We can remember when it was hard to convince testers to get into the wide boots at the annual boot test--understandably, since (for the most part) they sucked! Testers would grudgingly get into the wide boots at the tail end of the test, or when it was raining, or when it was frozen boiler plate--they just weren't that much fun to ski. That's been quite a few years now, and currently wide-lasted boots offer the same level of fit, performance and useful features as do their medium- and narrow-width brethren. And then there's the Hi-Speed HV. It's been one of our favorite wide rides for the past few years, since its arrival on the scene as part of the replacement to Rossi's Allspeed line. The Hi-Speed 130 HV is fun to ski, testers say, right there with the best medium and narrow boots of the All-Mountain Traditional category.
Gone are the performance compromises that used to plague the thick-footed, and the Hi-Speed 130 represents the most gone compromises boot of the wide loads we've tested. It's wide enough that the chunkiest of feet can get in there (and with a straightforward mono-injected polyurethane shell and cuff it's easy for bootfitters to make more room as needed) but it has a stellar stance set-up and enough hold in the critical ski-control fit zones that skiers with more average fit needs do fantastically well here too. Testers of all shapes and sizes had nothing but praise for the Hi-Speed 130 HV. Literally, there were no negative comments for us to post in the Caveats section of the tester commentary tab of this review--check that out.
The Hi-Speed isn't new but the whole bunch of them (men's and women's models, in all widths) underwent a liner revision for this year that re-set the bar for the boot's stance and skiing performance. It was a minor change to how the liner tongue is attached at the toebox to bring the tongue into closer contact with the shin at boot top, but testers say it was a game-changing tweak for how much better it felt against the leg and that translated into a better skiing experience. The Hi-Speed boots used to exhibit a slight "spilling-out" feel at the top of the cuff, and while testers tried cranking the power strap to bring the tongue closer to them, it wasn't perfect out of the box. Now, testers say the boot has a taller, more upright and more powerful fore-aft starting position and the pressure distribution along the shin is more even and more comfortable. All of that made for stronger turns generated from a more sustainable, powerfully-stacked stance.
The Hi-Speed 130 HV locked down perfect scores of 5.0 for it's Anatomical Fit and Initial Feel as well as in its Dynamic Balance criteria--testers attribute these high scores to the liner tongue change mentioned above. While testers gave this wide boot fairly snug marks for its fit in the ankle and heel pockets, it was not so snug as to take it out of play for the high volume foot, they said. Similarly they said the calf fit is not huge, but open enough in circumference and flared enough at the rear of the boot top to comfortably contain some serious muscle mass.
One of our hyper-critical testers said that the Hi-Speed 130 HV delivered race-boot-level power to the edge. That's not much of an exaggeration, as every tester commented about the ski-driving power and stability of the Hi-Speed HV. Edge Power was where it garnered its next-highest score at a 4.83, so the numbers backed up the commentary there.
Testers remind good skiers with less-than-wide feet and legs that a wide-lasted boot can offer solutions for folks who get chronically cold or numb in ski boots. Before going up a size and really swimming, testers suggest that they try their regular size, but in a wider last than they typically ski. With a boot like the Hi-Speed 130 HV there is no performance downside to that experiment, testers say.
Kudos