Frankly nobody on the boot test team was very surprised to see that the Nordica Promachine 130 ended up as one of the top three gold medalists in the most competitive, All-Mountain performance category at the test. It has been there before (i.e. every time we've tested it) and it returns this year essentially unchanged. Neither could testers remember when, in the last decade, a four-buckle overlap narrow entered by Nordica didn't make it onto the podium. The brand touts the Promachine as a "more comfortable Dobermann," and our test team agrees. Our testers, while not shocked at its strong results, were surprised anew with the Promachine's level of fit contouring and cushion given its high performance demeanor.
Testers particularly like the way the cuff wraps the lower leg shaft and addresses the shin, with a snug touch on every square inch but without feeling restrictive or blocky in flex. The Promachine is well-padded, testers agreed, but without feeling bulky--it's a closely matched fit, without much wasted space. For as tight as the lower shell holds the foot, testers again were caught off guard by how little hot spot complaining was going on.
With a Quickness score of 4.94 and an Edge Power score of 4.83 (out of 5.00) averaged over 10 tests there is no questioning the Promachine's qualifications on snow. It skis as well as any boot we've tested in the narrow All-Mountain category--the question is really one of fitting into this truly narrow 98 mm performer. We'd suggest you try. The polyurethane shell wall is thinned enough in common stretch zones for making defined modifications where needed without distorting the shape elsewhere. However, if a life-altering project isn't in your future, you could make your life easy by checking out the medium Speedmachine or wide lasted Sportmachine. We tested both of those too this year and they're as good as they've ever been.
Kudos
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