2020 Dalbello Lupo Air

[rod9301]

Any idea how the lupo air 130 skis, compared to the hoji?

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[madriverfreeride]

Ok so I’ve seen this boot mentioned in a few other threads, and I finally have enough time in my pair to give my initial impressions. Warning this post might be kinda long.

I’ll start with what I have to compare it too, I’ve been using the hawx xtd previously, before that the mtn lab, and before that the first year of the lupo factory.

Weight: my size 25’s came in just under 1300 grams stock, about 100 grams less per foot than the stock Xtds, I had to ski an alpine liner in my xtds to get the performance I wanted which made them weigh about 1600 grams and walk like trash so I lost quite a bit of weight there if I can get the stock liner to work. Mtn labs weren’t that light either and neither were the lupo factorys, so overall the lightest boot I have used.

Range of motion: in order of the ones I’ve used

Lupo factory (without tongue in) > lupo air > stock hawx > mtn lab > hawx w/ alpine liner

The rearward range on motion on the lupo air is the same as the factory, which is very good, forwards you need to un buckle the top strap to get very far, once thats done its pretty good as well, slightly less than the lupo factory. Overall better than the hawx and mtn labs that you also have to unbuckle to get the forwards ROM, and rearward I felt was better than those two as well.

Flex: this is the interesting one, I found out of the box that they felt very soft, and saw some stuff online agreeing that they were not 130s. After playing with them for a little while I found what the issue was, there is a tendency for the block that interfaces with the lower cog to not catch on one of both sides, which was the case out of the box, this led to an extremely soft flex. The solution I have found is to buckle the top buckle but leave the back in wall mode, extend your ankle so that you are flexing the boot rearward and then flex forwards, you will feel wether both side are engaged when you flex forward as the boot gets dramatically stiffer. Sometimes it takes a couple tries to make this work for me. Kinda annoying but once they are both engaged the boot really is stiff, I’d say on par with the hawx, slightly better than the mtn lab.

The quality of flex does feel like a touring boot, theres not a lot of dampness, but I found it to feel a lot like the hawx. There is however a few degrees at the top that are kind of free floating where the walk mode isn’t pressed against the ledge and the block in the back isn’t engaged yet, it feels like a traditional touring boot that has play in the walk mode. This might be fixable with a shim between the walk lever and the lower cuff to take away the play, but this will also increase forward lean.

Fit: it fits like a boat.
If the 100mm ax last fits you well then these will, if you like the 98mm last the you will end up having to take up room. I’m currently working on dialing this part in with bontex shims and a heel lift, as well as some boot fitting foam.

Overall: these are good touring boots, I wouldn’t want to use them as my only boot but they walk very well. If I can get the heel and ankle area dialed in I could see using them for a long time. I put voile straps on as power straps, the holes are there all I needed was the hardware, this felt like it made them ski a little bit better and kept the top a little tighter while providing a little elasticity like a booster.

This post may be riddled with errors as I typed it out on my phone, but I figured there’s almost no information about this boot out there so I’d add my thoughts.

[burrito]

Much appreciated, madriverfreeride. This is the most information I've seen on this boot so far.

[Skiwald]

Anyone interested in a nearly new pair in a 25.5 size?


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[skisurfmirth]

If you remove the cuff rivets you can then use standard hardware to lower the cuff in relation to the lower. Proper placement will engage the walkmode and bump stop when in ski mode at the same time, thus removing all play. A similar move to what mercury users did with bump stop relocation to remove play.

[Robik]

Anyone aware of deals on 27.5?

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[Benneke10]

Has anyone gone as far as drilling out the rivets and can share the experience?

[skisurfmirth]

Yeah I drilled/dremelled out all the rivets including the cuff rivets. Sharp grinding ball on a dremell worked best. Grind off the rivet on the inside of the boot. Use water too keep the heat down on the plastic. Did not take that long once I got a new sharp grinding ball.


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[JRainey]

Does anyone know if there is any shell material difference between the 110 and the 130.

I want to get some old stock to modify to add a tongue back in. 110s can be had cheaply and was thinking the grilamid lower might be better than the Ifran of the 120. And I like the pure touring soles. Have Lupo Carbons for the ski area, which I've already made light, but they are just too tight to tour in comfortably.

Long shot, but worth an ask.