Comparison & Review: Dynafit Freeride Aero TF, Zzero4 PX & CF
Comparison and Review: Dynafit Freeride Aero TF, Zzero 4 PX and CF
Prelim stuff
Ive owned the Freeride aeros and used them as my daily boot for the past season.
In general Ive been very happy and satisfied with the boot, particularly in its fit and flex (for skiing). Ive been generally unhappy and not totally satisfied with the boots last, its poor heel pocket, the "walk mode", quickly packing out liner that has turned to the thickness of “thermofit cardboard”, and the weight.
My mission for the day was to determine if I wanted new liners for my current FR Aero boots, which ones those were, or if I just wanted new boots. The liners tested today were the stock liner in my Fr Aero, the new Dynafit Liner, and the new Scarpa branded Intuition.
Herein, the following acronyms will be used for each boot. This writeup refers exclusively to Mondo size 27 for all the boots.
Dynafit Freeride Aero TF – FR
Dynafit Zzero CF TF – CF
Dynafit Zzero PX TF - PX
Firstly, Ill compare some physical details of all the boots I feel are worth noting.
Boot Sole Length (BSL)
FR – 314mm
CF – 306mm
PX – 306mm
Weight (as measured in my garage on a +/- 5g resolution scale)
FR – 2095 (EEEk!)
PX – 1625
CF – unavailable as I didn’t buy this
Flex (in my opinion in comparison to an X-Wave 80 with an index of 90)
FR – with Tabs 80, without tabs, 65-70
PX – 60-65
CF - 70
The FR has the notorious flex limiting tabs that I ground off.
The PX and CF both have these tabs as well.
The shell is drastically different, definitely uses a different last (more on this later), uses a different tounge that is similar to the Garmont boots, and the new boots both have a wonderful dual setting ski setting for forward lean.
The differences between the PX and CF really only reside in the carbon fiber on the side stringers and in the tounge.
Moving on now to the flex.
FR
Stock, they are very unprogressive due to the flex limiting tabs.
I ground them off and they have a much smoother flex.
A lot of the plastic shell was designed very poorly imo, and interfered a lot with parts of the shell and buckles and made for some interesting hot spots and flex characteristics. Nothing though that isn’t solved with a quick dremel. The forward lean of these boots is very very far forward, almost too much at times. The plastic, imo, doesn’t change stiffness *that* much when it gets cold, so the in-store flex is very similar to the on-snow flex.. The walk mode on this boot is practically useless when buckled tightly for skiing. Ive actually skied with the walk mode on and not really noticed theyre so rigid.
PX
Nice and smooth flexing at first, with a bit of progressivity (not very linear) toward the end of the flex. Its no where near as jarring as the FR flex limiting tabs, but its there. Id guess that this is due to the sliding tounge joint at the end of the boot, and perhaps a better designed spacing between the shell and the wings on when they contact. The plastic is fairly soft in the store in comparison to the FR, but is still solid. Im guessing the store vs snow difference in stiffness will be fairly substantial at this point, but that’s a guess. The walk mode is wonderful compared to the FR. It actually does something and the multiple settings for ski mode is fantastic. Definitely a big selling point for me on these new boots as I felt the FR’s had too much forward lean and was really fatiguing on flatter approaches and on traverses.
CF
Pretty much identical to the PX, but just a TAD stiffer. Honestly, imo, you’re better off getting a PX and doing some mods to get the same stiffness. Laterally they both felt solid, but I couldn’t really tell in the store cause I didn’t have a good way to try to flex them with my feet\legs. Walk mode felt about the same.
Moving on to Liners
FR
At first I loved them, but then they either packed out, or I realized they weren’t so great. Probably both. To be clear, I have the 1st gen liners which are yet thinner than even the 2nd gen from last years boots. The heel pocket is basically non-existent, the foam very thin, the tounge very clumsy as it doesn’t fit well into the boot and shows wrinkles as evidence, and is just generally marginal now after usage. They are very very light and extremely warm however.
CF & PX
As they use the same liner, I only have to write this once
The first impression was wow, these things are plush and nice and thick.
The second impression was wow, these things are much bigger and thicker than the FR liner when putting my foot into the boot.
The third, when buckling them on, was holy crap, that heel pocket is freaking AWESOME! Additionally, I tried these liners in my FR boots, and while they improved the heel pocket significantly, it was obvious that the last between the CF\PX and FR are different. Time will tell how I like these liners, but everything fit so well, I decided not to mold them as my foot basically fit in there like a glove with one tiny tiny “pressure point”.
Shell Fit
FR
Generally roomy. Medium forefoot width, large heel pocket, and large volume. Not as large of volume as say a stock scarpa, but not too far off. I had to use a 2nd footbed as a shim to get a snug up\down fit. Once I did that, they felt much much better. The forefoot always felt a bit sloppy, as did the arch as it was a tad wide without getting custom work or a new liner. The heel pocket, was poor. Akin to a very packed out salomon xwave.
At this shell size and BSL, I had about .5 fingers more than I wanted of shell fit at about 1.5-1.75 fingers. Frustraing it was because the 26 was too small by this amount and I wasn’t ready at the time to have to pay for that much fitting or new boots.
CF\PX – same last
In comparison to the FR, narrower forefoot width by about 2-4mm id guess, obviously shorter footbed as in the different BSL length, and a tight heel pocket area. Id swear this last was designed damn near around my foot.
Overall Fit – Shell with Liner
FR
With the stock liner, it should be obvious from what Ive already typed how the fit.
A bit wide in the forefoot, poor heel pocket, and no arch support. I got blisters on my arch and the rear portion of my lower ankle \ upper heel after more than a couple hours of touring. I remedied that situation by getting better socks.
With the PX\CF liner, the fit was drastically improved. Forefoot still felt wide, and the heel still felt loose, but much better. I also tried them with an intuition and it was almost as bad as with the stock liner in terms of heel pocket and forefoot slop. This isn’t to say my foot was swimming, but I probably had 1mm of side to side on my forefoot and about 3-5mm of up\down on my heel if I tried to move it. Toes touch when upright, and move a few mm back when leaning forward.
PX\CF
Like a glove.
I could not pick my heel up if I tried. The heel pocket reminded me of how my buddies lange wc120 boots fit around my heel. It was locked. The forefoot was solid. My toes were still barely touching when I leaned forward, so Im confident they’ll break in wonderfully. Im really very stoked.
Final impression about flex and whatnot.
Will I be grinding the flex tabs off of my PX boots as I did with my FRs?
Right now, no I do not see that happening.
They did a great job in placing it at the right spot and making a moveable tounge that moves forward when you flex forward so it doesn’t feel like such a brick wall. Also, with them being a touch softer than the FR’s, Id rather have that little bit of stiffness right now.
Is it worth getting the slightly stiffer CF over the PX?
For me, its not worth it in any sense. It’s a TAD lighter and a TAD stiffer, but its also over 100$ more expensive. If youre into have the hawt shit, want the stiffest dynafit boot out there, then sure, go for it if you have the cash to burn. Another argument to buy the CF would be for resale value maybe.
Why did I get the PX boots over the new dynafit liners in my FR?
Short answer, because the new liners are not available nor does anyone have an ETA.
Slightly longer answer, because I was very impressed with the new boot, lighter weight, better walk mode, better ski settings and multiple ones at that, puke green color which rocks, and because they came with new liners.
And just a quick plug here, but I really do like going to Bent Gate in Golden.
Zach got me styled and was super nice.
They also had a really stinkin great price that was super competitive with online, so it was stupid not to buy from them for fittings and support and such.
Sooooo
Sorry this is so long and perhaps a bit unorganized\rambling, if anyone has any questions ill do my best.