The 2019/2020 Dalbello DS 130 was tested in the men's All-Mountain medium width category at Silver Mountain Resort by the experts at America's Best Bootfitters, powered by Masterfit.
The Gist
Testers again used apex predator descriptors to call out the Dalbello DS 130’s strong edge work--but with comments that it’s less like a cheetah and more like a big, well-fed lion. It ambles through large radius turns at high speeds as if it were born to—solid, strong and drivey, like a souped up Mustang, said one tester. Most testers liked the dark green. Hulk. Strong. Smash--that’s how another tester put it. Instantly comfy, though a bit on the roomy side of medium, most agreed.
The Fit
Testers unanimously checked the easy entry and exit boxes for the DS 130 and they liked the simplicity of the closure system. They also unanimously say the boot runs long, fit wise, to the point where skiers traditionally somewhat in-between sizes might be able to drop down a size in the DS. The overall fit in both the lower shell and in the upper cuff was anatomical in nature, matching the curves of the foot and leg well, but in an outsized way—testers used a lot of 4's to describe the DS's fit tension, where a 3 would indicate ideal medium fit tension. A couple testers couldn't get over this fact, but the majority simply made the observation that it sits on the roomy side of the category and moved on to enjoy the luxurious feel of the cushioned liner and its stellar downhill skill set.
Performance
The DS 130's stance angles allow for a balanced starting position that rewarded good skiing movements, testers said, and lots of "ideal" boxes were checked for flex feel and liner tongue cushioning during flexing movements. Testers had virtually no complaints about edge power and fore-aft support, citing a solid-as-a-rock boot spine and an excess of torsional and lateral rigidity to hammer an edge home on the hardest snow and hold it there. A few testers commented that the extra room in both the length and height of the toebox and throughout the instep meant a loss of foot retention resulting in some forward foot slippage, sending the hips back—a thicker than average foot will do well with this fit, so wide footers shouldn't be scared off by the 100 mm tag.
Cool Features
The Power Cage shell and cuff construction utilizes a framework of thicker, stiffer polyurethane in the boot rail (very bottom) and into the rear spine of the boot to provide power and stability where it's needed while incorporating a thinner, softer polyurethane in less critical areas where better wrapping for improved fit is needed—seemed to work for testers. The DS's single sided upper cuff adjustment is renamed Intuitive Canting—not our favorite terminology—meaning that three words (Neutral, Sport & Race) are used to describe the cuff positions 0.0, +0.5 and +1.0, respectively, achieved via the rotary cam mechanism. The boots come set to the 0.5 "out" Sport position. The Variable Ramp Angle feature is an insert that increases the bootboard ramp angle by 1.0-degree.
Kudos
Caveats