 Poster: A snowHead
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Black Crow 'Navis Freebird' vs Kastle TX97
I am looking to buy a pair of touring skis with the bias being towards the way down rather than the way up.
I skied the TX97 touring in the Lyngen Alps this season and they are terrific skis.
I am planning on joining a ski expedition to Greenland this winter so was thinking of something a little wider underfoot for the (hopefully) big powder descents .
The freebird is 102 underfoot cf 97 for the TX , has anybody skied the navis freebird and willing to share their wisdom??
Cheers,bob
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Nope.
But I'd wait for the Corvus Freebird coming for this season, given what you're looking for (not that I've skied them, mind).
183cm and 109mm underfoot - looked REALLY nice at ISPO. And even better, they're bright pink!!!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm quite a fan of the Praxis Freeride for downhill focused touring (I'd call it 'touring for turns' trips).
The Freerides are the perfect 'do everything' ski - super versatile. A bit of tip rocker but not so fun shaped that they can't be driven hard. I wouldn't want to do a long hut to hut trip on them, but they provide a good balance between being light enough to go uphill but still performing in variable snow. Wide enough to have some fun in the powder and yet can still provide some fun on the piste.
The big difference that I have found with the Praxis skis that I have (Freerides and GPO) is that, while the overall stiffness of the ski is not too burly, the tips seem to be stiffer than similar skis from most other brands who typically go for very soft tips and then stiff underfoot. This makes the Praxis a bit better at speed and pushing through variable conditions, but at the expense of some playfulness at slower speeds.
I also thought that the Whitedot Ranger 108 looked like a great option but have never skied it.
I also looked at the Corvus but decided that it was too heavy to do any serious uphill on.
Ben
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Navis Freebird was on my shopping list but I'm afraid I didn't try it before buying Ranger Carbonlites. Can't help you on the Navis but if you want to add to your shortlist I'd recommend the whitedots - light, big and very playful.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Also Down's new YW8 series - 102 underfoot and either 179 or 186 long. Somewhere around 1400g a ski I think... And CD107 for a bit more freeride-y feel.
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| BenA wrote: |
I'm quite a fan of the Praxis Freeride for downhill focused touring (I'd call it 'touring for turns' trips).
Ben |
Interesting, I really did not get on with the Praxis Freeride at all. Besides a completely unskiable tune from the factory (I'm a decent skier and I was literally unable to finish a blue run without cursing and stopping every 5-10 metres, and I was with a friend on new Praxis Yetis with exactly the same problem), they never came alive to me even after two additional tunes in St Anton, when they became skiable at least. Always felt the tips would dive or would not initiate the turn, never really trusted the skis so skied backseat all the time. You'd have to pay me to ski on them again.
The Whitedot Ranger Carbonlites or the DPS 112s (haven't tried the 99s) are marvels by comparison.
(But I know there are some excellent skiers who are great fans of Praxis, maybe my friend and I just got a bad batch from the factory).
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Horizon - I sold my DPS112rp's and the Freerides replaced them!
I absolutely agree that the tips on the Freerides are more prone to dive in super soft - the 112's were unsinkable - and this is part of the trade off that I mentioned with the stiff tips. I find for Euro skiing though, the Praxis are a good compromise where I find most skis too soft up front.
Never had any problems with the tune on groomers though.
Where did you mount BTW? I initially laughed at the forward mount and mounted rearward and they skied terribly. Then moved the bindings to the recommended line and they were a different ski.
Ben
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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And again in the whitedot rangers. I have the regular rather than the carbon and they are fantastic. Not the best in any one particular situation but very good across the board. Very stable and predictable.
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| Also Down's new YW8 series - 102 underfoot and either 179 or 186 long. Somewhere around 1400g a ski I think... And CD107 for a bit more freeride-y feel. |
I'm trying out the 186's this season. Be interesting to compare to the Rangers.
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