Scarpa Mobe - grand unifying thread

[marshalolson]

not on the soles, on the pebax. its just a lot softer plastic than PU used in alpine boots. which is not durable. i ended up just cleaning it up with a file, and its ok i suppose. i think its a limit of the shell, not the boot or design. that said, its light and skis well, so no worries there.

[MTslackcountry]

^^^^^^^^
thanks for clearing that up for me.

[LM]

Just spent 3 hours in them skiing backcountry in the Shames area. Had to hike up for 30 minutes and they did well. I was worried they wouldn't flex enough but it was fine. Walking on flat ground might be different though. Skinning wasn't an issue either. I didn't really notice the lack of rearward travel. I am going to put my superfeet soles in though. I didn't like the stock ones.

The skiing on the other hand. My first run I was in pain with them done up too tight. Really easy to do with the power/booster strap. 2nd I had them too loose and had to stop to tighten. Have to work on finding the G-Spot. 3 runs wasn't enough. Holy crap though my quads were destroyed after a few hundred vertical. I've never had this pain before. I've been in a Spirit 4 using the stiff tongue for 3 years now and am not used to all this forward lean. I'll have to strengthen. They handled my 190 El Hombres aggressively though but then it was about 20cms powder on a firm rain crust.

I'll see how they do tomorrow...

[Darkwing]

Thanks LeeLau! Very useful info. The order button seems to more intriguing the more info I get. Damn it´s a shame that the nearest pair of Scarpa boots with my size are found in Sweden. Which where I do not live in.
Somehow ordering boots from internet seems to be a stupid thing to do...

[marshalolson]

The skiing on the other hand. My first run I was in pain with them done up too tight. Really easy to do with the power/booster strap. 2nd I had them

you only want the booster strap just barely tight. not stretching the elastic.

[LM]

So 2nd day in the the Mobe and what a difference. Swapped out the stock footbed and went with the Superfeet style. Much more comfortable. As well I didn't tighten the PowerStrap much for the downhill and left the buckles at around a moderate tightness. Skied way better and didn't have dead quads at the bottom of the run.

The Mobe is very quickly becoming my backcountry specific boot. Will be nice to retire my Spirit 4s.

[powdherb]

Got out on my mobes today for the first time in Cham. First impressions are as follows: While they're are certainly still AT boots (I spent half the day skiing in my lang banshee pro 130s and make no mistake there's a huge difference), they are significantly stiffer than the factors that I skied on last year. I baked the liners myself a few days ago and put my surefoot orthotics inside.

I normally ski a boot with a 308 bsl, these are 305. While there seems to be ample space in the shell, the fitting was a bit strange with the intuition liner being extremely tight even outside the shell and after baking. I also felt some intense instep pressure.

Anyway after some initial testing on the Grands Montets being completely out of ski shape and skiing low-vis, bumpy, deep, pow... I can give some basic conclusions.

I feel the overall flex of the boot is nice for a tongue-based design, it did provide a nice, natural flex. However, at a certain point I began to notice the low cuff height and the extremely soft tongue as I quickly started to get some shin-bang. The toe-box is relatively low volume for a 26.5 boot. My feet felt laterally squished and this resulted in some serious pain and cold toes (temps were about -10C most of the day, so not warm).

I'm going to tour on them tomorrow, but right of the bat I'm going to have to do some serious modifications to them. They're not a right-out-of-the-box boot. I feel like they're serious contenders for the lightweight freeride category, but no matter what, don't try and convince yourself that these guys will ski like your dh boots.

Will report back.

[deeppo]

Does anyone know the bsl of the 25.5?
Thanks

[LeeLau]

Amazing what different people take from the boot. powdherb i literally have to ski big skis with the stiff tongue (kneissl Tanker 180s) to feel like the boot is well matched to the skis. My Atomic Rex sissy sticks were better matched with the soft tongue. But I have seen how you ski so i can understand. Vive la difference and all that

Has anyone found that the Mobes are very tuneable with slight tweaks to the buckles? I've found it so - ie get a hot spot then I use the micro-adjust to work on fit and suddenly its ok?

For me, coming from soft alpine boots and softer AT boots and being almost purely a powder skier - its a heck of a lot of boot.

[summit]

Does anyone know the bsl of the 25.5?
Thanks

bsl 297mm 26.0

[marshalolson]

powdherb - interesting feedback. my mobe is stiffer than my 130# nordica dobermanns for sure, and just as tall.

[marshalolson]

that is not entirely true. the mobe is stiffer than the nordica at c.15-20 F, but the nordica is more effected by cold. so at say -10 F, the nordica is stiffer.

[verbier61]

Guess your dobermann is in temp-sensitive pu, mobe is pebax...

[powdherb]

To comment on the above.....comments:

I went for a short tour today at col de la forclaz. I felt like the boots tour just fine. I mean, they're not going to compete with the features of some of the 3 buckle boots, or the virus, but I've been touring in factors and they offer a small albiet marked improvement.


Lee, I noticed the same thing with the micro-adjusters. I also noticed they they are difficult to get loose enough on the front two buckles. I literally had to ski with the instep buckle open for the first runs because even on the loosest setting it was too tight.

I want to be clear when I'm talking about stiffness. While the boot might have properties that are a stiff as alpine boot when referring to forward/backwards flex, I'm speaking more of that and the overall concept of rigidity (lateral/torsional). When I put on my langs, they feel like I've just sat down in a porsche as compared to a wrx. Yeah they might hit 60 at the same time, but one feels a lot better doing it.

There's a certain irreplaceable solid feel that comes with an alpine boot that you can't find in an AT boot, especially one with a tongue design. I really like the stiffness of the mobe, and I'm going to keep it, but it's not going to offer control when charging through chop or super-shitty windboard that my langs do.

I'm okay with that. Touring with langs is almost as terrible as snowshoeing. There is a fundamental feeling of freedom that comes with having something light and powerful on your feet.

Once I get these guys dialed out, I'm sure I'll be skiing just as hard on them as I would my downhill boots. Sure they'll never feel quite as good, but I also will have access and freedom never offered by standard touring bindings and dh boots. I know this next point will sound lame too, but seriously walk mode is nice for walking around town. Where I was living last year I was walking up to a 2km to get to the lifts and damn that sucked in langs. Plus, how the hell is anyone going to dance on a table without walk mode? What about doing the moonwalk? These are things we must keep in mind when investing.

[1000-oaks]

Regarding some of the comments about the Mobe not having enough rearward cuff movement when in walk mode, I gotta say the "living-room" range of motion on my Skookums is amazing, at least with the two upper buckles undone. (Just got them, haven't tried them in snow yet.) I can reach my foot waaay forward and still have the sole flat on the floor, in fact I doubt my ankle has a whole lot more range.

Just can't imagine needing more, but then these (and Typhoons) are the only AT boots I've ever tried, so what the heck do I know.

Not sure why Scarpa uses that HEAVY steel spring-loaded power strap buckle though, couldn't they have accomplished the same thing with a wider strap and more Velcro?

[LeeLau]

The Mobe is IMO significantly stiffer than the Skookum.

That's probably not surprising since Scarpa's positioning the Mobe basically as a slackcountry boot. If I may be so bold almost like an alpine boot with a walk mode The Skookum however is positioned more like a stiff touring boot. They're both almost the same weight (~ 1800 g for Mobe; 1860g for Skookum).

Difference is in the walk mode. Skookum has a bit more of a free-floating cuff and can tilt backwards just past vertical; call it about minus 5 degrees. Mobe is about + 5 degrees so you have a bit of a restricted walk mode. I'm told that one of the reasons Mobe is so freaking stiff is that everything around the walk mode is beefed up so there's no play there. But that also means a restricted walk mode. Not surprising that AT boots are about compromises. I've asked for some sort of a cutaway showing the beef of the walk mode. Scarpa is understandably reluctant to let me take a saw to the boots I have.

So how stiff is Mobe? Well I had to ski the Skookum with a soft tongue to get a feel for the snow but even so I'd still buckle up relatively tight. With the Mobe I have to ski the soft tongue and leave the buckles loose and still the boot feels stiff.

And to answer powdherb's question about the stiffness, Mobe has a nice progressive feel when I pair it with a monster truck ski like a Tanker. Pair it with a sissy stick noodle like a 200+ days TM:EX and Mobe feels like a brick. To be brutally honest I'd have to say that Mobe is probably too much boot for me as a person who tours for powder and usually skis exclusively powder. It'd be a good boot for me if I skied say 65% inbounds in hard snow, and got 25% of days powder skiing and 10% slackcountry. I'm going to try the Mobe in some all-day tours but I doubt they're the right tool for that job.

Basically if you're a Scarpa foot and a medium/light person and mainly a tourer get the Maestrale. If you're a bigger guy and are 50/50 inbounds/slackcountry get the Skookum. If you're a big aggressive guy and are 50/50 inbounds/slackcountry (or more towards inbounds of the charging variety) get the Mobe.

That's my preliminary impressions after a grand whopping total of 5 days. Of course my opinion may change yada yada

[telelebowski]

Two days on the new Mobes, coming from Skookums, and I am not too impressed. Feel like the Skookums not only obviously hike better, but that that the Vibram sole makes climbing in them much better, as well. Additionally, I am having all sorts of problems with the fit of the boot that make no sense b/c it is the exact same 305 bsl as my Skookums and I went to the exact same bootfitter and we did the exact same things-get a bad arch pain with the second buckle loosened as much as possible. But, that blog is not the subject of my question and of my ultimate annoyance with them: they do not ski as well as my Skookums, lots of deflection, etc. I believe that maybe there is a problem with the walk/ski mode on my boots. In my Skookums, when you make the switch from walk to ski, you can flex forward and here them "click" into place. On the Mobes, is anyone else hearing that click? I imagine the answer is no, but when I take the boots off, regardless of the switch position (walk or ski) I am able to get full range motion of the cuff up and down the metal slide on the back of the boot. If someone has good answers, please share, I don't want to drag them back on a plane to the original bootfitter.

[LeeLau]

Telebowski. It sounds like there's something wrong with your walk mode. When I go to ski mode from walk mode there's no motion in the cuff

[verbier61]

Two days on the new Mobes, coming from Skookums, and I am not too impressed. Feel like the Skookums not only obviously hike better, but that that the Vibram sole makes climbing in them much better, as well....

skookum and mobe's soles are not made by vibram

BTW, skookum and mobe soles should be almost identical

[Darkwing]

The last is 104mm at forefoot so its a bit wider than most boots.

Lee, maybe you could give me your opinion about sizing these things. I measured my foot on flat ground and without a sock. It is 265mm in lenght and 113mm wide at the forefoot (I know, I´m on a wider side). So I know there will be some punching to do anyways, but how is the lenght sizing running with Mobe? You think Mondo 26.5 would be the correct size? And can the Intuitition stock liner handle the extra width?

[flatlander#2]

265mm in lenght and 113mm wide at the forefoot

wow gtfo. You must be able to swim like a dolphin.

[åsanisse]

wow gtfo. You must be able to swim like a dolphin.

Eeehm.. Mine are 290 x 116mm...

[Darkwing]

wow gtfo. You must be able to swim like a dolphin.

Yeah I wish. Then I propably shouldn´t worry about fitting these fans into skiing boots.

Edit: Åsanisse nice to hear that I´m not alone Did you have any troubles fitting into Mobes?
Edit2: Not sure why I assumed Åsanisse to have fitted Mobes. Sorry bout that.

[åsanisse]

Yeah I wish. Then I propably shouldn´t worry about fitting these fans into skiing boots.

Edit: Åsanisse nice to hear that I´m not alone Did you have any troubles fitting into Mobes?
Edit2: Not sure why I assumed Åsanisse to have fitted Mobes. Sorry bout that.

Well.. I tried them on a few days ago and they feel narrower than claimed - and yes, too narrow for my fins. But with some punching and a pair of shims, I'm sure it could work.
For some reason though, I do fit in the maestrale.. And I have quite some space in the quadrants shell (on terms of width, negative on the height). FWIW

[skinipenem]

If anyone knows if the heel blocks are available that would be great.

I solved the problem temporarily with cork.

EDIT: Heel blocks are available from Scarpa. They are the EVA heel inserts. I am using cork instead. Probably similar shock absorption/stiffness/malleability/cushioning.