Gear review | Armada AR ONE 130 MV

First impression

As a tester, I am pleased that the boots are exclusively three-piece constructions, which are favored by many powder junkies in the scene. But this hits more than just a retro nerve. After all, Raichle's original Flexxon three-piece boot is still being churned out by the competition in the same flashy colors after more than 40 years. In addition, the further developed, more solid convertible design from Dalbello has established itself on the market.

The three-part construction has unique features that are an advantage for freeride skiing. In addition to the significantly easier entry and exit, they are very easy to ride in the central or forward position, with a characteristically strong progressive flex. This allows you to react very sensitively to unevenness and changing snow conditions when skiing downhill. The progressiveness acts like a chassis step that can be flexibly adapted to the respective situation in a convertible boot. The movable tongue, which rests on the open-top shell, transfers the pressure generated by the forward-rotating shaft to the sole of the foot in a springy manner, making it ideal for all types of skiing. The compromise with convertibles has always been the less progressive lateral support, which makes the boots unsuitable for hard racing on hard artificial snow or ice with razor-sharp carving skis, as a classic two-piece boot allows more precision when edging.

This is precisely the claim for a unique selling point for which Armada has invested three years of development time. Although the freeski brand wants to stick to freeriding, the development team has given the boot a strikingly solidly constructed shaft. This is intended to improve lateral stability and thus stand up to the competition. Armada calls this construction "Hybrid Cabrio".

The company's internal development team is that of PowderGuide partner Atomic. In their own line-up, they see the sale of a niche product, a three-piece construction with front pins only, as presumably hindering sales of the existing Redster, Hawx and Remedy product ranges. The origins at Atomic are noticeable in many areas of the boot. The shell has a four-point canting and an adjustable template position.

The latter is designed on the back like the Redster and Remedy models mentioned above. A clamp fixes the shaft to the shell with two screws at a minimum template angle. Similar to the higher quality boots from Atomic, these are always detachable connecting elements, i.e. screws, although fortunately Torx screws are now also used. However, a tool is only supplied for the hexagon socket screws. There would be room for improvement here if everything was standardized to Torx and the corresponding tool was included.

Almost all individual parts, including liners, liner tongues, insoles, straps and interchangeable soles from Atomic's huge spare parts catalog , which we have already had the pleasure of testing, are compatible. The tester is particularly pleased that it can also be used with the ISO 5355 Alpine interchangeable soles. The boot is equipped with Gripwalk soles, a fixed strap and a soft, shock-absorbing insole as standard. However, I have replaced all of this very easily with parts from the kit for personal preference.

When unpacking, you notice that the boot is comparatively heavy. The weight is well hidden, as the boot looks slim despite the MV last. So where is the weight?

I slip them on first. Compared to my convertibles with overlap liners, the Armada Liner with a tongue is more difficult to get into. But the wider last finally lets me in. When I close the buckles, I notice how the boot stretches around my foot, as the shell and tongue are made of rather thin, recycled PU. That's why it looks so slim. In comparison with my other Cabrio boots, I notice the very high shaft. This is significantly reinforced at the sides and the plastic of the shaft is much thicker around the ankle.

I step into the comparison models that I have taken into the living room one after the other and compare them. I always make a mark on the shin. The Dalbello Cabrio LV Free 130 (C) and the Dalbello Krypton (K) have a much flatter cut than the Armada (A). On the other hand, the insole of the Armada seems to be thinner, which additionally reduces the stance height. The comparison does not take into account whether the boot have different heel angles, but this difference is clearly noticeable subjectively.

The liner of the Armada model also looks very similar to the Mimicliner from Atomic. The cut seems to be identical. However, the distribution of the filling material is somewhat more generous. The tongue is firmly attached with Velcro. Replacing the liner with one from the Atomic range or another is an easy way to customize the boot.

The Atomic genes are also noticeable in the fit of the boot: The heel is narrow and you are guided closely. This gives hope for precision in ski control.

Tester and test conditions

I am 1.95 m tall, have correspondingly long but thin lower legs and rarely weigh less than 100 kg.

I have been skiing the AR ONE 130 MV with a variety of skis since mid-December. Most of the time I used a Fischer Ranger 115 FR in 196 cm, but I also used the Ranger 108 Ti in 202 cm and the Praxis Powderboards in 200 cm, always with Look Pivot and CAST system. Lately I've been using the Armada ANT in 191 cm and a Head Attack Hybrid more often to really feel the boot on the very stiff ski. There were also a few test runs with significantly softer and more playful skis.

I tend to have the opposite of a standard foot, but with the help of good boot fitters I can get most 29.5 cm boots to fit. The Armada AR ONE 130 MV is available in this size. MV stands for Mid Volume. The 29.5 has a last width of 106 mm. The reference size 26.5 has a last width of 100 mm. The boot fits reasonably well out of the box and I take the first few rides to feel where I want to optimize. The foot sits quite snugly in the boot, the toe box is wide enough. There's enough pressure on the inside edge up to the big toe, as I have a clean contact with the shell along the instep.

After the first few days in various conditions - from hard early winter slopes to the first powder days - I realized: I need a little more space around the ankle to fit better in the shaft and shell and to be able to flex over the entire tongue. The buckle on the shaft sits close to the ankle, which increases the constriction. A height-adjustable buckle on the long shaft could possibly help here.

So I initially swapped the liner for an Intuition Wrap Liner. This cured the pain, but there was still a feeling of pressure at certain points. So I went to the boot fitter. He saw the thin shell and put the boot in the oven for seven minutes at 80 °C without the liner. I then quickly got into the shell with the cold liner.

It took about 20 minutes for the temperature in the hot spots around the ankle to get back below 40 °C. The problem was that the much more solid socket near the joint cooled down much more slowly. This resulted in a bulge, which subsequently had to be pressed back into the shell with a pliers tool under the heating pads. Another assumption is that the two different plastics, which according to the manufacturer's information are used in the shaft, expand differently. Fortunately, the unwanted deformation almost completely disappeared. And so, despite the extra quarter of an hour, I have never been so quickly at peace with the boot fitter. Heat up the liner in the oven and step in one last time for ten minutes - done. Now the shoe fits.

Test report

The boot is amazingly versatile. Even at the beginning of the season, I was able to move it with little effort in my thighs and with great confidence in demanding terrain. Compared to my other shoes with 130 flex, I find it a bit soft. This is certainly due to the thin shell and tongue compared to the other Convertibles, but also to the long shin support. You can clearly feel the lever, which makes it easy to flex. On the other hand, the wider last will have an impact, which is evident when compared to an LV convertible like the Krypton. The power transfer is rather sluggish.

What I still miss in the development project is the lateral grip. I noticed this on hard slopes, especially with the powder boards, i.e. the skis with reverse sidecut. I sometimes struggled with pressure loss in the lateral area behind the binding. This has improved somewhat with the use of the stiffer overlap liner.

The temperature-dependent stiffness is also noticeable. On warm, spring-like days, the boot provides little support, so that the precision of the ski guidance on hard, poor snow is weak. During the cold period around New Year's Eve on the slopes and during the snowfalls at the end of January, this was significantly better. There was a more progressive camber stiffness so that you remained responsive at higher speeds. All the more modern shapes like the Atomic Maverick, the Ranger FR and the Ti as well as the Powderboard are great fun. The elastic reserves of the boot generously forgive positioning errors. The high weight is hardly noticeable when skiing. Presumably because the flywheel mass is small due to the light shell. The solid shaft is rather pleasant when skiing as it offers good support.

However, with very torsionally stiff skis with a vertical sidewall, the boot reaches its limits and the agility when skiing decreases again. My increasing level of training must also be taken into account. I have to adjust to a different performance level of the boot each time. After several days of back-to-back testing of the Armada and the Dalbello, I find it increasingly difficult to make a direct comparison. The Armada is similarly easy to put on and actually inconspicuous when riding in rutted terrain. It supports me enough to take most hits from other tracks, and the good support actually encourages me to make the odd bigger drop because I'm so well caught. I particularly like the low stance height. You are close to the surface, which allows you to react well in mixed snow conditions.

Of course, the limited step width on the ascent leads to reduced performance. However, it is comfortable when bootpacking and walking on forest paths and asphalt. This is due to the low stand height on the one hand and the more flexible shell of the Armada on the other. The independent construction of the Armada freeride boot also has a positive effect.

Conclusion

The boot corresponds to the current trend in the freeride scene. More and more wide-ranging hybrid solutions are emerging that are versatile thanks to their unique selling points. The boot is powerful enough to move large, modern and sporty skis. However, it works much better with more playful skis and slightly more mixed, softer conditions, as it is then much more intuitive to ride.

Armada is stepping on the gas and is already celebrating its first successes. Numerous FWT podium places and world championship titles give hope for an exciting future. The further development of the Armada boot range remains very interesting for PowderGuide. The successor is already equipped with a walk mechanism and full pin, is therefore intended to be more tour-oriented and has already been presented. Updates to the liners are also more than just rumors. Things are progressing, we'll stay tuned!

Disadvantages

• Quality, slipping tongue; weak flex of the tongue

• Thin synthetic material, yet heavy shoe.

• Temperature sensitivity of the material, mainly due to the different shaft and shell thicknesses

• Lack of micro-adjustment of the buckles

• Different screw heads

• Fix strap

• Distance between cuff and middle buckle

• Position of shaft buckle

Manufacturer specifications

RRP: € 649,-

TECH FEATURES

• HYBRID CABRIO CONSTRUCTION

• NATTY FLEX

• SLINGSHOT BUCKLE

• MEMORY FIT

• 100MM LAST

• AR ONE TEAM LINER

• ADJUSTABLE LINER TONGUE

• ANCHOR FIT HEEL POCKET

• NEOPRENE TOEBOX

• PU Y-BAND

• KUSH DAMPING BOOT BOARD

• POWER SHIFT

• ADAPTIVE FIT SYSTEM (AFS) CUFF

• CUFF ALIGNMENT

• WATERSEALING

• MICRO-ADJUSTABLE BUCKLES

• TEAM ELASTIC CAM 50MM POWERSTRAP

• EZ ON N' OFF

• 2 COMPONENT KUFF

• GRIPWALK

• HALF-TECH INSERT

• MID GRIP

• RECYCLED PLASTICS

• FULLY REPLACEABLE HARDWARE

Click here to visit the Armada website for more information.

The boot was provided to PowderGuide free of charge by the manufacturer. Find out how we test them in our test statement.