Another wide first: La Sportiva brings out their Ultra Raptor in a wide boot

Great news.  I will have to go to La Sportiva store in Boulder and take a look.  I think when I was last there they said they would arrive in February.  The Salomon X Ultras I purchased in October only have a couple months left in them.

La Sportiva – please don’t mess with the Ultra Raptor and mess up the fit like so many shoe companies do every time they do a re-design.  Ultra Raptors have been my go to since 2015.

Tried these on today in Wide width.

Felt identical to regular Ultra Raptor shoes except for the width, which was noticeably wider, but still not quite wide enough for me. Toe box is still very pointy.

I also tried the Nucleo in wide and didn’t notice it to be any wider than various other boots La Sportiva has made on that platform over the years. It’s always been a very narrow platform/last.

I didn’t have time to compare insoles from wide and regular versions of these boots. Some companies increase the girth of a shoe and call it a wide. Most actually increase the width of the midsole.

Brad, the Ultra Raptor is still on the shelves and all over the La Sportiva website in various colors. Appears unchanged and will probably remain so. The boot is Ultra Raptor II while the shoe is still “I”.

Stephen, you might want to check with the La Sportiva shop. This is supposed to be an REI exclusive. Not sure if that means so exclusive that the mother ship doesn’t have them. I reckon these are meant to compete directly with the Salomon Ultras. Very similar boots. Noticed that Salomon are bringing out an update to the Ultra, the Ultra 4, which has not yet arrived at REI.

I tried the ultra raptor II at REI in 12W (45.5).  It was narrower than my Salomon X Ultras.  Then I went to the La Sportiva Shop and tried the Nucleo.  Brand new it has more width than my Solomon Ultras with probably more than 500 miles on them.  I will wear the Nucleos around the house for a few days but I think they are keepers.  You are correct, the Ultra Raptor II is exclusive for now to REI and not available at the Sportiva shop.    Eventually, they will be.  The Nucleo has a much burlier Vibram sole. I expect it will offer better traction than the Solomon Ultras, which are pretty unimpressive in that department.   The lug depth on the Ultra Raptor seems pretty minimal, more like the running shoe it is based on.    Lug depth on the Nucleo tends to be around 4.5mm but the leading edge of the heal lugs is over 10mm depth.  They call it a braking lug and I expect it will be useful for steep descents.  Weight for the Nucleo in 12W is 19.45 ounces and just slightly less than the Solomon Ultra.   The Nucleo cuff  is 1″ higher than the Solomon.  That may come in pretty handy since they are forecasting 70″ of snow on Longs Peak between Tuesday night and Wednesday, next week.

Hi Steve, glad to hear you like the Nucleo. Maybe I dismissed them too quickly.