Radical Freeride 175

A snowHead

Hi

I recently bought a pair of these skis and just got back from a week in the 3 Valleys, France. I'm a reasonably competent skier with 5 weeks some 15 years back and 6 weeks over the past 4 seasons, but still a lot to learn!

I previously had Dynastar Contact 9's (165) which I did like a lot - they gripped well and carved amazingly, but I had seen the Radical skis each week at Sandown Park Ski Shop (Surrey) when I took my daughter to ski club and thought 'They shall be mine!'

Anyway - the first 2 days were very warm and slushy in the afternoons and this was really heavy going and whilst the skis coped very well I will withold judgement on that due to the conditions, for now.

After fresh snow I went off piste in powder and found the skis came in to their own - floating well and allowing me a degree of fun I had not experienced before. I have Marker Jester bindings and the whole package allows a degree of ease in spinning/twisting the ski which I came to appreciate over the week. I found I did far more off piste than usual, simply because I enjoyed it so much on these skis. As the literature states in their brochure - they are very light and lively - and when skiing I could tell exactly what they meant.

I was initially more concerned on piste though, finding limited grip in turns and whilst 'side-slipping' was a breeze when required, I found the lack of grip meant I lost confidence on piste.

I am not sure if the edges were not suitably 'sharp' from the factory (though I have emailed the to clarify if edging is typically required in the shop before sale) or if it were something else to blame (i.e. ME!) .....

On my last day I somehow realised that in order to carve these skis well I had to lean them over more than my previous skis, but when done I was rewarded accordingly. Not sure if this is due to the wideness of the ski, or the larger 'turning circle' (or both) in comparison to my Dynastars - but how much more reassuring it felt when I realised this, so piste became far more fun too.

All in I came to love the new skis through the 8 days using them and I can't wait to use them again.

Anyone else tried them?

Cheers

Nig

A snowHead

bit expensive, no?? worth the extra ducats?

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hia

well - skis were £650 and £160 bindings .... so yes, more costly than many I guess. I suppose that's what you pay for Carbon and Kevlar really (same with MTB parts too).

Firstly, it took me a few days to get used to them - but I love them now.

Certainly lighter than anything else I have seen.

I've not tried other all-mountain skis, but I prefer them to the Dynastars I had, so yes worth it to me!

Nig

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Nigel H, top tip - don't put your email address in your signature. It will get picked up by spammers and the onslaught will be relentless...

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Radical Freeride 175

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