Review: Head E-Race non Pro 175cm

[jbotti]

I was only able to get a 175cm length in the E-Race non pro (as the US has very limited supply of these skis). Skied them at my home mountain today. I absolutely love them but they took a couple of runs to get used to. The skis feel like that have almost no sidecut from the middle to the tail. This is not actually the case but they have a race design and the tails absolutely release if you do not hold the arc firmly past the apex. And because they ski like they have limited sidecut in the tail, if you don't not pull back the feet, and engage the tips at the top of the he arc, the skis will not arc a tight turn.This is really the case on any ski, but just more noticeable on these. Having said that in my second run when I was getting the hang of how to ski them, I started to fall in love. Stated TR is 15.8 (I believe on the 175s) and they would bend nicely down to a 13.5-14m TR and I was arcing some really nice, super fun high G turns. The skis do however want to go fast (which makes sense as they are derived from a race design). I am not sure what the factory tune is but I hit mine with my Razor Tune and put a 2 degree edge on. Edge hold was excellent. Other than the wider TR and the fact that the tails want to release, these are not what I would call unforgiving skis. But I would also say its not the best ski for PMTS intermediates who are still working on nailing several essentials more regularly. For sure the 170s would be easier to ski, and easier to ski tighter arcs (with the tighter TR).

But for me, where I have been trying to ski skis that require more input, and for me to be more on my game, these are really nice. I have a pair of E-Race Pros 170s (that are currently in Utah (long story) and I will pick these up in January. I think the non Pros are a great every day ski for me, that require more input (certainly in the 175 length) than do the SS i.speeds/e.speeds in the 170 length which are super user friendly. I will have the Pros for when I want to be required to up my game that day or when we have hero snow all over the mountain.

Lastly, these skis remind me of why the E-Original SSs are still the best PMTS learning ski. Super tight TR and lots of sidecut between the middle and the tail. The feedback is immediate they will arc tight turns without perfect input.

[BAJensen]

I’m curious. Regarding your experience with the tail releasing, did you play with the binding fore-aft positioning? While you adapted to the ski, also consider that your new boots are smaller which increases the ramp angle for a given binding delta unless Diana made allowance for this.

[jbotti]

Mine are mounted slightly in front of the line. As far as delta and forward lean, I am 6 3" with the torso of someone 5 10" and the legs of someone 6 7", so I have yet to come anywhere close to having too much delta or forward lean on any ski or with any set up. Even on these shorter boots I ski with a 4mm heel lift and two spoilers behind my liners. Again, we are not even close to too much forward lean.

[Jjmdane]

I have the yellow version from a few years ago in a 180, set forward 1cm on the plate, and of my carving skis ,these are my favorite in terms of feedback and performance. The skis tell me more about my edge sets than my full on race skis. We are talking subtle nuances here, but I really enjoy these skis, to the point where because of the crappy NE conditions, I can’t ski them as much as I would like. Not that they can’t handle varied conditions, they can, but I want to protect their precious edges and bases. I would love to try the blue ones, but I’m not looking for the ski to more user friendly, I love it the way it is.

[BAJensen]

As a general question relating to a ski tail holding its edge, what is the consequence of binding being mounted too far forward of the line?

[jbotti]

Too far forward and your putting pressure to bend the ski in the wrong place and the skis will not react properly (skis are supposed to bend from the middle of the ski). Head skis and some other brands (stockli) tend to have mount points that are conducive to moving the bindings forward from the line. Elan on the other hand has their line quite forward to begin with and Elan's do not ski well when moved further forward.

Lastly, when the bindings are too forward, the skier will sense it and feel too far forward (like we are about to go over the top) which automatically makes people move their weight back some (which as we know is not what we want in skiing). So it ends up having the opposite effect.

[jbotti]

I’m curious. Regarding your experience with the tail releasing, did you play with the binding fore-aft positioning? While you adapted to the ski, also consider that your new boots are smaller which increases the ramp angle for a given binding delta unless Diana made allowance for this.

I should clarify something I wrote. I think I said it took me a while to figure out how to ski the E-Race ski. The better phrasing of this would be that it took me two runs to get real performance out of the ski (to bend it and tighten the arc in each turn and get solid rebound out of each arc). And what I had to do was exaggerate several of the essentials, increase my tipping and progressively increase it through the arc, quicker, faster more intense free foot pull back, consciously keeping my hips forward through the apex of the arc (increasing ski bend) etc etc. Nothing I am mentioning is an adaptation to different technique or movements. Its always the essentials. Some skis just require better/greater/quicker/faster use of these movements, but the movements are the same.

[jbotti]

After looking at video of my skiing yesterday, there were some things I wanted to work on today at slower speeds. I took out the eRace non Pros in the 175cm length. These have a 1 degree base bevel (vs .5 on my Pros). These are still great and very high performing skis, but just a little easier to ski, especially at slower speeds and brushing is always easier on 1 degree base bevel vs .5 degree. I found myself falling in love with these skis. Very high performance band. The shovel is firm enough that it is truly supportive and confidence inspiring. And they just ski a little easier than the Pros. And today when I was working on stuff in brushed carved arcs, these were the perfect skis.

Later took then into some between black and double black bumps. Wow awesome skis for bumps! Very quick edge to edge and not too stiff for western bumps (no ice).

Lastly, I don't think these skis are all that easy to find in the US. They are all over Europe but US distribution in this recreational race product is super lean. I think the only skis that Head sells here in bulk are the Kores.

[HeluvaSkier]

I rode the lift today with a young guy from Mt. Pleasant PA (Head area rep and ski instructor... if I had to guess I'd say L3)... Anyway, he raved about the Head SS e-Original and e-Race. He was on the e-Race and his companion was on the e-Original. He mentioned that their shop stocked these skis and was the one of the only places in the US that did (he knew of HSS). I have an i.Race (older model) and love them. Such a good ski for anything the mountain throws at you. I also ski the 175 like JB. It is a perfect in-between SL and GS radius without requiring the inputs that the i.Race Pro does (also have that ski in 180).

[Roundturns]

Interesting on the Heads in SW Pa. My “backyard” and I don’t know about “their” shop.
Did they name the ski shop selling these Heads?

Might have to pay them a visit.
Thanks

[jbotti]

I took these out again today on Montana hero snow. I could do pretty much everything that I was able to do with the eRace Pros, save arcing on the very steepest pitches. These ski are pretty amazing. I find them very easy to ski, but the performance band is way above that of the Head SS line (e-original, SS e-speed and e-magnum). I love the Pros also but again I think you get 90% of the performance of the Pros with the non Pros and its definitely quite a bit more forgiving. Great skis!!

[jbotti]

I skied these the past 3 days in Austria at Hintertux Glacier. After super warm temps (the day before) I went out yesterday and the mountain was serious bullet proof ice and boiler plate. I did throw a 3 degree side tune on mine before coming here. Getting grip was as hard as any place I have ever skied and the full boiler plate runs (with small bumps that had not been groomed out) were even more challenging. These skis held up great and I was able to ski the conditions well (after needing 15-20 arcs to get the feel for the snow/ice). I was skiing with Harald and he was on the eRace Pros and there was no noticeable difference between the edge hold on the two skis. Hence it was an impressive showing by the eRace non Pros. These are really good skis. And the reason I brought them was for there versatility as one gets almost everything at Hintertux, from powder to hard bumps to soft bumps and spring corn and unfortunately spring slush. For nice groomed terrain and for working on super tight SRTs I still prefer the Pros, but its hard to find a ski this versatile with as high a performance band (on hard snow) as the non Pros. And they are definitely more forgiving than the Pros.

Again I don't ski on the east coast, but both eRace skis will ski east coast ice and boiler plate well. I think the non pros are a great one ski quiver for east coast conditions. Skied them in 15" of fresh the first day here and they were great (although seeing was the bigger issue as there was zero visibility). But in my first 3 days we had every east coast condition, from fresh snow to leftover soft snow turning to slop as the day went on, to total rock hard ice yesterday. the non pros handled it all beautifully.