The Gist
Our testers liked this new member to the Dalbello cabrio family—the 2018 Dalbello Krypton AX 120 brings a new traditional (non-hike) cuff, medium-width three-piece option to all-mountain skiers. For skiers who've always liked the strong skiing style of the narrow Krypton but didn't like the fit so much will be stoked with what they find here.
The Fit
Testers say the lower boot fits so comfortably that they were a little suspicious about how it was going to ski (it was fine, it turned out). They liked the easy entry cabrio lower and most found the closure system straightforward after some minor fiddling with overlaps and straps. The liner is well-cushioned against the foot and the overall fit tension of the lower boot trended toward the more-open side of the medium width group, though they said the cuff tapered a bit toward a more-snug closure at the boot top. A few testers complained about a too-loose heel pocket and mentioned they'd utilize some L-pads on the liner to snug that up if it were their own.
Performance
The Krypton AX 120's flex feel is characteristically cabrio-soft initially, then it comes up against a firm stopping point—three-piece shell fans will like this freedom of travel at the top of the flex range and those coming from a stiff, overlap shell background will take a little time getting used to it. But testers liked the way it skied—the polyurethane powered shell and cuff combination ripped crud off-piste and laid trenches on the groomed equally well, they said.
Cool Features
For 50 bucks more you could upgrade to an Intuition-build I.D. liner for the Krypton AX 120. Testers thought the 45-degree Dynalink middle buckle performed as billed for helping to comfortably retain the foot at the instep.
Kudos
Caveats