incoming incomingNovember 17, 2012
I received my Dynafit Mercury boots last week, and have been fine tuning them ever since. Frickin' stiff is the operative adjective for these things, and we're not even talking about the top-of-the-line Vulcan with the carbon fiber cuff! After playing around and spending time with both my Lange RS 130's and my Dynafit TLT5P's on the other foot, I've made the following mods with an eye toward finding a forward flex in between my alpine and light touring boots without sacrificing "crush resistance" under full load:
1. Sixth toe punches, both sides. 2. Medial mid-foot punches, both sides. 3. Reduced the height on the removable tongues by ~ 2 inches. 4. Cut a V-shaped slot in the removable tongues matching the shape of the shiny patch on the inside of the tongues.
I'm getting close to a flex I like for this boot, a bit softer than my Lange plug boots and still quite a bit stiffer than the TLT5P's. The Mercury is quite sensitive to buckle tightness as well; tightening the top buckle tight makes it feel quite a bit stiffer. Try backing off a notch if you want a little more give in the flex. If you position the power strap in back of the fixed "V" tongue with the fabric sewn in the middle, you can leave the removable tongue in place while skinning without limiting your rearward cuff mobility to any serious extent, so transitions are simply a matter of opening or closing the top buckle. Pretty sweet, since I already have slots for Dynafit buckles cut in three pairs of my touring pants!
October 29, 2012
Last night my place of business picked up and moved from its old location in Fremont to a new one a few blocks east at Stone Way and 35th. In typical evo fashion, a team of employees massed at both locations and worked through the night to transfer fixtures, art and inventory from 122 NW 36th to 3500 Stoneway N. - no downtime allowed! We opened the doors promptly at 11:00 AM and were busy almost immediately with a mix of regular customers, neighbors from the hood, family and friends.
The ski department was crankin' - lots of boot fits and sales of all manner of hardgoods. We would have done even better if we'd been able to bring up more inventory, but the crew was at the limit already. No worries, everything worked and comments were universally favorable regarding the new space. It doesn't really look or feel like a sporting goods store, but we've got the gear to prove we are.
New Storefront brings it to the lower boundary of Stone Way North
Entrance and street level apparel section just before opening the doors
Mezzanine and snowboard section
Andrew and Ryan from Line Skis check out the boot display
Previous Incoming Pages:
China: Wandering in the Middle Kingdom
"Incoming" covers developments that have personal interest to me (ie. gear I might consider acquiring, or events I feel may impact the sport of skiing) - it is by no means meant to be a comprehensive enumeration of gear or events in the ski world at large. Feel free to contact me via the randosaigai.com link below with news or images that may be of interest . . .
© 2014 Gregory C. Louie