The Tecnica Zero G Tour Scout W is updated this year with a completely revised liner, which testers said impressed them for its fit improvements and praised how those went even further in unlocking this lightweight's descending super-powers. Yes, testers said that they felt like "enhanced" super-humans when they donned these fleet-of-foot ski shoes.
Were our testers really that fired up? Sometimes these things are simply best left to our testers to say: "A great fitting true narrow (tighter than 99mm). Though it has a nice amount of room in the toes, which is nice on a backcountry boot. But the heel, ankle and navicular are snug, snug, snug. This boot is best of its category by far! It skis like an alpine boot. Powerful, reliable and responsive. But with a comfy liner. No complaints here."
Yes, testers said it was a little off the mark on fit tension--they say this 99mm fits like most performance 98mm and 97mm alpine lasts--but they apparently didn't mind that as the lower volume fit was well done for the anatomy of the foot and leg (Anatomical Fit got a perfect score of 5.00). They loved how closely the shell and closely mated liner followed the curves of the foot, negotiating typical problem fit areas with well-placed curves. This was a close but hot spot free fit they said, with some extra room for length and width in the toebox--which they appreciated for touring or hiking missions with the cuff released. While the liner is fully thermo moldable, testers said the pre-molded, out-of-box fit of the new liner was stellar, commenting that the blend of firm hold upon the foot and just-soft-enough cushioning throughout made for a dreamy initial feel that didn't change for the worse with repeated on-snow trials.
The double-blocking cuff release mechanism impressed testers for its simplicity of use but also for its rigid lock-down when it was time to ski and a free-hinging rotation when it was time to sweat. They approved of the stance angles of the Zero G in every direction (another perfect score) and liked the just-right height of the tongue against the shin as well as the way it distributed pressure along the leg during flexion--no shin bang or bite at any point on the tongue.
Testers were very impressed with the strength to weight ratio of the Zero G, pointing toward an all-Grilamid (our favorite lightweight plastic) build for shell and cuff. While they wouldn't pass up the Cochise for a 50-50 resort-backcountry crossover boot, they said the Zero G would be more than capable of ripping some firm groomers at speed if it was asked to. Testers also liked the color this year, which they claimed was best-of-test.
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