Hjortleifson has been heard, the DynaFit Vulcan

[CG]

I pulled the dynafit power strap right away and added a Booster strap. I took the booster off today and liked it, uh ink I'll keep it off. I love these boots.

[jamesp]

taking the stops out made a difference, I can flex just that tiny bit further. Feels like it will still take some time to adjust skiing style... I wonder if I got in the habit of flexing boots lots to stay in balance but now I'll have to bend my knees more/use core to balance (?). I only notice it when on hard groomers, its just as likely I've never learnt proper technique. Skiing any amount of softer snow or pow & the boots are great.

Anyone having flex pattern problems with the Vulcan should've gone with the Mercury.

Mercury & Vulcan are both generations ahead of my old boots, so there would be a learning phase regardless of what boot I got. When I went shopping, Vulcan's fit pretty well, Mercury & Scarpa boots weren't available for me to try.

[Fejau]

taking the stops out made a difference, I can flex just that tiny bit further. Feels like it will still take some time to adjust skiing style... I wonder if I got in the habit of flexing boots lots to stay in balance but now I'll have to bend my knees more/use core to balance (?). I only notice it when on hard groomers, its just as likely I've never learnt proper technique. Skiing any amount of softer snow or pow & the boots are great.



Mercury & Vulcan are both generations ahead of my old boots, so there would be a learning phase regardless of what boot I got. When I went shopping, Vulcan's fit pretty well, Mercury & Scarpa boots weren't available for me to try.

The Mercury fits exactly the same as the Vulcan. The upper cuff being Carbon/Fiberglass in Vulcan is the only difference between the two boots.

[shafty85]

Right so you have this years Vulcan with removable stops and of course last years Vulcan didn't have stops ... then by all means give it a try

and tell us what you think

I haven't seen the Vulcans, but I'm thinking it would be possible to retrofit the Mercury with the Vulcan stops, no? Are they available from Dynafit? If you chose to see if you prefer the Mercury without the stops, similar to the Vulcan, you would simply be able to reinstall the stops and not have to worry about a permanent change to the boots. Seems this would be easier than having to try and fashion stops yourself. I wonder why they made the Mercury stops non-removable?

[auvgeek]

Anyone having flex pattern problems with the Vulcan should've gone with the Mercury.

Supposedly, the "flex stops" are new for this year. Have you skied this season's Vulcan with the new stops added? If so, did you find the flex pattern pretty much the same as last years?

[LeeLau]

I haven't seen the Vulcans, but I'm thinking it would be possible to retrofit the Mercury with the Vulcan stops, no? Are they available from Dynafit? If you chose to see if you prefer the Mercury without the stops, similar to the Vulcan, you would simply be able to reinstall the stops and not have to worry about a permanent change to the boots. Seems this would be easier than having to try and fashion stops yourself. I wonder why they made the Mercury stops non-removable?

Not available from Dynafit. I'm sure someone will mod their boot and be all excited and stuff

Supposedly, the "flex stops" are new for this year. Have you skied this season's Vulcan with the new stops added? If so, did you find the flex pattern pretty much the same as last years?

Flex of the production Vulcan is quite a bit smoother than the abruptness of pre-production. But the construction was also a bit different. Different plastic thicknesses and tuning details. Stiffer tongue too

[jamesp]

Not available from Dynafit. I'm sure someone will mod their boot and be all excited and stuff

it wouldn't be hard for the nerds to rig something up, the stops are just bits of plastic with a little t-nut. The hardest part would be getting them in the right spot.

[shafty85]

it wouldn't be hard for the nerds to rig something up, the stops are just bits of plastic with a little t-nut. The hardest part would be getting them in the right spot.

How come? Couldn't you predrill the necessary hole, prior to removing the stops on the Mercury? Even if you already ground them off, unless you were able to get a finish that you were unable to see where the stops previously were, I think you'd be able to get them right close.

[jamesp]

true.... my point is there is nothing fancy about the construction of the stops.

[shafty85]

true.... my point is there is nothing fancy about the construction of the stops.

agreed....

[pow314]

this might have been addressed but i'm stuck between sizes....27.5 is too tight around the toes, 28 is a bit loose in the forefoot. how hard is it to work on this grilamid? can you stretch the toes fairly easily?

[auvgeek]

^^Yes. Or buy a thinner liner (HD Race works perfectly for me).

IIRC, the original issues people had with grilamid was on the TLT5—the issues wasn't so much the plastic, but the fact that Dynafit put a bellows right at the 5th met head where most people needed it punched.

[pow314]

cool, i might have to go smaller.....did the hd eliminate the instep issues?? with the original liner i can't keep my foot in the 27.5 for more than a few minutes, with my powerwraps they feel ok, a bit of instep tightness, with my zip fits the toes tightness almost disappears but the heel becomes way too tight. maybe the hd is the answer. or do the reasonable thing and buy the 28...

[auvgeek]

^^HD Race did eliminate the instep issues for me. Though I should be clear that I only tried them on in the store for a bit. But I had bought the 27 and thought it was pretty tight over the instep but too long in race. With the HD race, I downsized to the 26, and they actually felt reasonable over the instep when I had them on in the store. I haven't actually toured in a pair yet, but they felt loads better than with the stock liners.

I definitely wouldn't run them with zipfits.

[Stowelen]

What model Intuition liner have people been using in the Vulcan? Pro Tour looks like it might be too short. Tried PW today and it seemed too big for the Vulcans volume, I couldn't even buckle it in store.

[NoPostholio]

I used PW for mine, but had already reduced the volume by having them in quadrants for half a year. If you mold them they will fit - you will be all the way out on adjustment range. Or try plug. Vulcan plus PW with no tongue or booster strap is an awesome rig.

[saxon]

I use the Power Tongue but I have to open the calf as much as I can (both using the most open position and also moving the receptacle on the shell). I buckled as I would for other boots while molding (pretty damn tight) but I wish I'd done it even tighter. Aside from the calf volume of the liner, it's perfect.

[Chugachjed]

I moved the powerwraps out of the vulcans and swapped in pro tours.

[xyz]

I've got some power wraps in my mercuries. I used these liners in my old zzeros and had them remoulded for the mercs. The first ski day I could barely close the buckles. The second day was a little better. I had the liners spot moulded to take out volume around the forefoot. The liner/shell seem to react well to use ie each day gets a little better.

I hoping the merc without the tongue with a power wrap for the down is the ticket...

[Lindahl]

Aside from the calf volume of the liner, it's perfect.

Too much calf space or too little?

[saxon]

Too much calf space or too little?

Too little room for my calves, liner takes up too much space.

[sethschmautz]

I'm running Pro tours in my Vulcans. They walk better than the stock liners and seem to be stiffer in the upper cuff. I have way more room in the toe box with the PTs than I do with the stock liners, which is great for going up, but a little more than I want for the way down. It also feels like the heel pocket isn't as tight with the PTs (in a bad way) - or maybe this is just the result of my mold - it was pretty hard to get my foot + liner into the boot after baking my liner. Still satisfied with the boot/liner combo, and I have plenty of adjustment room with my buckles, so I think I'll find the sweet spot with adjustments.

[TheDon]

I pulled the dynafit power strap right away and added a Booster strap. I took the booster off today and liked it, uh ink I'll keep it off. I love these boots.

I should have done that. Both of my power straps pulled out while riding. Caused a crack in one high back. Then the next day the lower buckle was gone after skiing.

I'm beginning to wonder about the durability of the Mercury.

[XXX-er]

OK since the stock liners are useless to me and just sitting on the shelf I thot WTF not try this mod SO I removed this^^ piece on one liner and left the other for comparison ^^ as per skialpy, AND so just standing around the mancave there is a very noticable difference in the amount of pressure on the 1st metatarsal as in I think I could actualy ski the liner with the piece removed

It was pretty easy to remove that piece without fucking anything up, just cut the stitches with a razor blade it takes 5 min, as skialpy mentioned the tongue doesn't stay down so well after removing the cover piece but there is a BIG difference

edit: I measured the thickness of that piece with calipers, its 2-3mm thick where they stack no wonder it hurts, if that piece was left out and 2 more sets of lace loops were sewn into the liner lower down to keep the tongue in place the liner would work WAY better

so I sewed 4 extra lace loops into the front/ bottom of the bootliner which I made out of some nylon para cord, I haven't had a chance to them but running the lacing system further down the liner after cutting out that piece keeps the tongue in place

[Wetdog]

The Mercury fits exactly the same as the Vulcan. The upper cuff being Carbon/Fiberglass in Vulcan is the only difference between the two boots.

Actually, they don't fit exactly the same. I tried the Mercury and the Vulcan and found the Vulcan liner harder feeling and it seemed to have more volume. I tried several pairs of each and noticed the same thing. I swapped liners in two pairs of each, putting the Mercury liners in the Vulcans and the Vulcans in the Mercury's. The Vulcans with the Mercury liner fit like a Mercury and vice versa. The sales person said a number of other people had also noticed this difference and did the same thing as I did, swapping liners and came to the same conclusion. The liners are not the same. Upon initial examination they appear the same, but addition seam lines on the Mercury, I think, give it away. You can feel pinching them, that the Mercury liner is a bit thicker and softer. Upon doing some research, I found that the Vulcan liner is speced as a "Performance" liner and has a more dense, slightly thiner foam with less give. Both liners are equally shitty. I saw one that Tom the fitter at Intuition had cut apart and there is no heat moldable foam at all in the liner, just a thin layer of open cell foam an some stiffening panels bound with cloth. It is a cheap poorly made liner that has no moldability and is slapped together and stuffed in a premium shell making the Mercury a $900 boot and the Vulcan a $1200 boot after spend another $200 on a liner that you can actually use to access the boot's full potential. It's really more like buying a shell stuffed with newspaper. All that is missing is the inscription on the box, "Liners sold separately."