In Kastle's sophomore year as a boot manufacturer and our first interaction with the 110-flex medium-width K110P, testers were again impressed (having tested its inaugural 130-flex last year). Testers applauded the quick gains from last year in the way of an improved liner and more flex offerings. The consensus was that the Kastle boot has its fresh roots sunk into deeply established old-school, four-buckle-overlap design traditions--and our somewhat old-school testing team dug that, with a few minor caveats.
First, they loved the 110-flex for everything the 130-flex was not: easier to get on and off, softer flexing against the shin, forgiving of mistakes and more comfortable on bony points. The softer polyurethane plastic build-out of the 110 just made everything a bit more relaxed, which made this Kastle more approachable for the masses (and our testers) and a bit more fun. It's still a serious boot that will appeal to technical skiers looking for a spartan, no-nonsense ski driving machine, testers said, but for all but the most demanding and hard-core skiers the K110P would be plenty. It flexes and skis stronger than the 110-flex indicator suggests, they said, and it's a snug 100mm last. Going to the 97mm narrow version and the 120 or 130 stiffnesses would come with trade-offs in comfort and ease of access, testers thought.
That Kastle's entry into the boot realm is focused on the narrowest race plugs and then performance 97- and 100-mm overlap performance models sets a high bar for themselves, as the best, most established boot brands in the world own this space, and yet Kastle has not embarassed themselves. Far from it, they've proved that simple still works, and for the right skier that's a win. Our test team loved the K boot's stance angles (a perfect 5.00) and skiing response, and they only had a few complaints about the fit's less-than-contoured feel on common bony bits. They felt that with a good bootfitter's help, the shape would be on par with the best boots in the category, but still the out-of-box fit experience got a "needs improvement" on their report cards.
Did testers love the Kastle color? That was a split decision. Will the Kastle boots be available at brick-and-mortar specialty retail shops? That remains to be seen. If they're not, it ain't because they don't deserve to be, we think.
Kudos
Caveats