Choices among Head skis?

[JohnMoore]

I reckon that Head's XRC 800, c260i and c280i would probably all be very good skis for me to get. I skied last week on i.c180s and was very taken with them but they're no longer made. So, a couple of questions:

1. Has anyone skied on more than one of the models mentioned above and is able to give a comparison?

2. What length should I go for? I'm what would be classed Advanced/Intermediate or maybe Advanced, in European terms, for piste skiing, I'm 5'11" tall and weigh 147lb. I will probably realistically be skiing 75% on piste, 25% off. The i.c180s I hired were 170cm and they felt great. But the day before, I hired some iSL's at 165cm and they also felt great. I'm tempted to go for 163cm, but is that going to be too short for me? (I know it wouldn't be on a slalom ski, but is it for an all-round ski?)

TIA

[JohnMoore]

Incidentally, Peter Keelty's review of the XRC 800 says, among other things:

"OK up to moderate speed...Not for aggressive and truly fast experts."

Now, this is probably irrelevant to me but I don't want to buy a ski I'll end up outgrowing quickly. Has anyone else found there to be a 'speed limit' on this ski? I wonder whether this is like the Head i.c160, which was sold as a ski for aspiring intermediates but which turns out to be good enough for Harald as well.

[violao]

John, as you may guess I'm facing the same dilemma. Currently I'm biased slightly towards C260i, but as I found no bad review for any of them I'd probably get whatever I got better deal for. Same goes for Fischer RX6 & 8 that are on my list too. You'll find a lot consumer reviews of these skis at epic, all of them very positive.

[JohnMoore]

Yes, I noticed your post on a similar subject. Like you, I'm inclined to go for whichever I can get cheaper. Having skied the i.c180 lately, my preference would actually be for the c280i, but it seems less common.

Out of curiosity, where do you typically ski? Is there much skiing in Croatia, or do you head to Slovenia or Austria? And are you a big Kostelic fan?

[violao]

Not much, but we do have a FIS piste in the neighborhood. Not particularily steep but most of the time very hard and icy (EDIT: that's why I asked for hardpack/ice handling in the other thread). Austria and Italy are our favorite destinations. Last month I've been in Livigno - a great resort for intermediates. And quite cheap too.

[Billy Dee NJ]

Incidentally, Peter Keelty's review of the XRC 800 says, among other things:

"OK up to moderate speed...Not for aggressive and truly fast experts."

Now, this is probably irrelevant to me but I don't want to buy a ski I'll end up outgrowing quickly. Has anyone else found there to be a 'speed limit' on this ski? I wonder whether this is like the Head i.c160, which was sold as a ski for aspiring intermediates but which turns out to be good enough for Harald as well.

John,
I suppose I'd be classified as an somewhat aggressive skier (on intermediate terrain at least) and tend to ski fast on same, but am nowhere near an expert (yet).
Now that I have 11 days on the XRC 800's I can say that they have never even seemed close to being problematic at speed. Problematic in my mind being "chattering" or whatever you call it when the ski starts to flop around at high speeds. I have found that they really do "hug" the terrain and give me a confidence that my Atomic 9.18's never gave.

Hope that helps...

[JohnMoore]

Thanks for that. It sounds like the i.c180s I hired - they seemed to keep a tight grip on the ground, whatever I was doing and at whatever speed, even in the icy conditions I had for the last couple of days. I definitely couldn't imagine a point where they might be a limiting factor on my skiing.

[Defcon]

How different is the XRC 1100 compared to the XRC 800? I know the 1100 is a more advanced ski but is it still manageable by intermediates looking to improve (thats me). I'm not talking about the 1100sw which I understand to be a more unforgiving ski due to race construction.

I'm asking because I just bought the 1100 super railflex 2 (not the chip system) as I could not pass up the deal I was getting, and the 800 would have been out of my budget. I guess I'm just looking for some reassurance

[rbrooks]

Last year I demoed that ski at the G/B camp, and this year I bought the chip version. Rich and Diana liked both skis.