A Very Deep Dive on Ski Boots, Part 2: Flex Patterns

GEAR:30

BLISTER

Arts, Design, Skiing, Snow, Snowboarding, Sports, Outdoors, Bike, Technology, Gear

4.9 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2019

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week on GEAR:30, we talked plastics with Atomic Ski Boots product manager, Matt Manser. Here in part 2, we talk with Matt about the messy world of flex ratings; progressive vs. linear flex patterns; the actual differences between some brands’ 120 and 130 rated boot; how Atomic arrives at their own flex ratings; the next areas of innovation that Atomic is focused on, and more.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Flex Patterns & All the Feels (4:13)
“Progressive” vs. “Linear” flex patterns (5:10)
The mess that is Flex Ratings (13:13)
How Atomic arrives at their own flex ratings (17:24)
How brands make a “110” vs. “120” vs. “130” etc. (27:34)
Colorways & Geopolitics (34:20)
Why a standardized flex rating probably won’t happen (35:55)
The damping / “suspension” of a boot (42:32)
Weight & Damping (47:04)
Next areas of innovation for Atomic boots? (55:08)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody, welcome back to Gear 30 on the Blister Podcast Network.
0:09.9	I'm Jonathan Ellsworth, the founder of Blister, and you can check out everything we're doing and reviewing over at blisterreview.com.
0:19.2	In today's episode, we are bringing you part two of my conversation with Matt Manzer,
0:24.7	the product manager of Atomic Ski Boots.
0:27.6	If you haven't already listened to Part 1, you should do that first, because it is definitely
0:32.6	relevant to this episode's discussion about the flex patterns of ski boots.
0:39.2	And if you have already listened to Part 1, I think that you are really going to enjoy part two. Here, Matt and I talk about
0:45.0	the very messy world of flex ratings, why this world is such a mess, and why this mess probably
0:51.0	isn't going to get cleaned up anytime soon. Matt and I also discuss
0:56.0	progressive versus linear flex patterns and the sometimes kind of shady seeming differences
1:02.1	between a brand's 110 and 120 rated boot or their 120 and 130. We also talk about how
1:10.3	Atomic arrives at their own flex ratings. We go into issues
1:14.3	of weight and damping, and we touch on the next areas of innovation that Atomic is focused on.
1:21.3	This is another good conversation, but as you'll hear us say, our work here is not yet done.
1:28.6	So Matt and I are going to be doing a part three.
1:31.7	I'd like to invite you to submit some other questions you might have
1:35.0	and we'll address some of those in our next conversation.
1:38.5	You can leave those questions in the show notes to this episode on the website,
1:42.5	or you can email me at jonathan.elsworth
1:46.3	at blisterreview.com and just mark the subject heading of the email, Gear 30 ski boot
1:52.7	questions, part three, or something like that. I have a very full inbox, so if you get it
1:58.5	in that subject heading, you are far more likely to actually get your
	...

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