biner wrote:
I am looking for buying my firs new pair of short carving skis. I
shoped around and I was offerd atomic SL-9, SX-11 but it is the Volkl
supersport 5 or 6 stars and Dynastar skicross 10 that have caught my
attention.
Has anybody any pointer to help me choose. If I go to my local store
the choice is easy as the Volkls are noticeably more expansive, but
somehow on the net it seems I can get them for similar prices. To give
you an idea, I'm a pretty good skier, I like tighs turns, not
necesserly fast, and I like to go in the moguls an in the "sous-bois".
I am not into fast long turn on corduroy. I also need skis that grip
on the ice as I ski in Quebec where it is pretty icy all the time.
My main concern with the Volkl are their stiffness in the moguls and
their reputed unforgivness. As for the Dynastar I hear good things
about them but i don't know what to expect.
I guess I should try both but I don't have time to arrange that. Any
feedback from buyers of these babies?
I've demoed both the 5 star and the Ski Cross 10. Here are my thoughts:
Ski Cross 10: pretty good ski, but nothing really remarkable about it.
Get it at a good price and it will be adequate. It's a compromise ski,
Ok at many things, not really great at any. Personally, I prefer the
Speed series over the Cross series.
Volkl 5 Star:
o The hype is true - the best hold on ice of any ski I've ever
been on. It's amazing - just set the edge and it holds no matter
how icy it is.
o Even though it has a lot of sidecut (~12 meter nominal radius) you
can still make effortless long turns, as well as short turns,
medium turns, and any kind of turns you want.
o Don't worry about unforgiveness in the 5 star - just about anybody
can ski it. There are skis that you have to be right on top of all
the time, and others that let you ski aggressively or be lazy. The
5 Star is in the second category. The 6 star (which I didn't try)
is reputed to be less forgiving.
o I did notice some squirrellyness at speed at one point, but I'm
sure that's dealable once you get to know the ski a bit better.
(by contrast, the Volkl P50s that I'm on now have never shown any
squirrellness ever at any speed I've dared to take them)
o I wouldn't take it in the bumps, at least not the hard tight ones.
Too much metal in the ski, I'm afraid it would bend or break.
o It makes an unpleasant metallic sound when you ski over ice. This
is a minor quibble (most people don't care what their skis sound
like) but aesthetics are important to me.
In sum, a great ski for what I like (long GS turns on groomed) and what
I often get (scraped off glare ice). Perhaps suboptimal for things I
don't do much anyway (deep powder, bumps). Unfortunately, they're
expensive, so I've opted to allocate my ski budget elsewhere.
Either of the Atomics might be a good choice for you. I didn't really
like the SL-9 because it always wants to make short turns and you have
to stay on top of it all the time. This may not be an issue for you.
The SX-11 is better for varying radius turns. Both have good to
excellent ice hold (but not as much as the 5 star) Don't know about
bumps. The SX-11 is extremely ugly - must've been designed by someone
who's colorblind.
HTH. My $.02.
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//-Walt
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