UKC

REVIEW: La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX Boots

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 UKC Gear 26 Jun 2014
La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX, 4 kbJack Geldard tests out the La Sportiva Nepal Cube boots.

In the well known yellow colour, these boots look a lot like the classic Nepal Extremes - but under the bonnet they have several key differences... the main one being the carbon honeycomb insert that saves you a whopping 470g!

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=6411

 alastairbegley 26 Jun 2014
In reply to UKC Gear:

Good review thanks, I am looking forward to seeing how these perform as I broke my Nepal Evos last year and exchanged them with a pair of these as they looked great on paper.
 TobyA 26 Jun 2014
In reply to UKC Gear:

I presume by insole you don't mean the piece of foam you can pull out of any boot and replace with a superfeet or whatever? I guess the carbon and all that malarky are in the midsole?

And showing my age and that I worked in a climbing shop back then, Nepal Tops were grey and un-insulated. Jeff Lowe wore them to climb Octopussy and I reckon those pics were the pics that launched a thousand boots... Nepal Extremes with thinsulate and yellow leather came around a few year later.
 Jack Geldard 26 Jun 2014
In reply to TobyA:

> I presume by insole you don't mean the piece of foam you can pull out of any boot and replace with a superfeet or whatever? I guess the carbon and all that malarky are in the midsole?

Hi Toby, I think you are getting footbeds and insoles mixed up. La Sportiva refer to the 'insole' meaning an actual part of the shoe, not the removable foam thingy, which is actually a footbed, but often called an insole.

The carbon bits are part of the boot.

Good knowledge re: Nepal Tops!

Thanks,

Jack
 Damo 26 Jun 2014
In reply to TobyA:
> ... Nepal Tops were grey and un-insulated. Jeff Lowe wore them to climb Octopussy and I reckon those pics were the pics that launched a thousand boots... Nepal Extremes with thinsulate and yellow leather came around a few year later.

I was going to say the exact same thing, but thought it too pedantic )

I had both Tops and Extremes and only recently sold the Tops. They actually weren't much lighter than the Extremes, on the home scales, but did feel trimmer and the rand was not as wide or chunky. On the front of the tongue they had a black label with Jeff Lowe's signature and 'La Sportiva - Climbing On The Moon' with a pic of a guy climbing on a crescent moon. Bit sad, given Jeff's current state...
Post edited at 14:15
rackandruin 26 Jun 2014
In reply to Damo:

Off track from the review but worth pointing out for those who werent aware of it

http://jeffloweclimber.com/jeff-lowes-bio.html

A year later, Lowe's diagnosis changed yet again, to "an unknown neurodegenerative process". Leave it to Jeff Lowe to do a first ascent in the disease department! His symptoms are progressive and similar to that of MS and ALS.
 NickK123 26 Jun 2014
In reply to UKC Gear:

Good review and, whilst a weight saving would be great, not sure the cost justifies swapping out my old yellow faithfuls!

Thanks,

Nick

 TobyA 26 Jun 2014
In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:

That's interesting, well sort of interesting - perhaps proof reading for money makes me worry too much about the specifics of how certain words should or shouldn't be used! Anyway, just because I felt I must be going mad, I put "insole" in Google.co.uk and that comes up very much with what you are calling footbeds. I would have thought footbed and insole was synonymous, but there you go - Sportiva obviously don't and they make the damn things!
 Jack Geldard 26 Jun 2014
In reply to TobyA:

Hi Toby,

I think Insole is a pretty standard term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe although I agree that it is often used to mean a footbed. Certainly made me stop and think.

Cheers,

J

 TobyA 27 Jun 2014
In reply to Jack Geldard - UKC Chief Editor:

Yep, the wiki article seems to suggest its the sewn in top layer - interesting. I will inform my friend who used to work for an "athletic insole" company that they were actually making footbeds!
 Dominic Green 29 Jun 2014
In reply to TobyA:

And Boots while your at it

http://www.boots.com/en/Pharmacy-Health/Health-shop/Foot-care/Insoles/

and Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=1769537031

and decathlon

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-313374-insoles

And so on. It must be a 'British english' thing, I'm pretty sure they don't get called insoles in the US.

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