The X Pro 130 was our testers' favorite Salomon model this year. They liked the combination of X-Max-style on-piste power blended with a little more width and a thicker, more anatomically shaped liner. The stance angles put them right where they wanted to be and the boot skied with a strong blend of go-anywhere performance and comfort.
This was the first time for testers on the 130 flex X Pro (we sampled the 120 last year) and they said it was plenty solid. Our biggest, strongest testers welcomed the sturdy, firm flex feel and tall upper cuff. Our shorter and lighter guys felt a bit overmatched and said the 120 would be plenty for them.
The yawning width range cited here is based on executing a 360 Custom Shell cook job. After cooking, the shell’s magical heat-moldable plastic takes only five minutes to expand around the foot and lower leg. Our tests have shown that the 6mm range is no exaggeration—slam a Sasquatch foot inside and it will push the plastic waaay out. The out-of-box fit is roomy and long in the forefoot and toebox, yet snug through instep and ankle. The liner is firm and pre-shaped to match the foot with an aggressive grip on the heel.
The X Pro technology brings about some intriguing fit and performance decisions. The 360 Custom Shell’s enormous stretching capabilities led some testers to drop down a size and use the molding process to regain comfort—but now in a tightly-wrapped performance package. Our shorter legged testers often liked the lower-cuff feel that came with dropping to a shorter shell length.
The X Pro boots also come in five different men’s flexes. Each step down knocks a hundred bucks off the suggested retail price so buy only as much resistance as you need and leave some ka-ching in your pocket.
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