Dodge Ski Boots Options

[Stockliman]

Has anyone heard of the Dodge ski boot? I've attached a link: http://dodgeskiboots.com/
It's a carbon fiber ski boot & I believe it's being made by PJ Dewey who owns Race Stock Sports in Warren, VT.

[Brent Amsbury]

Has anyone heard of the Dodge ski boot? I've attached a link: http://dodgeskiboots.com/
It's a carbon fiber ski boot & I believe it's being made by PJ Dewey who owns Race Stock Sports in Warren, VT.

Nope, never heard of the boot until you sent the link. Interesting design, but does not appear to be oriented for ski racing.

Will comment more after further study.

Brent

[Justin]

Nope, never heard of the boot until you sent the link. Interesting design, but does not appear to be oriented for ski racing.

Will comment more after further study.

Brent

Fuuny you should mention that boot. Just yesterday I was checking out the web site and found it interesting. PJ doesn't actually produce the boot but he does do the fitting. Right now they are only building a 26.5 shell size and the boots are pricey ($1500/pair).

I see the main draw back that you must have all the bootfitting work done through PJ (he's the only one with the proprietary equipment and knowledge to do it properly). While PJ is an awesome bootfitter it poses a problem if you need to do follow up work and don't live near by. The toe boxes can't be stretched and with carbon fiber's unique properties each pair must be treated carefully; very sensitive to heat. Also, all changes to the ramp angle are done by grinding the sole so if you modify something and don't like it, you could be stuck with it.

This is very much a product oriented for ski racing. It's still in the beta phase with each pair being hand built and customized, e.g. including flex. This is actually a great time to bring something like this to the market. With so many of the hard good manufacturers hanging on for dear life, R&D for products using new age materials like CF is probably minimal. This could be a very promising product once all of the issues are worked out.

[Gary Dranow]

Fuuny you should mention that boot. Just yesterday I was checking out the web site and found it interesting. PJ doesn't actually produce the boot but he does do the fitting. Right now they are only building a 26.5 shell size and the boots are pricey ($1500/pair).

I see the main draw back that you must have all the bootfitting work done through PJ (he's the only one with the proprietary equipment and knowledge to do it properly). While PJ is an awesome bootfitter it poses a problem if you need to do follow up work and don't live near by. The toe boxes can't be stretched and with carbon fiber's unique properties each pair must be treated carefully; very sensitive to heat. Also, all changes to the ramp angle are done by grinding the sole so if you modify something and don't like it, you could be stuck with it.

This is very much a product oriented for ski racing. It's still in the beta phase with each pair being hand built and customized, e.g. including flex. This is actually a great time to bring something like this to the market. With so many of the hard good manufacturers hanging on for dear life, R&D for products using new age materials like CF is probably minimal. This could be a very promising product once all of the issues are worked out.

Thanks for the report Justin!

[Brent Amsbury]

Fuuny you should mention that boot. Just yesterday I was checking out the web site and found it interesting. PJ doesn't actually produce the boot but he does do the fitting. Right now they are only building a 26.5 shell size and the boots are pricey ($1500/pair).

I see the main draw back that you must have all the bootfitting work done through PJ (he's the only one with the proprietary equipment and knowledge to do it properly). While PJ is an awesome bootfitter it poses a problem if you need to do follow up work and don't live near by. The toe boxes can't be stretched and with carbon fiber's unique properties each pair must be treated carefully; very sensitive to heat. Also, all changes to the ramp angle are done by grinding the sole so if you modify something and don't like it, you could be stuck with it.

This is very much a product oriented for ski racing. It's still in the beta phase with each pair being hand built and customized, e.g. including flex. This is actually a great time to bring something like this to the market. With so many of the hard good manufacturers hanging on for dear life, R&D for products using new age materials like CF is probably minimal. This could be a very promising product once all of the issues are worked out.

Apparently Dodge is going after the ski racing market and from the appearance of their updated website, is having some success with them.
First appearances (one year ago) indicated that the 3 buckle shell and an innovative easy entry system, that the Dodge boot was positioned at the Luxury Cruiser segment of the market. But first appearances are exactly that, first appearances.


I recently received some first hand feedback from some local ski racers who have tried the Dodge ski boot.
They indicated the boot is too "edgy", and power transfer to the ski is abrupt. This makes sense with Carbon Fiber, as the material does not elongate like Polyurethane. My impression of this is that on icy and firm conditions this may be a benefit, but on softer more subtle conditions like what we have here in Utah, the results may be less than satisfactory.

My opinion of this boot is that with the plethora of features to fine tune the stance and alignment of the boot, the boot will make some penetration into
the local eastern market. Yet, the limited ability to custom shape the boot, the eccentric performance, coupled with a high entry price will ultimately keep this product on the sidelines of the ski industry.
If Dodge Ski Boots can find a way to collaborate with a larger manufacturer so as to be able to hybrid their product with current Poly boots, ie. use both Carbon fiber (rigidity zone) and Poly (fit zones), then they have huge potential to become the first manufacturer since Henke and Lange to
breakthrough to the skiing mass market.

Just my take after 30 years of watching knee high boots, air bladder boots, foam injection, integrated canting, integrated heating, hexagonal shell cut outs, and other supposed "game changing" innovations come and go, eventually all leading back to the 1970's Nordica GP design which we all essentially use today.

This Luddite will go back in his box now......-

Brent