Our test team rendered something of a split decision on the Roxa R3 120 TI I.R., with those who loved the boot citing its light weight, close 99mm fit and snappy reaction to steering and edging movements. The opposition claimed that the fit felt a bit disjointed and not anatomically matched to the average human's lower extremity. We did a forensic analysis of both sides' test forms to attempt to parse the truth from the bluster.
One veteran tester who was in the for camp said this: Wow, this is the best Roxa freeride boot I've ever tested! The liner fits well enough right out of the box to immediately go ski and have fun. I have no fit issues that would require a full liner molding. The flex feel is classic three-piece cabrio and the 120 rating is right on. The fore-aft stance is good, if a little bit upright to start, but easy to move into a dynamic position. The lateral stance is neutral and it's plenty strong side-to-side for a 120. Close to a perfect score for Roxa, nice work!
Another equally experienced tester in the against camp said this: I feel you can ski a boot like this if your foot is shaped like this--but who has a foot shaped like this? It's Vice Grip tight at the forefoot but loose in the heel and ankles.
We had multiple testers echoing both of the above statements, so it wasn't a single Roxa fanboy singing its praises or a solo cabrio curmudgeon pissing in its soup.
What we can gather is that much of the differences in fit perception relate to the I.R. (Intuition/Roxa) liner not being fully molded prior to indoor and on-snow tests. Our test protocol is designed to match the customer's in-shop experience--we try on boots just the way they come out of the box in a shop, then we go ski them the same way. Sometimes we perform secondary fit and on-snow tests after full molding of Intuition-type full-thermo liners, and that typically improves fit impressions across the board. We're a bootfitting-centric test team, so it's apparent that much of the naysayers' complaints are overblown--it's easy to do a forefoot width stretch on a Grilamid shell if needed and it's easy to snug up heel and ankle pockets.
So, upon judicial review of the data, our executive editorial panel finds in favor of those who love the R3 120 TI I.R.! It's an agile and accurate all-mountain ripper with a classically long, three-piece flex feel. Those testers who were against it must buy drinks for anyone wearing Roxa! We have so ruled.
Kudos
Caveats