13811021:cobra_commander said:
I have a few days on the XTD 130 so far, both resort and short day tours.
What it is: a light weight backcountry freeride boot to compete against Scarpa Mastrale, Dynafit Vulcan, or Beast, Salomon MTN Lab, etc...
What it is not: A do everything boot. If you plan to spend a fair amount of time in the resort take the weight penalty and get a different boot.
It's light, I can't remember the measured weight, but the 26.5 was right around 1400g with liner. Fit is on the long side. A lot of it is likely due to the paper light liner but this is a good half cm or more longer than most other 26 sized boots. I measure past 27 and could barely feel the end of the boot. Walk mode is super smooth like the backland series. ROM is great forward, and ok to the rear. The heel pocket shape limits rear ROM as it starts to pry your heel up and out of the pocket (a more modern forward lean would likely help with this).
Flex is on the stiffer end for all walk mode boots. I'd say it compares as a '120' against most pinned alpine boots. Most of my skiing with the boot has been on ZeroG 108s with ions and Kartel 108s with STH2. The Hawx XTD has been plenty capable of controlling, driving and edging ~110mm skis. For occasional use in the resort or only skiing smooth and soft snow they are great. The issue I have with using these boots everyday is the lack of depth to the flex. It hits blocky on the shin and the following range lacks substance. Skiing firm or uneven snow is harsh. The flex also feels uneven medial to lateral side. It's stiffer on the lateral front than the medial front. Kind weird having your knees driven together. The above issues will keep me from recommending this boot as a do everything boot. Like most every boot with a walk mod the flex is not bottomless - when pushed hard they all seem to crush the heel. This is just an issue with having walk modes and the necessary headwear associated with them.
Touring on this boot is pretty rad. The exterior lever style walk mode is rad. Everything is exposed to the skier which prevents having them ice up. It's very easy to manipulate the boot between touring and skiing. This is the best system currently on the market. Strong, dependable, easy to work with, and quick to manipulate. The extra length in the toe box is nice when touring as the boot has a tendency to push your foot forward on low to moderate inclines. Has anyone told you how light these are? They are fucking light (an intuition tour liner will lighten it more). These feel like nothing is on your feet. For a 1400g touring boot they ski really well too. Much more capable than a mastrale RS or Mercury. They have a more progressive flex than a Vulcan (without tongue) but slightly less then the ZeroG Guide or MTN Lab (although stiffer and distinctly lighter than either).
This is an increadbly capable and light backcountry touring boot. It's a great boot for someone who wants to tour with bigger skis (anything over 100mm) to access more aggressive lines from the trail head. This is also a great all purpose touring boot for someone who isn't comfortable skiing the lighter and more maneuverable 1000-1200g options out there. At 1400g this boot is lighter than most of the historical touring boots from Scarpa, Garmont or Dynafit over the last two decades (TLT5 and recent being the exception). It also skis better than any of them.
I'd like to see Atomic drop the WTR sole from this boot. It's distracting for something that should be viewed as a dedicated touring boot. Just give me a full rubber sole. I'd also really like to see it come with a 13 degree forward lean option. 15 will chase many skiers away who have gotten used to the more upright stance of most boots ~13 degrees.
Thanks for the super detailed write up and feedback! Mucho appreciado. Let me address some of your points, not to counter them but just to shed light on why we did what did (and how we can improve things moving forward).
Re: the liner - For serial production (read: what you guys can buy in the fall), the 130 liner is getting beefed up in the heel & ankle area, slightly snugger in the fore foot, and a thicker/denser tongue. This will bring the fit as close as possible to normal Ultra 130 and provide a better feel in the boot while skiing. Better damping, better ski feel, overall more betterer. Additionally, the 120 will get a liner that has a build more similar to normal Ultra (plastic cuff, plastic tongue, etc) but with an Achilles flex zone. It won't tour as well, but it will feel more like an alpine boot.
Re: progressive flex/stiffness - This is an interesting topic to dive into. On paper/robot measured, we are very progressive with a slightly stiffer feel "off the top" compared to boots in this category (and against full PU alpine boots). But very progressive, not linear. For me personally (which mirrors our robot flex data), I find the Zero G to be super linear, super soft, and hard to control. So if testers like the way the Zero G feels, this will feel very different, almost harsh in comparison. And vice versa for those who don't like the Zero G. On one hand, there is a way to measure objectively how a boot flexes but then there is an equally real yet very subjective feel to each boot. I don't think one is truly more right or more wrong, but just good to be aware of. Additionally, I think a lot of people will like the 120 model, which uses a cuff made from world cup grade PU. This boot will be heavier (due to the liner as well) and feel more "alpiney" than the 130. If you can get on a pair of these, I'd love to hear your feedback.
(FYI - For those of you who want to see it, there should be an image in this thread that shows our flex test data)
Re: WTR sole - This is one part of the equation that allows us to ski as powerfully as we do. When we were testing sole configurations, a full-rubber sole was definitely on the table. But, in an alpine clamp style binding (STH 2, Warden, Jester, etc) rubber soles compress and deflect while skiing, resulting in a tangible loss in energy transmission to the ski. What WTR provides us with is a fully hard connection to the binding, just like an alpine boot. This ensures that the energy generated from 130 shell material makes its way to the ski and isn't lost in the rubber sole. Obviously, this doesn't matter in a pin binding, but for freeride-alpine bindings, this does make a tangible difference in how well the boot skis.
Re: 13° forward lean option - This is something we can for sure look into with a different flip chip. I'll get back to you on this.
