User Review: Alico Guide
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Rating: 
Materials: Treated Nubuck and leather lined.
Use: Light mountaineereing with crampons, and heavy backpacking.
Break-in Period: 80% broken in after 60 miles on flat terrain.
Weight: 12W each weigh 46.5oz
Price Paid: $220
On arrival I inspected the boot. Full leather construction, but the leather is not a full grain leather, but a waterproof treated nubuck. Each scuff the boot receives makes the boot ruffle up like swede. A application of Angelus Wax polish makes it turn back to smooth nubuck.
I wear 12-11.5 W I ordered 12W and it fit like I wanted it to. When wearing mountaineering weight Smartwools there is a good CM in front of all my toes, no toenail contact with any of the toe box, and with a bit of wiggle room on the sides of my toes. This fit allows my feet to expand over the course of the day's long march and not develop toe blisters and lost nails.
The stock insoles were terrible and they were promptly replaced with Superfeet blue. The brand new boots were weighed, each boot alone with stock laces and no insole weighs 2lbs 14.5 oz (46.5oz) according to the baby scale at the local clinic. Compared to my previous boot the Asolo Powermatic 200 11.5D at 1lbs 14.5oz(30.5oz) that is a lot more! This is probably due to the super thick sole, the double tongue leather lining and thicker upper.
Upon lacing up the boots, the tongue of the left boot appeared to be lop sided and it did not tuck in nice and neat like the right boot. The flex point on the leather upper was also different on the left to the right. The right flexed directly across the first eyelets. While on the left boot the flex point was behind the 2nd set. This caused my left foot some considerable pain on metatarsals, but luckily the adjustable tongue, and lacing allowed me to stave off the pain by leaving the laces over metatarsals completely loose. This made the left boot look completely disheveled.
The soles were stiff as could be. Initially there was no flex, eventually it softened up and the sole flexed along the ball of the foot as it was supposed too.
I took this boot out about 3 miles a day over flat terrain to begin the break in process. Each week I received a new blister on my heels as the boot softened up. After a total of 60 miles walked in the boots my left knee began to develop an intense pain. The left boot (again!) was making me walk on the outside edge of my left foot rolling my knee in an unnatural position.
I examined the boot and it appeared to rock, the bottom was not flat on the left boot exactly as described by several other reviews at Sierra Trading! I took the boot to a cobbler but he said the boot was lasted, constructed incorrectly, he could do nothing except tell me to return the boot.
Before I returned the boots I did a water tightness check by spraying them with a hose than sticking them into ankle deep water. Water comes in through the padded scree collar and the seams on the back of the boot like a sieve, the only place with a vertical seam. I recommend any buyer of this boot use stitch guard and seal off the leaky areas.
In conclusion, I don't trust Alico anymore because that is such a huge mistake to make in construction. Also from other reviews on the internet a pair of comparably constructed 13W Limmer Midweights weigh 22oz compared to the 46.5oz of the 12W Alico. There is absolutely no reason for me to exchange this boot and hope for a new pair. I'm moving on to try new boots.
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