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Gear reviews | Scarpa F1 TR

Revolution in alpine touring boots? A second attempt

by Philip Crivelli 03/15/2017
Back in the 2014/15 season, Scarpa launched the F1 Evo, a boot that was set to revolutionize the world of ski touring. Unfortunately, the boot had to be recalled in February because in some cases the boot fell into the walk mechanism during the descent. This revolution is being relaunched in 2016. And PowderGuide is part of it.

First impression

The first thing that catches the eye on the F1 TR is the Boa Closure System. This system is usually more familiar from snowboard boots or, occasionally, inner boots. Scarpa has used the Boa system instead of the usual ski boot buckles. Instead of the classic buckles, which are hooked in and pressed shut, here you turn a small wheel to tighten the lower part of the shell evenly.

The F1 TR does not have a traditional buckle on the shaft either, but a wide strap buckle (or Velcro buckle if worn out). This is supported by a small, traditional strap, which you can easily remove if you don't need it or want to save weight.

Furthermore, the classic switch lever to block the walk mechanism is missing. This is the real revolution. Like all modern touring boots, the Scarpa F1 TR naturally has inserts for pin bindings. While the patented Dynafit Quick Step-In inserts are installed at the front, the actual blocking for the walk mechanism is installed in the rear binding insert. This means that when you step into the pin binding, a small plate in the heel of the cuff is pushed upwards by both pins, thereby locking the rotation of the shaft. Scarpa calls this system Tronic (TR). In theory, this means that you no longer have to bend down to lock your boots before setting off. With the Scarpa F1 TR, it is now enough to simply step into the binding. It should be noted that the F1 TR is only compatible with conventional pin bindings. So not with normal ski bindings, frame bindings or hybrid versions such as the Marker Kingpin.

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As usual with Scarpa, the thermoformable inner shoe comes from Intuition. It is not excessively thin, as with ultralight shoes, but not very voluminous either. Actually just right. The inner shoe comes with a few laces for lacing. What bothered me, however, is that you can't lace the inner shoes up really tightly. Although I don't have exceptionally thin calves, the two sides of the liner touch when lacing before the shoe fits snugly on the foot.

All in all, the Scarpa F1 TR makes a pretty solid impression, despite all the new and unfamiliar features. In size 29.5, the shoe weighs 1400g. The shell is kept very short (322mm at 29.5). The shoe also has a grippy Vibram sole. I also liked the fact that you can easily adjust the heel angle to three different positions. I set the lowest position with the widest angle of support.

Tester and test conditions

I am 191cm tall and weigh 91kg. My forefoot is slightly wide, otherwise I have relatively normal feet without any major problem areas. In general, I prefer rather narrow shoes and have them adjusted by a boot fitter in the event of minor pressure points. I wear size 29.5 ski boots, which I use either in combination with a light ski setup (Blizzard ZeroG 85 with ATK Race SLR) or a slightly more freeride-heavy setup (Blizzard Kabookie with ATK Freeraider 14), most of the time on ski tours. I've been using the Scarpa F1 TR since the beginning of December. In addition to traditional tours, I also did a few ski tours on the piste at the start of the season. In the end, the ski boot was used in almost all conditions (except very deep powder).

Test report

Entry and ascent
Getting into the boot is a little awkward. Without the two tabs on the liner, it's almost impossible to get in. Even the trick of putting on the inner shoe first and then putting it into the shell together with the inner shoe, which is normally my favorite, doesn't work properly (except with a shoehorn). The reason for this is the inner shoe material, which gets stuck around the heel. If you could block the walking mechanism, it would probably work. Furthermore, when getting into the shoe, care must be taken to ensure that the shoe laces do not get tangled in the tongue. Once you're in, closing the buckles is super easy thanks to the Boa Closure System and the strap buckle.

Getting into the binding also works perfectly. Here you can clearly feel the advantage of the Quick Step-In inserts compared to conventional (non-Dynafit) inserts.

The F1 TR is very comfortable to walk in, thanks to its low weight and balanced shape. The shoe has excellent freedom of movement and a pleasantly rounded sole, so that walking both in the binding and without skis on your feet is very comfortable. I often let the strap buckle go on shorter climbs. For longer climbs, you have a little more freedom of movement if you leave the upper strap and buckle open. In this case, however, you still have to bend down and you lose the advantage of the TR system's handle-less entry.

What can also be a limiting factor is that crampons only fit on the boot to a limited extent. Because of the TR system, the shape of the heel is slightly adapted. Not all crampons will fit. The instructions for use describe what you should bear in mind when wearing crampons with the F1 TR.

Once you have closed the strap, you only need to step into the binding after converting the skis and the locking mechanism locks automatically. In practice, it happened to me on two different days that snow accumulated in the system and the mechanism no longer worked. This could not be remedied on site. I was therefore forced to set off in ascent mode. During the descent, the system recovered and reengaged. On one occasion, however, I skied about 600 vertical meters with the right boot in walk mode, which was very annoying.

Downhill performance
The flex of the F1 TR is very comfortable and even. It can't be compared to a piste boot, but the boot is still surprisingly firm for its weight when the buckles are sufficiently tight. The fact that the boot has a relatively large volume bothered me a little. With the Boa system, I couldn't tighten the boot quite as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless, the boot offers good support and allows controlled and precise steering of the skis in all conditions. At least with narrower and medium-width skis.

Conclusion

The initial question of whether this shoe is a revolution or not is difficult to answer. The Scarpa F1 TR is definitely a very good touring shoe. I found the ratio between weight and downhill performance to be exceptionally good. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the shoe rides. I was impressed by some innovative details such as the Boa Closure System and the strap. The workmanship of the shell also leaves little to be desired.

Although there were some technical advantages, there were also a few less good points. Firstly, I thought it was a shame that the liner couldn't be laced better. You would expect better from a mountain boot manufacturer, even if the inner boots are purchased from Intuition.

The thing that bothered me the most was that the 'revolutionary' Tronic locking mechanism did not lock in some cases. Skiing in the walking mechanism can be a great exercise for your skiing technique, but it should be voluntary and not because it has snow winded into your boot. In my opinion, the Tronic system is a fun feature that can perhaps be an advantage in a sprint competition in ski touring races, but is otherwise unnecessary. On the one hand, it limits the choice of compatible crampons and bindings, and on the other hand, you can't lock the boot or leave it open if you want to (e.g. to get into the shell). All in all, I think it has more disadvantages than advantages. Since Scarpa produces the same shoe with the normal F1 with a traditional, external blocking mechanism that is guaranteed to always close, I would prefer this to the TR, because the rest of the shoe is really successful.

Advantages & Disadvantages

+ Very light
+ High mobility in ascent with and without skis
+ Very ergonomic walking with and without skis
+ Automatic switching between ascent and descent mode (blocking mechanism)
+ Very good downhill performance
- Liner cannot be laced tightly
- Not compatible with all crampons
- Blocking mechanism can ice up so that it no longer blocks

Details

RRP €629.-
Weight: 1240g (manufacturer's size 27.0)
Shell: Primary Hp Polyammid, tongue: Pebax
BOA Closure System
Quick Step-In Inserts
Scarpa Ufo Sole
Pro Flex Evo liners
Master-Step in Insert

Hereis the Scarpa website with more information. Here you can purchase the shoe from our partner store Bergzeit.de.

This product was provided to PowderGuide on loan for testing. You can find out how we tested it in our test statement.

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This article has been automatically translated by DeepL with subsequent editing. If you notice any spelling or grammatical errors or if the translation has lost its meaning, please write an e-mail to the editors.

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