Video Transcriptions
About Comp Boot
About Comp Boot: My name is Ryan Green. I'm the U.S. Product Manager for Dynastar and Lange. We're going to talk about some new boots that we have with Lange Ski Boots. We're launching a new shell this year. It's called the Comp shell. We're offering this in two models, called the Super Comp, and then also the Comp Pro. These are for high-performance, advanced, expert-level skiers who are skiing on-trail situations. What's unique about this new shell is it's a very powerful design. It's based off our needs for the World Cup athletes. They're looking for product that was, again, initiated very quickly, put a lot of pressure into the ski, at the initial phase of flexing into the boot. So we've changed the shell design, or how the boot functions. All of our boots are made in Montebelluna, Italy, which is in Northeast Italy, just outside of Venice. Been made in the factories there for years and years. There is many generations who have worked in the factory at Lange, and it's basically their pride and soul to work in the Lange factory.
Comp Boot - About Liner
Comp Boot - About Liner: Okay. So now we'll talk a little bit about the liner that comes in the Super Comp and Comp Pro. These are very thin racing liners. You have a rigid tongue. It a very dense material, with a hard plastic on the front. That's basically to increase the power from the flex, puts more power into the system. A neoprene toe box. That allows for a little bit more room for the toes. You can downsize in this boot, and get a nice tight fit around the area, but your toes will not be constricted. But the key is that it's just a very thin material throughout the entire boot. It's a fairly dense material, as well. Because we don't want a lot of movement of the material as the skier is moving inside the boot. We want all of that movement to go to the plastic shell, which in turn will then create power into the ski. So very thin. Has a removable spoiler, so you can adjust your forward lean, or take additional volume out of the calf area of the boot.
Comp Boot - Additional Features
Comp Boot - Additional Features: And also the hinge point, where the upper and lower are bolted together, this is moved back a little bit, towards the achilles tendon. So that helps to lock the upper and lower. And all of this is done to generate more power. We've also changed the sole. It's a solid sole, as opposed to an arch sole, which is very rigid. There's no torsional flex, or longitudinal flex in this product. So as the skier is skiing, and putting a lot of energy into it, everything is transmitted to the ski, and vice versa, back to the skier.
Comp Boot - Available Sizes
Comp Boot - Available Sizes: The Comp series shells are available in two lasts, a 92 millimeter last, or a 97 millimeter last. The 92, on the ski business side of things, sounds fairly narrow, but there's a fair amount of room in here. So don't discount it just because it's a narrower last. The 97 is, obviously, a little bit more user friendly. Instep is a little bit lower than the traditional Lange, on this boot. So the whole idea is to have a very strong purchase on the foot, which in turn creates steering for the skier. So this is the most precise product. This has been used on the World Cup for about a year now, and all men will ski this in slalom and GS, and most of the women will ski this in slalom, and then they'll use our other boot in GS. So a technical event boot made for the highest performance, fastest skiing, skiers on hard snow.
Comp Boot - Foot Position
Comp Boot - Foot Position: We've also changed where the foot sits inside the shell. We have the older shell, and the new shell. The big difference here is the vertical wall on the new shell. This is for the inside of the foot, so we have a right and a left. The inside of the foot, on the new shell, sits closer to the inside edge of the ski. It's a vertical wall. There's more room on the medial side of the foot, which allows the foot to sit closer, and more power to the inside edge.
Comp Boot - The Difference
Comp Boot - The Difference: With this new shell, the Comp Pro, you can see a difference from the shell that we use in some other boots. This is a shell that has a very long range of engagement. And what happens is, you can see that in this portion of the boot it has a slight flare to it. It's very soft plastic up here, and this is what wraps on the lower shin, and this is where a lot of the steering comes out of the boot. So on the new boot, the Comp shell, this material is vertical. It's significantly thicker. So as the skier flexes into it, it hits the front of the shin very quickly, and reacts to the input from the skier. So this makes the boot very quick, and puts the pressure into the ski.
