The "C" in the Speedmachine 3 130 BOA C's model name stands for cuff, as in that's where the BOA reel is located. This stands as Nordica's flagship performance model, as their view of things says that a BOA dial on the bottom is for convenience, a BOA on the cuff means performance and BOA top and bottom is both performance and convenience oriented (they give those a DD suffix, for Dual Dial).
Our test team's take on BOA and its placement is that it takes more than location to make it a performance or convenience feature--some boots with a lower BOA are not convenient because the device's presence there impedes entry, while other boots with a BOA on the cuff may not ski as well as others, no matter how many times you crank the clicker.
So, what does our test crew think of the Speedmachine 3 130 BOA C? They love that it still fits like the best of the Speedmachines we've ever tested (and we've tested a lot of them over the years). They love that it skis as well as, or perhaps better than, the last Speedmachine 3 130 they tested. And a lot of them love the cuff BOA--with caveats.
A lot of our testers approach testing a boot with a starting perfect score of 10.00, and they deduct demerits as they run into its less-than-perfect traits. It's a rare thing that a tester reaches the end of their test tally with an untarnished ten, but it happens. It happened with one tester for the Speedmachine 3 130 BOA C. The others found minor flaws here and there, but mostly here--that is, with regard to ease-of-entry. Almost every other tester issued score demerits for the cuff BOA getting in the way of an expected, easy, Speedmachine glide right into the boot. This dropped the boot's Convenience score to an 8.50--respectable, but still its worst score. If it had been judged on its other five score parameters it would have averaged out at a 9.64 and been the All-Mountain Traditional category's highest scoring model, tied with one other.
This brings us to why cuff BOA is deemed a performance feature--we think it may be because it's just enough of a hassle to weed out non-performance-oriented skiers. Skiers who want the fit (and therefore, performance) benefit of a snugly, evenly wrapping cuff, one click at a time will sort out the spaghetti bowl and get the thing on their foot, closed up and ready to go. We could be wrong, we're just spit-balling here, but the point is that the only place the Speedmachine 3 130 BOA C received any sideways glance was for its ease of entry and most testers admitted it wasn't so bad.
The thing that testers spent the most time commenting on was how comfortably, perfectly, snugly medium the Speedmachine fit them, in every fit zone. It remains one of the 100mm last standards of the industry for fit, and testers say it skis equally well. The current Speedmachine is the best-balanced it has ever been, they say, and they don't mean stance. Testers say the balance between cushy comfort, firm grip on the foot and leg, solid edge driving power and rapid-response quickness and steering is so evenly blended that they mostly forgot they were testing a boot and found themselves just ripping around, having a great time on the hill.
Testers pretty much say critics will have to get over any negative bias about BOA, because it's likely here to stay. They say, more specifically, that you really have to get over it if you want to ski hard in a Nordica Speedmachine, because to completely avoid the dial, you'll have to dial it back down to a 100-flex level. There you have it, you're now a BOA-hostage to perfection of performance and fit if you want an expert level Speedmachine. And testers say it'll be just fine.
Kudos
Caveats