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carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 14.19hrs on Sun 21 Jan 18
Couple years on and feel my skiing has got a bit better to point where can comfortable make parallel turns, control speed and can descend down steeper slopes well enough.

Going to be buying some boots sorted as rental boots now are starting to hurt my big toe after a days skiing. Which leads me to skis to buy. Been looking at some piste skis and occasional just off piste where snow line is a bit softer than your groomed lines. (not your total off piste pick your own route stuff)

I seen piste skis are recommended around 75-85mm wide which is what I should be looking for.

is there anything else I should be looking out for? what about tail design and width of the tip of the ski? Camber etc?

Dont mind budgeting up to £150 for a set of second hand skis providing they will suit me fine. im 5ft 7 and weight 62kg and think that puts me in a 155-160cm ski so was looking at the 160s as seems to be more about.

is there anything to look for/watch out for being a beginner?



Ive had a trail through ebay last night and today and added a few skis to my watch list within budget but finding any real infomation out on the models is pretty hard with it being a bit older lines.

[www.ebay.co.uk]
Cant really find any suitable infor out for them but the K2 AMP range seems to cater for beginner/intermediate and for those looking to venture off piste.

[www.ebay.co.uk]
Seems a nice ski for the beginner looking to progress their ski level into making quicker turns as per a few sites with the model description. New bindings too.


[www.ebay.co.uk]
These seem well suited for pistes according to their site but more towards the expert skier rather than beginner/intermediate. Probably a bit towards a race ski?


[www.ebay.co.uk]
Not sure how old they are, but the bindings look a bit tired and battered. seems a good ski to suit my ability though.


[www.ebay.co.uk]
Seem suited to inter/advanced intermediate skiers but pretty narrow on the waist and listing is without bindings which would be additional cost + fitting, however much they usually are.


Thats what ive managed to get my list down to at the minute from having a look. Seems to be the 2013 onwards season with one or two in there from 2015. Widths from 73mm-78mm. Anyone got any thoughts/comments about the ones ive selected in terms of suitability?


Thanks

Chris
geeo


Posts: 426
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 20:04
7th Feb 2019
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 20.24hrs on Sun 21 Jan 18
k2 AMp is a decent all round ski but those have rental bindings on which while not terrible add a bit of weight and can be prone to sloppiness over time, also they must be from europe originally as no uk intersport rental here which probably means someone bought a job lot and brought them back here to sell, so you could probably get a better deal straight from europe.
The main issue with any ex rental is the amount of edge left and the fact they usually are built a bit more robustly to account for the abuse, so online reviews can be a bit off when comparing to shop stuff, that said not all rental ski's are like this many of the medium to high end ones are just the same model with rental bindings.

Not skied the nordica transfire but if they were rentals and now have fixed bindings they have been remounted which is not an issue, just an fyi, from the write up they look a decent little ski and the base & edges look fine with loads of life left.

No experience of the fischer xtr, but they are a chunky looking cap construction ski, cap construction is fine it's just the cheaper way to manufacture and is definitely more used on rental ski's, they are usually a bit duller with less pop, but also usually lighter, the bindings again are rentals and will almost certainly be or get sloppy, they are pretty crap bindings imo, the ski looks a little beat up too.

The dobermans are the most advanced of this ski's there, they are pretty lively and will carve great as long as you can make them, very well made and the bindings are the best of the adjustable ones, they will take the most effort but will deffo be the most rewarding, it's always a fine line between choosing a ski that's too much and stops you progressing vs one that you soon learn to outski, imo the doberman will take you far in your learning assuming you can manage it, impossible to truly say without having seen you ski.

The elan's again i have no direct experience but the write up aims them perhaps more at your level at the moment (again just a guess), it's pretty soft they say so will help you initiate the turns and progress your carving, but they use a rail binding which will either mean you score a cheap pair cos they probably wont fit any other brand of ski, or will be a pits to find and could cost full whack...

The boots are your main priority, if you've never owned a pair get them sorted first as they make 10x the difference to any of the ski's you've listed, don't skimp on the boots if you want to progress and enjoy your skiing, it's not black magic but so many people get it wrong and many shops just don't have the skilled fitters and sell a poorly chosen model, Alain Baxter in Stirling is well worth the visit or Craigdon in Perth have a good rep, especially a lady called Carla i think it is (check first or google that), don't be tempted by sale boots or the nicest colored ones, properly made footbeds are also essential so budget for those also.

Ski choosing is such a subjective thing too, i very rarely give any advice online as it'a almost not worth it, you could ask 5 peeps and get 10 different asnwers.

Have you check ed Ellis Brigham at xscape in glasgow, they often have a decent delection of last seasons ex rentals and you can go try them on some fake real snow, it's free and you can check condition first hand also.

Make sure whatever you buy from abroad they give you close up's of the edges preferably with the measuring tape showing the edge left like those nordica's


Soo all that said if you want the best performance ones and think your skiing can handle it and your determined to progress get the doberman's, if you can find the rail bindings then the Elan's would be my first choice else i'd probably choose the nordica transfires.

Sure that's just confused you more
carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 21.36hrs on Sun 21 Jan 18
Great advice and thanks for the time.

I noted the same about the Fischers as they look like they have been given a hard time in the past and plenty abuse.

If finding bindings are going to be a issue, ill sack the Elans off as want getting a pair easy as possible.

So from your comments the two Nordica's seem the best option with the doberman being aimed at the more advanced skier.

Ability wise, I am comfortable making turns, slowing down etc and only just progressed into starting to do parallel turns and was trying to get tighter turns when I was up Glencoe at the weekend. Was confident skiing down mid-mountain mugs alley and ventured up to Happy valley once to see what that was like and generally felt ok going down there, but found using a bit more snowplough technique to turn across the slope rather than parallel mainly due to the gradiant and not skiing it before.

Boots i will be getting sorted. Unfortunately not up from scotland way (Newcastle area) so those places a bit far out to travel for myself. Couple places been recommended down here not far away so will try them. LD mountain in Newcastle and Snow/Rock In Gateshead.

A couple other people from a local slope nearby reckoned the 160cm ski might be a touch too short for myself and to look for a 165cm ski. Generally used 154cm's from the hire show in Glencoe and found them OK. They also recommended keeping away from Titanium models or those with rocker as my ability wouldn't be good enough for them until more advanced. Not sure on your thoughts on that.

Thanks for your time and hope you dont mind my many questions in helping me with my decision.
geeo


Posts: 426
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 20:04
7th Feb 2019
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 23.49hrs on Sun 21 Jan 18
From your skiing description i'd maybe skip the doberman's as they are a bit stiffer and will likely hamper your progress, plus it's always nice to buy more ski's than you need so you can always spec up when needed, few people outski their ski's.

I think LD gets a decent rep, unfortunately it's much more the person than the shop, what i would say though is that the 2/3 hour drive from newcastle to stirling would really be worth the effort, there's countless threads on snowheads from people with bad fitting boots, i cant implore enough how important it is to get a good fitter, it's not as easy as you would hope.

Yea the titanium adds a stiffness which can be a bit much when learning, as for size it's generally chin height for on piste, but weight and ability are just as important factors, 165 sounds good though they certainly wont be too big for the type of ski your looking at.

Lots of new ski's have tip rocker which is there to help initiate the turn and also a fair bit of marketing cowdoo, i wouldn't worry too much about it tbh.

here's a link to a snowheads bootfitting thread for the north, again i'm gonna say make the effort if you are serious about skiing for a while, boots last 5/6/7 years so it's time well spent.

[www.google.co.uk]
carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 13.13hrs on Mon 22 Jan 18
From sounds of it then, the Transfires seem a good choice. Highly doubt my ability will ever come to outski the ski especially not in the next 5-6years at least.

How would the bindings be set to the right boot length? Is there any adjustment in them or would they need to be took to a shop to get mounted and set up properly?
carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 15.32hrs on Mon 22 Jan 18
Seen the Nordica transfire rtx which is last years model which I think is a watered down rental version of the Doberman skis. About £180 new which is great price if they fit the criteria I need as don’t mind paying a bit more for something new and not bashed around the alps for a season.

Any thoughts?
geeo


Posts: 426
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 20:04
7th Feb 2019
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 15.31hrs on Tue 23 Jan 18
Those bindings are not mounted on the ski yet so you will need to know your ski boot sole length as there is a specific center line on the ski and your boots which need to match (a little either way is ok but not what you should aim for when getting them mounted first time), there is only heel adjustment of 1-2cm on those bindings but that's really meant for setting the correct pressure so they release properly.

That ebay ad says they will mount them for you which again is another reason to get your boots sorted first (did i say that the boots are 10x more important and and should always be bought and used for a week or two minimum to ensure they are correct for you)

So many ski's very similarly these days, that's why they often tape them up so testers cant see the name/branding/marketing crap and give an honest review.

The transfire rtx looks a good little ski from the write up, looks like they could easily take you to a good level and will take a lot of abuse being rental designed, new is also better..
carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 15.50hrs on Tue 23 Jan 18
Ordered the transfire RTX. Just a little over £200 which isn’t too bad for some new skis when a pair a few years old ex-rental is a shade over £100 for something half decent. Ordered the 160cm version rather than the 168cm as seemed better suited to my height.

Told them to set bindings at 318mm which is size boot I’ve been using, but could change if fitted with next side up but probably unlikely. Worst case will have to get them remounted but shouldn’t be too hard to get done.
geeo


Posts: 426
Joined: Sep 2006
Last Visited: 20:04
7th Feb 2019
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 16.04hrs on Tue 23 Jan 18
they appear to have adjustable rental style bindings anyway so you wont have a problem if you do.

Also no one goes up a size in ski boots, if you can fit in 318's ok the only way is smaller smiling smiley
carsey


Posts: 400
Joined: Jan 2016
Last Visited: 17:11
22nd Apr 2021
Re: Choosing correct Skis
Date Posted: 16.24hrs on Tue 23 Jan 18
Messaged them to see if they can leave bindings off, hopefully not too late but shall see
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