The Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro W is completely new this year in both shell and liner but that didn't stop it from taking the top step on the podium in the Backcountry category, again, for the third year in a row. This time its score was a nearly perfect, personal best at 4.80--but we couldn't find a negative comment in the tester data to explain why it didn't get the 5.0!
Testers approved of the lower shell shape changes of increased height of fit over the bony top of the foot and a little extra space for the lateral side of the forefoot (aka sixth-toe) and they also found that the boot was easier to get on and off than in past trials due to more of Tecnica's Quick Instep soft material at the boot throat's shell overlap area. The lace-able liner (if you wanted to, our testers didn't) was spot-on for the boot's 99mm snug-medium fit straightaway, testers said, with no need to heat it up regardless of its full-thermo moldability. They thought the fit was ideal for the target, with just a touch of extra room in the toebox, forefoot and instep and a locked-in performance grip on the foot and lower leg elsewhere.
The look of the boot matches its feel, testers said. It looks like a regular alpine boot, if streamlined and clean in form, with a properly tall and appropriately tipped-forward cuff and four legitimate (if lightweight) buckles and a power strap. Testers said that the entry and closure is easy and unsurprising--a compliment from testers who find that surprises upon entry or in attempting to get buckled-up only mean a boot is overly complicated or somehow flawed. Not the case here, they said--it goes on like a regular boot, just a teeny, little, lightweight one. The stance angles are dead on the money for a real skier when the cuff is locked for descent, but the fore-aft range of rotation is much improved over Zero G's past, they said. They noticed that its forward movement was increased substantially, and liked the friction-free quality of stride the boot offered for hiking or skinning, both.
The way the Zero G boots have skied always impressed testers but this year the carbon-infused Grilamid cuff linked to the Grilamid lower shell turned up the power and responsiveness in a big way for testers who said it crushed everything they put in its path all around our testing grounds at Mt. Bachelor. They said the cuff's flex feel was comfortable but firm and well-distributed in its pressure along the shin, but more importantly didn't fold over or collapse in heavy flexing situations or when hammering through highly variable conditions. They gave its stability and power to the edge race-boot-level props and couldn't overstate how quickly the Zero G responded to their steering or edge change inputs.
There wasn't a single, negative thing testers had to say about the Zero G Tour Pro W--and that's why we'll just give it a perfect 5.0 here, just among us friends.
Kudos