Scarpa Maestrale RS

[swissiphic]

I haven't read this entire thread so apologies if the answer to my question is here somewhere.

Has anyone else managed to rip the tongue off the rest of the stock intuition liner? I did. My friend seemed to think it would be an easy fix sewing it back on, but I'm a little skeptical. I'm a sewing jong though. And I'm not sure I can just take it to the Asian ladies in SF who patch holes and hem jeans to sew it back on. I toured with it a couple days already just putting it in the right general place and locking it down with the boot. It worked well (i.e. without pain) most of the time but it was a little fiddly. The RSs have always been really fiddly for me already since you have to eyeball how tight the arch strap is, so this is not a welcome development.

I guess I could just get new liners, but I really don't want to spend money right now. Is there a cheap and easy solution I'm missing?

Haven't tried, but maybe shoe goo or aquaseal could be used to bond the tongue back on? Maybe clean up the mating surfaces before goo'ing and use tape or a large C clamp (depending on what the profile of the tear is) to hold the tongue in the exact position while the goo dries?

A general fyi on shoe goo/aquaseal: I recently used both and clamped stuff together to bond items. I added a layer of parchment paper between goo and clamps so the goo/seal wouldn't stick to clamps when dry. Parchment paper peeled right off cleanly after goo dried.

[counterfeitfake]

I have a question about the old Maestrale RS. I've been wondering if they're too stiff, and the mangos would be a better boot for me. When I push forward I can flex the RS, it's just not that progressive (my comparison is the Krypton). But there's a point in the flex during skiing, often when I'm forward and hit a steep bump, or take a hard landing, where I abruptly feel my heel driven back against the heel pocket. It's somewhat painful and starts to really bother me at the end of a day.

Is this a flex issue, or could it be fit? The shell seemed about right for me, I have about a 1.5 "finger" fit. I'm using the stock intuition liner.

[Bloomy]

I agree with AKbruin's review and will add a few other points...
Me - 5'11", 175lb, depending on beer consumption
Old boots - Vulcans, first gen
New boots - new RS's duh
Conditions - 3 backcountry, 3 resort, mix of all conditions - chalk, powder, ice, chop, bumps, yada yada
Ski style - speed is your friend

Overall impression - positive. I feel these might be a tad stiffer than the vulcans, but I wonder if that's due to the vulcans softening up over time (~200 days). I would ski with the tongue for resort days, but not BC. I have a pretty average foot, so breaking in a new boot has always been relatively easy. These have taken more time than normal to break in the hot spots, but I think I'm close to there. In general they ski similar to the vulcans and I like the weight:stiffness ratio. Walk mode is totally fine and as Hoji mentioned in one of the videos, it's "walk mode, not run mode."

Cons: I do find them more fiddle-y than the vulcans:
1. Tongue fiddle factor - 100% echo AKbruin about arranging the tongue each time I slide the boot on. I differ in that I find it really annoying. Not deal-killer, but it doesn't have to be there.
2. Lower buckle: a) really not necessary and I don't buckle it (on vulcan's I cut off lower buckle), b) it needs a latch like the top buckle to keep the cable on the right setting and c) cable needs to be longer
3. Liner extraction / insertion - this is improving a little with usage, but something to keep an eye on.
4. Clicking into walk mode isn't automatic and the lever sometimes passes over the latch, both going up and down.

[Nwsno]

Telemark-Pyrenees has these is pretty much all sizes on sale using code: “AT10” which drops them to $505. Not a bad deal for a killer boot. I’m loving mine.


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How long did it take to get them? And did you have to pay any import duties? I’m thinking of ordering them up from there.


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[PNWbrit]

How long did it take to get them? And did you have to pay any import duties? I’m thinking of ordering them up from there.


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Couple of days.

It varies about duties.

But it's not that much anway.

I think footwear is excluded technically if you want to bother arguing it.

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[tharmor]

I got mine through freezeproshop (also in the EU) and they arrived in three days no duties.


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[Bloomy]

Small update:
Today was a really good powder day on Berthoud Pass. But, the walk mode lever requires way too much fiddling to lock into walk mode. Today was cold Colorado powder, the air temp is 10 degrees. It takes multiple times of flipping up/down the lever to clear snow and it's not simple or easy to lock into walk mode. It would be challenging to be anywhere that's not a rockies snowpack and try to lock this into place. It should be a one move/flick of the lever, but it's not. I think this is a deal breaker.

[AKbruin]

Small update:
Today was a really good powder day on Berthoud Pass. But, the walk mode lever requires way too much fiddling to lock into walk mode. Today was cold Colorado powder, the air temp is 10 degrees. It takes multiple times of flipping up/down the lever to clear snow and it's not simple or easy to lock into walk mode. It would be challenging to be anywhere that's not a rockies snowpack and try to lock this into place. It should be a one move/flick of the lever, but it's not. I think this is a deal breaker.

As mentioned before, I've also found that going into ski mode can be a little finicky in certain snow conditions. The good news is that, mechanically, it's a pretty simple fix--just knock the excess snow/ice from the male and female parts of the latch. It'd be hard to be truly screwed by it. Still, I could see it being a pain in the ass.

Anyhow, I've probably put another 10 days on the boots and I still like them a lot.

[gramboh]

Are we talking 2.0's for the walk lever thing? I've never had an issue with my 1.0's even in weird coastal weather (alpine inversions, freezing ice fog etc.)

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Small update:
Today was a really good powder day on Berthoud Pass. But, the walk mode lever requires way too much fiddling to lock into walk mode. Today was cold Colorado powder, the air temp is 10 degrees. It takes multiple times of flipping up/down the lever to clear snow and it's not simple or easy to lock into walk mode. It would be challenging to be anywhere that's not a rockies snowpack and try to lock this into place. It should be a one move/flick of the lever, but it's not. I think this is a deal breaker.

My (original version) RS's have over 100 days, mostly touring. Walk mode has a little bit of play, but I've only had an issue changing modes (from walk to ski) a few times. Kicked my boots together and the problem was solved. Nothing has broken. Liners are still good.

[adrenalated]

Bloomy isn't on here much but I can confirm he is talking about the new 2.0s

[garuda]

The walk mode is tremendously easy to use on the 2.0's. Clearing minor snow build up in the latch is a non-issue since its an external mechanism. It's a deal maker, not a deal breaker, lol!

[meter-man]

On the 2.0s, does anyone have recs for getting the boots on and off your feet?

I can get the liners in/out no problem, but it's surprisingly tough to get the boots on, and a damn wrestling match to get them off! I've seen some comments on Wild Snow and Blister on this, but no great recs for how to deal with it.

My instep is more or less normal height. Size 29. I've never had unusual or difficult issues getting my feet into boots (except frozen boots).

To put on
Unbuckle everything. Put in walk mode. Start to put foot in, then use the liner pull-loops at the top of the boot, and yard really hard on the loops while pushing my feet in. That usually does it. (But today, while testing some bindings, I was actually unable to get the boots on my feet!)
I am sure that these loops will blow before the liner's useful life is over.
What am I doing wrong? I'm going to get a shoe horn to ease the process.

To take off
Unbuckle everything. Put in walk mode. Do whatever I can to get my feet out. Step on the heel with my other boot or shoe, while lifting my foot out.
I wrestle so hard I make my legs cramp after a long day of touring.

Any tricks I'm missing, other than all of them??

[AKbruin]

Everything you wrote, and then I pull down on the liner's rear strap and the boot rotates off my foot. I have to reset the tongue and liner afterward, but overall the process is fairly painless.

[lazyasian]

Got a pretty decent crack in my left boot after about 8 days. No rocks, no big drops, nothing unusual, just looked down at some point and noticed a crack.

I’ve skied about 15 more days on them without too much issue (little bit of extra flex but not too bad). Got in touch with Scarpa and they’ve sent a new left shell.

Hopefully it was just a lemon, as my old Maestrale’s probably had about 200 days on them when they were retired. I’d be interested to know if anyone else sees something similar!

[Bloomy]

lazyaslan - I just noticed a crack in the same location and submitted my warranty form to scarpa last night. I have about 25 days on them. I see a trend. That sucks. I'm surprised they didn't give you a complete new set.

meter-man - It took me some time to figure out the best method to get in/out (maybe breaking in the liner helped too). Getting in, walk mode seems friendlier, but it definitely took time to settle on that method (again, maybe liner needed time to break in). Getting out, I keep in ski mode, this seems to offer some rigidity and thus the liner doesn't suction cup to my heel. Buena suerte.

[lazyasian]

lazyaslan - I just noticed a crack in the same location and submitted my warranty form to scarpa last night. I have about 25 days on them. I see a trend. That sucks. I'm surprised they didn't give you a complete new set.

meter-man - It took me some time to figure out the best method to get in/out (maybe breaking in the liner helped too). Getting in, walk mode seems friendlier, but it definitely took time to settle on that method (again, maybe liner needed time to break in). Getting out, I keep in ski mode, this seems to offer some rigidity and thus the liner doesn't suction cup to my heel. Buena suerte.

Hmmm that’s a little bit worrisome! I was surprised they didn’t replace both as well... got the replacement but now I’m a little worried about another crack coming. Guess the only way to find out is to get out there and ski!

[iamchappy]

Possibly removing the steel rivets and replacing them with plastic or nylon ones may help relieve the stress there, when I first looked at my boots I didn't like the way the tongue was attached with the steel rivets many other boots have the tongue semi floating in a slot at the toe end.

[iamchappy]

Easy enough to remove tongue, with the Allen head wrench that comes with the boots I originally thought they were rivets, seems the only purpose for them is to anchor the cable strap I suppose if a cable stop was attached to the cable at the hitch on side of the boot and it was disconnected from the tongue may solve the problem or create new at crack at the hitch, I barely buckle that one anyhow and really shouldn't be under that much tension.

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[406]

Finally got mine out for a short easy skin this last weekend. Difficult to get on and off. Very light. Right boot was very comfortable, but left boot had sharp pain near the heel. Thought I might have folded the plastic when putting the liner in, but never got it right while out. Pro tip: remove the Allen head wrench from inside the boot before putting the boot on...


In my defense mine came with 2 wrenches and it was dark when I put the boot on.

[meter-man]

Difficult to get on and off.

Pro tip: remove the Allen head wrench from inside the boot before putting the boot on...

Hahaha - that's good.

I figured out how to best get mine on/off. First off, I will say it gets easier after 10-15 days in the boot. Putting em on -- need to be in walk mode; fully undo liner laces (all the way down); actively open boot; wrestle a bit. Taking it off -- put it in ski mode, then push down with hand on rear boot top very hard. I now have no problems getting them on/off.

25 day quick review: these boots fucking rock. I added a spoiler to push my calf forward (did not change the manual forward lean on the ski/walk mode), dropped in a custom footbed, and added bontex pads to either side of my heel. It skis way better now...but it's still not a Lange alpine boot. On the other hand, I can tour all day on these things in great comfort. Longer review at the end of the season with more days and more specifics.

[meter-man]

Query: does anyone notice their ski/walk mode "popping out" when landing heavily? On my left boot only, the ski/walk mode "pops" out for a second and immediately re-engages. Only happens when I'm jumping into the front flex of the boots quite hard (airing off things, popping off the ground in moguls, etc.). I might just need to make sure it's fully engaged before skiing, but I've noticed on a few successive ski days, so seems like I might have tweaked mine somehow. (And, no, it's not ice packed in...)

[hafjell]

Query: does anyone notice their ski/walk mode "popping out" when landing heavily? On my left boot only, the ski/walk mode "pops" out for a second and immediately re-engages. Only happens when I'm jumping into the front flex of the boots quite hard (airing off things, popping off the ground in moguls, etc.). I might just need to make sure it's fully engaged before skiing, but I've noticed on a few successive ski days, so seems like I might have tweaked mine somehow. (And, no, it's not ice packed in...)

What was your previous AT boot?

[gregL]

I’d be interested to know if anyone else sees something similar!

Some are cracking on the other (medial) side as well.

[meter-man]

What was your previous AT boot?

The 1.0 version of the Maestrale RS. Before that, Garmont Adrenalins.