For those of you who aerobicize over the mountains during the months of nosnow, Euro styled gear is always something to consider. Light, trim, stylish. On the trends, Dynafit recently launched a line of summer clothing, footwear and accessories that cross between bicycle, hike/run and climb. I checked this selection out at OR show and it truly is nice. We’ll no doubt rock some of it ourselves. Not sure how the white would hold up to our truck and dirt lifestyle, but they make some darker themed stuff as well. All available next summer.
Aura Activator in Dynafit's new shoes (the small metal insert in center of sole) is said to help with balance and endurance as this PR photo is intended to convey. As far as we know, it's a magnet intended to provide the ostensible benefits of other types of worn magnets..
Dynafit Summer, for backcountry skiers in the off season. Everything from shoes to bicycle gloves.
The backpack includes a hook to hike-a-bike your mountain bicycle over the highlands. Trekking poles and more round out the line.
The selection for next summer (availability will begin this coming January) includes socks, a variety of bicycle compatible shorts, backpacks, performance shirts and more. Really quite impressive.
40 comments
That’s two days in a row of Lycra, Lou. Is this a new theme for a while?
Hmmmmm
Lycra is back?
You left out the Magical Magnet.
Kinda OT…but any news when their winter gear…mainly Radical binding…will be available? I’m assuming it is worth it to wait for the Radical?
I like Dynafit and all, but that pack looks seriously “walmart”. Matching mountain running outfits are “banned” at most trail and mountains runs, at least up here in n.america. The best mt. runners dress pretty dirt bag. Maybe in Europe it is a big deal.
Shawn, don’t worry, I’m just stepping back through all my OR show material. Back to winter tomorrow. Radical should easily be available in a month or so. In terms of “worth the wait,” the flip-up heel lifter is quite nice, Power Towers work to some extent, but are not as close to the boot toe as I’d like. Your call.
Matt, the packs are super minimalist. Definitely not AK bramble ready. The design is great in terms of ergonomics.
Jonathan, I was expecting you to chime in on that and do more than hinting. What’s your take?
Reminds of how alternative medicine/therapy/etc. is that which either has not yet been proven to work or has already been proven not to work.
Now, given the variable demands of skiing, and given the difficulty of scientifically testing much of this gear, many features (or “gimmicks”) fall into the former category. Take the F1/F3 bellows or TLT5 flex zone. In some situations, it definitely helps. In others, it has no beneficial effect, and is certainly a drawback to some extent while skiing. And it adds weight for the ascent. So what’s the overall conclusion? Really can’t be proven.
By contrast, the Feline Superlight’s Shasta-esque Aura Enhancer (or whatever it is) falls 100% into the latter category. Granted it’s probably adding only negligible weight, and the price is still in line with many other high-end trail runners, but I’m really disappointed in this pretend science nonsense. (Meanwhile, I’m thinking about the La Sportiva Raptor for my next shoe.)
Great images, LOL. The guy must not be running very hard, his mouth is shut. And the woman looks like she’s in an all out sprint on flat ground- super long stride, arms way out. As a daily runner, I had to chuckle a bit at this.
For those of you wondering what the heck Jonathan and I are talking about, the new Dynafit trial running/cycling shoes have a magnet in the sole under the instep, intended to do what ever it is purported that such magnets would do. They’re saying it helps your balance and energy level, among other things.
Hi Lou-
I am a Dynafit rep out here in California and I wanted to provide a link to the website for the Aura Activator found in both of Dynafit’s new shoe models launching in Spring 2012.
http://en.auraactivator.com/
In a nutshell, the device emits a biomechanical wave to improve the exchange of substances amongst cells, most importantly being molecules of water.
Why not put magnets in the Dynafit packs to help release some of those “biochemical waves” into my spine on a long slog. 🙄
Sounds like telemark hippies talk has infiltrated the AT media machine.
Since we’re sharing links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_therapy
Oh.My.God. How on Earth can a serious company like Dynafit fall for such a scam? Aura Activator?! Magnet therapy?! I am glad there is a wide selection of BC gear, so I don’t have to buy more stuff from a company that sells new age mumbo jumbo products.
A Mr. Brian Briggs over at Steve Romeo’s website posted a comment that I suspect summarizes the feelings of many of us:
“Dynafit has been a company synonymous with solid engineering and a methodical approach to innovation. While I wouldn’t say the addition of a magnet in their trail running line forces them to lose all credibility, it does alienate them from their core market which wants function first and unproven marketing gimmicks…well, never. Weight aside, it’s just a distraction from an incredibly expensive but no doubt very well thought out running shoe.”
What’s frustrating about this sort of thing is it adds weight and cost, while there is no way the user can objectively say that it for sure does anything. Nonetheless, they do have some clinical studies that show the magnets actually do have some effect, and lots of people wear magnets. I’ve never tried them myself, but since they do no harm I’m looking forward to seeing if these things have any effect on me. I’ve got a fairly painful ankle on one side and I’d notice a change, so that’ll be a subjective test anyhow.
“they do have some clinical studies that show the magnets actually do have some effect”
— Really? Where is the link for such a clinical study? All the evidence I’ve seen points to this kind of magnet therapy having been solidly proven not to do anything at all.
They showed me some papers at show, said they’d send them over. Don’t worry, I’m a skeptic about most of this stuff. The shoes are nice whatever the case with the magnet… Not sure about value for PR, it does get us talking about the product (grin).
Just to clear up any misconception, the Aura Activator is not a magnet.
I was told it was. If it’s not a magnet, exactly what is it?
I don’t know about auras or tin foil hats, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Ms. Dynafit.
Anyway, what matters to me is whether it’s good everyday gear.
BTW the Salomon trail running team is wearing spandex, so Dynafit is probably just matching their offerings. It’s the mountain equivalent of the thong from the beaches of the Cote D’Azur. Ja?
Hey everyone, I added a photo of a shoe sole with the Aura Activator. Comments?
The NA trail running, is missing the mark by miles. why doesnt someone just import fell running shoes.
innovate(or however you spell that), is the only company that is close.but a good trail runner needs feel for the ball of the foot,.not a big cluncky heel to smash.
Even Paula Radcliffe doesnt have magnets in her shoes, thats just silly.
Anything called an “Aura Activator” makes me wince on principle. I”ve emailed the link to the product page to “Feedback” at New Scientist magazine and will wait to see what, if anything, they make of it. My hopes are not high…
Loosen up folks, science doesn’t know everything. 72.8% of all non lift using skiers know that anything can be said with statistics. Whether the activator makes a difference or not it doesn’t sound like it causes much of a weight or price difference, so what’s the big deal, if it fits, if you like the style, if it helps you run somewhere…
It took scientists 70 odd years to discover how aspirin worked and there’s scientists on each side of the climate change question – has a scientist proved that rocker makes you ski better when viewed on facebook?
^ But at least science *knows* it doesn’t know everything – that’s why it offers theories, not facts, and why experiments are done to figure out what’s going on.
While I’m not familiar with the history of aspirin, I wonder whether scientists doubted it worked, or whether instead it was just the mechanism that eluded them. If the latter I’d guess understanding came once a whole pile of other things fell into place, thus giving some context in which understanding could grow. Knowing something works but not how is a whole different kettle of fish to alleging something works with little or no scientific or statistical evidence.
And FWIW, I suspect that the scientists on the “no climate change” side of things are perhaps the same types formerly employed by the tobacco industry to “prove” smoking isn’t harmful. Of course, I’m sure *they* were all unbiased too.
And what has Facebook got to do with anything?!?
I’m a big fan of the scientific process. But it’s not perfect and sometimes even fraudulent. In fact, I just got done reading an article in the newspaper about the increasing percentage of published scientific studies in prestigious journals that eventually turn out to be flawed, false or fraudulent and have to be retracted.
In other words, just because a scientist says it’s fact, that doesn’t make it so.
As for magnets, I have to say I’ve not seen any studies that looked big enough and unbiased enough to get me wearing them. But I have an open mind and am looking forward to continuing to check out this stuff.
The reference to aspirin shows the exact opposite, as aspirin was indeed proven to work at the very onset. Only the exact mechanism by which is worked was unclear. By contrast, magnet therapy has been proven to NOT work. And if the Aura Activator is something other than a magnet, then a true double-blind study would be very easy to perform with their pricey insoles (between 60 to 120 euros per pair!).
As for scientific uncertainty existing in the world, well, yes, but that hardly means that we should embrace all obvious frauds. (Or last month on Shasta, in addition to all the actual practical gear I carried in my pack, should I have loaded up beforehand at one of the many crystal shops?)
I’m sure the Feline Superlight is an excellent trail runner (albeit priced at the higher end of that market segment, but still not unreasonably so). The silly little pseudo-scientific bauble imbedded in the sole does the shoe no noticeable harm. But I’m sure many of us fans of Dynafit’s practical and efficient no-b.s. gear are embarrassed by the company’s embrace of this nonsense. (By contrast, if this were coming from a brand that also made tele-specific gear, well, whatever.)
It seems we need to find some stuff out there in web land we can link to. I’ll work on it but am in the middle of traveling at the moment. Anyone else?
As I mentioned, if you like the shoe and happy to pay for it, go for it. Whether the activator works or not is no real issue in my mind as there isn’t much of a weight or price penalty. My post was supposed to be fairly light hearted, with the facebook reference relating to Lou’s ongoing joke that you haven’t jumped off a 40 footer until it’s on facebook. Note to self, leave the jokes to Lou
I didn’t propose embracing frauds, we don’t even know it’s a fraud (and I think it’s rude to suggest it is), just saying it’s not such a big part of the shoe to spend too much time slagging it off (or suggesting we chill out).
And a double blind study on whether there is an improvement in “the exchange of substances amongst cells, most importantly being molecules of water” sounds like an incredibly difficult thing to conduct.
My general theme is that there are so many question marks in scientific research that there is no point letting a lack of it affect your purchase of some shoes.
I found a link, when doing a search on ‘molecular activators’.
I have no idea what it says (it looks very scientific however), but it does mention a decrease in clevage and therefore I would propose any use of the aura activator should be restricted to those for whom Moobs are an issue.
http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/abstract/S1097-2765(11)00049-9
🙂
We do indeed know it is a fraud. Whatever that little embedded bauble might be, it is not improving “the exchange of substances amongst cells” and a double-blind test of various competing types of insoles would show no statistically significant advantage to the extremely pricey Aura Activator insoles.
I’m sure the Feline Superlight is a fine shoe, but indirectly supporting such jibberish would deter me from buying it.
There is no way you can claim WITHOUT A DOUBT it is a “fraud” or doesn’t work. You also cannot claim it IS NOT a fraud and does work.
Point being, it works if you believe it to be true. I personally think there is something to be said for magnetic fields within the Earth, Do they work when put into trail running shoes branded with the name of a European ski touring binding that has a fanatical devotion?Most likeely not. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to try and label it one way or another.
Slave, that’s your take and I respect, but, do you also simply believe a red light to be green, and drive through it? That seems like an excellent trick to learn to do, pray tell how its done, and also how quickly the resulting ticket disappears when I believe it to not be true. (grin).
I enclose this link for everyone’s edification. At least the contents appear to honestly reflect the reality at present. http://newagescience.org/
The following are also interesting:
http://thiaoouba.com/seeau.htm (seeing auras)
http://bioresonant.com/news.htm (can Earth explode?)
http://www.aura-mystics.com/ (consultancy)
http://www.thiaoouba.com/matching_aura_environment.htm (Quote: “Match the frequency distribution along the body. This seems to be the Ultimate Natural stimulation, but requires specially designed clothes such as the Chakra Shirt. Results seem to be quite similar to the action of the acupuncture, but instead of needles a set of 16 key colors is used. Some spectacular improvements in people’s bio-energy field (Aura) have been observed within minutes of putting it on. “)
http://www.metaphysicalinstitute.org/energy.html (Quote: “This information was channelled; directly from Arch Angel Michael, the Angel Protector of All Humans for the June/July 2009 Newsletter”)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTGC794wWuc&feature=related (aura activation)
The more you look, the better it gets.
On a slightly less cynical note, it’s interesting to see what bikefitter Steve Hogg has to say about “Material Challenges” here: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog/2011/03/foot-correction-part-2-wedging/ As I understand it from other entries there is a noticeable/measurable difference in position and/or power output when the offending items are used or removed. It all seems hard to swallow but the guy has a large rep and has been looking at this stuff for a long time now.
If the number of comments here is any indication Dynafit may have some trouble persuading people about this technology. I wonder if their new ski gear has a similar philosophy – quelle horreur!
Maybe they’ll have a non-aura model (placebo) and an aura model, and see who is faster.
To me its just marketing. Some people will definitely buy the shoes because of the aural enhancer. If they believe it works, then it probably will for them, irregardless of the facts. But, my question is , if the aural activator falls out of the shoe, will I lose my aura, much like Austin Powers losing his mojo, and have a total meltdown on the trail? Way too gimmicky for me. But if its ‘cutting edge’ people will buy them. Beam me up, Scotty….
^ NB: It’s an “aura activator” not an “aural activator” though the latter could be useful for deaf runners, etc. But perhaps you were thinking of Mrs Richards? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIVDx-8kWZo
My aura sure felt activated recently when a pair of La Sportiva Crosslite 2.0 trail runners arrived. Very streamlined lightweight (21.9oz for sz 42.5) no b.s. design, yet with well-thought-out features for use in serious conditions like integrated cover over the laces, toesies protection from rocks etc., and super-knobby sole. I’m almost looking forward to a long approach to the snow with these!
i wouldn’t worry too much about aura activating training shoes or whatever, as looking at them they wouldn’t do too many shale inclines as shown in the promo photos.
25 years of fell running and mountain sports and never have I saw anyone seriously tackle anything beyond a gravel track in gear so flimsy. they will get torn apart. im assuming they are focussing on the countryside “all the gear no idea” rambler rather than serious competitive sport.
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