Dynafit Radical Pro Boot

[rfconroy]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKpAb6FwSO/

Great listen about this thing here:

https://blisterreview.com/podcasts/h...le-more-ep-141

Anyways - got to listening to this podcast, then headed into my local shop this morning to have some boot work done and had an opportunity to check them out and try a pair on.

NOTE: I have not skied these... and my reference points are: XT Free, Lupo SP & C130, MTN Lab, and Hoji Free (HF)

Buckles and Levers:
One of my complaints on the HF are how hard it is to undo the buckles, and the climb lever in the rear. Seems like other folks also have this, as the climb lever is bigger, and the buckles are much easier to actuate.

Additionally, they replaced the cinch power strap to a velcro one, but it still loosens with the Hoji-Lock lever.

Tongue:
Uses a bolted interface, compared to the hinged interface of the Hoji. It looks more robust, and doesnt flop out of the way when taking the boot on and off. I'd say this is a improvement as that's always a pain when taking the boots off.

First Fit:
Probably the most important here. I've got a medium to large volume foot. In most boots I am a 26.5, however in my HF I sized up to the 27 shell, which fits well (once all my boot work was done)...

I was able to try on both the 26, and 28, and based on the fit of the 26 I would not have any issue using that size. Heel pocket felt pretty good, and forefoot last would require minimal work, if at all. I would expect in the 27 I would be swimming in room, and therefore if buying I would go back down a size...

The boot fitter at the store stated that he was in the same boat. Therefore I think the key takeaway here is: you may need to size down in the new lower shell.

Flex:
Hard to say without skiing it, but I did a side by side comparison to my HF and they're slightly (Very slightly) softer. Flex pattern is still similar to previous models; stiff initial flex, linear mid range, with progression towards the end of the boot travel.






Curious to know what other folks think about the boot once it becomes more available.

[kootenayskier]

I’m in the Hoji Free 110 which I’ve had to do lots of work on to take up volume,, so the higher volume Radical Pro isn’t going to work, but the refinements to the buckles, tongue, strap, and climb /walk lever all sound positive. All are manageable, but that spring mechanism on the lower buckle is plain annoying, and I’m sure the cable that the climb/walk engages is going to break one day, given the force applied.

[benzo92]

TLDR: skis like a 1400g boot, somewhere between a backland and a Cochise. Fit may vary for individuals. Hoji lock is cool.

I swooped a pair off telemark Pyrenees and skied them this weekend. One day touring in the presidential range and one day in the resort. I’m a 26.5 in atomic backlands and técnica Cochise. So I got a 26 shell for the radical pro. For reference, I’m 5’ 9” ~150lbs depending on how much beer I’ve been drinking.

Fit is interesting. Felt okay in my living room, thought I would just need a navicular punch, as it felt narrow in the bottom of the shell at the midfoot. My navicular and midfoot is so wide I couldn’t actually get my heel into the bottom of the boot until I punched the navicular. After skiing all day, I started to feel pressure around my ankles, and I’ve never had to make room in the ankle area of other boots. I thought that was interesting because the fit of this boot was supposed to have more ankle volume than the Hoji free (which I’ve never skied, only tried on). I should note I only had pressured when in ski mode so maybe I need to dial in my buckling strategy.

Toe box felt super roomy, thought I’d be swimming in it all day, and was happy that I’d probably have warm toes. But ended up finding that my pinky toes were getting crushed after skiing a few laps, even while leaving the toe buckle loose. Might have to do with my foot rotating outwards? The boot fitter stuck a Barton wedge under my footbeds to help with the pronating and navicular rolling into the shell, unsure if that’s fucking with my normal alignment. Definitely felt weird skating around the flats in the resort.

Length was something I’ve been tripped up about. I went reasonably snug on the shell fit. I had an index finger space in the back. But I constantly felt like I was ramming my toes into the end of the shell when walking, especially walking downhill, which makes sense and really shouldn’t be done in ski boots. But I’m in New England and skiing here is kinda fucking stupid. I didn’t seem to have too much an issue with length while skinning, but a longer tour might reveal more pain.

On the performance side, I was happy with the way this boot toured with the buckles and strap set in the tightness I would ski at and the lever in walk mode. I felt like it skied really well too, I found it to have a really nice flex, I think it was somewhat progressive? Skiing fast in smooth snow, I felt like I could push the boot as hard as I wanted, and when I rolled over the ski for the next turn, it felt like the boot sprung back and gave me some energy back, make transitioning between turns subtly energetic. Whereas I felt like the Cochise would rebound a little slower? This sounds dumb as hell, but that’s what I thought. I can say that I did not blow through the flex skiing fast through heavier spring snow, although it’s a pretty light boot so it still doesn’t feel super substantial in variable snow. I was also on a touring ski with pin bindings, so that doesn’t help. (181 Ferox and ions). Overall, the radical pro certainly doesn’t feel like “130 flex 4 buckle boot” with a zip fit and booster strap. But it’s definitely a huge step up from the older backland carbon (or any 1000g boot), which skied like a short piece of penne pasta. 120 flex seems like an accurate description, but wtf do these numbers really mean.

I really like the cuff height and walk mechanism. And with a little more fit work, I could see myself only skiing this boot.

[KM14]

I see the new Radical Pro now has a toe lug. Is this boot compatible with the Salomon Shift? Or is the toe lug only for use with crampons?

[rfconroy]

I see the new Radical Pro now has a toe lug. Is this boot compatible with the Salomon Shift? Or is the toe lug only for use with crampons?

Should follow the ISO 9523 standard so it should work with MNC/Sole ID bindings.

Edit: Cant find any documentation stating that, however the nice european man on Dynafit's website says its compatible with all touring bindings, including frame bindings which should mean if follows that norm like the Hoji Free.

[benzo92]

Can confirm, just snapped them into my shifts and made all the adjustments. AFD working well and forward pressure good. Good surface area on toe and heel lugs.

[XXX-er]

After the runaway sucess of the Vulcan which looks more and more like a fortunate acident Dynafit followed up with the loser Khion & Beast,

Thank dog Hoji was there to save Dynafit from another dud

[jpcm]

Anyone else get some time on these this spring?

looks like a promising replacement option for my vulcan once the larger sizes are released

[davjr96]

Bump, anyone get more time on this boot last spring or pick one up for this season?


(I am considering a pair as a replacement to my mis-sized Hoji's in gear swap )

[jacob_dbu]

I carpet tested it in store earlier this year. Seems good. Pretty beefy, good walk mode, I'm not sure I love the one-flip lever thing generally because it requires you to put your ankle at the right angle to flip it easily. I thought the fit with the ankle strap was reallly good but my navicular falls right on the strap button. I also have wide forefeet which makes the toebox perfect, but it is very wide.

[SUPERIOR]

Dynafit had these in stock for maybe 1-2 weeks online and now they are sold out


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Bikeskier]

sorry all, ive tried starting a new thread for a few days but no luck
id like ideas or to know if anyone has reduced the weight of these boots

Radical Pro boot 27.5 my21/22


Why is this boot so heavy? 27.5 1540g each with stock liner and footbed.
Carpet and stair test this boot fits my 27.75cm vanilla foot very well/snug in heel, calf and mid foot with room in toes.
Its ROM is truly effortless/resistance free when wearing it. Very unexpected. It rivals my Backland Carbon 19/20 in 28.5 at 1234g in ROM feel. (I broke pivots twice that Atomic bought them back so i cant test which went further forward). Almost as much ROM as Quantum Free 130 but not close to Transalp Pro (neither fit foot as well.)


The stated flex of Radical Pro at 120 is like a brickwall (a comfy padded brickwall). Hard forward flex does not stretch cuff nor blow out shell pivots at all. Where my 110 Backlands or Quantum factory free 130 then Transalp Pro stretch and blowout as expected. But we all know this systems quirks.


When booting does rear of boot cuff pack with snow around achilles plastic flap between foot and lock slide mechanism, there are huge gaps in there?


Curious how i could reduce the weight of the Radical Pro. Is the Hoji Lock what adds most weight? Its a lot of plastic outback and in the rear spoiler area.


.Remove toe buckle
.Remove middle 2 (of 4) screws/T nuts on toe
.Top mid foot are a lot of overlapping tongue layers that have floppy edges that could be trimmed (blue tongue between heel retention buckle and toe buckle.)
.Inside cuff the Hoji forked socket (black) that meets shell Receiving flange (yellow), the outboard fork is longer than inboard i presume to help cuff track along shell receiving flange. It has no lateral strength so it doesn’t keep fork from blowing out under flex. Trim back outboard forks half way?
.blue main full length tongue has yellow section mid tongue where ratchet strap presses just at lower part. upper part is where front of ankle bottoms out/pintches at full forward flex. yellow section not fixed to blue tongue here, could i cut yellow section down to reduce weight and reduce pinch point?
. Spoiler area on cuff at top center has a tongue that slides up/down with lock mech but doesn’t contact anything. It may prevent liner from squishing into latch mech.
. Where Latch handle in ski mode contacts plastic cuff there is a ridge molded on inboard side of cuff that i cant guess is anything but aesthetic. Grind down?



Vids
Flex

Quantum Free 130 flex comparison
https://youtu.be/0Zyc57VQW3A


Interior toe
https://youtube.com/shorts/bLVLu6O_HAw?feature=share


Hoji cuff interior short
https://youtube.com/shorts/Vx79xXswaIw?feature=share


Hoji cuff interior long
https://youtube.com/shorts/dXCQ4tkWqm8?feature=share


Toe buckle and tongue layers
https://youtube.com/shorts/Fh-YuLGzzzg?feature=share

[rfconroy]

Why is this boot so heavy? 27.5 1540g each with stock liner and footbed.
Carpet and stair test this boot fits my 27.75cm vanilla foot very well/snug in heel, calf and mid foot with room in toes.
Its ROM is truly effortless/resistance free when wearing it. Very unexpected. It rivals my Backland Carbon 19/20 in 28.5 at 1234g in ROM feel. (I broke pivots twice that Atomic bought them back so i cant test which went further forward). Almost as much ROM as Quantum Free 130 but not close to Transalp Pro (neither fit foot as well.)

When booting does rear of boot cuff pack with snow around achilles plastic flap between foot and lock slide mechanism, there are huge gaps in there?

Curious how i could reduce the weight of the Radical Pro. Is the Hoji Lock what adds most weight? Its a lot of plastic outback and in the rear spoiler area.

Scratching my head here...
So you were on a backland, which has similar ROM, and you broke it at the cuff. But now you want to lighten the radical up? It's a heavier boot, that is going to ski way different than the backland. I wouldn't take any material out until you've skied it thoroughly.

[rod9301]

I have the hoji 130, and it's 200g headbutt than my previous Tecnica zero g130, but because of greater range of motion, i skin just as fast.

Don't take anything off, you will love the boot.

Sent from my moto g 5G using Tapatalk

[Bikeskier]

Scratching my head here...
So you were on a backland, which has similar ROM, and you broke it at the cuff. But now you want to lighten the radical up? It's a heavier boot, that is going to ski way different than the backland. I wouldn't take any material out until you've skied it thoroughly.

no worries. Im not expecting to make the Radical as light as Backland (just added for context and it was pivot bushings and cuff components reaming out). Radical checks all boxes but is vastly heavier than Quantum free 130 or Transalp pro by 130g each boot. I was hoping expecting to add weight and beef just not this much.
i asked here to see if people mod items like i do to get idea whats been done and what specific pieces on Radical do.

for instance the tongue. Its new version from other two Hoji boots. Its full length and 2 layered plastic plus the waffle lower shell gap filler. Not to mention the 4 hex screws and T nuts at toe. Most ever and doesnt seem like tongue would get stressed here with toe and instep buckle holding it down.
thanks for any further info

[GoldenBC]

"is vastly heavier by 130g each boot"

I'm all down for tinkering but wow. Just leave your water at home and save 1000g.

[rfconroy]

"is vastly heavier by 130g each boot"

I'm all down for tinkering but wow. Just leave your water at home and save 1000g.

This reminded me of Cody's Instagram a while back

[Bikeskier]

"is vastly heavier by 130g each boot"

I'm all down for tinkering but wow. Just leave your water at home and save 1000g.

HA! kinda funny but if im leaving essentials might as well drop my probe, beacon and extra battery...not happening
as for 130g i was averaging. Im coming from 1200g boots so 1540g is a vast increase but i realize i need a bit more boot so went to 1350/1400g but still flexy so i tried Radical which is AMAZING but heavy.
340g or 140g each does add up specially on days when its a 4 mile each way trail runner to get to snow.
YMMV in your use but this is mine.

[GoldenBC]

HA! kinda funny but if im leaving essentials might as well drop my probe, beacon and extra battery...not happening
as for 130g i was averaging. Im coming from 1200g boots so 1540g is a vast increase but i realize i need a bit more boot so went to 1350/1400g but still flexy so i tried Radical which is AMAZING but heavy.
340g or 140g each does add up specially on days when its a 4 mile each way trail runner to get to snow.
YMMV in your use but this is mine.

I'm just teasing. But also, I prefer to find things that function well rather than be super light. A smoother, better ROM walk mode will make much more difference than a hundred grams. Something that skis well will save energy for the way up. I dunno, I could be full of shit. My new 39lb mountain bike is the best climbing bike I've ever had because it is ergonomic and functions well.

Hoji lock boots are surprisingly heavy though.

[Bikeskier]

Anyone know the heat molding procedure for this boots “Custom Ready” liner?
time and temperature. Hit rice sock, oven, hot air. Home and ski shop?
i contacted Dynafit and got a worthless PC lawyered response “we dont recommend modifying our products”.
Atomic, intuition all openly list their procedures.
thanks

[Relica]

Has anyone with this boot tried replacing the power strap with a cam strap. I just personally hate dealing with velcro in the field. I'm debating ordering the Hoji Free strap and swapping that out. I can't think of a way to get a booster strap to work with the Hoji lock, but it maybe simpler than I'm thinking.

If noones tried I'll go the Hoji Free strap route and report back.

[rfconroy]

Looks like you can buy the whole power strap assembly for the hoji from skimo:

https://skimo.co/dynafit-power-straps

...that'll be 45 doll hairs

[cydwhit]

Has anyone with this boot tried replacing the power strap with a cam strap. I just personally hate dealing with velcro in the field. I'm debating ordering the Hoji Free strap and swapping that out. I can't think of a way to get a booster strap to work with the Hoji lock, but it maybe simpler than I'm thinking.

If noones tried I'll go the Hoji Free strap route and report back.

I haven't done it, yet, but I know that a few people have, and it seems pretty straightforward. Current strap is just T nutted on to the cuff, and then there's that handy loop already living on the cable end. Shouldn't be too hard to rivet a length of webbing with the cam buckle on it to the loop on the cable, and then T-nut the strap to that same rear cuff hole. It would definitely involve cutting up a pair of boosters, but would probably be worth it. Or, that buckle is perfectly suited to take one of the thicker Voile straps that's been T-nutted to the rear cuff. I don't love the Voile strap as booster strap thing, but plenty of people on here do. Or, if you don't care about stretch in that strap, two of those foot long NRS straps, cut up and either riveted, or bar tacked, would also be great.

I'll probably end up throwing that Atomic Dual Strap on mine over the summer, just because.

[Relica]

Added the booster. I'll be testing them out this weekend. The few things I noticed flexing is the strap tilts the loop and pulls to the topbas seen in the 2nd picture. Also the inner most strap gets caught under the knotch the shell has for the strap. I'll see if I prefer the strap outside the shell or inside over the next week or so. Inbounds boots I like it inside.

[sweatypowderpig]

i shouldn't have, but i picked up 2x pair when i saw my pro-form restocked today.
The 26.5 i tried on in person was a little snug in the length so i picked up both 26 and 27. could be one if not two pairs up for grabs depending on how things shake-out
my tiny heels/ankles and wide forefoot really make touring boots a pain in the ass.