Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

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Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Basil j » Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:37 am

Anyone ski these with any regularity that can comment on these skis? I demoed a pair of 175cm's this weekend and felt they were a pretty easy turning fun detuned GS ski. I am on the fence about buying a ski that has a designated left & right ski as I ski primarily on hard snow and icy snow and like to alternate my skis mid day so my edges are fresh. Any feedback on this ski would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby jbotti » Mon Mar 09, 2015 1:58 pm

Yes its a nice ski but I have trouble finding a place for it in my quiver and I don't own a pair (but I have a pair on loaner from a friend so I have skied it quite a bit). Turn radius is wider than I like for groomers. Ski is somewhat stiffer than I like off piste although on more compressed off piste conditions it skis pretty nice. I too do not like giving up two edges and this is an issue with Elan skis. I believe the size is 176cm. If you have a place where you will ski it and can open it up in full bore high edge angle carves without fear of hitting someone or losing your pass, its a fun ski.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Basil j » Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:06 pm

Thanks for the response. I would only use this ski on groomers as I use a C-line motive 80 for my all mountain skiing and it suits the bill great for where I ski. I am trying out a Dynsatar CR74 fluid this week, which I think will be a little more versatile and probably a bit more fun as it should allow for mixing up turn sizes a bit more than the Rip stick and I am told is less demanding than the Elan. I still love my Elan SLX but I want something I can mix up the turn shapes a little more with and still be on a somewhat narrower ski.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby CO_Steve » Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:26 pm

Let us know what you find. I too have a pair of SLX that I love but would like to find something between that and an 80 underfoot all mountain ski.

At least where you are you can demo narrow skis. Here 90 is narrow.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Max_501 » Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:29 pm

The SLX is one of the best skies I've owned and fantastic for groomers. I ski a pretty big mountain and can't think of any reason to go with a larger radius front side ski unless running a masters GS course.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby jbotti » Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:26 pm

Steve, I found the SS Rally to be a pretty good ski off piste as well. I have been skiing my TT80's a lot off piste and they are great (and not what people think of as an off piste ski but same for the Ripstick). Its is definitely softer than the Ripstick with a much tighter TR and pretty versatile for a ski designed mainly for hard snow. I would choose this well before the Ripstick for all mountain use. At 76mm underfoot its worth looking at for the sub 80mm do everything ski.

I have never skied the Rev 80 pro but Max likes it better than the SS Rally. Both should be considered.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby CO_Steve » Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:37 pm

John,
I had a pair of Rallys last year for a while. To be honest I hated that ski. I had demoed the 170 and thought it was what I was looking for and ended up getting the 177 which just didn't do it for me. You know what the terrain is here. It's either a groomer only day = SLX or a new snow day = all mountain ski . There are some softer groomer days we end up skiing bumps and I'd like something a bit less stiff than the SLX but still not all mountain. A TT80 or even Supershape would fill the role better than the SLX but pretty much unobtainable. I have on older pair of Stockli Rotor 76 which almost fill the bill. Great bump ski. A little extra all mountain width. Stiff enough underfoot to handle hard snow. Their directional stability is appalling. It's good deal time of year and I'm just sniffing around.

BTW when I say SLX I've got the older Waveflex version, not the newer version. Anyone skied both?
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Basil j » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:23 am

I have the wave flex version. Newer version has a softer tail and designated R/L ski , but is still a great hard snow carver for short turns.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Mac » Tue Mar 10, 2015 6:51 am

Steve, I'm surprised that you didn't like the Rally. I've spent some time on that ski, I'd have to call it one of the most enjoyable skis I've ever been on. Liked it from the first turn. A great everyday ski for just about anywhere. I did find it a touch soft, I would say that the flex and stiffness was very similar to the original SS. I'm thinking there may be a tune issue with the ones you tried. I'm going to demo a bunch of the new 2016 Head skis tomorrow. I'll take a few more runs on the Rally to see what my impression is. But as far as I know, the ski is pretty much the same as last year's.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby CO_Steve » Tue Mar 10, 2015 7:04 am

We had mostly firm conditions here when I was skiing it. The shop I got it from gave it a fresh tune before I got it (it had a few demo days on it). I found it hard to tip and wanted to make one radius turn. It could have been the ski as the shorter demo I skied felt nothing like that.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Mac » Tue Mar 10, 2015 1:57 pm

Could have been the ski, but more likely the tune. Your description does not sound anything like the ones I've been on. There are very few shops that I will bring my skis to be tuned, and for good reason. One of the ones I've had good luck with in your neck of the woods is Precision Ski in Frisco. I have been on about three different Rally's, and they were all ridiculously easy to ski, and would make just about any turn radius you wanted. The 2016 ones I'm going to try tomorrow are straight from the factory, no one has had a chance to screw them up yet. I'll let you know what I think of them.
I've told this story before, but it's worth telling again. I remember the first time I ever tried a pair of Head skis, going back about 12 years ago. A pair of the iC180's. Tried them from an on mountain demo at Stowe. On the first run,they were so bad I couldn't wait to get down to the demo tent so I could get them off my feet. Couldn't understand why anyone would buy a pair. As I gave them back, I mentioned that there might be a tune issue with them, and the guy told me that they had just been freshly tuned, so I figured it was just me. A few weeks later, I saw another pair of the same ski at Killington. For curiosity's it sake, I decided to give them another try, my reasoning being that no ski could have been that bad. I ended up liking them so much that I bought a pair that same day, and ended up keeping them longer than any ski I have ever owned.
So don't give up on the Rally just yet. I'll try them again tomorrow and let you know what I think.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby CO_Steve » Tue Mar 10, 2015 3:44 pm

I get my work done at Precision as well with usually good results. The Rallys I had came from a shop in CA that has a great reputation, but everyone messes up once and a while. I was pretty stunned since I had demoed a pair earlier but in the shorter length.

I think we're all looking for that ski that carves like a race ski but is compliant in bumps and a little wider for new snow. The impossible dream?
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Mac » Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:31 pm

The Rally definitely fits the bill for the first two equations. Deep snow, I'm not sure. I suppose if the snow is really deep, and you have a pair of 100mm skis at your disposal, then the Rally may not be the best choice. But I'm not an expert on that subject. I don't own any wide skis, and I don't see deep snow that often. But for anything else, you could do a lot worse than the Rally.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Jjmdane » Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:17 am

Mac, I have the Rally in a 177 and like it for its versatility and ability to shape different terms. I have other skis that make each specific turn in a more precise fashion but for one ski to do everything in,from coaching ,to instructing ,to just free skiing it seems to work well. I take exception with one thing you said, with Heads, the tune you get from the factory is totally capricious. Sometimes it is adequate but other times it is unacceptable and totally changes how the ski was designed to ski.
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Re: Elan rip stick anyone ski these?

Postby Mac » Wed Mar 11, 2015 6:12 pm

Head skis used to have a reputation for coming from the factory with bogus tunes. But that hasn't been the case with the ones I've bought/demoed over the last few years. From my recent experience, I would much prefer to take my chances with the factory tune as compared to the god awful tunes I've been getting out of shops lately.
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