PW for resort, Dalbello branded tour wrap for touring). Used same liners in Hoji Free and no issues. Check out some intuitions if you are currently using stock liners


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[SouthCentralShralper]

Any insight in to sizing compared to Vulcans and TLT6s? I'm confused, as I've read everything from: true to size, to definitely size down as they are big, to size up... I guess it's typical internet fodder... just a lot of opinions.

I don't have funny feet and after cooking the liners and adding custom footbeds, typically ski them for 2-3 seasons.

[XXX-er]

I'm a total Vulcan/ Mercury Fanboi so I tried on the 110 Free in a 24 ( the 130 only goes to 25 ) it feels true to size and it actulay feels fairly stiff on the carpet, for me I think the shell would work but maybe not the liner due to that shit on top of the arch tongue held on by a big chunk of velcro, Dynafit liners seem to be getting less bad

[rob stokes]

I picked up a pair of these in January and got to know them pretty well this past season. Lots of day tours, a hut trip in Yosemite, and a Shasta trip. I previously had an older pair of Scarpa Maestrale RS and I just could not get them to fit my feet well. For alpine I have some Fischer RCPro vacuums that fit me like a glove. Disclaimer: I have some hobbit feet. Very pointy + tall instep, fat midfoot.

I had a bootfitter at my LSS say he could get the Hoji to work for me by creating some more room around the instep. See picture below. It took a few tries but he got this pretty dialed and things felt good during a few resort laps. When I got them out on the skin track, I started getting some arch pain. I tried a few different insoles and and I found that no insole actually worked best for me. Go figure...



Running them with no insole, these are comfy while I'm touring and ski pretty damn well. If I ski these for a few days in a row I can really get comfortable but when I switch back to my Fischer's I do notice one big difference. Heel hold. Maybe this is due to whole Fischer vacuum treatment but the heel pocket on my Fischer's is dialed, absolutely locks me into place. In the Hoji Free I can occasionally get a little heel lift, feels like my ankle has too much breathing room. Maybe this is a result of the extra room created for my instep? Maybe I have skinny ankles? Regardless, if I can improve the heel hold in my Hoji's the performance will be getting really close my trusty alpine boots. There are definitely other differences like flex profile and weight but the Hojis are pretty confidence inspiring and IMO can drive a big ski fairly well.

As a first try, I snagged some ankle spacers off tognar. See picture below. I figured can't go wrong for $8. In my living room, they feel like they have a made a difference by taking up some volume around my ankle. They have also shifted my foot slightly forward but I think this will be ok. I'll report back after I get them on snow.
https://www.tognar.com/boot-fitting-...-wrap-pads-pr/



Has anyone else experienced a lift in these boots? If so, what did you do about it? Am I crazy to try to get the same heel hold that I get in my alpine boots?

What exactly did he do in that area there? Punched them a bit? Can't quite tell from the picture.

My pro tours pinch me there and so I want to create a bit of space. That rivet is right at a seam on the liner as well.

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[mr_pretzel]

What exactly did he do in that area there? Punched them a bit? Can't quite tell from the picture.

My pro tours pinch me there and so I want to create a bit of space. That rivet is right at a seam on the liner as well.

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You have to punch them really carefully and slowly, cutting the elastic on the liner also helped me

[Crow]

What exactly did he do in that area there? Punched them a bit? Can't quite tell from the picture.
My pro tours pinch me there and so I want to create a bit of space. That rivet is right at a seam on the liner as well.

He locally heated with a heat gun and "rolled" the edge up a bit there with rod. He did it slowly and had me try it on between attempts. He managed to cook one of the boots a little too much and the plastic bubbled. He showed me and offered to start over with a new pair of boots, which we did. Excellent customer service. Store was the The Backcountry in Truckee.

[paal]

Blister says forward lean is 17 deg
https://blisterreview.com/gear-revie...afit-hoji-free

"The Hoji Free comes stock with a stated forward lean of 17°. The other Hoji boots have a stated forward lean of 11°, and Dynafit says the added 6° of forward lean in the Hoji Free stems from its added “spoiler” that’s attached to the top of the cuff (not the liner). Removing it would mean getting the same 11° forward lean of the other Hoji boots, though the spoiler on our pair is riveted to the cuff, so removal would be tricky."

Escape Route's Hoji "interview" says 17 deg as well (@ 11:20) and does not mention that the spoiler can be removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6H8kjtITno


...but in the online stores I am considering buying from, they are simply referring to a 11 deg lean. (which to me sounds great!)
Anyone know what is correct?

[kootenayskier]

Blister says forward lean is 17 deg
https://blisterreview.com/gear-revie...afit-hoji-free

"The Hoji Free comes stock with a stated forward lean of 17°. The other Hoji boots have a stated forward lean of 11°, and Dynafit says the added 6° of forward lean in the Hoji Free stems from its added “spoiler” that’s attached to the top of the cuff (not the liner). Removing it would mean getting the same 11° forward lean of the other Hoji boots, though the spoiler on our pair is riveted to the cuff, so removal would be tricky."

Escape Route's Hoji "interview" says 17 deg as well (@ 11:20) and does not mention that the spoiler can be removed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6H8kjtITno


...but in the online stores I am considering buying from, they are simply referring to a 11 deg lean. (which to me sounds great!)
Anyone know what is correct?

Can’t speak to the actual angles, but they (I’m in the Free 110) definitely come with a spoiler, which is riveted in place, but otherwise appears to be easy to remove. With the spoiler in place, I’m finding them still slightly more upright than I’m used to (Full Tilt Classics) but acceptably so. The only other thing to consider is that I’m almost at the maximum limit of closure around my calf, and that removing the spoiler could be an issue if you’re a skinny fucker like me.

[paal]

Thanks kootenayskier.
From Dynafit's official site:
"In downhill mode, the Hoji Free locks out at a forward lean of 11 or 15 degrees thanks to a spoiler at the cuff that can be taken on and off "
https://www.dynafit.com/hoji-free-130-08-0000061908
So... it is adjustable if you get your drill ready I guess.

[kootenayskier]

Thanks kootenayskier.
From Dynafit's official site:
"In downhill mode, the Hoji Free locks out at a forward lean of 11 or 15 degrees thanks to a spoiler at the cuff that can be taken on and off "
https://www.dynafit.com/hoji-free-130-08-0000061908
So... it is adjustable if you get your drill ready I guess.

And you’d also need to re-attach the power strap (which is pretty key on this boot) as the rivet does double duty.

[kootenayskier]

FWIW, I’ve now put in a few bigger days on more aggressive lines in my new Hoji Free 110s.
I’m completely happy with the flex/stance/power while skiing, they’re a step up from my Dynafit Mercuries, not quite as solid as my Full Tilt Original hill boots, but everything I could want for backcountry skiing in variable conditions.
The range/movement when walking is perfectly adequate, not even close to my Salomon S-Lab X/Alp dancing shoes, and perhaps a little heavier than ideal, but with light skis and bindings I can break trail all day without issue.
Transitions are just fine. Not a one-lever transition (I’m still adjusting the instep buckle), but way better than installing/removing tongues with my Mercuries.
After trying them with previously molded Intuition Alpine (Wrap) liners, I decided to give the stock Sidas liners a chance. I got them molded at my local shop (but didn’t notice much customization compared to Intuitions), added L pads to hold my skinny heels better, and they’re working well enough. They ski and walk without unwanted movement, I like the supportive tongue, and I can tour all day without pain, but I do look forward to taking them off at the truck (whereas I’ll drive home for hour in my S-Lab X-Alps). I’m sure that properly sized and fitted Intuition Pro Tour liners would be a slight but noticeable upgrade (perhaps to the point that they could be my do it all boots) but I’ll probably ski out the winter and get Tom at Intuition to sort me out when COVID is over.

[swissiphic]

Bought some Hoji Free 110's to replace my aging and customization butchered Vulcans and have generally come to similar conclusions as Kootenayskier. They're really sweet boots. I initially bought some Pro Tours but they just didn't fit right. The 110's also felt a little off out of the box but after multiple widening punches (8) to the lateral forefoot areas of the boots , they're finally close to feeling like slippers. No rush to peel 'em off my feet after a day of skiing and driving home wearing them.

I'm running high volume Intuition Luxury liners in the boots and I think it boosts the flex rating a bit. They feel similar to, if not slightly stiffer than my Vulcans with no tongue. Perfectly adequate for inbounds everything crushing and the nice progressive forward flex allows for mo better ski feels than skiing with the Vulcans.

I did have to experiment with buckling orientations of the tongue and powerstrap to find what works best for my skinny lower legs/ankles. The photo shows what seems to be the ticket for the best wrap and fit tension for my anatomy. Like Kootenayskier, I also had to add L pads to lock down the heels...had a bit of lateral slop and heel lift before adding the L's.

I also experimented with adding the Vulcans tongues to the boots to see how the increase in stiffness would affect their performance. They fit perfectly under the buckles. The boots were too stiff for my liking with the tongues added...but, good to know the stiffening option is there if needed.

[kootenayskier]

FWIW, I’ve now put in a few bigger days on more aggressive lines in my new Hoji Free 110s.
I’m completely happy with the flex/stance/power while skiing, they’re a step up from my Dynafit Mercuries, not quite as solid as my Full Tilt Original hill boots, but everything I could want for backcountry skiing in variable conditions.
The range/movement when walking is perfectly adequate, not even close to my Salomon S-Lab X/Alp dancing shoes, and perhaps a little heavier than ideal, but with light skis and bindings I can break trail all day without issue.
Transitions are just fine. Not a one-lever transition (I’m still adjusting the instep buckle), but way better than installing/removing tongues with my Mercuries.
After trying them with previously molded Intuition Alpine (Wrap) liners, I decided to give the stock Sidas liners a chance. I got them molded at my local shop (but didn’t notice much customization compared to Intuitions), added L pads to hold my skinny heels better, and they’re working well enough. They ski and walk without unwanted movement, I like the supportive tongue, and I can tour all day without pain, but I do look forward to taking them off at the truck (whereas I’ll drive home for hour in my S-Lab X-Alps). I’m sure that properly sized and fitted Intuition Pro Tour liners would be a slight but noticeable upgrade (perhaps to the point that they could be my do it all boots) but I’ll probably ski out the winter and get Tom at Intuition to sort me out when COVID is over.

I got sick of pretending that the stock liners were good enough, so bought and molded some Intuition MV Luxury liners. Now just back from a 4 day hut trip, putting in some big days on steep and technical lines, and couldn’t be happier. The new liners addressed all the minor comfort and performance issues I was experiencing. I chose the luxury liners over pro-tours because I wanted to prioritize skiing performance over walkability, and I’m glad I did. For everything but multi-day slog fests (and for which I have lighter boots) these are as perfect as I can imagine.

[teamdirt]

I got sick of pretending that the stock liners were good enough, so bought and molded some Intuition MV Luxury liners. Now just back from a 4 day hut trip, putting in some big days on steep and technical lines, and couldn’t be happier. The new liners addressed all the minor comfort and performance issues I was experiencing. I chose the luxury liners over pro-tours because I wanted to prioritize skiing performance over walkability, and I’m glad I did. For everything but multi-day slog fests (and for which I have lighter boots) these are as perfect as I can imagine.

These boots are the cats meow!

I’ve got no issues on stock liner, took some fine tuning to get these things dialed but there is not a better boot. Slipper mode is mind blowing!!

40+ days strong and still pumped!!

[rod9301]

Yeah, great boots.
I need to take the spoiler out, too much forward lean for me.

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