2026 Nordica Speedmachine 130 DD (Dual BOA) On Snow Ski Boot Review with SkiEssentials.com

[@RiceHatWeeb]

I think this is the first time I'm seeing bob without his hat

[@DietmarDyck]

😂😂😂

[@SkiEssentials]

I hope you weren't expecting more!

[@i_gar]

@@SkiEssentials😂

[@georgecarrick4636]

The Jeff and Bob show - the best pro con discussion on ski equipment on the web - appreciate all you do.

[@sgoldie3235]

Another great honest review by the ski doctors! This BOA system is not for me ,at this point. Ease of use is low on my requirements list. Tough to beat the performance and adjustability of my Mach 1's and their 4 buckles!

[@mogglie]

I have a pair of brand new Mach 1 4 buckle downstairs. :). All orange. They are super tight on my feet. I will go to the boot doctor and make them perfect.

[@sgoldie3235]

@@moggliesame ones as me in LV... love em!

[@JJRodpro]

Ditto here.... this guys take it to the next level in reviews... but still not sold on the BOA thing... as the other comments here, I just got the new Mach 1 MV's fitted with my older Zipfits and skied about seven or eight days so far... I am one of those that like a tight fit and loosen the buckles at the bottom of each run, so I don't know how the BOA's will feel or how much wear & tear they will go through in my case; however, with the buckles, all I have to do is just push down on the buckle and they are right back at the pressure that I set originally, have been doing this for years I have never broke a buckle. I guess the only way to make sure this is something I would purchase in the future is to try it, unfortunately unlike skis, you can't demo boots... perhaps some day.

[@BlackRail33]

I enjoy the parking lot boot-up & down footage. That's some quick boot to moc changeover on the tailgate.

[@SkiEssentials]

Practice!

[@waynewilliams839]

Thanks you guys!😊

[@steffanadams936]

It would be great if you could show how hard it is to stick your zip fits in these dual boas. The idea of taking a few more mins to put your ski boots and then you’re set for the day is a price worth paying imo. As always great review!

[@Ceemysix]

This would be awesome.

[@SkiEssentials]

We'll do it this week!

[@JeffSunapee]

Great review. I know boot fit/liner molding is so individual; how can we demo these?

[@SkiEssentials]

Boot demos are hard to come by. Fit, though, is paramount, and any good boot shop can help you get in the right size and shape boot.

[@ELBye-k8w]

Hey Jeff, I have been skiing with ZipFit for 20 years and I could never get the boots on with the ZipFit in the shell. I have to put the ZipFit on first and then step into the Shell. The Zipfits are great and struggling into the boots has been the price I have had to pay.

[@JabroniJimmy]

Are Jeff and Bob going to give an update on their zipfits? I’d love to hear the guys thoughts as I’m considering a pair for the 2026 season

[@SkiEssentials]

We've got it on the schedule for next week. Spoiler alert, if you're considering getting a Zipfit, we highly recommend doing just that.

[@BlessedWingStudios]

It should be super easy to make a mechanism indicating how tight your boa is on. You just need to colorcode a part of the boa wire and add a indicator on the cuff, can probably dyi it quickly. Only problem i can see is durability with the wire being used so extensively.

[@DrWayLay]

Great video! Will you guys get to try the new Armada boots?

[@SkiEssentials]

Working on it!

[@MrThedowd]

Will you look at Armadas new ski boot? It has a weird cable hinge system for locking the heel in place, that i would love to hear you guys take on!

[@SkiEssentials]

We've got a pair of the 130's and 110's, but haven't put a lot of time on them yet. The 130's simply don't fit my foot so I'm not going to be able to ski them. The instep hurts and they don't feel like a great fit for me. That's the thing about boots, if you don't actually put them on your feet, you simply cannot take anyone else's input as gospel. You may find them to be the best fitting and performing boots in the world, and if that's the case, wonderful!

[@dmitriykratos2522]

Great Video, but I prefer classic buckles to BOA :) Jeff please help out, Reckoner 102, I'm 183cm height, and 88kg weight, I ski like you, what size should I get 184cm or 192cm. I'm confused by Bob saying that he has to be on a pin point of balance on 184cm Reckoner 102, I'm not as big as Bob, but I wanna feel comfortable with a soft flex and the balance. What shall I do: 184cm or 192cm? I have many skies, Reckoner wanna buy just for fun with no specific or one ski conversation...

[@SkiEssentials]

I would go 184. I ski it in 177 these days and I'm not that much smaller than you. 192 feels unnecessary.

[@TheHughyg]

I have single boar k2 mb boots. The boa part has lines on the shell to indicate how tight the boa is. Do these have something similar?

[@SkiEssentials]

I don't think the Nordica has the indicator on the lower. Certainly not on the upper.

[@TheHughyg]

@ wonder if the k2 will. It makes it very easy to set to boot.

[@danielgulick5752]

I just got the 110 BOA’s and the BOA section on the lower boot has a mark on the spot where the shell overlaps to give a visual indication of how tight the boot is. Assuming that there are no marks on the upper boa section?

[@SkiEssentials]

That assumption is correct, there are no indicator lines on the upper cuff.

[@i_gar]

Thx for the honest review! MB one buckle in the middle will be the best solution?

[@SkiEssentials]

More buckles and/or cables! Not really sure what the best path forward is here. Maybe they can experiment with different gear ratios in the top cable so the bottom one tightens more than the top. That's what I'd want, anyway.

[@mathiashammar1]

I tried double boa this week. Issue with all boa is they squeeze the upper part of the boot. Instead of as you say pull your heal into the pocket like the 3th buckle do. Maybe 5,6 iteration they will get it. Bun now its squeezing in the wrong places.

[@SkiEssentials]

It'll be interesting to see how much of a sticking point this is for a lot of skiers. Jeff's in the Zipfit liner and doesn't feel this to be an issue, but I (Bob) am in the stock liner and have higher calves, so I'm feeling a lack of third buckle security.

[@calleX]

Any thoughts about delacing and removing the strap from the zip fits and keeping them inside the boot all the time? I tried it before and thought it worked well but some guys said that putting my feet in the boots would move the oomfit compound downwards messing with the fit.

[@SkiEssentials]

I've done it both ways and I definitely prefer putting the liner on first. I do see how you could move some of the material around doing it the other way as it does require some force to get into, at least for me with the BOA.

[@gc3-]

ZIPFITs are easy for me to taken on and off b/c I don't leave them in the boots. I put on the liner first, then the boots. Isn't the the normal thing for ZIPFIT?

[@Adrian_de]

thats what he is reffering to as difficult

[@SkiEssentials]

Yes, it's still quite hard with the BOA. It's the lower shell cable, there's just not that much room for it to open.

[@nicholas5396]

Something to note, the zipfit workhorse with the leather outer is said to he much harder to get in a boot. Wonder if Jeff and Bob could try the Gara and see if it's any easier.

[@SkiEssentials]

Jeff has a Gara and I (Bob) have a Workhorse. I have to leave my liners in the boots because it's too sticky, although it is loosening up a bit. I just really don't like putting my liner on first. Jeff is having more success with the Gara after a few weeks.

[@nicholas5396]

@SkiEssentials great feedback. I'll be purchasing a zipfit at the end of the season and have been going back and forth over the two. Do you find the workhorse is too difficult to do the "world cup" entrance because of the leather? If you guys do a video on the future on both your experiences that works be mucho welcomed! Keep up the great work!

[@SkiEssentials]

@@nicholas5396 We are working on a video and article, but like all that deals with the boot world, it's a lot more personalized and subjective than anything else. Just because racer style with the Workhorse doesn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for you.

[@nicholas5396]

@SkiEssentials nice! I watched a video where zipfit warned that not using the racer entry will over a short amount of time cause the heel cork to be pushed out of the way and need some TLC to maneuver it back into place. If not you'll lose heel hold on top of being uncomfortable.

[@nblck3232]

@skiessentials With Zipfits, do you personally put your foot into the boot+liner together? Or do you put the liner on your foot and then "World Cup" the foot+liner into the boot? For me, I can *ONLY* get my Zipfit-lined boots on comfortably via the World Cupping method. However, once I learned the technique well (took probably a dozen days) I determined I would never go back to the more common method. It's fast and super comfortable w/o any weird foot contortions that my performance-fit boots require. [Note that this was true for me in my 10-year-old Salomon boots plus aftermarket Zipfits as well as my newer Fischer RC4 Pro that came with Zipfits stock]

[@SkiEssentials]

World Cupping has become my norm. It's definitely easier than having the liner in to start, but it's still hard. We're going to do a ZIpFit review this week and we'll talk more about it for sure.

[@Kristofferpga]

Have you considered testing the new scarpa quattro pro?

[@SkiEssentials]

It's not on our list yet, but certainly hearing good things about it!

[@dinukaufmann4487]

Hi Jeff, I have a ZipFit and a Fischer RC4 130 "single" BOA, size 27.5, I can enter the boot easier than any other boot before with ZipFit. So maybe the cables a different from one boot company to another.

[@SkiEssentials]

I'm learning that 24 has a particularly short cable, even compared to 25.

[@zoomworkplace2608]

I'm curious if in the future, they can have a dial indicator that would mark the rotations you are at, almost like hand coffee grinders, so once you get your preferred fit you can easily do it every time.

[@SkiEssentials]

Personally, I am not flexible enough to see the upper dial, so a visual indicator wouldn't really work for me. Also, the dials work in conjunction with one another, so you can't really do the bottom first all the way, and then the top, you have to go back and forth to get the best fit. Since the slack of the wires is/are inconsistent depending on how much you let out, it's going to be tough to find a consistent way to do this. Popping/releasing the dial really throws it off, a few loosening turns if needed will work better in getting you back to your desired snugness.

[@zoomworkplace2608]

@@SkiEssentials Ah, makes sense. Thanks for the feedback!

[@0irtgud]

Why do all the boa boots look identical in their implementation? Is it because BOA set's their own standard for it and boot companies can't "play" around with it? Obviously this is the 1st gen of dual BOA for ski boots so I know it's new, but just curious

[@thatmarcusallen]

Lowers are all the same. Upper implementation is somewhat different between K2, Head, Nordica, and Atomic. From my understanding, it's a cooperative arrangement between the brands and BOA and there are cost/engineering limitations.

[@SkiEssentials]

This is a great question and I'm sorry I don't have the exact answer. We're pretty new to the Double BOA world as well, so learning as we go. The lower shell, last year particularly, did see variances between brands, especially in the toe dam area. I'm sure the attachment points change per boot, but yes, it does seem that manufacturers are somewhat limited in scope if they're choosing to go full BOA. I guess with a four buckle boot, there isn't much variation either in the placement of buckles. Some, but not a ton.

[@KarlKäfer-x5l]

My take on this, that it is the same as with any OEM business. BOA, as the developer, provides license rights and REFERENCE DESIGN to the boot manufacturers. They must certify the final product for liability and warranty reasons with BOA

[@thatmarcusallen]

Also forgot to mention that longer BOA cables will be available.

[@SkiEssentials]

Longer cable on the lower would be a game changer for me (Jeff).

[@thatmarcusallen]

@@SkiEssentials There are going to +5cm cables at some point! I think that's about 2 inches. I use a zipfit in a Cortex so I need it.

[@SkiEssentials]

@ It also sounds like Jeff's boots, at 24.5, get a shorter cable than larger boots. We're learning as we go here!

[@darinsmith2458]

i wish my boots would go on that easy

[@truthofthematter2892]

What’s a good boot model for a guy with bigger calves, but mid volume feet?

[@SkiEssentials]

I think there's a bit more calf room in a Salomon Supra (their MV fit) than Nordica, Technica, or Lange. I also really find the Dalbello Veloce 120/130- to have a roomy upper and a MV lower.

[@sgoldie3235]

Same ones as me in LV... love em!

[@thatmarcusallen]

Get the K2 Cortex on your feet ASAP. Great boot.

[@cristianb1710]

Will they be available in HV?

[@SkiEssentials]

Not this upcoming year, but it stands to reason that this tech will creep into most/all boot volumes.

[@cristianb1710]

@ thank you! You should ask them about how to proper “buckle up”, I have a Hv tecnica boot with boa and I can t always find the right fit for my foot

[@KarlKäfer-x5l]

For me personally, this looks like they are trying to sell a solution for a problem that does not exist. The reason is obvious: innovation drives sales. The only way you are going to sell a new pair of boots to me, and probably to most of us, is if either my current boots break or if you present a boot to me that is significantly better than mine in terms of performance and comfort by doing things fundamentally differently. The outcomes seem to be worse in comparison to what we have today. Especially the fact, that you cannot adjust the heal pocket lock autonomously, i.e. second buckle from top equivalent, seems a huge downside to me personally. Having said that, I feel like the single BOA might make sense in some way, wrt the wrapping mechanism… My bottom line: Double BOA = scam

[@klank67]

Is that a buckle securing the top BOA!? ... this seems more like a fad to me.

[@SkiEssentials]

I guess I'd call it a latch. The BOA cable is attached to a "hook" and that loops around the "latch" which is affixed to the upper cuff.

[@nicktaylor7680]

I hope this gimmick, that offers no tangible benefit, doesn't become the standard -it looks like a real pain in the @$$.

[@chriscushman773]

That’s what we said when the snow board entered the scene. 😅

[@nicktaylor7680]

@chriscushman773 I ski and I use Nordica boots with buckles -I like it that way because you can adjust individual buckles - with boa you can't.

[@mathiashammar1]

​@@nicktaylor7680 I agree, so tried this boot in shop and bottom cable just squeezed over my foot. Not pulling heal into pocket. And top boa just squeezed top of boot and cut my circulation on my calf...

[@SkiEssentials]

I think there'll be a lot of different opinions and feelings about BOA systems on boots. The only way to see if it works for you is to try it on!