REVIEW: Scarpa Ribelle Mountain Tech OD Boot

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 UKC/UKH Gear 06 Apr 2018
Cross an approach shoe with a winter mountain boot and you're getting close..., 4 kbCombining a shoe-like feel with B2 mountain boot performance, the Ribelle Tech represents a step change in technical winter/alpine footwear. For fast and light mountaineering, Martin McKenna thinks it's hard to beat

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 Misha 06 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Interested to know how the soles stand up to walk ins on rocky paths or scree and scrambling. The sole wear issues with the Phantom Techs are well documented (to be fair Scarpa have agreed to resole my ones for free with a longer lasting sole unit). The soles on the Ribelles look pretty flimsy, so unless it's a pretty hard rubber compound, they won't last long...

 danm 06 Apr 2018
In reply to Misha:

If you want sticky rubber which performs well on rock, don't expect the longevity of a harder traditional walking boot compound. The same issues affect most boots of this nature, you are making a compromise one way or the other. Also, as these are "fast and light" I wouldn't expect the lifetime to be great. Again, this is a compromise. If you want a durable workhorse, buy some Nepal Extremes, mine are still going strong 15 years down the line. By modern standards they feel like clogs though.

In reply to Misha:

Good question Misha, and actually I was going to include this in the review for comparison until I heard Scapa are supposedly offering Phantom Techs resolving free of charge due to the faster ware on the sole (don't quote me on that though), and so didn't feel it was a fair comparison.

Anyway, the soles are more comparable to the older Phantoms, although thinner, and the Rebal, although again, thinner. Basically the rubber seems more robust than the Techs which seems to be fast waring.

They will ware out faster than both the old Phantom and Rebal I'm sure, but they will still last a while I'm sure.

Cheers 

Martin 

 damowilk 06 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I had a look at these, but even for a gear-head, it was hard to justify the price for such a niche item.

Instead I got the Zodiac Tech GTX, for considerably less cost, about the same weight, very overlapping function, and a bit more “normal” looking. I’ve been very happy with the choice.

 wbo 06 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:are they so very niche though?  I have a pair of Salomon x-Alps which i suppose they are equivalent too, and im putting an increasing number  of days through.  For Norway , and particularly roughen ground , summer scrambling and 'tinderangling'  they are very good and i imagine these might be even better.  They might not fit the traditional uk mould, but they would be very versatil i think.

re. Wear - you're going to pay a price somewhere. Suppose these are closer to running shoes - well for those 1000kms on a sole is very good going.  Rough granite, gabbro chews everything up. I'm sure my B3's wouldn't like Scotland, but 90% of the time they're protected by crampons

 

 Misha 07 Apr 2018
In reply to danm:

Yes, the Nepal Extreme sole is durable and I’d say sticky enough. Just the black outer sole can’t be they much heavier than these lightweight compounds.

What I’ve found with both Scarpa and La Sportiva lightweight boots is the soles wear away within literally a few days of use. Not months or weeks but days.  

 Misha 07 Apr 2018
In reply to Martin McKenna - Rockfax:

That’s good to hear, thanks. And yes, Scarpa are indeed offering to resole the Techs for free.

 Fruit 16 Apr 2018
In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Had to go right to the end to discover, as expected, they don’t make them in my size (49). Any chance of the spec box being higher up these articles. Cheers

5
 JayPee630 17 Apr 2018
In reply to Fruit:

Huh, to save you 0.3 seconds of scrolling to the end?


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