Decathalon own brand skis any good ?

A snowHead

Just wondering any snowheads here own a pair and how do they compare with mainstream brands,

any opinhons on these
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/rns-500-rf10-or-xp-10-pack-47590201/

Im Intermediate, 90% on piste, comfy on blues reds and will attempt blacks once snow is in good condition

Thanks

A snowHead

It seems unlikely that they'll be 'good,' but probably good enough for a beginner/early intermediate.

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

kendub, I don't have those, but we have some of the decathlon short skis, which are fine. And generally their stuff does what it says on the tin. At that price I think they'd be a good buy.

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

kendub, if they are anything like their boards, then no.

My board cost around £75 without bindings.

I did sell it for around £45 after a weeks use though. I had never boarded before buying it.

If you are an intermediate I'd say they are not good enough.

Don't Decathlon sell more mainstream brands though as well?

Just noticed Rossignol. They will be much better.

Or get an end of season deal. Loads of deals out there at the moment.

I'd say something like this:
http://www.skiwear4less.com/acatalog/Elan_Mag_4_Skis___Bindings.html

would blow away any Decathlon rubbish.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I don't know about performance, but my eldest boy has a Decathlon board which has seen 6 weeks use & still looks good.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Bikeandsnow,

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

I don't know much about Decathon ski stuff but my view of their gear for running, road cycling and mountain biking is:
excellent at the beginner level (almost unbeatable)
very good at the intermediate level (worth considering)
lacking at the expert level (not their forte)

I was told by a former employee of Decathlon that Salomon manufactured their skis for them. I can't confirm this and have never bought any skis from them and he was only 17 at the time he worked there but it does seem feasible.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Karine Ruby (RIP) had pro model snowboards made for her by Decathlon (unless they were other brands painted up)+ I seem to recall a couple of years ago a French pro freeskier had designed a burly big mountain ski for them and was going to ski it on the FWT. Unlikely that the top end schmutter is available far from Sallanches however.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

kendub, I have heard that they're Dynastar seconds under a new name. Decathlon tends as, Pam says, to produce "good enough" kit. Probably fine.

Without trying to sound rude or hubristic, at your level you won't notice the difference.

I'd quite like to try them so that I can form my own opinion. Then again, Dynastar and I had a huge fall out around 1993 so maybe I'd hate them.

snow reports

Reason I ask a mate has these , his turns are excellent, one thing we did notice was when they dont glide as fast over flat pistes, which involved a little more poling on the decathalons

Hi Macsmith

What do the terms mean :
3D construction,
edge to edge cap,
full length metal reinforcement,
Extruded base,
stone finish.
Pre-attached bindings

kendub, the terms mean a well paid marketing manager.

In the absence of any other information (your friend may well be not as good as you at keeping his skis flat, f'r instance) it's more likely the tuning of his skis than anything wrong with the bases. I'd be amazed (and I stand to be, frequently) if there's much difference between any manufacturers' bases.

You know it makes sense.

kendub, is your mate lighter than you, are his skis shorter? Other than that there's gliding skills, there's presenting a lower profile to air resistance eg tucking. And of course tuning - structure on bases, knapp, wax etc.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

kendub, some of the words mean something

Extruded base, cheaper way of making a ptex base, better skis will have a sintered base. Extruded will be fine, but softer.

edge to edge cap: cap construction (top layer is rounded) rather than traditional vertical sandwich sidewalls, generalisation is it tends to make a more forgiving ski, cheaper to make

full length metal reinforcement: they will probably have a metal sheet under the cap to stiffen the ski

under a new name, I have found there is a lot of difference between bases. My very old x screams bases seemed very soft and just had to see a tiny rock and big gouges would appear, however newer fischer kehua bases seem as hard as nails, (that is tempting fate however!! touch wood and all that!)

A snowHead

kendub, under a new name, the base of my Decathlon board was very slow on flat sections. My second board - a K2 - was much quicker.

Now bear in mind this was 4 years ago. And I got a cheap (around £75) board.

But the base was nowhere near as good as the p-tex based on the K2. In fact it wasn't p-tex at all. Not sure what it was.

As Higs says, usually unbeatable (at RRP) for beginners in a variety of sports. For intermediates, look elsewhere than their own branded stuff.

I've used Decathlon for about 6 years. Just my experience.

A snowHead

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

Bikeandsnow,

You can't compare Decathlon's bottom of the range board with a K2 that is likely to be 3/4 time sthe prices.
The £75 board (mine was actually £69) was an access board just to get going. It's cheap (no woodcore, cap construction, soft flex), clearly advertised as beginner board with no other pretention. I used mine for 2 weeks before moving on. It served its purpose at the time where buying a £300 Burton board would not have made a difference.

If you want to compare Decathlon's boards to other brands,it's a legitimate attitude but do it with comparable products/prices.

As mentionned above, Decathlon are great to provide great value for money products in pretty much any sport. They'll provide good gear at prices so much more attractive than brand names.

The stuff I buy from them for rugby, my camel back, cycling accessories are just a bargain compared to other brands. And in 90% case they are just as good..

They do fall a bit short on the high end/highly technical stuff: not quite enough choice, not quite good/technical enough so then the real specialist brands are the ones to turn to and the price premium is maybe justified.

You have to keep in mind they started as a simple reseller and only gradually went into porducing/selling their own brands and only more recently into actually designing the stuff themselves. So they don't have the history/experience required yet for the high end stuff...

My criticsm of them is linked to the above: They used too have a good balance in their stores of their own stuff/brand names. I don't think they do anymore , which is a shame because IMV theyr're not the on stop shop they used to be..

To come back to the OP, irrespective of the brand those skis were £200 all in not discounted, so by most standards they are very cheap. Thus they won't be the best. They're advertised as leisure skis and should be treated as such...They might be qood quality (i.e. will last, well built etc..) but they're at the lower end of the technical scale. Don't expect too much, just read what it says on the tin...

Help!!

Decathalon own brand skis any good ?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions