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REVIEW: 2024 Lange Shadow 130 LV
- Thread starter Andy Mink
- Start date
So for the sake of transparency and good will, I have to admit something... That "sloppy" feel I kept complaining about, particularly in my right boot? Well, turns out I had removed the foot bed of the right liner and never put it back in... Yup, I know I'm an idiot. Footbed is back in and the liner is significantly better on the right foot now. I still wouldn't call it an ideal fit, but I rescind my immediate criticism of the Shadow Liner.
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2015
- Posts
- 8,478
Besides all the great Ski Talk commentary on this boot, I found the Blister extended review a great read. Warning: It's a full cup of coffee long:
blisterreview.com
The biggest caveat is that both reviewers logged the vast majority of days in the boot with their ZF Gara liners.
How are folks feeling about warmth and cold boot removal? Does it have the little co-molded silicone flap over the instep?
Apologies if already answered, but I'm all "read out" after the Blister piece.
2024-2025 Lange Shadow 130 LV & Shadow 130 MV | Blister Review
Lange just announced a new collection of boots, and the Shadow series forgoes convention in several interesting ways.
blisterreview.com
The biggest caveat is that both reviewers logged the vast majority of days in the boot with their ZF Gara liners.
How are folks feeling about warmth and cold boot removal? Does it have the little co-molded silicone flap over the instep?
Apologies if already answered, but I'm all "read out" after the Blister piece.
I've done 9 days so far this season on my 130 LVs, the first two were with the hard elastomers and then I swapped all soft since then. The hard ones had great responsiveness, but ended up being too jarring to me when soaking bumps/chop/crud (I'm 5'10 165lbs), so I swapped to the soft ones all around and that fixed everything as they were still super responsive but much easier on my body. I talked to one guy at Copper who was a bit larger than me, and he had a similar experience and had swapped the side elastomers to soft and left the blades with the hard ones.
I'm 12 days in this year..I LOVE the Shadow LV and I think its a significant upgrade over the RX...I really do. I think it's so much easier to engage the front of the boot and pressure the ski. I'm in the 130 flex it's just right....stiff and powerful but just more buttery feeling than the RX. I have my zips and custom footbeds in them AND I swapped spoilers to a much thinner spoiler which gets my stance dialed in perfectly. I find the boot plenty warm but thats mainly because the Zips are warmer than stock AND my RX's seemed to leak bc my feet would get wet even when they weren't sweaty. These are generally nice and dry when I pull my feet out. Getting them off requires the same trick as the RX...use the Zip tongue to pry open one of the plastic flaps and pulling the other side open to slowly wiggle my foot out. I have it mastered now and it's worth all the difficulty for the incredible performance and, frankly, the comfort of the boot. They fit so well that my feet are happy all day and I rarely unbuckle during the ski day b/c I have no need to.
Thanks. I thought of doing the soft ankle and hard blade myself. Try that combo...I’m 6’1” 190lbs.
I would really love to see a video of your technique as I am also using Zipfits in this same shell and I find entry/exit to be a nightmare.
Happy to shoot one for you. It took me some trial and error and some advice from a boot fitter. Let me try and shoot one for you in the next couple days and I will post. It's now a piece of cake for me...it was a nightmare before.
Update: So I've got several days in this boot now, and after 6 or so fitting sessions making tweaks to the Lange last I finally have what I would call a comfortable fit. Keep in mind I say that with having tossed the stock liner and incorporating a Workhorse ZipFit liner. In a word, "eh...". Looking back I would say I was overly enthusiastic about this boot in the initial stages. I'm not going on record as saying there is a big difference between the tech in these shells' vs your standard 130+ flex high end boot, I don't really see it. It skis fine, better than fine even! It does everything I ask of it. But I certainly wouldn't put it ahead of my Roxa R/Fit Pro's or my Atomic Hawx Prime Professional (130). If I'm being honest, I actually like the feel in both of those a little better than I do the Lange when tipping into the turn.
As usual, the differences are in the minutiae and after all the work it took to get the damn things to fit my feet in the first place, I'll be moving on when they eventually die out.
Oh, one big criticism I will state (other than the last, of which I am sure no human foot was referenced in the design) is the foam footbed. It's soft and disturbingly thin. I was not impressed when we took that out in order to do a lower punch on the 6th toe.
As usual, the differences are in the minutiae and after all the work it took to get the damn things to fit my feet in the first place, I'll be moving on when they eventually die out.
Oh, one big criticism I will state (other than the last, of which I am sure no human foot was referenced in the design) is the foam footbed. It's soft and disturbingly thin. I was not impressed when we took that out in order to do a lower punch on the 6th toe.
I ordered the 120 LV’s and have been in Lange’s for the last 20 years. I’ll likely be using them with one of my pairs of Zip Fits and can’t wait to try them out and experiment with the different elastomers. My current boots are a decade old RS110.
Just did a late season switch from Atomic Hawx Ultra 120 S to Shadow 120 LV. Have 4 days on them with ZipFit Gara LV that I was using in the Hawx. I am liking the boots out of the box. Compared to the Hawx, for me, they have better suspension and are more supportive. Don’t know about the pivot/suspension blade tech but I can feel the progressive flex. It’s like there are two stages to the flex. There is an initial soft to stiff flex but I’m not at the bottom of the flex. Second stage is in the stiffer range of the flex if I want to really get on it. Like the other comments on the Shadow LV, they are pretty roomy for an LV boot. I’ve already added some cork to the tongue to get the heel locked down.
I run the hard elastomers on the bottom pivots and the softer one on the top. It's a nice blend of response and cushion.
Definitely stick your foot in one.
When Lange went to the dual core injection a few years back, the fits got a bit more generous. I had to have a bit of work done to my 2012 RS130 shells, but my 2019 RS130 needed nothing, it got wider and a higher instep as did the RX line. I used to require a medium volume RX boot, but popped a 2020 RX130LV on with zero mods.
Good to hear. My 2013 RS110 narrow last required a lot of work on the shells to get the fit right even with Zip Fit liners so I’m hoping my Shadow 120LV are a bit roomier and easier to fit when they arrive in a few days. I have an extra pair of Zip Fits that are thicker if the Shadows are too roomy.
What year did they introduce the dual-core? When I got back into skiing, I had to use Lange LX to support my wide toe box. RX models (LV or regular) would required a lot work that I was willing to try. I always wish LX performs better. I switched to Nordica Sportmachine. Better performance, but still not perfect fit. If Shadow MV give me something between RX/LX, that might be my golden ticket. I might finally stick my used Zipfit liner into them as well.
Those of you using ZipFits in these boots, I don't' know if your shells are like mine but beware just how SHARP the edges of the plastics are when you're spreading the cuff to put your linered foot into the shell. I had the soles of my Workhorse liner snag and get a very minor tear from insertion. I swear these boots keep finding new ways to irritate me.
Dual Core hit in either 2018 or 2019. The LX line replaced the SX line at the same time.
The MV shadow should fit a hair roomier than the dual core RX medium volume, but not as generous as the LX.
If you had instep issues with the RX line, then I don't think the shadow will work. However, if you only had width issues that pushed you to the LX and not a high instep, then it may be workable.
So, you snagged something on the inner spine? If so, tape over the gotchas in the shell.
Tape won't work due to the flexing. I'll upload a picture later when I get home to show. I'm going to just take a gummy stone to the sharp portions to hopefully eliminate the propensity to catch.
