DVS : Stratos

Review:
I'm pretty picky about shoes, the Stratos is pretty good looking. The shoes arrived from DVS about a week before the '03 SIA show, where the constant walking would be a perfect opportunity to test them out.

Everything about this shoe looks great; nice lines, good color selections, and they feel tough as hell, without being super heavy. The shoe is plenty roomy inside, and it works well with the laces tightened down or left loose, whatever your preference is. The Stratos really looks like a snowboard shoe. I'm not really sure what it is that makes it a snowboard shoe more than a skate shoe, but for some reason it really does give that impression, and that made me like wearing them even more.

My biggest disappointment was two days into the show when the right airbag blew, and another two days later when the left pocket blew. Without airbags, the shoes were still pretty comfortable, but there was more sag noticeable in the heel, and they made that damn squishing noise for the whole show. DVS sent us a replacement pair, and the airbags in the replacements held for around 4 months. While the first pair may have been somewhat of a fluke, 4 month is only an "okay" life for an air bag, especially considering that I wasn't skating or doing anything too crazy in them.