Tecnica The Agent 120 Ski Boot - Men's - 2010 BCS

This is the most comfortable high performance boot I have ever worn. I love it. It is stiff laterally, but soft forward and aft making it great for ripping turns and forgiving for jumping cliffs or skiing bumps. I can spend all day hiking in this boot and still have happy feet. The best of both worlds: as comfortable as a slipper and performs like a race car.

I am a slightly wider than average men's size 8.5 foot. I sized down to the 25.5 Tecnica Agent b/c the 26.5 shell was too long for me. After the first few days, I still couldn't get the boots to fit tightly w/out having to jack them down to the point where they cut off my circulation and made my feet tingle. So, I went to Surefoot and had some custom footbeds made for them. In the end I needed some serious arch support but have had nothing but comfort and control in these boots since then.

I really like the overall performance of these boots. After a few weeks of tinkering, I dialed in the finer adjustments and have zero complaints about fit and control. I mostly ski them with a Gotama/Baron set up and the entire kit is pretty amazing.

The only challenge that I have with these is getting them on and off. My high foot arches and the sized down boots mean that I have to rake the top of my foot against the plastic upper and that just plain hurts...

I like the updates to the Agent 120 quite a bit. As attention getting as the 09/10 purple Agent 130 is, the orange pop on these buckles makes your cool new boots a conversation starter on even more lift rides. This is the only bummer as you quickly tire of saying, "yes...they're pretty orange, aren't they?" to everyone you meet.

The best update is the vibram added to the sole, especially at the heel. I wasn't even considering this as I zeroed in on these boots, but can't help being glad it's there when I'm walking around. The Agent 120 has just a slightly softer flex this year and feels perfect for riding around on all the rockered skis out there.

A fit tip - I pulled out the spoilers behind my calf and definitely feel like the cuff fits better without them, even though I have very skinny legs. You also get a more upright stance, again a benefit on rockered skis.

I wear Asterisk knee braces (blew out one knee, def don't want to deal with that again) and they fit perfectly on top on this boot. I've had so many boots get their liners chewed by the contact points between brace and boot, but the Agent 120 fits with my braces without tearing or warping either piece.