 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi,
Anyone skiing on Elan's at the moment or recently??
I'm looking specifically at Mag 72's or 74's and then the Magfire 78's with the wavy top layer.
I've read something on here from Megamum who reviewed a titanium sheeted Magfire 78 I think but she said they were very heavy, and had to pushed hard to work properly. I've been to ski warehouse and picked some of these up and they do seem twice as heavy as many other skis and about an inch thick under the binding! Seemingly good reviews on the net though.
So what about the lower Mag range? Any good?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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We bought my wife some Mag Spices (female version of the Magfires I believe) from the same shop for use this season. They are reasonably heavy but she has loved every minute of skiing on them. They have great edge grip, bust through crud and uncertain snow, turn nicely but don't have to be driven hard to be enjoyed (she is a smooth and gentle skier). Absolutely spot on skis.
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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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shootingmike, I'm pleased that you remember reading what I put - it makes it worth writing down  . It might be worth bearing in mind that when you read what I put about needing to work them hard to remember that I am only an early intermediate still trying to sort out my carving on stuff steeper than a blue, though now able to get down most reds in some form or another. If you are a better skier you would probably find that your improved technique would make them easier work just because you knew what you were doing. When I got it right they were lovely to ski on. I was able to ski them sufficiently well to realise their potential for someone with a fair bit more skill than me N.B. I am skiing them as a piste ski at the moment despite the purists that say anything over 75mm can't be a psite ski
The wavey pattern on the Elans, as you may have read, causes them to react a little like a sheet of corrugated card. If you flex it in line with the pattern it bends easily, however if grab the opposite corners of a rectangle and twist it is far harder to flex. I believe this is the 'torsional' stiffness in tech speak (though could be wrong).
I'll nudge BMF_skier later for you, he is a much better skier than me and we swapped for a couple of days (I tried his Rossi X O/S ones), I know he found them easier to ski than I did and he might be able to write for you how he found them.
rob@rar also skis a similar ski in the Magfire line IIRC maybe he will be able to give you an opinion too.
N.B. Where did you find a pair - I have heard of people say that they are like gold-dust to get hold of.
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shootingmike, well they are good quality because I have serviced 2 pairs.
But I don't like "alpine" skis (long nose, short tail). But if that's what you are after, I'd definitely put Mags or Magfires on your shortlist.
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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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Think it was Magfire's that I was on in Soelden. WOuldn't have been as much as the 78, so might have been the 72. Certainly not massively heavy, and seemed to turn quite happily. But firstly, I was being coached by rob@rar (who does ski an Elan) and skimottaret, so my skill level changed a lot within the week, and secondly the only other ski I've skied recently is Atomic GS10's (or were they 11's?), and Salomon GS, both of which were much heavier.
Heavy = ploughs right through everything 
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Skidog (my son, ski instructor in Verbier) and his sister (doing BASI1 this summer) ski Elans, SLX Race and SpeedMagic respectively.
Both tell me they are the best skis of their type they have ever used (very much on piste slalom/GS, quasi race spec).
Torsional stiffness is fantastic, edge hold (even on real ice) a dream.
Yes they are heavy...but with titanium sheets full length and wood cores that is no surprise.
I service the skis (kind Dad) and the qaulity is bomber, they should be good for a LOT of skiing.
If weight is an issue for you buy Salomon foam cores, suffer buyer's regret when you have had a few weeks on them and they go flat and dead, and then buy decent skis.
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Another vote for the Magfires - 78s are great. Speedwaves are fun too, if you want to rip it on piste.
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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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Just bought a pair of Speedwave 11s (which as far as I can tell are rebadged last years Speedwave 12s) having skiid on and liked some fairly battered Mag 70s on holiday.
The speedwaves will get their first outing at Tamworth on Sat so will report back. Yes they are quite heavy but as has been said only to be expected with a full Ti layer and wood core. Only places I've found Elan skis in the UK are http://www.swisstimsskis.com/ and Skiwear4less in their shops, on the web and their ebay store.
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shootingmike, I wouldn't describe these as the 'lightest ski' i've ever used but I didn't find that a problem once they were on the snow. No issues and good on piste.
I dont think Megamum will be handing them back to me anytime soon.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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shootingmike,
Keep us posted on what you get. Ski Warehouse has some 176cm Mag 72s for a very nice price which I'm trying to resist buying.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Don't resist sbirring, they look cracking good skis for the price!
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I've looked at the Mag 72's and 74's but I don't know if the magfires would be better. To be honest, I think the Mag's would do the trick having looked at Elan's website....
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You know it makes sense.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The other thing about the waveflex technology, if you are into such things, is the tactile nature of it. The skis look and feel unlike any others and just invite you to run your hands over them. I have had my hands on a number of pairs of Elan's now mens and womens and they all seem good solid stuff with good build quality. The other thing I noticed with the Magfires was the excellent edge hold on hard pack and those wind blown solid surfaces with little snow left on them. I'm still not overly confident on those sorts of surface, but the Magfires def. gave me more confidence in dealing with slopes like that than the wave-magics did.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Megamum, Yep they are very wibbly wobbly tactile aren't they! And the transparent top on my speedwaves make them all the more interesting being able look right down into the heart of the ski! Can't wait to give them a go at the weekend.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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davkt, I haven't seen the speedwaves and didn't know they had a transparent top sheet - they sound like my green magfires which also have this quality - their top sheet is full of black dots which gives an intriguing 3D quality when you look into the ski which sounds like the effect you describe. The Magfires top sheet also has kind of silky fabric like quality which just adds to their appeal IMV.
Lots of people speak about the way a ski looks, some like the Icelantic graphics, some the simplicity of a hand made ski which shows the beauty of the wood it is made from, but in terms of asthetic appeal the waveflex skis certainly do have 'something' about them, and that's in addition to the fact that the technology also seems to perform well too.
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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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Another slightly annoying Elan site but if you look at the Speedwave 12s on here http://speedwave.elanskis.com/pc.asp?xpath=&xpathid= the sort of honeycomb pattern you see on the skis is actually the metal reinforcement buried deep in the ski. In fact the whole body of the ski is transparent or translucent so you see that pattern through the sides as well. The speedwaves also have a raw silk sort of texture to the topsheets.
Thats the site (along with an online review which shows them to be the 08/09 ones) that has convinced me my 11s are last years 12s as apart from saying 11 instead of 12 in a couple of places they are identical to those!
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Davkt, if I'm not mistaken the Speedwave 11 series are a special range designed specifically for chains like Intersport stores. I believe the main difference between Speedwave 11 and 12 is the fact that the 11s don't have the single titanium sheet that the 12s have. The 14s have two titanium sheets if I'm not mistaken.
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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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Troggers, Yep they are Intersport but from the chatter on the Elan site it looks like a variety of skis have had the Speedwave 11 tag put to them.
Some folks have them with printing on the ski saying they have a lithium layer (which makes them speedwave 10ish), some have them with printing on the ski saying single layer titanium like the SW12s, making them closer to the 12. Mine are (as far as I can tell!) this years model of SW11. Mine don't have any printing saying what the reinforcement layer is (but its clear to see it is there through the transparent topsheet!), but if they aren't last years 12s Elan have gone to an awful lot of trouble to make them look as though they are! Same colour, same appearance of the metal layer (the 10s with a Lithium layer look difference) same graphice but for a bit of text, same bindings.
As I said the only difference between mine and the pics of the 08/09 12s found all over the web is the number 11 in a couple of places and a few lines of text not printed on the tails. Elan don't seem to be saying what the 11s really are but judging from the user comments on their website I guess they may have labled up whatever spare stock of the SW10-12ish range they had as an 11s as there seem to be 2 or 3 variations out there!
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Davkt - I tried that ski selector but it seemed to suggest skis that aren't currently available. Is that maybe an old link? Also, where did you pick your speedwave's up from out of interest??
Ski warehouse also have a few older pairs such as Speed X 4 and Mag 6 but it's tricky to find out if they'd be suitable or not...
I think overall the Mag 72's or 74's would be about right for me. Not too technical and a good all rounder...
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Just tried again and it recommends two versions of the "Flow" which I've never heard of!!
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Yep the Mags and Magfires look good, my Speedwaves came from the swisstimsskis ebay shop (which is the sales function of the site I link to above).
Talking to the folks in the Tamworth Skiwear4less (Ski Warehouse) shop they said the Speed X4 and Mag 6 would be a good step up from beginners skis to take someone through the intermediate piste skiier stage or the Mag 74 a good choice if you were a good intermidiate looking for something a bit more versatile and that would last you a while as you got better.
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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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shootingmike, Yep SLX and 2-3 pairs of GLX
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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So far only skied an hour at the Tamworth fridge on my SW11s but WOW!!!!!! Fast, agile, easy to turn and equally happy doing really tight turns round the cones set out for the kids lessons and the snowboarders sitting all over the slope (as usual!) or turns as big and sweeping as the indoor slope allow, oh and did I say FAST!!!!! I know with these on my feet I'd have easily picked up the couple of seconds (an more) separating my 3rd place from first place in the end of holiday slalom a few weeks back.
Felt way more responsive and more precise in doing what I intended than the X Wing Tornadoes and K2 Apache Crossfires I tried out at the Whiteknights event at the Snowdome a fer weeks back (and only cost about half as much as those two!).
Conditions were as icy as I've ever seen the snowdome, looks like they'd had a big freestyle bash on last night and the slope was a bit the worse for wear but these skis loved it! Perfect manners and well behaved on the ice even for me (1 week in the mountains and an hour a week most weeks since early Nov at the Snowdome). Can't wait to let these loose on the mountains at the EoSB!
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FAQ
However, it does now mean I've got the Magfires 
