Salomon X-Pro 120 Review

Hands-On Review

The X Pro series comes in four available flexes: 80, 100, 120, and 130 millimeters.

The Salomon X-Pro 120 falls into the more traditional category of an all-mountain ski boot with specialized features that focus on fit, such as a heat-moldable shell and liner. Overall, we found it to be comfortable, and it skied well.

Downhill Performance

The Salomon X Pro 120 is a great balance between an aggressive, performance-driven ski boot and a comfortable boot. Our testers could ski hard in it but not feel cramped or overpowered by the boot. Its close fit allowed the boot to be responsive, and its overall stiff nature let us drive skis as hard as we wanted to in variable conditions.

Comfort and Fit

The X Pro 120 fit our testers with medium-volume feet right out of the box. The boot is easy to put on and very comfortable thanks to its soft feel and excellent heel/ankle pockets that cradle the foot and hold it in place. This close fit can be improved further by heating molding both the shell and the boot liner.

It is advertised that the shell can expand from 100 mm to 106 mm in width, which is an impressive range of feet to fit. We did not heat mold the shell to see if it improved the fit for our testers but believe that subtle adjustments would improve the performance and fit of this boot greatly.

The wide power-strap keeps a secure, fitting tightly at the shin, while the soft tongue helps minimize the amount of shin pain we sometimes experience when skiing a boot this stiff for a full day. This boot scored well with our testers due to it's good out of the box fit characteristics and its potential for further personalization.

Features

The standout features of the X Pro 120 are related to its customizable fit. A professional boot fitter can heat up both the shell of the boot and the liner (individually and separately) to make them more malleable, place your foot inside, buckle the boot, and allow the material to shape to your foot. This will potentially improve fit, comfort, and performance simultaneously.

We think the aluminum micro-adjustable buckles on the X Pro 120 are very easy to operate with gloves and mittens on and are also very low profile. There is plenty of room for adjustment. However, when cranking down on the buckles on the forefoot, we could feel the shell pressing downward versus wrapping our foot. This is the only downside fit-wise to this boot.

By flipping a metal block on the spine of the boot, the user can switch between a Sport setting and Performance setting. This is easily accomplished using an Allen wrench. Unfortunately, this flex adjustment does not provide a significant boost in stiffness.

Durability

We found no issues with the durability of this boot during our testing. We feel as though the replaceable soles on the X Pro 120 are among the best offered in this review. They feature a blend of soft rubber and hard plastic that we think will stand up to repeated abuse. The tread on the soles is also very grippy.

Warmth

Our testers found this boot to be fairly warm. We feel as though it would be warmer to get the boot heat molded, which would customize the shape of the shell and liner and potentially improve foot circulation. Sometimes a boot with a close performance fit can restrict circulation a bit, which is what we felt in the X Pro 120 but not to an uncomfortable degree.

Value

This boot is a good value for someone seeking a boot that is highly customizable with the help of a boot fitter. If it fits well out of the box, it will also be a great boot for you. If it takes some work to dial in the fit, it will be worth the extra money up front to have a boot that is easy to customize.

Conclusion