Testers loved the Tecnica Mach BOA HV 105 W for its ample volume and plus-size curves, and that's without their huge appreciation for how the BOA closure system put a new spin on the Mach1 wide rid
Testers happily put the 2018 Head Vector Evo 110 W on the podium in the All-Mountain medium width category for its perfect combination of creature comfort and downhill performance, with an array of fit-friendly features to boot.
Fits like a glove for the medium width foot and average leg, testers said about the Vector Evo 110 W—not for a low-volume foot and leg they warned, but they allowed that even wider feet and legs will do well here given the Perfect Fit liner and Form Fit shell fit feature combination that can expand the volume substantially via heat molding. Testers loved the out-of-box fit and most said they wouldn't opt for any customization, citing even medium width fit scores throughout, top to bottom.
For skilled skiers this is an all-day performer, testers agreed. They pounded on it at all speeds and through all terrain and confirmed that despite the soft demeanor it's a legitimate ripper with a solid 110 flex and power on edge to spare. They also said it's a super comfortable groomer cruiser for easy-going skiers and lodge lizards alike—a boot for virtually everyone. Stance angles were neutral, tongue cushioning was spot on, and the flex range and quality was perfect for the target skier, according to our test team.
The women's-specific Evo Perfect Fit HD liner did a good job of matching foot and leg shapes without needing to go further to molding the Form Fit shell, but that'd be the full-monty customization plan for the higher volume foot and leg looking for relief from the squeeze. Testers found the lateral stance angles neutral and easily balanced for most skiers with the adjustment range of the Vector's single-side cuff adjustment, but canted soles are available for the Vector and Adapt Edge boots, in 0.5-, 1.0-, 1.5- and 2.0-degree increments.
The all-mountain wide group has gotten better and better over the past five years and the 2018 Head Adapt Edge 125 is an example of that evolution—massive volume for the fit-challenged combined with well-tuned skiing performance, testers said.
Consistently cavernous is how one tester described the Adapt Edge 125, and that was intended as a compliment in this category! Pegging 5's on the fit impressions scale is not a bad thing, it just show's the boot's plenty open for business in the fit department. Another tester called it a bucketish bubba boot that he thought he could sell all day long! Most testers loved the lower boot fit (big and easy) but some others felt the upper cuff was a little too short and at times had an uneven feel against the shin. They did have good success molding the Perfect Fit liner to even out the feel there.
The Advant Edge is decidedly upright in its cuff angle, testers said, but slightly low on the leg and softer than advertised—so while testers felt their stance starting position was a bit aft, they were able to move through the long flex range to home-in on the fore-aft sweet spot. A lot of testers liked this wide-ranging flex feel turn to turn, while others wanted a little bit of rear spoiler to put them where they wanted to be to begin with. Side to side action was on-par for the 125 performance level and 102 mm volume, dropping damp and solid carves on demand. Testers said the Advant Edge 125 is plenty stable for a big guy's edging game.
Testers like Double Power everything, and why not, right? Here, the Double Power Booster power strap loops through one of two pulley loops and incorporates the elastic Booster style stretch for a calf-cinching wrap, but also on the cuff you get Double Power buckle levers, which flip out like a switchblade to give you breaker-bar type leverage for your leg-crunching buckle down. There's plenty of power strap length to handle a big guy calf, and the top buckle's got a no-tools slider for expanding the catch's calf capacity—cool.
Many testers on our team thought the 2018 Head Vector Evo 130 was the All-Mountain medium-width category benchmark for the right sort of fit and performance skiers want from a 130-flex, 100 mm boot. Add to that a fully customizable liner and shell system and it's no wonder that testers expressed broad approval.
The Perfect Fit liner doesn't need to be molded—the initial fit is on the money for testers who say it's well built to match the foot and leg. Testers said the Vector Evo 130 manages cushioning in areas where that's nice (toebox, forefoot and over the top of the foot) and maintains a firm grasp on the control areas where needed (heel, ankles and lower leg at the throat of the boot shaft). Not tight, not loose—just right for most testers who said that this model will suit a lot of different skiers, especially with the option to run the shell through the Form Fit oven process to open up the fit for thicker, wider feet and legs. Our custom tests showed noticeable fit improvements without any negative effect on the boot's skiing performance—in fact the post-molding fit scores averaged to a perfect 5.0.
Testers selected ideal for fore-aft and lateral stance angles, and then ideal again in the flex feel and tongue cushioning department. Testers said the Vector Evo 130 was one of the easiest to boots jump on and instantly excel on snow. According to testers, there was no turn radius, speed or snow condition that knocked the Vector Evo 130 off line—think it, do it skiing. Testers said the Vector Evo 130's high comfort level belies its raw, descending power, and should be skied full-gas, as needed.
The Perfect Fit liner can be cooked without also heat molding the shell, but the customization system is designed to work together to better match the liner's exterior to the shell's interior shape for a better connection of foot to boot to ski. In addition to single-side cuff adjustment, Head canted sole plates are available for Vector Evo models in 0.5-, 1.0-, 1.5- and 2.0-degree increments. These plates are also available for Advant Edge models as well. While not canted, GripWalk rockered soles are also available as an add-on for use with GripWalk compatible bindings.
The 2018 Head Hammer 130 continues to impress our testers with its strong cuff and the edging power it enables—this is a tall, tough lever for hammering out aggressive carves off-piste or on-. However, the Form Fit shell and Perfect Fit liner round out the creature comforts on offer here—it's not all about bashing things.
Testers found the off-the-rack fit a little incongruous, with a tightish toebox (it's extra padded for toe-bang cushion), a roomy fit through the instep (for a 98 mm last) and a tight heel. Custom liner molding helped to straighten out the fit tension line graph for testers. The cuff feels tall and slightly upright on the leg, which testers thought was due to the tall and stiff external tongue (the third piece in the shell/cuff/tongue 3-piece construction here). The tongue is swappable—a nice feature for modifying the flex feel—though the stock, out of box flex is firm, they said.
The sides of the lower shell rise up higher, internally, than most cabrio, or three-piece, shells—this is one of the reasons the Hammer skis so strong, laterally. Testers found themselves making aggressive side-to-side tipping moves to roll the ski up onto high edge angles where the Hammer 130 easily drove the ski through all kinds of terrain. Many of the testers employed this tactic because they found it hard to get out in front of the tall, upright and stiff-feeling tongue and onto the front of the ski. Taller testers had a little more leverage to find the fore-aft sweet spot. The boot liner is well-padded and there are several shock-absorbing design elements, from the rubberized boot board and grippy sole plates to the elastomer rear spoiler and gel-insert tongue construction. High speeds and big impact dampening is the Hammer's job.
The combination of the Perfect Fit liner and Form Fit shell molding features give the Hammer a softer side, opening up the toebox fit and evening out the fit elsewhere throughout the boot. The anchor points between the lower shell and cuff are not adjustable for lateral stance angles—they are actually suspension points that use an elastomer bushing to further dampen shock.
For slender-footed, lightweight skiers looking for warm, soft boots, the 2018 Full Tilt Soul Sister may be hard to beat! The long-travel flexion that makes Full Tilt's classic three-piece designs popular with mogul skiers and park-and-pipe athletes was a favorite of testers who used a light touch on the tongue.
It's a snug 99 mm lower boot, testers say, with a cushioned grip all along the foot, especially side to side. But the women-specific Intuition Pro liner is highly moldable, opening up the fit at the wider and bony parts of the foot for more average width feet, too. Prior to molding, some testers felt the lateral edge of the spiral-wrapped liner as a hotspot, but after liner molding this blended in more evenly. The luxurious shin fit is a Full Tilt hallmark and the long-travel flex is a dream for skiers who suffer chronic shin-bang.
Just standing in the boot inside testers could tell its forward lean was extreme by modern standards and its flex was very soft (much softer than the 110 rating they cite for the #6 tongue). This forward angle was often made more so by either a large calf or a skier's tendency to press into the front of a boot (which pretty much all our women testers do). So, too forward was a common complaint on test forms. However, slender-legged, lightweight testers who focused on agile lateral moves loved the spry, airy feel of the Soul Sister.
Testers appreciated the revised Widetrack buckles on the FTS (Full Tilt Soul) shell for their lower profile and more easily adjusted release tab and ratchet system—however, testers new to the three-piece layering and wire bale closure struggled a bit initially with the Full Tilt rite of passage (into the boot). There are lots of options on aftermarket pieces and parts through Full Tilt dealers—say, a stiffer tongue perhaps?
Testers liked the 2018 Full Tilt First Chair for its snug and thickly padded grip on the foot and a lively feel underfoot. They still feel overly forward leaning but appreciated the cam-lock Cinch power strap for restraining some forward travel.
Testers felt the lower boot was much more snug than the cuff, which offered some unwanted play for slender legs. They liked the strong connection of foot to ski, though preferred it after full liner molding, which allowed the foot to seat a bit more deeply into the base of the boot, due to the thickness of the liner underfoot. Molding the liner with toe caps opened up some needed toe room as the boot fits shorter than average out of the box. The flex feel is even, cushioned and long in travel, testers agreed.
Agility and quickness are the First Chair's forte, according to testers who liked its lateral moves and shock absorbing flex—fun in the bumps and tight spots, they said. They felt the boot was less of a powerhouse than it was a nimble freerider, partly due to the more forward than average cuff angle, which detracted from a more strongly stacked leg position, they said.
Testers like the newer version buckle system with the Widetrack buckles for their improved ease of use.
The 2018 Fischer RC Pro W 90 Thermoshape held its own in a very competitive category against boots that cost as much as $300 more, testers said. This was the highest scoring Soft-Value entry in the medium-width All-Mountain category for women.
Testers said the RC Pro W 90 logged in on the wide side of the medium fit group, especially in the toebox and forefoot where it averaged wide-status fit scores. Testers felt it tapered well to the heel and ankles, enough that ski control was easily managed. Testers called it cozy for its well-padded, plush liner feel and commented that the calf (and lower calf) had plenty of room for average to thicker legs. The team said the flex feel was on the softer side of 90 but with a generally even and cushioned feel against the shin.
All our testers loved how this boot moved side to side in edging transitions—slinky and smooth, very predictable, especially on-piste. They felt its lateral game was on par with the best of the group, though a few mentioned the fore-aft support lacked a bit, with a collapsing flex feel under big loads. For intermediate and advanced skiers or those with a lighter touch, testers felt the RC Pro W 90 was spot on and a huge bargain.
The Thermoshape moniker indicates that this is a straight outta-the-box Fischer boot, no Vacuum process needed here on a polyurethane shell and cuff. GripWalk soles are available as an extra, for use with GripWalk compatible bindings.
The Fischer My Curv 90 Vacuum Full Fit is the little sister of the 110-flex version of this new, 97 mm straight-lasted boot, and testers liked it for its even fit and balanced stance.
Testers said the My Curv 90 wasn't the most snug of the narrow fit group but that it wasn't too out of place. They found a bit extra room in the toebox and instep, and a snug fit in the calf, but overall they reported that the fit tension was fairly even throughout.
For lighter weight and less aggressive skiers the My Curv 90 offers a tuned-in feel for the snow underfoot, testers said, mentioning that it excelled in clean rolls edge to edge on-piste at less-than-blistering speeds. For those skiing at above the advanced-intermediate level testers suggested the stiffer 110-flex model, as they felt the My Curv 90's cuff collapsed under aggressive flexion.
The Vacuum Full Fit customization system allows both the lower boot and upper cuff to be formed to better match the shape of the foot and leg using compressed air to pressurize a bladder around the warmed boot, pressing it against the body to match shape and achieve the skier's desired amount of fit compression. While we didn't custom test Fischer models at this year's test (Fischer's decision), our past tests have shown this to be an effective fitting system.
Testers said that the 2018 Fischer RC Pro 130 Vacuum Full Fit is a luxury S.U.V. built for big guys with thicker feet and legs looking for the kind of all-mountain performance that stems from a dialed stance and a solid, progressive flex.
Roomy throughout and ultra-comfortable was the tester takeaway on this 100 mm, with most in agreement that it fit borderline wide-ride. They didn't mind this so much, and thought that the fit shape was well matched for a thicker foot and leg, but they placed it well on the wide end of the medium group's fit tension spectrum. The liner feel is well cushioned—more so than most boots at the 130 performance tier—which gave the RC Pro 130 more of a Lexus RX interior feel than, say, Audi R8. Nobody was really complaining about the luxuriant fit, let's put it that way.
The stance angles of the RC Pro pleased our test team, who felt well-centered in all directions and ready to ski. When compared with other medium-widths, quickness and power scores lagged a bit simply by virtue of the extra space and cushioning that sapped some transmission of movement, but testers agreed that compared with other wide class rides (or perhaps if tested by thicker footed folk) the response and quickness would be right on target.
While most people assume that customizable shell technology is all about making a fit more open, Fischer's unique Vacuum fitting system can tighten a boot's fit by way of controlling the compression rate of the molding bladders during the Vacuum process. The moniker, Vacuum Full Fit, indicates that this boot is Vacuum system customizable in both the lower shell and upper cuff.
Testers were pleased with the all new 2018 Fischer RC4 The Curv 130 for its more neutral stance, comfortable out-of-box fit and its quick edging moves on snow. They also liked getting a 130-flex boot with a Powered by Vacuum customizable lower shell at an affordable price.
Testers say compared to the RC4 of old, the RC4 The Curv 130 is a breath of, well, breathing room! The toebox fits longer and more open thanks to a new seamless liner construction and the entire lower shell and cuff fits with an even narrow-medium fit that testers said sat nicely between the two width categories. Testers noticed a little extra relief on the medial side of the shell wall, at the navicular bone area. The lower boot is made of heat moldable Vacu-Plast which can be manipulated for fit improvements through a variety of different Vacuum methods, while the upper cuff is polyurethane and customizable with traditional bootfitting means.
The stance angles on the RC4 The Curv 130 are more in-line with others in the all-mountain category than was the RC4 of old. The Curv 130 stands more upright and is less tipped-out, laterally. More neutral-feeling all around, said testers. A few of them mentioned the cuff was set-up too "in" for them and they'd perform a cuff alignment tweak using the solid race cuff alignment adjusters to better match their more bowlegged angles. The RC4 The Curv boots are straight-lasted as opposed to abducted, Soma-Tec style, a trickle-down design change from the 92 mm RC4 Podium race boots. While testers may have a particular preference for one stance set-up or another there were certainly no complaints here. Testers did agree that the flex feel was a little shy of the 130 mark but they also concurred that the boot's precise steering and rapid fire edging game was amongst the best.
Bootfitters like the screw hardware for removing cuffs and buckles, and another bootfitting nicety, the RC4 The Curv boots are Cantology compatible. Feeling soleful? GripWalk soles are available as an optional purchase as well, for use with GripWalk compatible bindings.
The DaleBoot VFF (women's) is DaleBoot's softest model and intended for lighter weight and less aggressive skiers. If we were to throw out this boot's off-the-rack scores, since it is designed and sold as a fully custom-built boot, we'd have the only perfect score in the entire boot test.
One of our testers who skied an un-customized VFF had this to say: "It seems pointless to test this boot off the shelf—if you are going to invest in this boot you will be investing the time to fully customize it as well." Her point was clear, the boot neither fit nor skied properly without undergoing the full process. On the other hand, one of our custom testers said this: "Wow, what a fun fitting process and what a fun boot to ski—I felt in perfect alignment with an excellent, enclosed fit." 'Nuff said. The VFF was tested as a wide last but is available from ultra narrow to ultra wide, as needed.
The VFF's softer flex is able to be adjusted within a 20 point range using the Variable Forward Flex spring-and-cable system which restrains the three-piece shell's forward flexion without fixing the upper cuff to the lower, maintaining a true three-piece shell's flex feel—long in travel and with a progressive resistance against the leg. Testers loved the rangy feel of their flexing movements while skiing, but cautioned bigger, more aggressive gals to consider stepping up to the stiffer VFF Pro. Testers found the same classic, close-to-snow feel on the VFF as with the other DaleBoot models.
An array of different Intuition liner options can be implemented to achieve an ideal fit, the boot's ramp angle is adjustable with the turn of a screw on the three-quarter length internal bootboard and final stance fine tuning is accomplished with DaleBoot's exclusive, snap-on, canted soles.
If we looked only at the 2018 DaleBoot VFF Pro (women's) custom scores it would have been on the podium in the highly competitive all-mountain narrow group. Testers that underwent the complete DaleBoot custom molding and stance alignment process gave it high-fives for fit, balance and performance.
We asked DaleBoot to submit non-custom-built versions of their boots for off-the-rack tests, even though this is not the way DaleBoot's custom models are sold. It's a full-custom product, built in their Salt Lake City factory off of a variety of measurements and foot shape tracings taken from the skier then further modified as needed and liner-molded by the skier's local DaleBoot dealer. Trust us when we say that trying on a sample will not do justice to the custom model made for you. Our custom tests came back with many perfect scores for fit. The VFF Pro we tested off the rack was built as a narrow, but depending on the skier's foot the last width could vary from a skinny 92 mm to a massive 112 mm—that's more range in one model than any other boot on the market.
Again, the key to the VFF Pro (women's) performance character is the custom process that starts with fit but also ensures that the fore-aft and lateral stance set-up is dialed for each skier individually. Once the alignment was balanced, testers were able to appreciate the close-to-snow feel of the thin-shell-wall lower boot and the improved edge power that comes from this year's new upper cuff construction. The flex feel is tunable (softer and longer or firmer and shorter) using the spring-loaded Variable Forward Flex cable adjustment on the back of the boot.
A variety of different Intuition liner styles are available, in spiral wrap and traditional tongue styles and in several different thicknesses and densities. The final stance tuning is done via canted snap-on soles unique to DaleBoot.
