Initial Thoughts: Roxa R3S 130 Ski Boots

This season I have made a switch to Roxa Ski Boots, Roxa is an Italian Manufacturer that at one point was making boots for Raichle . My weapon of choice is the Roxa R3S 130 All Mountain Cabrio, an all mountain boot that I can race in.

I was happy that I the wait and the weight was over!

A beautiful looking boot

Out of the box the first thing I noticed was how light these boots were, being a coach/instructor I am in my boots 4 days a week up to 8 hours a day,  so being light is a good thing! at around 1600 grams  they are the lightest boots I have ever owned.  The upper and lower shells are made out of Grilamid a very light weight material that is said to be stable and have powerful energy transmission.  Looking at the structure of the boot, its a 3 piece design, another plus for me, upper, lower and tongue, one of my struggles has been getting in and our my boots, a few years back I jumped off our deck and landed in a hole that one of the dogs had dug and I dislocated my ankle, since then its been painful at times especially with a cold boot getting in and out of them,  my thoughts are this 3 piece design is going be easier in this regard.

Roxa's 3 piece design

The liner is an Intuition liner designed specifically for Roxa, it is 100% heat moldable to your foot,  I would advise taking it to your local shop to have this done correctly, there all kinds of different methods on the internet on heating up liners but one can easily ruin the them, again do a google you will find all kinds of horror stories of burned up liners. 

Intuition Roxa heat moldable liner

How does the boot fit and ski?  I first skied the boot right out of the box, getting the boot on and off was easy and pain free on my ankle, I love the 3 piece design at room temp or cold coming in from the hill no issues,  a tip, I only open the bottom buckle I don't unhook it, this way the tongue stays in place.  The fit is really good, it has a spacious toe box  and the fit around my foot and ankle is snug and allows for a good feel of my ski's. The first two days I skied a couple hours in them and they felt great, I was excited to get them heat molded as this will only enhance my comfort in the boot. 

Cooling down at an angle to set my heal pockets

Before Day 3 on the hill I stopped in at my favorite local ski shot The Ski Company LTD in Rochester MI, to have the liners molded, the owner and my friend Mark heated up the liners for me, we placed them back in the shell and I let them cool down on my feet, staying at an angle to set the heal pockets. Wow,  I loved the boots right out of the box but now they feel snug, warm and I have happy feet, a perfect fit!

Sexy looking boots for sure!

So how does the boot ski?  My initial impression is "Awesome" I've only been playing on my shorter Slalom skis, early season I like to makes as many turns as possible and work my legs! The R3S's have a rigid lateral flex with a smooth forward flex that drives energy to your skis the responsiveness is amazing, flex your ankles and your on edge.  I will using these boots with my various skis and in lord knows Michigan conditions change in a heart beat so I will update this review in a few weeks and as the season moves on, but right now I'm very happy!!