Had the opportunity to demo supershapes (165) today. Here's my impressions (note: I ski Atomic SL9's in 160 length normally, similar radius, similar geometry):
First, I only did gromers, soft snow, easy (soft) conditions, various slope pitches.
- the SS's feel heavier, literally, that is, lifting/carrying them they feel substantially heavier than my atomics.
- the SS's seem to be much better at absorbing vibration than my atomics - I could already in the T-bar notice that there are much more "calm" while my atomics really do vibrate (high freq.) a lot. Could perhaps be b/c the SS's are heavier, or due to design & materials.
- the atomics feel quicker edge-to-edge, but the diff is not substantial. My transitions were quciker with the atomics, but that might be because of milage diff's
- once in a carve, the SS's are more forgiving and stable than the atomics - I felt that I had to be more alert with my atomics to hold the edge set in a carve on steeper pitches...
All in all, a nice ski, and should I consider buying new skis, the SS's would definitely be on the short list.
--T
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