One tester said, feels great, skis even better! Another said, just put it on and go skiing—that’s a win! Not only is there a lot to love about the Speedmachine 3 BOA Cuff, but there are a lot of other ways to love the Speedmachine these days—so many closure and flex options!
We tested the cuff BOA 130-flex but there’s a 120-flex available the same way. Want maximum BOA constriction? There are Dual Dial versions available in both a 130- and 120-flex. Prefer the lower boot BOA—and there are reasons you might—you’ll be best suited for the 110- and 100-flex options there if you’re not a heavyweight. Just can’t do BOA? Well, you’re in luck—there is an all-buckle model and you’ll save a whopping 600-bucks over our tested flagship model, but you’ll have to be okay with a 90-flex.
Testers say there are a select handful of perfect medium-width all-mountain boots on the market, and the Speedmachine 3 is one of them—and they remind us that’s been the case for several years running. What’s a perfect boot? For our test team it’s one that has no deal-breaker flaws in fit, stance geometry or on-snow performance. When a boot fits more foot and leg types than expected and offers zero balance issues, and lets a skier head for challenging terrain without any thought about the unfamiliar boots on his feet; testers say that is a perfect boot.
Now, we know nothing is really perfect, and truth be told our test team did find a chink in the armor of the Speedmachine 3 130 S BOA Cuff. Namely those last two words, BOA and cuff. Testers felt that the amount of cable in the BOA spool was just limited enough to prevent maximum cuff spreading on entry, which in turn reduced the spread of the lower shell overlap—the result being a bit of struggle to get this boot on. Testers didn’t call it a problem, per se, but rather a slight annoyance that they had to provide a caveat to their otherwise full-throated claim of perfection.
Cuff BOA is known to be the boot entry bouncer guarding the door, and our team is fine with a little entryway hassle in order to get into that exclusive cabled cuff closure club—they say the wrap for the lower leg is awesome here and it also offers a bit of flare at the boot top to prevent a ratchet-induced calf pinch.
Is the Speedmachine 3 130 S BOA Cuff a new model this year? No. What did one tester think of that? His words: still fantastic.
