Quickness, power, feel. Testers agreed that the all-new GPX delivered the goods exactly how and where they wanted it—at high speeds and over all kinds of terrain.
Replacing the discontinued Patron Pro, every element of the 98mm lasted GPX line has been completely redesigned. The changes earned unanimous approval from our test team. Most noticeably different—and improved—is the lower shell shape and liner. The lower sports a modernized toebox shape, opening up a bit more room for the foot to spread out in the forward cabin. It maintains a very closely held grip from the midfoot back, especially at the navicular and styloid process (outside border of the foot). The liner is more cushioned and supple than before, insulating the foot a bit more from the closely sculpted shell and offering a little more dampening from off-piste shocks.
Still, it's skiers with low volume feet or high tolerances for compression that will applaud standing up for this one. The stance angles are on the forward leaning side of the group, clearly built to move skiers down the hill with speed. Expect crisp ski response and nano-second reaction time coupled with race-bred dominance on hard snow.
Granted, all this goodness comes at some price and testers felt that for all the fit improvements, the GPX 130 still exacts a minor toll on bony prominences. It also wasn’t easy in or out nor was it the toastiest of the group. But are you heading to the hill for skiing or après skiing? Two thumbs up if it’s the former. And we’ll meet you for rope drop.
Kudos
Caveats