Reflex SuperShell 8DC

[dchristman]

Interesting, but it strikes me as a little scary depending on the two inserts to retain the release. What do you think?

[Hucklefin]

That was my first thought, also that the boot is gonna wreck the top of the ski.

[TomH]

Also looks to need or be using an extra pair of inserts on the toe

[mmosley899]

@TomH yep, using an extra set of inserts. D3 already adds those to their skis, and Denali has also done it on request. I wish all the ski manufacturers would add them since the MOB system uses them also.

[BraceMaker]

@TomH you could easily add a protective film like that clear 3M stuff that is used to keep people breaking your garage windows. Lay on ski then pop the holes and screw down the hardware.

I do wonder about the rear hoop being restrained by the 2 screws as well. In theory that size stainless hardware should hold ~800 lb tensile each. So I'm not as worried about the hardware as that its extremely common to have loose screws which could make for a real display.

[jnan66]

Why take the plate away when it has worked for two decades

[bko]

The absence of a binding plate changes the flex pattern of a slalom ski - for better or for worse?Since the bending of a ski might increase without the plate, the pressure on the release system will also be higher to some extent...

[Hucklefin]

@bko I think another point that goes along with what you said here is that Reflex is proposing this design as if the skis are designed to flex and perform optimally without a binding. I don't see how this could be the case when every binding currently available uses a plate.

[bko]

@Hucklefin Yes, I also believe that up to now all skis are being designed, tested and fine-tuned WITH a plate

[skialex]

I would prefer to see a bottomless boot on a plate…

[bko]

@skialex Baseless is what I expected when I started watching the promo video

[dchristman]

Mikro-just would not be viable with this setup.

[C5Quest]

If nothing else the music on the video gets you amped up to ski..

[Horton]

@dchristman Mikro-Just is the most important water ski development since the carbonfin

:-)

[jnan66]

Keep the plate as it is. Make the boot with a completely flat bottom. Maybe change the nylon screws to something else that holds it in place sideways. New design looks silly. Old design looks classy :)

[skibug]

I think I may have questioned or commented on a previous version of this....but....they boast that this design in more "hydrodynamic" which baffles me.. For hydrodynamics to even matter, someone would have to be using the binding on the wrong side of the ski. Either that or they are never going more that 5 - 6 MPH. Or maybe that is a benefit for when you are going out the front??

[Broussard]

@skibug As the ski rolls onto edge hydrodynamics are certainly a factor.

[BraceMaker]

@skibug I think the instinct is that the water doesn't hit the boots. And how much it does or doesn't or if that water is spray not laminar flow does it create much drag? Would be good questions to ask. Clearly spray leg would be drag right? But does water get off the clean edge of the top of the ski and get to the front horseshoe? I personally think its more the cuff of the boot that gets impacted and particularly the rear boot... which I don't see a way to have a DC rear unless the rear boot is mounted under the front horseshoe.

[MattP]

As Reflex continues to license out their release to multiple boot brands they will need to continue development to stay relevant in the boot market. Once the go to and gold standard is hard to maintain whiteout innovation.

I would have preferred to see actual boot mold development with a flat bottom and flat inside. That should be the next step they skipped over.

[skibug]

@BraceMaker @Broussard at NO time does the toe of the front boot even come close to contacting or displacing water. The advertising would lead you to believe they are staking their claim on hydrodynamics being associated with the front toe. Excuse me, my degree is in Physics, so....maybe I am being nit picky....but probably not!!

[skialex]

I believe it is time to make a boot ski specific and stop using cheep inline skate shells. Reflex is the leader and by licensing their release, most of hardshell market is theirs or related to them.It’s costly I know, it’s what Radar did and their boot is a big step forward. I would welcome a flat bottom shell with low and soft cuff like radar’s. That boot would sell to almost all reflex customers.

[skialex]

@dchristman you can use 2 mikrojusts, one at front part and one at the rear… ??

[dchristman]

@skialex I know you're kidding, but that would be a terrible idea. I think it's already bad enough depending on the ski inserts to retain the release components. Now you want to slot out the holes on the pieces with the release components attached and weaken them? You also would need to keep front and back "synchronized"... just a bad idea!

[skialex]

@dchristman yes and yes, totally agree, hence the laugh…!

[chris55]

@skialex Question regarding boots, Syndicate hardshell and Edge does not have a flat bottom boot already ? I am asking bcause I never saw one in real

[skialex]

@chris55 the base that the are using for the the shell to sit in, makes them sit flat on the plate.

[chrislandy]

I'd be more worried about the binding release pressure changing and getting pre-release as the ski flexes

[mmosley899]

@skialex @MattP A flat bottom shell would be a great improvement, but we know it is very expensive to build the molds. Reflex does not make their own boots and cannot dictate specific shapes without their own molds. Radar took a BIG risk and invested the $ necessary to develop exactly the product I would have chosen. In fact when Brooks showed me the first samples, I told him they had done pretty much everything I would have liked to do. I have been using the new Radar boot since January and recommend it highly. Of course not everyone will like any single product. The Syndicate boot is not at all flat without the accompanying base support.