Gear rumors 19/20

[NS05672]

Didn't get the full details of the line. He stopped into the shop and I asked him about the new Lupo and the King Pin M-Werks that were posted earlier. All I got was the Lupo Air is new next year. Departure from the typical cabrio style Lupos, all the stiffness is derived from the spine. Didn't get the details of the walk mode engagement, I had asked him if it was a similar engagement to the Vulcan and he seemed to agree. Totally new plastic as well, didn't get the full rundown of the material, so don't wanna elaborate and put my foot in my mouth. Removable buckle(s?) as well for the uphill. Same fit as the Lupo 130 I believe.
There will be standard cabrio Lupo that's not really weight focussed, the rep described it more as a Krypton/Panterra material/build in a Lupo mold. More focussed on skiing lifts and hiking inbounds and long term durability. More details next week, apparently there's a regional show in SLC.

New Kingpin is a new plastic that's cast with carbon fiber rods as reinforcement. Toe is changed to be much more similar to Alpinist.

[nyskirat]

Well....If the Lupo is supposed to get any heavier this years models are gonna fly off the shelves reaaaallly quickly.

[swissiphic]

Departure from the typical cabrio style Lupos, all the stiffness is derived from the spine. Didn't get the details of the walk mode engagement, I had asked him if it was a similar engagement to the Vulcan and he seemed to agree. .

I think there's a lot of potential for spine support focused stiff and light boots with a truly adjustable forward flex profile to be engineered into touring boots in the future.

I have the Vulcan, and felt from the beginning that the forward flex feel could use some refinement. Been working on a simple rubber damper mod to make em ski better and have had great results for performance but dismal durability in skiin' em. It's been amazing to feel the boot flex like a rally car with long travel suspension absorbing macro and micro shocks/vibration and producing a super smooth and damp ride...until the rubber disintegrates and it's back to the stock system and a more jarring boot feel.

Here's what i propose...and it's something just a bit out of reach for my basement mod skillz/materials limits.

Employ something similar in concept to the Pierre Gignoux snowboard boot rear adjustable elastomer based piston to dial in spine supported forward flex characteristics. Have options of different elastomer durometer ratings for different skier weights/temp conditions, flex profile. I'd bet you could stack a few different pucks to produce a 'soft off the top, stiffer as you sink into the flex'...or, more linear profiles just based on how you arrange the softer and harder elastomer units on the piston.

Design the hardware so there is a 'hard stop' limit for rearward flex so that the only role the piston plays in affecting forward flex.

Advantages of this system is eliminates the need for an external tongue (save weight, eliminate fiddle fucking around factor), a carbon cuff could be designed stiff for desired efficient lateral power transfer and rear support but with the elastomer piston design, could easily accomodate prit near an infinite continually variable forward flex rating/stiffness so you could pare down a ski touring boot line to only one model for all. Also, i could envision the piston attachment to spine of cuff could be a bolt on design that could allow for easy adjustment of forward lean. Also, think about how temp affects boot flex feel. A lot times when skiing in warmer conditions, I think, yeah, boots feel nice, more supple flex/damper...then when it's cold they stiffen up to bricks. Have that adjustable forward flex engineered into the boot and dial it in to the conditions you face in the real world, and adjust in real time. Going for a mogul zipper line? Back off the tension and let that long stroke travel keep you in the balance point pocket. Wanna mach down some variable chop, crank it up a bit for more support for the bigger hits of lumps and bumps. Etc...

[Self Jupiter]

Did the DPS guy’s boot concept ever come to fruition? Maybe it’s a similar design?

[swissiphic]

Did the DPS guy’s boot concept ever come to fruition? Maybe it’s a similar design?

Good question... the patent app from 2006 doesn't show any interesting shell breakthroughs for ski touring...but who knows, maybe there's more coming down the pipe from the brain farm. Looks like the game changing aspect of a ski boot in this concept is the full custom shell fabrication through 3D scanning of a person's foot/feet.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20080104778

[Self Jupiter]

Nice! Thanks. Wonder how much they’ll charge a dentist.

[swissiphic]

Hey dunno if this is a gear rumor yet or not but thought i'd ignite some shit...

So the DPS Phantom glide stuff is conjectured to have a main chemical constituent of stuff that's in D.W.R....sooooo, I bought some 3M Scotchgard and soaked my bases with it a few times over. Totally forgot about it cause they were on skis i haven't used in a while. Took em out for a rip over the past few days in varying snow and temps from above freezing to minus 10 and different snow crystal forms from wet grains, to moist new snow, to cold sharp facets, zipper rain crust, bulletproof clear ice and refrozen wet grains...well, the bastards were fast! Dunno if it's the Scotchgard or not but if so, I can see them making a splash in 2019. Need more mags to test this shit out on skis and see if there's something to it or not.

[burrito]

Did the DPS guy’s boot concept ever come to fruition? Maybe it’s a similar design?

I’ve been curious about this come every SIA/ISPO for a few years now. The amount of capital needed to open molds and create a run of boots is insane, especially for a relatively small brand like DPS. I really do hope they are able to get their ideas out there, but I’ve kinda stopped crossing my fingers.

[jdadour]

There will be standard cabrio Lupo that's not really weight focussed, the rep described it more as a Krypton/Panterra material/build in a Lupo mold. More focussed on skiing lifts and hiking inbounds and long term durability. More details next week, apparently there's a regional show in SLC.

YES YES YES! LIke the OG Lupo SP and bright green Lupo TI. Great move on their part. I can stop hoarding now!

[Lord Thomas]

Beside the Zero G's is there anything new on the horizon for touring boards??? From any manufacturer?

[NorCalNomad]

Beside the Zero G's is there anything new on the horizon for touring boards??? From any manufacturer?

G3 made tweaks to their Findr line. Not sure on exactly what they did, but one of the things was putting magnets inside the core so they don't need to be strapped together when attached to your backpack or when they are held in front of you while booting. Blister had it on their instagram story, but I didn't save it.

[adrenalated]

FUCKEN MAGNETS!!!!

[kid-kapow]

was putting magnets inside the core so they don't need to be strapped together when attached to your backpack or when they are held in front of you while booting.

hm, I never realized that that was a problem. I am probably not being critical enough though, or not.

[NorCalNomad]

You know that's what I thought but it could be a nice to have especially on a ski line that can potentially spend a lot of time off someone's feet. I could actually see that tech being handy in rando racing where it'd make bootpack transitions a little faster or more secure.

[Self Jupiter]

FUCKEN MAGNETS!!!!

QFT

[gavinski91]

FUCKEN MAGNETS!!!!

How do they work?

[LeoK]

How do they work?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

[adrenalated]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetism

[gramboh]

Beside the Zero G's is there anything new on the horizon for touring boards??? From any manufacturer?

Is there any info out about the new Zero G yet or just the all black tease thing?

[STLHD]

Haha. Beat me to it.

[LeoK]

Thanks. My knowledge of HipHop is even worse than of magnetism

[JRainey]

Overheard a guy on a tram talking about his goggles, so I asked.

Smith I/0 4D. Curved at the bottom so you can see your dick better, or your golfball... or snow.

It was the European sales demo. Fucking puking at the top, raining at the bottom... a good day to test goggles.

They also have Magnetz apparently.

The was a new XL IO or something too, frameless, magnets. Looked comparable to I/0X, but the guy said they'd be cheaper.

[swissiphic]

Beside the Zero G's is there anything new on the horizon for touring boards??? From any manufacturer?

Coupla more thoughts, found more pics. Gut feel prediction is that touring boots will feature a paradigm shift in terms of how forward flex is engineered into the boot...instead of relying on plastic deformation, flex and forward lean will have easily adjustable and tunable external components. With carbon now on the scene, boots could be made super light to offset any weight additions from external added components. Don't know about you guys, but I sure want a "totally programmable boot..."

Coupla examples of what could be used as *baselines* for re-engineering/refinement.

[SumJongGuy]

FUCKEN MAGNETS!!!!

Holds your keys too.

[nickwm21]

I think there's a lot of potential for spine support focused stiff and light boots with a truly adjustable forward flex profile to be engineered into touring boots in the future.

I have the Vulcan, and felt from the beginning that the forward flex feel could use some refinement. Been working on a simple rubber damper mod to make em ski better and have had great results for performance but dismal durability in skiin' em. It's been amazing to feel the boot flex like a rally car with long travel suspension absorbing macro and micro shocks/vibration and producing a super smooth and damp ride...until the rubber disintegrates and it's back to the stock system and a more jarring boot feel.

Here's what i propose...and it's something just a bit out of reach for my basement mod skillz/materials limits.

Employ something similar in concept to the Pierre Gignoux snowboard boot rear adjustable elastomer based piston to dial in spine supported forward flex characteristics. Have options of different elastomer durometer ratings for different skier weights/temp conditions, flex profile. I'd bet you could stack a few different pucks to produce a 'soft off the top, stiffer as you sink into the flex'...or, more linear profiles just based on how you arrange the softer and harder elastomer units on the piston.

Design the hardware so there is a 'hard stop' limit for rearward flex so that the only role the piston plays in affecting forward flex.

Advantages of this system is eliminates the need for an external tongue (save weight, eliminate fiddle fucking around factor), a carbon cuff could be designed stiff for desired efficient lateral power transfer and rear support but with the elastomer piston design, could easily accomodate prit near an infinite continually variable forward flex rating/stiffness so you could pare down a ski touring boot line to only one model for all. Also, i could envision the piston attachment to spine of cuff could be a bolt on design that could allow for easy adjustment of forward lean. Also, think about how temp affects boot flex feel. A lot times when skiing in warmer conditions, I think, yeah, boots feel nice, more supple flex/damper...then when it's cold they stiffen up to bricks. Have that adjustable forward flex engineered into the boot and dial it in to the conditions you face in the real world, and adjust in real time. Going for a mogul zipper line? Back off the tension and let that long stroke travel keep you in the balance point pocket. Wanna mach down some variable chop, crank it up a bit for more support for the bigger hits of lumps and bumps. Etc...

This is a great idea. Although I can see myself complaining I chose he wrong elastomer when the conditions or temps change, just like I complain when I am wearing my dark goggle lens and the clouds move in.


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