Gear Dynafit Hoji PX AT Boot First Impressions

[Ken_R]

So, at this point in the season I decided to re-evaluate my Ski Boot "quiver"

My boots consisted of a pair of 2016 Lange RX130 27.5 boots and a pair of Atomic Hawx XTD 120's (27.5).

I had the Langes first and the Atomic were supposed to serve as my AT boot (w/ Dynafit pin bindings) and eventually my resort boot as well.

Long story short, my boots were too big, not by a lot but enough that they needed some added volume here and there. (spacer under the insoles). Also, after touring in the Hawx quite a bit I decided to have dedicated touring boots and use the Langes at the resort. Not that the Hawx are not a great "50/50" boot. It is one of the best available no question. If I could only have one boot for everything the Atomics would be it.

I started looking at different AT boots and the Hoji caught my attention right away with the sleek walk mode mechanism that allows you to leave all the buckles tightened (and the power strap!). It is really ingenious and works great. I tried the 26.5 size and it fit great, very tight in the instep and side/rear of the foot but had nice room in the toes. My toes did touch the front but only while standing upright.

There are several models of the Hoji, the top of the line Pro Tour (Grilamid plastic) and the PX (Pebax plastic). Stated flex is 120 for the Pro Tour and 110 for the PX. That's on paper. Out on the slopes the PX is plenty stiff and at least as stiff if not stiffer than the 120 Hawx. The PX also has a nice "progressive" flex and it doesnt collapse like most lightweight touring boots do. It is very supportive even at my weight (190 lb + gear). It is also VERY stiff laterally. All this results in a VERY responsive boot even on hard snow in the resort. I was VERY impressed. Getting in and out of the boot is really easy due to its three piece like design. It obviously walks incredibly well.

I could barely tighten some of the buckles but in time the liner will pack out. Shell fit was perfect so any issues with tightness were due to the liner. Oh, the stock insole is junk which is typical so I put in the custom soles I had in my Atomics and everything was good again (I did have to trim them some). Side to side support of my foot was spot on. No movement really, a bit tight but tolerable.

Now, I need to get ultrathin wool socks

Oh, nice bonus, the new Dynafit inserts make stepping into the Radical 2.0's a bit easier and the rear feels tighter which is nice.

PS:

Atomics for sale here: https://www.pugski.com/threads/atomic-hawx-ultra-xtd-120-boots-27-5.13669/

Langes for sale here: https://www.pugski.com/threads/lange-rs130-27-5.13668/

 

[pais alto]

Interesting boot for sure, thanks for your impressions. A little drift here: you have pin/tech bindings on all those skis? Any trouble adjusting for (what I assume is) a shorter BSL?

 

[Analisa]

Ah - jealous. I've had a monogamous boot relationship with my Mercuries with a Vulcan tongue (which the Hojis replaced) up until two weeks ago. They dropped the Lady Mercury right after I bought mine and this is the first time in a few years they've had something more downhill oriented than the TLTs. Super exciting... until I realized they had changed the fit. But the walk mechanism is really nice (love that they made the catch phrase for the boots "pants down always" since the Mercury/Vulcans always has a terrible ankle-bunching thing going on. And the forward lean <17 degrees must be nice too. Glad there's another Dynafit fanboy. I've read a few "don't ski Dynafit if you care at ALL about downhill performance" sorts of comments, and it's a total eyeroll. 2015 Vulcan totally started the Grilamid/50-50 boot trend everyone started jumping on.

Hopefully new bindings or crampons don't have you jonesing for a Hoji Free.

 

[Ken_R]

Interesting boot for sure, thanks for your impressions. A little drift here: you have pin/tech bindings on all those skis? Any trouble adjusting for (what I assume is) a shorter BSL?

Ok, I only have a pair of skis with the Radical 2.0's (the others have alpine bindings for now). I was surprised by the amount of adjustment on the rear rails of the Radicals. The old boot was 312mm BSL and the new ones 291 BSL and I had room (just enough) to adjust the heel piece forward to fit the new boot no problem. The binding was mounted with the old boot as a guide and the heel piece was about 10mm to the rear so the with the old boot the binding was adjusted forward that much. So yes, there is a lot of adjustment but it all depends where exactly the rear binding was mounted in respect to the boot.

 

[Ken_R]

Ah - jealous. I've had a monogamous boot relationship with my Mercuries with a Vulcan tongue (which the Hojis replaced) up until two weeks ago. They dropped the Lady Mercury right after I bought mine and this is the first time in a few years they've had something more downhill oriented than the TLTs. Super exciting... until I realized they had changed the fit. But the walk mechanism is really nice (love that they made the catch phrase for the boots "pants down always" since the Mercury/Vulcans always has a terrible ankle-bunching thing going on. And the forward lean <17 degrees must be nice too. Glad there's another Dynafit fanboy. I've read a few "don't ski Dynafit if you care at ALL about downhill performance" sorts of comments, and it's a total eyeroll. 2015 Vulcan totally started the Grilamid/50-50 boot trend everyone started jumping on.

Hopefully new bindings or crampons don't have you jonesing for a Hoji Free.

These boots ski amazingly well, I was really surprised although when I tried them at the store I could tell the flex was solid and felt great. I also tried the TLT7's and I just crushed them so the flex is quite soft on those.

 

[pais alto]

Ok, I only have a pair of skis with the Radical 2.0's (the others have alpine bindings for now). I was surprised by the amount of adjustment on the rear rails of the Radicals. The old boot was 312mm BSL and the new ones 291 BSL and I had room (just enough) to adjust the heel piece forward to fit the new boot no problem. The binding was mounted with the old boot as a guide and the heel piece was about 10mm to the rear so the with the old boot the binding was adjusted forward that much. So yes, there is a lot of adjustment but it all depends where exactly the rear binding was mounted in respect to the boot.

Yeah, I was wondering because you’re selling your Langes. The odd toe on the Hoji seems to lock you in to pins/tech.

 

[Alexzn]

No DIN toe on this boot? Is Dynafit that scared of Salomon Shift? (Well, they probably are and for a good reason).

 

[Josh Matta]

No DIN toe on this boot? Is Dynafit that scared of Salomon Shift? (Well, they probably are and for a good reason).

Boot was designed before the Shift was out, and if your touring a ton, taking skis off at the top becomes a true hassle.

 

[Ken_R]

Yeah, I was wondering because you’re selling your Langes. The odd toe on the Hoji seems to lock you in to pins/tech.

Yes, its pin only (I dont think they are even compatible with the Kingpin!). I demoed a bunch of touring bindings earlier this season and my fav were the Dynafit (Rad2 or Rotation) and the G3's (ion12, Zed12). For touring I really like/want the simplicity (and lighter weight) of the pin bindings. The ones I mentioned have really nice elasticity in the rear so they feel great no matter how much the ski is bent. They use almost no gap between the fitting and the heel piece so there is very little slop (compared to traditional pin bindings).

The toe of the Hoji does make stepping into the binding easier. I noticed that right away. I though it looked a bit weird at first though .

Oh, Im getting another pair of Langes for the resort but in a 26.5 size, found some at a great price so should get them shortly.

 

[jmeb]

No DIN toe on this boot? Is Dynafit that scared of Salomon Shift? (Well, they probably are and for a good reason).

The Shift is not a competitor to any of Dynafits offerings except the Beast which is disappearing anyway. Dynafit is all about that Euro crowd who prefers lower weight and more touring efficiency than the huck-your-meat-Americans. At 1750g per pair for the shift, you're at about 3x the weight of a number of solid touring bindings in the sub-300g / binding class.

The speed nose also puts the pivot point even closer to your natural pivot point than a regular DIN-ish toe. Which again increases stride efficiency.

The Shift is going to kill frame bindings. And it will kill things like Kingpin most likely. But it isn't going to compete against the truly light-is-right touring bindings.

All that said -- Dynafit took a lot of crap for these not having a DIN toe. Which is why next year their introducing the Hoji Free which has a traditional toe block and will work in bindings that accept ISO 9523.

 

[Ken_R]

I demoed the Shifts and they are nice and a great 50/50 binding but for touring only I prefer the pin bindings.

 

[Ken_R]

The Shift is not a competitor to any of Dynafits offerings except the Beast which is disappearing anyway. Dynafit is all about that Euro crowd who prefers lower weight and more touring efficiency than the huck-your-meat-Americans. At 1750g per pair for the shift, you're at about 3x the weight of a number of solid touring bindings in the sub-300g / binding class.

The speed nose also puts the pivot point even closer to your natural pivot point than a regular DIN-ish toe. Which again increases stride efficiency.

The Shift is going to kill frame bindings. And it will kill things like Kingpin most likely. But it isn't going to compete against the truly light-is-right touring bindings.

All that said -- Dynafit took a lot of crap for these not having a DIN toe. Which is why next year their introducing the Hoji Free which has a traditional toe block and will work in bindings that accept ISO 9523.

Well said.

When I demoed the Kingpin I found that it was a bit complex and heavy and didnt ski that much better than a G3 Ion or Rad2 so I didnt see the point. The heel piece is a work of art though.

The shift skied just like a typical alpine binding but with touring capability obviously. It was nice but again found it a bit complex and very heavy if one plans to use it mainly for touring.

 

[scottyb]

link to site with info on the new Hoji boot

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/324985-Hoji-Free-touring-boot

 

[ScottB]

Ken, nice review
I wonder if you considered changing liners in your atomic XTD's. I heard it makes a big difference. Blister reviewed the boots, and liners change the way they ski and change how well they walk uphill. I have the Hawks xtd 130's with the lightweight liner and they go uphill really really well. The liner is a little light for the downhill but I will consider getting a heavier more downhill specific liner in the future. Blister liked the liner in the XTD 120 for the downhill. I think Intuition makes a touring liner as well that works well on the downhill. I like the liner in the 130 for the up, its a little skimpy for the down, but it is comfortable and my feet stay warm because it is not the "clamp" that my Lange RS140's are. I am good with Lange's inbounds and XTD's for 50/50 and touring. I will also add I love the XTD's for coaching, the light weight and walk mode make all the difference when standing on the hill for long periods of time.

I checked the weight of the Hoji and its about the same as the XTD 120 boot. My 130 is about 200 grams lighter due to the liner. Anyway, the Hoji looks like it transitions better than anything else out there. I will say transitioning with the XTD does take a number of steps (two buckles, a power strap, and a walk mechanism) worst part is pulling up your ski pants and cuffs (I still use my downhill ski pants to skin).

Good luck with your new boots. It seems you are really getting into back country skiing and dialing things in. You'll have to get a SkiMo racing suit pretty soon too.

 

[Ken_R]

Ken, nice review
I wonder if you considered changing liners in your atomic XTD's. I heard it makes a big difference. Blister reviewed the boots, and liners change the way they ski and change how well they walk uphill. I have the Hawks xtd 130's with the lightweight liner and they go uphill really really well. The liner is a little light for the downhill but I will consider getting a heavier more downhill specific liner in the future. Blister liked the liner in the XTD 120 for the downhill. I think Intuition makes a touring liner as well that works well on the downhill. I like the liner in the 130 for the up, its a little skimpy for the down, but it is comfortable and my feet stay warm because it is not the "clamp" that my Lange RS140's are. I am good with Lange's inbounds and XTD's for 50/50 and touring. I will also add I love the XTD's for coaching, the light weight and walk mode make all the difference when standing on the hill for long periods of time.

I checked the weight of the Hoji and its about the same as the XTD 120 boot. My 130 is about 200 grams lighter due to the liner. Anyway, the Hoji looks like it transitions better than anything else out there. I will say transitioning with the XTD does take a number of steps (two buckles, a power strap, and a walk mechanism) worst part is pulling up your ski pants and cuffs (I still use my downhill ski pants to skin).

Good luck with your new boots. It seems you are really getting into back country skiing and dialing things in. You'll have to get a SkiMo racing suit pretty soon too.

Yeah, I had a set of Intuition Pro Tongue that made them ski even better. I actually still like the way the XTD's skin up and ski down. They are an awesome boot. But a dedicated touring boot like the Hoji, while not for everyone and not capable of using alpine bindings, tours a bit better but walks much better and going from walk to ski mode is even easier and faster and doesnt require one to unbuckle any of the buckles or even remove the strap. It is a different beast altogether. There are still even lighter weight touring boots but you start to get into ski-mo type gear that do not ski nearly as well as the hoji much less the XTD's.

I actually find the stock XTD 120 liner quite good for both the up and the down. It really is a nice compromise.

I might just keep the XTDs for resort use.

 

[blackke17]

these boots compatible with Shift bindings?

 

[pais alto]

these boots compatible with Shift bindings?

No. They do not have DIN compatible toes.

 

[blackke17]

thanks!

 

[Ken_R]

these boots compatible with Shift bindings?

Nope, no way. I now have the Hoji Free and they are, sorta, they still have a pretty grippy and luggy sole. Ideally for the Shifts I would use a boot with a more traditional alpine sole unless you plan to do a lot of hiking. The Hoji Free ski amazingly well though.