2012-2013 Atomic Redster Pro 130

2012-2013 Atomic Redster Pro 130

Size: 26.5 / 305mm Boot Sole Length

FEATURES

• Stated Flex Index: 130
• Stated Last: 98mm
• Carbon Spine
• All 3 Flex Frames Included
• FIS Dual Strap
• MCA Screw (Inside/Outside)
• 0mm & 5mm Cuff Rotation Hardware Included
• 1mm Offset Shell
• Arc Frame Medium
• Liner: ASY Elite T3 Liner
• Size Range: 23.5-29.5 (half sizes only)

Test Locations: Las Leñas Ski Resort; Taos Ski Valley; Stowe Mountain Resort

Days Tested: 25

Reference Boots: Lange RX 130, Lange Banshee Pro, Tecnica Bodacious, Full Tilt Seth Morrison Pro, Nordica Patron Pro

The Atomic Redster Pro 130 is no joke, and I have quickly grown to love it. It is powerful, and it is the most laterally stiff boot that I have ever skied. We are in very high-performance territory here.

It’s also definitely not for everyone, and my main goal is to try to help you decide whether you ought to check it out. (For more of the nuts and bolts information, see our preview of the Atomic Redster Pro 130.)

Pro vs. WC (World Cup): 98mm & 95mm Options

First, the Redster is offered in a range of widths and flex indexes:

Redster Pro: 98mm last. Flexes: 90, 110, and 130.
Redster WC: 95mm last. Flexes: 70 (for junior racers), 110, 130, 150, 160, and 170.

Flex

The Redster Pro is a stiff 130 boot. If you’re the sort who likes to rock 130-flex boots because it makes you feel cool, but secretly hope that they actually skis softer than 130, then this is not the boot for you.

The flex pattern of the Redster Pro is stiff at the top; you don’t access the flex meekly. My Lange RX 130s aren’t nearly this stiff. I’ve put some time in on the Tecnica Bodacious—but only with Booster Straps—and that setup was probably in the same league in terms of forward-flex stiffness as the Redster Pro. I know several shop owners who carry only the Atomic Redster Pro 110 because they find it to be comparable to other company’s “130”-flex boots.

Lateral Stiffness

For the sake of context: I’m not a racer, and I’ve never skied a 150–170-flex boot. But what I can say is that I’ve never skied a boot that is as laterally rigid as the Redster Pro 130…and it is rad. This boot is so powerful and precise, if skiing to you is primarily about high speeds and high edge angles, you ought to check these out.

I was recently talking shop with the guys at Inner Bootworks in Stowe, and they noted that nothing on their boot wall had the lateral stiffness of the Redster Pro 130 (not the Lange RX 130, Lange RS 130, Nordica Patron Pro, Nordica Inferno, Tecnica Cochise Pro, etc.)

Granted, I would recommend taking any of these other boots mentioned if they fit your foot better than the Redster, or if you don’t need a boot that forward flexes this stiff, but I can attest that the energy transfer of the Redster Pro is amazing. So if the “Flex” section of this review didn’t turn you off, then this “Lateral Stiffness” section is why you ought to keep reading.

Forward Lean

This is a very important piece of the Atomic Redster Pro 130 story. The Redster Pro 130 has a lot of forward lean, more than the Lange RX & RS, Nordica Patron Pro & Inferno, and basically all of the other boots in its class.

While everybody else seems to be making their boots more upright, Atomic has gone against the grain, or perhaps just decided not to follow the trend on this one.

For the sake of comparison, both the Lange RX 130 and the Redster Pro have 4 degrees of ramp angle. But the Redster has 16-18 degrees of forward lean (depending on whether you have the rear spoiler in or not), while the RX 130 has 12 degrees of forward lean that can be bumped up to 16 degrees by placing the RX’s spoiler on the rear of the cuff.

It ought to come as no surprise, then, that the aggressive geometry of the Redster Pro (combined with that stiff spine and ridiculous lateral stiffness) is biased toward driving your skis, and these boots do that beautifully and powerfully. It’s not subtle. I have enjoyed ripping high-speed laps in these boots as much as any boot I’ve ever skied. (More on this, below.)

Fit / My Feet

My left foot is 270mm long, my right foot is 275mm long. And here’s how The Boot Doctors’ Charlie Bradley assessed my feet: C-width, narrow heel. High arch / high instep (on a scale of 1-10, Charlie called it an 8 or 9). Fairly stable, solid platform. Prominent melili. A bit of pronation. A good amount of range of motion.

The out of the box fit is snug, and this is a low-volume lower. I ended up deciding to make no modifications to the boot prior to heading to Las Leñas, other than putting in a instaprint footbed that Charlie had made for me a while back. (I hate working on a boot until I’m certain that I need to, and I wasn’t certain that I needed to do anything at all to the Redster out of the box.)

Modifications

After a couple weeks in the Redsters in Las Leñas, my sixth toes (fifth metatarsal heads) were screaming, so I went back to Charlie who did a grind and punch on both boots, and they now feel perfect.

For the sake of comparison, the Nordica Patron Pro (size 26.0) felt similar, perhaps with an extra millimeter across the toe box. I haven’t put enough time in these to say for sure, but I might not need to grind & punch the fifth meta head area on the Patron Pro, while I definitely needed to on the Redster.

After breaking in the liner in Las Leñas, I found that I wanted to improve heel retention just a bit. (Atomic made a point of widening the heel cup of the Redster, but given my narrow heels, I didn’t need the extra room.) So Charlie wrapped a modified L pad around the achilles tendon (and between the heel and ankle bones) to support the area above the heel, and I am 100% happy with both the heel retention and the fit throughout the toe box. They’re absolutely, incredibly dialed.

(For the sake of another comparison, The Lange RX 130, a 100mm last, has been my everyday boot for the past two seasons. I didn’t mod that boot at all, and didn’t have to punch the sixth toes. But the RX is the first non-97/98 lasted boot I’ve been in, and while it’s been great, I’m going to stick with 97/98-lasted boots that might require a punch of the sixth toes.)