Over the years our test team has been a fan of many different Edge models, but the new Edge 130 HV GW was by far our crew's favorite wide ride Head they've ever tested. Skinny-footed testers were impressed right alongside our fat-footed folks by how the Edge 130 HV both fit and performed, and a common refrain was hard to tell it has a walk mode. They weren't criticizing its range of travel--they were complimenting its power and transmission of movement to the ski. Where some hinge-cuff models sacrifice some skiing performance for bar-crawling, lodge-lizard convenience, testers said the Edge 130 HV did no such thing, meaning it skied just as well as other fixed-cuff all-mountain boots, regardless of one's apres bar crawling tendencies.
Testers said this baby fits wide in the lower boot and through the instep, and yet testers who shouldn't have had enough meat on their bones to make much contact with the boot's perimeter claimed it managed to control their kangaroo feet and chicken legs well enough to charge through a variety of terrain and snow surfaces. The thicker-of-body had nothing but praise for the Edge's command of the ski and quickness of messaging to it but likewise said there was ample room for all parts of the foot to spread out and relax. Testers noted that the calf fit was a touch more snug than expected given the massive cargo space down below and the fit impressions data supported that, showing the calf as the boot's most snug fit zone, while the toebox and forefoot areas were the roomiest.
Most testers characterized the more snug boot top as a point for fine tuning given a very thick legged skier, as they did any need for stance modifications (which they thought were dialed-in). Both of these tweaks could be best accomplished by employing the oven-cook shell molding Form Fit feature, which like most typical cook-wear-chill shell morphing features will allow for body shape and alignment driven changes to the plastic outer boot. Testers didn't cite any need to additionally snug up the heel and ankle pocket, which they thought was just right for the target athlete here, however the Liquid Fit liner injection feature is available on the 130 flex version (not on the others) and can be utilized to make modest improvements to the already well-shaped heel and ankle zones.
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