Sportiva has moved fast to make the most of the lower shell molds of the new Kilo boot series. From the Kilo’s base model, they have adapted and modified the design for both a skimo-race boot, the Stratos Hybrid (Review forthcoming), and now the beefed-up Kilo XTR. The XTR takes the Kilo upper and lower scaffo and adds a 2-piece plastic tongue plus a more robust lower Z-buckle. The design continuity and beefing up are logical across the range, progressing from the carbon cuff and fabric/string instep buckle on the Stratos to the carbon-grilamid cuff and plastic/cable instep buckle on the Kilo, and now the tongue, plus even more beef in the instep buckle. This seems both economical for Sportiva, who get to make the most of a set of molds, and sweet for folks who find a good fit in the Kilo lower; they’ll have a range of options they know will fit. (The Kilo XTR on the left, the Kilo on the right.)
We covered the Kilo over a few posts last winter. Here are the cliff notes: excellent (perhaps best in class) walking performance, and pretty good ski performance as well–on par with other 1kg-ish boots. Given these strengths and limitations, we are expecting the XTR to perform with bigger/heavier skis and more variable conditions, with the tradeoff of added friction/reduced ROM while walking.
In the larger marketplace context, it’s interesting to see how we can end up in a similar place with different approaches. See the new Dynafit Blacklight for reference. Dynafit started with the Ridge at 1350g and removed the tongue, resulting in the Blacklight weighing 1225g. Sort of the opposite approach to Sportiva; they added a tongue to the lighter boot, but the results are quite similar. While I’m still smitten with Hoji-lock and the solid ski mode feel of the Blacklight, I’m impressed with the carpet flexing of the XTR—having a plastic tongue against your shin definitely makes a difference in the rebound and feel.
Like the Kilo, the XTR liner leaves some to be desired—a Zipfit Espresso, Scarpa F1 XT, or Intuition Tour Pro 9mm are probably good options to optimize fit and performance here. Regarding fit, Jason does an excellent job in the Kilo review, and it is the same here, save for perhaps a bit less instep room given the constraints imposed by the tongue.
We’ve been impressed with Sportiva’s latest boot offerings. In a world with more boot options than ever, these are squarely in the mix and worth a look. We’re excited to spend the winter in them and see how they hold up, as well as get a solid comparison with the new Blacklight.
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