The Nordica Promachine 115 W pleased our test team with its very snug but comfortable, narrow, all-mountain fit. It remains one of the few boots that manages to nail the low-volume fit tension target but does so with shell shaping and just-enough liner cushioning to provide a virtually hotspot-free out-of-box experience.
Our fit scoring is done on a 1-5 scale where 1 is World Cup race boot tight and a 5 is rental boot loose. A 2 would be the consumer narrow boot fit tension target--however, it's increasingly rare that a so-called narrow (96-98mm) boot receives a preponderance of 2's on test forms. That's not the case with the Promachine 115 W. Its cumulative average fit score out of eight fit parameters was a 2.08. Interestingly, the Promachine 115 W's highest score was logged in the initial Dry-Fit criterion--that's the fit right out of the box. One of the tightest but one of the most trouble-free fits of the test--in fact, only two other boots in the women's test, in all categories, scored higher in that initial fit parameter.
Testers love the snug heel and ankle fit that remains firm as the liner warms up--owed to the liner's exterior cork laminate, testers say. But they also like the snug padding throughout the rest of the lower boot's fit that offers a just-cushioned-enough feel against the foot, lower leg and shin to keep the fit close but with a shock-absorbing feel that helped power up aggressive lines through gnarly chunderized off-piste plunder. While the Promachine offers close-to-race precision and power on hard snow, it's equally at home charging through the woods or dicing up tricky snow.
The firm but progressive flex feel was noted several times for how it generated useful energy for explosive rebounding at turn exit followed by a clean ski engagement at the start of the new turn. High-powered without getting nervous or difficult to manage, they said, reiterating that its balance of on-snow skills was matched by very few boots.
Kudos