Telemark Talk / Telemark Tips Forum

I'm switching from 75mm to NTN next season as I broke my skis in March and need new boots soon anyway. I'm currently using T1s for in bounds and touring. Is it worth it to wait for the new Tx Pros in September? Do folks think they will be hard to get? Or should I just go for the current model and save some money? I'm not very picky about boots, I don't mind the weight of T1s very much. What are the pros and cons?

I stick with 75mm boot, everything is more fun when its less expensive

blitzskier wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2024 3:09 pm

I stick with 75mm boot, everything is more fun when its less expensive

You like em with cables? What are your thoughts on the effect on "tip pressure"?

i love cables

Me too bro. I'll upgrade to the TXpro and NTN bindings when money isn't an option and all my other stuff is failing and no parts are available

If you can't ski like a tele-pro on old junk equipment, then don't waste your time and money with hi-tech designer gear, cause you'll still suck

The main benefits of the new boot is lighter weight, but the significant improvement is the range of motion of the cuff for touring. The boot has been reported to have a cuff stiffness in ski mode more similar to the TX Comp rather than the TX Pro. The bellows is reportedly on the softer side. These are reports from industry people, retailers and media people that have skied and reviewed them
Good luck

At the end of the season I had finally developed enough confidence to visit some resorts. First, the only way to learn to Tele is to go ski at resorts. If you can ride the lift up and Tele down 20 times in a day you will just got a LOT more turns in than hiking up. I prefer backcountry, but for learning, the lift is the way to go.

I did all my resort skiing on the Transit binding and most of it using an Atomic Maverick 85. I skied some on my Scarpa F1 (bellows) and some on my 4-buckle TXPro. I limited myself to blues and the few greens that were available. The F1 is nice and soft and I learned a lot and skied well. The TXPro was stiff and a much different experience. I loved it for a few runs but as soon as I got a little tired that stiffness just ate my lunch. I much preferred the F1 and, for what I like to do, I don't see my using my old TXPro or being interested in the new TXPro. No doubt, black moguls would need the stiff boot but I'm probably not going to be doing those.

While this isn't an exhaustive analysis, it is my experience with a soft vs a stiff boot on the same ski and the same binding.

@fisheater boiled it down well.

The new Tx Pro is the best modern touring boot telemark has yet seen. The range of motion from the vastly updated walk mode and the much lighter weight marks a paradigm shift.

That said, the downhill skiing sensation at the cuff/scafo interface is quite rigid. Style can be adapted, and the boot does break in (and the bellows is soft out of the box), but I found it to be a long process. Up to a few months (~20-30 days of skiing, admittedly few of which were bell-to-bell, but many involved 2000ft vertical of resort touring).

The soft bellows / rigid cuff leads to a more upright position, which some may prefer. I personally found it difficult to leverage the uphill ski, especailly at first. That's where the technique adaption came in - the boot's stiffness felt at the cuff rebuffs an uphill-ski dominant technique and lends to more of the balance going to the front foot. This is less pronounced in forgiving soft snow and more pronounced on hard pack.

Also worth noting that the new walk mode greatly disengages the cuff from the scafo, thus touring is great, but skiing in walk mode is a much different beast than on legacy Scarpa telemark boots (which many prefer to ski mode). Doable? To a degree. Advisable? I would say no - there is so much flexibility in walk mode that skiing aggressively in that setting is greatly compromised.

TL;DR - The boot tours great, has a quite rigid skiing sensation from the cuff/scafo, takes time to break in, and may require a technique adjustment. Overall good boot, maybe not for everyone, but a good new start and Scarpa has more planned.

Some light reading on the topic :
https://www.powder.com/gear-guide/review-scarpa-tx-pro

dkane47 wrote: ↑

Sat May 25, 2024 9:37 am

I'm switching from 75mm to NTN next season as I broke my skis in March and need new boots soon anyway. I'm currently using T1s for in bounds and touring. Is it worth it to wait for the new Tx Pros in September? Do folks think they will be hard to get? Or should I just go for the current model and save some money? I'm not very picky about boots, I don't mind the weight of T1s very much. What are the pros and cons?

No idea if the OP is still following this, but…
First off, all this assumes you want to switch from 75mm to a different binding system, like NTN, etc.

I'm currently using T1s for in bounds and touring.

I’m no expert on Scarpa boots, but it looks like the current TX Pro is a functional equivalent to the T1 (four buckle, tall boot).
Based on that, you should like the current TX Pro, and you may like the new TX Pro.

Do folks think they will be hard to get?

I would be surprised if they are hard to find, especially if you are confident about your boot size and willing to buy online.

Or should I just go for the current model and save some money? I'm not very picky about boots,…

If that’s true, you can save $200 to $300 by buying the current model, on sale, vs the new model at I think $850.

What are the pros and cons?

The plus is you will have the newest design with a weight saving and better ROM for touring.
The possible minus is that you may not like the flex of the new TX Pro compared to the current TX Pro or your T1. Depending on how much skiing you do, it will take some time to break in either of the new boots and there will be a contrast between your well broken in T1 and a new boot for the time it takes to break in, and with the new TX Pro, beyond the break-in period.

Good luck and hope it works out well!