Scarpa Maestrale RS

[kevino]

Ok I'm going to have to check. Apparently RS boot shell is made out of polyamide/grilamid per Scarpa

I know nothing about this plastic other than it was in the TLT5 which I thought had shit durability so never followed thru with testing so am going to have to get educated.

Look forward to hearing about this...I'll check with my friend who gave me the info.

Lee, what durability issues did you have with the tlt5 plastic? I bet the hell out of mine and only put scratches in it and the punches I did held throughout. The most destroyed part of my tlt5s were the rubber around the toes and the upper buckles (bent both).

[Meathelmet]

freak - upper buckles attached by rivets.

They definitely look clunkier but I'm told by Scarpa that's part of the reason why its stiffer than Maestrale.

Uhh, machined buckles make boot stiffer than wire ones?? Anyone buy that?
Dont know shit about metallurgy but would think that there would be no difference between the buckles as they are not flexing but resisting elongation (did I make up a new word?) under force?

Just curious..

[LeeLau]

Lee, what durability issues did you have with the tlt5 plastic? I bet the hell out of mine and only put scratches in it and the punches I did held throughout. The most destroyed part of my tlt5s were the rubber around the toes and the upper buckles (bent both).

Don't want to derail the thread so pm if you want more info

[Spats]

I wouldn't count on the RS tongue making much difference, if any. The stiffness of the Maestrale/Rush comes from the upper cuff. That's what I'd replace if I were looking to stiffen it up.

FWIW, the Rush comes with a booster strap that has a short elastic section, so it has some give to it. Apparently the Maestrale and RS use a regular solid strap...?

[LeeLau]

I wouldn't count on the RS tongue making much difference, if any. The stiffness of the Maestrale/Rush comes from the upper cuff. That's what I'd replace if I were looking to stiffen it up.

FWIW, the Rush comes with a booster strap that has a short elastic section, so it has some give to it. Apparently the Maestrale and RS use a regular solid strap...?

Correct about the strap. Trying to figure out how to get my hands on more of the Rush/Mobe style straps

[verbier61]

the RS I received from scarpa had old grey buckles and the mobe/style elastic strap.... so I believe Scarpa might be still thinkin on how to set up the definitive version. I'm sure anyway that they'll appreciate all the feedback you'll send them.

[PNyberg]

according to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3wc_PHRhRo guy the RS are grilamid..

[LeeLau]

the RS I received from scarpa had old grey buckles and the mobe/style elastic strap.... so I believe Scarpa might be still thinkin on how to set up the definitive version. I'm sure anyway that they'll appreciate all the feedback you'll send them.

OK - so perhaps the prototypes. I recall pictures from SIA and earlier. I have the productions fwiw

Some miscellanous comments after confirming with Scarpa

- Boots are grilamid/polyamide

- Walk mode is actually 16 and 20

- Sizes
24.5-32 for Maestrale RS
22.5-27 for Gea RS

- The tongue is stiffer than the regular Maestrale or Gea, and the tongue is Pebax, not Polyamide like the rest of the boot. I'll work on interchanging the tongue but give me some time first as I haven't even skied these things yet. It's probably possible, but not without other hardware modifications. It is a slightly different tongue, in particular where the HRS (heel retention strap) strap interfaces with the tongue. As you can probably see, the HRS strap is different, and the strap interfaces with the tongue on the RS models.

- Probably can take off the last forefoot buckle. It's more about volume control than anything else. Other than the holes that would be left, if's not going to hurt anything to take it off.

- Can swap Maestrale buckles onto Maestrale RS but would have to drill out rivets

- Cannot get the Mobe/Rush straps aftermarket since its licensed from Booster who has patent protection. Scarpa doesn't sell as an aftermarket accessory. You can probably get the same thing or something similar through Booster. Or I guess if you really wanted to you could do some cutting and sewing elastic onto the Scarpa straps

[sqikunst]

Scarpa splits on the half shell size so the 29.5 is 332 and the 29.0 is 322 right??

I have 29.0 tecnica cochise's with a sole length which my cous is going to use next year. If this is correct all of my dyna mounts are fucked when I get this boot. 332 is as small as I can go.

Still bummed about the Cochise but its just not for my feet way too much volume hopefully can slip into some RS's. Is the base mold exactly the same as the pegasus and OG Maestrale?? Cause both of them are also roomy. Or can the RS be compared to a TLT5?

Jongish questions but not all of us are lucky enough to have 27.5 feet so we can try on protos.

[skisurfmirth]

Thanks for the info LeeLau.

I am used to Raichle Comp Flexons with full tilt #8 tounges. and looking for a touring boot that kinda matches the prog. forward flex and lateral/rear stiffness (and fit). Tried on the OG Maestrale and it felt great and now cant decide between it, the RS or one of the new Dyna boots. I can get a decent deal on the scarpa products so leaning that way. Heading out on a traverse soon so I look forward to reading your review/comparison when I get back.

[LeeLau]

ya super lucky to be so boringly average.

Scarpa 27 and 27.5 are the same shell size so you are correct. Not sure if 29/29.5 are 322 - anyone else?

Maestrale, RS and Rush are same kind of fit - bit less volume than Mobe which has huge volume and is the same last as the Skookum. TLT is tighter. Really tight fit - i can get into it but needed to do some fancy liner molding.

Stock RS liners are "beefier" version of Intuition Pro-tours fyi hence the more weight but come sized pretty narrow. Will have to cook them a bit to get into them

Scarpa splits on the half shell size so the 29.5 is 332 and the 29.0 is 322 right??

I have 29.0 tecnica cochise's with a sole length which my cous is going to use next year. If this is correct all of my dyna mounts are fucked when I get this boot. 332 is as small as I can go.

Still bummed about the Cochise but its just not for my feet way too much volume hopefully can slip into some RS's. Is the base mold exactly the same as the pegasus and OG Maestrale?? Cause both of them are also roomy. Or can the RS be compared to a TLT5?

Jongish questions but not all of us are lucky enough to have 27.5 feet so we can try on protos.

[hutash]

Scarpa splits on the half shell size so the 29.5 is 332 and the 29.0 is 322 right??

I have 29.0 tecnica cochise's with a sole length which my cous is going to use next year. If this is correct all of my dyna mounts are fucked when I get this boot. 332 is as small as I can go.

Still bummed about the Cochise but its just not for my feet way too much volume hopefully can slip into some RS's. Is the base mold exactly the same as the pegasus and OG Maestrale?? Cause both of them are also roomy. Or can the RS be compared to a TLT5?

Jongish questions but not all of us are lucky enough to have 27.5 feet so we can try on protos.

I thought Scarpa changes are the other way around. 28.5 and 29.0 are the same shell.

If it helps, I just tried on a 26.5 Bodacious and it was loose as hell in the fore foot, while my Mastreale 26.5 fit like a slipper, and the walk mode is a dream (not quite as good as a TLT, but damn close.)

[LeeLau]

oh duh - thx for correction hutash i was thinking dynafit and Garmont

Here's Maestrale sizing which is same as RS

http://www.backcountry.com/store/siz..._id=3&cat_id=1

[sqikunst]

sorry that is what i was trying to say. The split is 28.5 and 29.0 are the same and 29.5 and 30.0 are the same. As in the half is the new split. I think i just interpreted the phrase wrong.

That is one thing about the Cochises that bums me out 29.0 with a sole length of 340. My Krytons are a 29.0 and a 336 and is no saint but my liner is modded to shit so I can rarely tell if my forefoot buckle is open or closed. Meaning it fits really really well. Krypton locked down and the Cochise regardless of liner 40 year old hooker loose. Edit on top of that I have to buckle the things down so tight to get any sort of hold that the second buckle starts to deform the area where the boot pivots. I cant honestly believe that it only has 101mm last!!

I like having really hard liners in terms of the foam density so my foot feels my the sidewalls of my boots. No matter how much you mod a Cochise if you have skinny feet there is no chance. All you really have to do is look at a krypton and a cochise side by side. One narrows out up front tapered like = the krypton and the cochise is like a beluga whale. Is the Maestrale actually narrower then the Pegasus??

Edit @ Marshal

i have to say i am pretty disappointed with the heel pocket of the maestrale's though. if you are used to a dalbello you should be fine, but if you are used to a tight alpine boot, there is not much anatomy going on there. lots of heel lift.

This used to annoy me about my Kryptons but then I just got these High density expandable foam inserts that we use to pad out certain areas on the liners of plug boots. At first it is kind of difficult to get right because you cant cook em for too long cause the foam blows up all over your boot and handling them is a bitch because you have to stick them on the intuitions while the are hot and the liner is cold otherwise the liner just gives way. Let them cool and remove them, cook intuition liner attach them again and slip into boot. Now you have this little foam things that are hard exactly around you Achilles tendon for the liner to push against creating IMO (after about 3 tries) the perfect heel pocket I have gotten on any boot before. Done this for several other people and its a pain in the ass cause its all about having a feel for it but they were pretty happy about it. 75 days going strong without any slop forming in my heel and I spent three weeks cruising around open buckles teaching kids basic carving level one. Sadly even this could not save my Cochises. Would have need 500g of high density foam to make things happen and this technique only really works around the Achilles and Talus area. So my concerns for getting heel fit are much lower then say a snug mid/forefoot. Doing this works well on the RS because the liner stays in the shell having the sticky pads fall off sucks so the liner needs to stay in the shell or glued on using a stronger adhesive and the sticky tape stuff.

[cegli]

ya super lucky to be so boringly average.

Not sure if 29/29.5 are 322 - anyone else?

The 29.5 and the 30 of the orange 2011/2012 version have a BSL of 331. Don't know if this is changed for the RS version, but the shells look pretty similar.

[Poz]

Hmmm, I've been researching the Maestrale's lately and came upon the Scarpa sizing chart on their North America site http://www.scarpa.com/scarpa/control...ourceId=700076

It has some glaring differences than the one you linked from Backcountry. Namely I can see that a US mens 11 is a mondo 28 on the first link and a mondo 29 on the link you provided. Everything seems to be a size out between the two. Any idea why this would be and what the correct chart would be?

oh duh - thx for correction hutash i was thinking dynafit and Garmont

Here's Maestrale sizing which is same as RS

http://www.backcountry.com/store/siz..._id=3&cat_id=1

[cegli]

Hmmm, I've been researching the Maestrale's lately and came upon the Scarpa sizing chart on their North America site http://www.scarpa.com/scarpa/control...ourceId=700076

It has some glaring differences than the one you linked from Backcountry. Namely I can see that a US mens 11 is a mondo 28 on the first link and a mondo 29 on the link you provided. Everything seems to be a size out between the two. Any idea why this would be and what the correct chart would be?

According to telemark-pyrenees (http://www.telemark-pyrenees.com/en/...2-p-10905.html) they say:

"We have found that Scarpa mondopoint sizes do not correspond with those of other brands at the extreme ends of the size scale. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you like some help in deciding which size you need."

That's under the sizing guide chart. The full chart has custom sizing for scarpas. I found that a 29.0 shell was too small for my foot (only a single finger's room with liner out), even though I can usually fit a 29.0 if I want it to be quite tight. A 29.5/30 fit me correctly.

[adrenalated]

Maestrale, Maestrale RS, and Pegasus all come out of the same basic shell molds, just use different plastics. RS = grilamid (or whatever, grilamid is what I was told by Scarpa), Maestrale = pebax, Pegasus = PU. So the lower shell and cuff fit is the same between all three.

I have a very narrow (between A and B width) and low volume fit. My heel is narrow, but more average than the rest of my foot. I find that Kryptons with Intuition liners fit me just fine, minimal to zero heel lift. Even if I do develop heel lift at some point, I'm fine with adding foam appropriately to the liner to lock it down. I have to do this on my Scarpa tele boots to keep my heel down, but it works beautifully.

I skied the Maestrale and the RS using the liners from my Kryptons so that I had a liner molded to my foot. The Maestrale last is definitely a little wider and higher volume than the Krypton. I think this will be fine for me in a touring boot as the last thing I want after a long day is my foot get squished and cramped. It was snug enough that it still skied just fine for me, even inbounds on hardpacked bumps. I noticed perhaps a touch more heel lift than in my Kryptons, but very minimal. Again, I feel this is very easy to fix with strategic padding.

[reemdog]

I hope this does not bring the royal flaming, but has anyone talked about a comparison between the heel pockets on the Maestrale and the Mobe? Any different or are they the same?

Cheers!

[El Chupacabra]

I hope this does not bring the royal flaming, but has anyone talked about a comparison between the heel pockets on the Maestrale and the Mobe? Any different or are they the same?

Cheers!

I tried them both on, and got the Maestrale. The Maestrale is much lower volume throughout, and a more anatomical shape. The Mobe is like old Scarpa (Typhoon, Tornado) fit -- i.e. boxy.

IMHO the Maestrale has fantastic heel hold. Mine are pretty tight though; I'm in a 26.5/27, where I am usually in a 27/27.5 alpine boot. Only a few days in mine, so they haven't properly packed out yet.

[reemdog]

^^^ thank you much! that was what i was hoping to hear for sure! i definitely get some weird movement in my mobes, and when i pulled the liners and compared it to my solly alpine boots, it was like night and day! the mobes were easily twice as big and boxy in the heels! the maestrale may be calling my name.

[El Chupacabra]

reemdog - the Maestrale (orange one) is quite a soft boot, *except* when buckled down tightly. Then, in downhill mode, it is surprisingly stiff -- I skied it inbounds a few days to work on fit and packing out liners, on Dukes + 190cm Volkl Explosivs, and found the boot stiff enough to drive those skis. I was impressed. I'm 6'0" and 190# and have no complaints about this boot.

I guess all that is just a lengthy way of saying that if it fits you well, I think it's a great boot. If it can't be buckled down tightly due to poor fit, I don't think it'll return satisfactory performance.

[LeeLau]

First impressions wow

Off to deathmarch tomorrow and see how much skiable terrain there's left even on N faces. 10 - 12 deg in whistler right now... warm

[neck beard]

General feedback on the Maestrale/Rush/RS design now that it is spring wet slush season: They let a lot of moisture into the shell via a few openings, not least of which around the tongue. A day in wet spring snow and the outside of the liners become very wet with snow-melt. Not a major problem for day-to-day use, but I have been camping for a week and typically sleep with my liners in my bag to keep them warm. I needed to use a plastic bag per liner to stop them making myself and my sleeping bag damp.

[Meathelmet]

General feedback on the Maestrale/Rush/RS design now that it is spring wet slush season: They let a lot of moisture into the shell via a few openings, not least of which around the tongue.

Did you use the clear tape for the rivets or is leaking via the overlap?