Treksta Kobra 114 Boa Review

First Impressions

Treksta? It’s a new brand, right? One of those fresh companies headquartered in Boulder or Durango maybe? They’re the guys with the flux capacitor looking heel system, correct?

Well, not exactly. Treksta does produce some unique outdoor footwear. There’s no question about that. But this 25 year old company is far from a new market entry. And the company headquarters is located a long way from the Rocky Mountains – 6,134 miles to the east, as a matter of fact, in Seoul, South Korea.

A pair of Treksta Kobra 114 Boas made the journey to GearGuide HQ recently for a test run, and we were impressed with their bright blue hue and cool combination of features.

Features

Several things stand out on the Kobra 114 Boa and I bet you can guess at least one of them. Yes, it’s the Boa lacing system. A somewhat understated round knob occupies the outside edge of each Kobra 114. On our teal blue model, the knob was a medium gray color that blended nicely with the rest of the shoe’s color scheme.

It was unobtrusive while still very functional. The company claims the Boa will provide almost infinite adjust-ability, and that the Boa laces are – gram for gram – stronger as tank armor. Hard for us to confirm that claim but we found the system worked well, providing a sufficient amount of fine-tuning.

Specs
Upper: Synthetic suede and mesh uppers
Outsole: HyperGrip rubber
Weight: 26 oz per pair (womens size 9)

In addition to the Boa system, Treksta employs a number of other unique technologies in their Kobra 114. These include a well-designed sole that uses what the company terms IceLock and HyperGrip. We found it did a perfectly adequate job providing traction on various terrains. We’re in the midst of a drought, so didn’t get the chance to test on snow or ice. We’ll keep you posted when we do. Same comment on the Gore-Tex lining. We weren’t able to give that a full test either. The good news is it didn’t cause our feet to overheat as the temps climbed toward 100 degrees in Northern California.

Fit

Treksta does a nice job engineering the fit of the Kobra. The company’s proprietary NestFIT system provided a comfortable place for our tootsies. Order your regular athletic shoe size. We did notice that there’s not much give to the sole and we’d appreciate a little bit more cushion on those long hikes.

Final Verdict

Treksta built the Kobra 114 with more than its fair share of top-notch features. The Boa system, Gore-Tex, NestFIT and HyperGrip make the Kobra something special. Another thing that’s special about the shoe is its price tag. At $190 MSRP the Kobra ranks as one of the most expensive of its type. Is it worth it? If this combination of features is a much have, then most certainly.

Thanks to Treksta and What’s Up Public Relations for providing product for this review. And thanks to you for reading another outdoor gear review from GearGuide.