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Thread: The Atomic Ski Boot Thread
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01-21-2023, 09:34 AM #51Registered User
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Mat. As our insider with the brand that seems the most committed to and most successful in developing and selling ski boots in every niche from resort uphilling to WC slalom, are you able to share your perspective on why there isn’t a business case for adding a genuinely low volume (for arguments sake assume this would be equivalent to a Redster CS fit) version of your most popular touring boots. I don’t pretend to understand the economics of this, it’s just that I’ve been playing this game for a long time, and for myself, my wife, and a significant proportion of my skiing partners, we know what it’s like to have a great fitting lift serviced boot, but are forced to tour in boots that have way too much volume in all the wrong places. Will this ever change?
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01-21-2023, 09:53 AM #52
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01-21-2023, 09:59 AM #53
Has the lever attachment on the walk mode on the Ultra XTD 130 been beefed up at all? I've had issues with blowing the lever out of walk mode (flexing it into walk mode), and ultimately stripping the screw holes which made the boot unusable. This was all on cliff landings. I really liked the boot, but it didn't even last 50 days, but maybe that's expected for a freerider? I'm about 190 w/o gear, so not small.
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01-21-2023, 10:07 AM #54
Unfortunately, it's an ROI problem. Going narrower than Ultra (i.e. Redster style fits) means producing very small quantities in relation to how expensive a boot is to make (ski boots are roughly 1 - 1.5 million € to develop). Combine that unfortunate reality with the fact that the touring market is a fraction of the size of the alpine market and it becomes quite hard to justify spending all that money to sell a few thousand pairs of boots globally. Sadly (and I am in this camp too) - don't hold your breath.
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01-21-2023, 10:12 AM #55
Yes - it's a more bomber new ski/walk mechanism and a better interface to the cuff. Some of the studio images are from an early sample round and we had to use different parts (just for that photoshoot), but the image I posted and the on-snow images in the latest Blister reviews show the new ski/walk mechanism.
Just be aware that if screws start to loosen, then things can shear and fail. If you are changing forward lean settings or anything that involves removing the screws, always add some thread lock to the screws before you reinstall.
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01-21-2023, 10:26 AM #56
Awesome, stoked to try it out then. Excited that it moved to PU, as the old one definitely didn't flex as nicely as the Cochise. Curious to see how the new one compares now.
Yeah, I always made sure the screws were tight and secured with locktite in the morning after having a screw rattle loose on my Backlands (never adjusted the lean on either boot).Last edited by Lindahl; 01-21-2023 at 11:14 AM.
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01-21-2023, 10:27 AM #57
Would a new Ultra XTD with Gnarbar behave similarly to current year Hawx Ultra S in the resort?
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01-21-2023, 10:29 AM #58Registered User
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01-21-2023, 10:37 AM #59
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01-21-2023, 10:39 AM #60
Agreed. I felt the XTD was undergunned at the resort so only used it touring or when I was doing sidecountry with longer walks that justified a true touring boot. At the same time, it only walked marginally better than the Cochise with an intuition.
I also felt the class of 1400g boots never really walked that great, but the 1200g class didn't quite ski well enough to be an everyday touring boot. Hoping the Backland XTD fills that gap that walks like the old Backland, but skis (and weighs) closer to a 1400g boot.Last edited by Lindahl; 01-21-2023 at 11:12 AM.
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01-21-2023, 10:40 AM #61
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01-21-2023, 11:45 AM #62
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01-21-2023, 12:08 PM #63
The screwed parts are marginally more expensive but it's the labor time that creates the issue. It takes way longer to assemble a boot with screwed hardware and this bottleneck during assembly drives up the cost of the boot like you wouldn't believe. Rivets go together far quicker and with less chance to mess it up.
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01-21-2023, 12:52 PM #64Registered User
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01-21-2023, 01:23 PM #65
Can you share details on the gnarbar?
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01-21-2023, 02:09 PM #66Registered User
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01-21-2023, 06:24 PM #67
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01-21-2023, 08:09 PM #68I Like Snow
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I went from having to punch the shit out of the toe box on the originals to comfortable-ish. feeling more like a zero g in length (definitely tighter in width and height). I’d guess 2-3mm in length plus feeling less like the front top corner tapers down on top of your toe nail. My zero g measures exactly the same length as my Hawx ultras that were punched almost to the edge of the toe lug.
It’s just from the PU not shrinking so it’s an even sensation everywhere, even in forefoot width.
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01-21-2023, 09:09 PM #69Registered User
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"High risers are for people with fused ankles, jongs and dudes who are too fat to see their dick or touch their toes.
Prove me wrong."
-I've seen black diamonds!
throughpolarizedeyes.com
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01-21-2023, 10:13 PM #70I Like Snow
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I’m not sure why you wouldn’t stick with the same size Hawx then. If you had to do a shell mold, this tiny difference will be perfect and you will have a touch more toe room. Normally people don’t downsize to get less toe room, they downsize to get the rest of the fit right. It’s nowhere near larger enough to justify downsizing.
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01-22-2023, 01:04 AM #71
Can y’all come out with a tele boot model (or 3)?
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01-22-2023, 04:03 AM #72
The Gnar Bar is a way to turn your new 23/24 Hawx Ultra XTD or existing Prime XTD into a truly fixed-cuff boot with tech inserts. We really went to town on our new ski/walk mechanism for the Hawx XTD series and eliminated as much play as we could, but there is still a minute, little bit - it's just the nature of ski/walk mechanisms and they all have it. This is ultimately why fixed cuff boots with tech inserts exist. So, if you really want to eek that last 1% of downhill performance from your Hawx XTD boot, then you take off the stock ski/walk mechanism and slap on the Gnar Bar, which fully locks the cuff to the shell, no play whatsoever. And when you want to go on longer tours, just unscrew it and put the ski/walk mechanism back on.
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01-22-2023, 04:07 AM #73
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01-22-2023, 04:09 AM #74
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01-22-2023, 04:13 AM #75
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