I started skating Luigino Bolt boots a couple months ago. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again to Adam Bradly of adamsinline.com. He was super-easy to work with and went out of his way to get these to me.
Let me cover some things about the boots themselves. They are Chinese-made, lest you think you’re buying “real” Italian Luiginos. That said, they are extremely comfortable and well-designed. The padding is great, and they’ve done some magic in the carbon fiber to minimize rubbing in the normal hot spots, without sacrificing stiffness.
I’m a size 9 in most shoes, and the 9/41 fit me fine on the left foot. My toes were cramped on the right foot, but I was able to stretch that boot with a little heat and the right tool. (One of these days I’ll do a post on my DIY boot customizing tools.)
They have two mounting slots for the front mount. Once you know which one your going to use, you need to pop the mounting nut out in the other slot (there’s a youtube for this). If you don’t remove it, the rattling will make you crazy.
I did a general heat-molding, and then had to deal with hot-spots. This is normal, for me at least. My middle toes are longer than my big toe, my right foot is 5 or so mm longer than my left foot, my “ankle bones” seem to be in a non-standard location, and my navicular bones stick out enough to be a problem in every boot I’ve owned. In Bonts, for example, I have to spend a few hours flattening out the ankle-bone pocket and moving it almost 3cm forward. I haven’t don that in the Bolt’s yet, but my inner ankle bone is almost 2cm further forward than the last the boots were built on.
The strap is an interesting pieces of engineering. They’ve redesigned the “buckle” to work more smoothly than anything I’ve seen. You can push down on the top to release it, and it releases very cleanly. Have you had the experience of fighting with the strap release at the end of a long skate? These things are the cure!
So far I have exactly one complaint about the skates, and it also has to do with the strap. The strap and release screw to plastic pieces that are sewn, and no doubt glued, on to the boot. But the inside strap mounts are almost exactly centered on my navicular bone bump-outs. Heat molding is a challenge, because the plastic softens up more than the carbon fiber. And I have to put my hot-spot-eliminator clamp directly on top of the inside strap mount. This cracked the plastic mounts, which probably doesn’t bode well for their longevity. I’ll update you as I see how they’re doing.
Bottom line? I give them a qualified two thumbs-up. If you don’t have the navicular-bump problem, these may well be the best non-custom boots on the market.
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marty skates 