Dynafit TLT8 Carbonio

Just received a pair of TLT8 Carbonios and I'm a bit surprised at the fit and weight. Wanted to share to make others aware and to see if others are seeing the same with their boots:

Fit: I had heard that the TLT8 was going to be a low-volume, narrower boot. I have a Dalbello and Scarpa type foot (Salomon trail running shoes) and I find the TLT to be a pretty high-volume boot: lots of room in the forefoot and a wide heel. I went with my standard 27.0 boot size; the length is right on; the width across the boot and volume at the instep is high. Already I had to add C-pads on both sides of my ankles and I'm considering adding a boot sole shim as well to take up some of the space in the boot.

Weight: Advertised as a "sub-kilo" boot at 950 grams. Putting a boot on my scale (without the included powerstrap, which is a nice feature) came in at 1087 grams; very disappointing, to say the least. My measured weight is 15% heavier than Dynafit's advertised weight.
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I contacted Dynafit about this and they told me that the 950 gram stated weight is for the boot shell only (without the power strap); they aren't including the Custom Light liner in the advertised weight of the boot. Strange indeed, as I don't know of any other companies that do this. It feels misleading when trying to compare weights to other boot brands.

I haven't gotten a chance to ski these yet, but flexing into the boot does feel very good; not very stiff but just stiff enough, especially for a boot at this weight. I think that I will want to keep the power strap attached as it secures the cuff higher up on my calf increasing the stiffness. For reference I'm 5'10" and 160lbs. In walk mode the range of motion is pretty incredible and I think these boots will tour very well and can still drive wider/stiffer touring skis without issue.

The boots each have 2 ratchet-style buckles that feel pretty old-school (makes me think of old Scarpa touring boots with the ratchet instep buckle); we'll see how durable they are. Flipping over into walk mode is very easy: open the top buckle and the boot is loose and in walk mode. The foot buckle stays tight as it's no longer integrated into the top buckle like the TLT7. I like the change; way simpler.

I look forward to hearing what other folks' thoughts are on these boots as they start getting into peoples' hands!

I just happen to try on the TLT8 expedition today (performance is no more). I’m the opposite, big footed and TLT7 fit was good for me. TLT8 is still good. Maybe a bit lower volume and snugger fit, but not drastically as people may have hoped.

Bummer to hear about the weight stuff - that’s BS. I wouldn’t wanna ski the TLT8 without the power strap, the added support up high is important IMO.

A 26, which is usually the measured boot is likely under a 1kg. Still likely not 950g, but lighter.

Carbonio.

That sounds funny.

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Originally Posted by XavierD

A 26, which is usually the measured boot is likely under a 1kg. Still likely not 950g, but lighter.

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I was told by Dynafit that the size they use for weight reference is 27.0.

Thanks for the fit info. I'm considering this boot with the non-carbon cuff. How would you compare the fit in the ankle area to other boots, like say, the Maestrale, last year of 4 buckles. My big ol' ankle bones need some room. Thx.

Shell only weight is some bs

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Originally Posted by natebob

Thanks for the fit info. I'm considering this boot with the non-carbon cuff. How would you compare the fit in the ankle area to other boots, like say, the Maestrale, last year of 4 buckles. My big ol' ankle bones need some room. Thx.

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Unfortunately I can't offer a lot of info on fit compared to other AT boots. I'm a long-time tele skier converting back to AT with this setup.

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Originally Posted by Summit

Shell only weight is some bs

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Absolutely agreed!

Now that I've gotten a few touring days in the TLT8 Carbonios I wanted to offer a few additional thoughts on them. For reference, I paired these with the Dynafit Carbonio 89 skis (182cm) and BD Helio 145 bindings:
1) The TLT8 skis very well, surprisingly well for a 'lightweight' touring boot. Tongue flex is much stiffer than expected and I can really lean into the boot to drive my skis through the less-than-ideal conditions that we have on the mountain right now.
2) The range of motion in walk mode is pretty impressive. Granted, I'm a reformed tele skier coming back to AT after many years of tele-only, but in walk mode my stride motion is pretty natural while skinning. The "speed nose" actually does make a noticeable difference while walking on firm ground as well.
3) The boot is much boxier and than I had hoped and expected. I have a normal width foot, narrow heel and skinny calves. There's a lot of volume in this boot; no other way to put it. Lots of room in the toes, pretty decent hold in the midfoot, and wide in the heel. I had to add C pads on both sides of my ankles to take up the extra space which seems to have helped for now. Despite that I'm afraid that once the liner packs out a bit the boot will go back to being too voluminous and I will have to replace the liners with Intuitions.
4) Because of the extra volume in the boot it's a bit sloppier on the way down than I would like. I just don't get that "perfectly formed around your foot" feeling and I don't think that I ever will with the stock liners.
5) Weight: I'm still a bit peeved at this. Advertising a boot at 950g (in size 27.0, the size that I bought) and then measuring the actual weight at 15% more than stated (1087g) is not cool at all. Dynafit needs to update their website, vendor site and advertising so that they don't continue to deceive people.

I'd be interested to hear opinions from anyone else that has a pair of TLT8 Carbonios!

Id be curious to hear how this boots compares to the new Fischer Travers CC

Just received the TLT8 Carbonio and have some very preliminary thoughts from wearing them around the house.

It’s difficult to judge the fit of lightweight boots since so much has to do with the liner. With the stock super thin CL liner, I had a pretty sloppy fit. Popping in Intuition Pro Tour MV molded for my Atomic Backlands (same size) I had a good fit. I can see how people using the standard liner might think this is a high volume boot, but I think the shell fit is fairly close to a TLT6 and Backland in the same size. I’d say the fit is close to my Alien RS in the next size up (which is kinda the same shell given Scarpa sizing - 29.5 vs 30).

I bought these as a slightly beefier complement to the Alien RS and I think they’ll be perfect for that. The walk mode feels close to the old TLT6 without tongue, and the stiffness feels close to the TLT6 with tongue. I’d say you give ever so slightly in both modes in exchange for not needing the removeable tongue. Frankly I was embarrassed for Dynafit when the TLT7 came out, but this feels like a worthy successor of the TLT6. They feel substantially stiffer than the Alien RS but obviously they’re heavier and don’t tour as well.

Hope someone finds this helpful.

Dynafit's page for the TLT8 Carbonio now lists it at 1090g, interesting that they updated the page. Skimo.co weighs it at 1102g, which seems to be a reasonable variance, they probably sample one pair.

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Originally Posted by ccl

Frankly I was embarrassed for Dynafit when the TLT7 came out

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I'm curious why you say that - I've never skied the TLT6 nor the TLT8, but honestly, I love my TLT7's. Sure, the internal cable routing is unnecessary and over-engineered, but the boot skis and walks very well.

The TLT7P seemed soft compared with the TLT6P or TLT8M when I tried them.
I've read the internal cable system is prone to breaking, they switched back to ultralock for the TLT8.

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Originally Posted by stuntmanbo

The TLT7P seemed soft compared with the TLT6P or TLT8M when I tried them.
I've read the internal cable system is prone to breaking, they switched back to ultralock for the TLT8.

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And the TLT7 last was Sasquatchian in volume. Different strokes and all that, but it’s always easier to make it bigger than smaller.

Is the TLT8 Carbonio last more like the TLT6?

No, the TLT8 is similar to the TLT7 in fit. The new Speedfit Pro has a similar fit to the TLT6.

Speedfit Pro is similar to the black orange TLT6P (latest season) which was a touch wider than the green one.

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Originally Posted by andy m

No, the TLT8 is similar to the TLT7 in fit. The new Speedfit Pro has a similar fit to the TLT6.

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Fuck. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Andyski

And the TLT7 last was Sasquatchian in volume. Different strokes and all that, but it’s always easier to make it bigger than smaller.

Is the TLT8 Carbonio last more like the TLT6?

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Makes sense why I love the TLT7, I have bunions bigger than my big toes practically. My only complaint with the TLT7 is that the damn powerstrap slips.

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Originally Posted by tgapp

Makes sense why I love the TLT7, I have bunions bigger than my big toes practically. My only complaint with the TLT7 is that the damn powerstrap slips.

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fix for that is hot glue on a strip of coarse grip emery cloth. worked for my vulcans with a similar strap

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Originally Posted by swissiphic

fix for that is hot glue on a strip of coarse grip emery cloth. worked for my vulcans with a similar strap

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Damn okay - something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Assorted-S...9542433&sr=8-6

I'll do that right away if that's the ticket, thanks for the heads up. I'm a ninny I know - but I feel pretty insecure without that powerstrap, and I've felt it loosen so much that I've stopped in the middle of runs to fuck with it. Very frustrating.

I watched a friend break the spoiler that fixes the walk mode "just skiing along" when he hit a little bump and flexed the boot forward to absorb the hit. Third day on the boots and non-repairable. Probably a bad batch of plastic, I'd think.

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Originally Posted by tgapp

Damn okay - something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Assorted-S...9542433&sr=8-6

I'll do that right away if that's the ticket, thanks for the heads up. I'm a ninny I know - but I feel pretty insecure without that powerstrap, and I've felt it loosen so much that I've stopped in the middle of runs to fuck with it. Very frustrating.

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I felt your pain. I'll try to find pics and dig around to find that emery cloth that I used...might have been 60 or 80 grit.

I've since moved on to a nice wide dh boot good old velcro strap...imo, works quite bit better.

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Originally Posted by tgapp

Makes sense why I love the TLT7, I have bunions bigger than my big toes practically. My only complaint with the TLT7 is that the damn powerstrap slips.

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Found the old powerstraps. Here's what the mod looks like and what grit emery cloth employed; e cloth was cheap; maybe a buck at the hardware store. For the bonding; in hindsight, i think i used shoegoo, not the hot glue gun.

Also, my vulcans are about 4 years old...not sure if the basic cam style powerstrap on yer carabiner8's are same, similar or vastly different.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by swissiphic

Found the old powerstraps. Here's what the mod looks like and what grit emery cloth employed; e cloth was cheap; maybe a buck at the hardware store. For the bonding; in hindsight, i think i used shoegoo, not the hot glue gun.

Also, my vulcans are about 4 years old...not sure if the basic cam style powerstrap on yer carabiner8's are same, similar or vastly different.

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Very similar - I'll do this mod later this week. Thanks for your help here!

The TLT8s actually tour and ski really great; the big difference is that they fit a different foot demographic than the TLT6. If you always wanted to love TLT6s but they just didn't fit your high-volume foot, I think you will really dig the TLT8.

That said, I am selling my 27.0 TLT8s at a great price here because I have a TLT6 foot.

Echoing what SkiNowWorkLater said, I have a TLT6 foot and am also selling mine. I was hoping that an Intuition pro tour liner would take up the necessary volume but I couldn't get the fit I was looking for. Comparing the TLT8 Carbonio to the TLT6P, I don't think the 8 skis as well as the 6 with the tongue in (although it's close), and it doesn't tour as well as the 6 with the tongue out. You give up in both directions in order to not fiddle with the tongue. I ski an Alien RS regularly and just didn't feel like the 8 was a big enough step up in ski performance to justify it's big penalty in the touring department. The 8 has a way more restricted tour mode than the Alien RS, but so do most boots :smile:

On advice of my bootfitter, I picked up a pair of TLT8 Carbonios last month to replace my old Atomic Backland Carbons (the old version with the removable tongue). I've put 7 days on them now so here are some initial impressions. TLDR: I like them.

For reference, my feet are 246mm (left) and 253mm (right) long and are 105-106mm wide. I have low-volume heels and ankles, so I have a tough time finding boots that fit my wide feet and large calves while also having good heel hold. The old Backland Carbons in a 24.5 fit me really well after heat molding the shells, punching for more width, and adding MV Pro Tour liners and Booster straps. After ~150 days the shell material is starting to oval out around the cuff pivots, creating unwanted play in ski mode, hence needing to find a replacement. I prefer snug-fitting touring boots and hate having slop or extra volume in ski mode.

The Carbonios felt pretty high-volume out of the box, but as another poster mentioned, this is largely due to the thin and flimsy stock liner. After swapping in a pair of MV Pro Tours the fit was much more secure, with good heel hold. The Pro Tours also eliminated a few weird pressure points I noticed with the stock liners. The Carbonios fit wider than the pre-molded Backlands but still needed punching for width. The length is good; I have about a 1-1.5 finger shell fit on the left and <1 finger on the right. Might need a big toe punch for more length on the right, TBD. Overall, I would say the fit is quite similar to the old Backlands, but the Carbonios are probably a little higher-volume through the toebox and lower-volume in the heel/achilles area.

The flex on the Carbonios is much stiffer than the Backland Carbons, but also less progressive. With the Backlands I could cinch the Booster strap up behind the tongue to create a really nice progressive flex, but couldn't quite get the same effect with the Carbonios. The Boosters weren't worth the extra weight so I swapped them out for Voile straps, which are lighter than Boosters but still have more elasticity than the static stock straps. Subjectively, I'd call the Carbonios ~20 points stiffer than the Backlands. They are actually close to my Hawx Prime XTD 130s in stiffness, although much less progressive. Many Carbonio reviews mention that they aren't burly enough to drive skis >95mm wide, but I have zero concerns about skiing my Bentchetler 120s and Line Pescados with them later this season.

The range of motion is better than Hawx Prime XTDs but doesn't come close to the Backlands w/o tongues, which are truly frictionless. That said, the Carbonio ROM is totally adequate for everything I'll use them for, including some long traverses, and the fiddle factor is way lower than the Backlands.

It took me a couple of tours to get used to the stiffer/non-progressive flex, but now I'm really happy with how the Carbonios ski. My heels are locked in and there's virtually no slop in the shells. I find I have to stay more balanced because the fore/aft flex is less forgiving than the Backlands, and this also makes them a little trickier to finesse at low speeds, while also feeling more stable at high speeds or in rough snow. I skied a couple of laps inbounds after a sidecountry tour yesterday and was surprised how little I had to dial it back, given that these are positioned for the fast & light crowd. Mind you, I'm not a big guy (5'7, 165lbs), although I ski aggressively.

Pretty stoked so far. I'll probably post an update after skiing them in a wider range of conditions and with some bigger skis. So far all my touring days have been on Line Vision 98s.

Weight: ~820g shells only, ~1150 grams with MV Pro Tours, custom footbeds and Voile straps.


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I'm trying to find a pair of 28.0 or 28.5 Dynafit TLT8 Carbonio if anyone has a lead on a pair new or used.