Atomic Nomad Savage vs. Renu

A snowHead

I'm pondering some new skis... I've skied the Atomic Nomad Renu a couple of times (the one that looks like it's made of wood - well, it *is* made of wood but the design makes is look like a plank, no colours on the top sheet and no graphics to speak of). I love this ski. It's fat enough for powder/crud/slush but on piste feel like a GS ski (to me, who has never actually raced GS or any other discipline). It's a great fun ski and a good compliment to my fatter BD Verdicts which have a touring set up (great if it's soft, so-so on very hard pistes).

Anyway, I'd happily go and buy the Renu but Atomic stopped making them. I'm sure I can get an ex-rental pair but before I do that I thought I'd look for an equivalent. Atomic do make the Nomad Savage which has exactly the same dimensions as the Renu, and apart from the colour and binding rails it seems to be the very same ski. Or at least it was last season. This season they have modified it slightly to add some blah-blah "adaptive rocker" cr@p to it. Is this just marketing rubbish? I don't have a problem with rocker, but it seems like they are using the fact that a ski flexes when you put it on edge to try and claim it has some rocker which magically does not change the effective edge. I'm more than happy to ignore this, and I'm hoping to demo them on my next trip to see for myself, but I thought I'd ask to see if anyone has skied this and has any views?

A snowHead

could just get the renu Wink

http://www.snowtraxstore.co.uk/atomic-nomad-renu-skis-atomic-ffg-12-binding-2011

savage will be stiffer due to the metal in the ski.

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

dansmith, Excellent! Thanks. Now, the only thing I'm pondering is if the newer one is better because of the increased stiffness... Perhaps I'd better just try and demo a pair and find out for myself, it's the only way really.

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sah,

Finding it really hard to get a review of the Renu...what's it like compared to the other Nomads??

Thanks

Dan

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Can't say for sure as I have never skied the others, but I *think* it is pretty much the same as the Savage. Not sure if they make the Savage anymore, and I know they discontinued the Renu. I managed to snap up the last pair from Snowtrax (as above - thanks to dansmith for the tip:-) ), and they had some ex-rentals in St Anton but I think they'll be hard to find now. I think Ski Bartlett had a couple of pairs at the end of last season. I would really recommend it is a great all round ski, it seems particularly good in crud and slush, but I also loved it in powder and it's a nice ski on the piste too.

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Thanks sah

I'm really tempted as there are some I've seen on sale but I can't find anything about them. Also considering a second hand pair of K2 xplorers (have and love the Cossfires but need something better at crud/powder as going to Tahoe in January)

The renu looks a great deal (£230 inc binding, new) but I'm worried it might be a little softer than the savage...

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

After all it is free

Thanks sah - certainly does seem like a bargain...only problem is that they come with Rossignol Axium bindings (still DIN 12) which AR their basic ones...probably worth going for though.

Could you fill me in any more about how you've found them. I'm amazed I can't find anything on the Internet about how they ski or any reviews.

As you say, 93mm is as wide as I want, and a little softer than the Savage Ti would be no bad thing, but as I mainly ski in Europe I was hoping to find out how they cope on the piste and in crud.

Any comparisons would be fantastic

Thanks

Mine came with Atomic bindings, but they were also pretty basic (actually they are Salomons with the Atomic logo on them I think). Anyway, the nice thing about cheaper bindings it that they weigh much less than the beefy ones I ski on DIN 10, so *maybe* a binding that only goes up to 12 isn't the best idea, but it works.

How do I find them... hard to say, but here’s how I came to own the which may help you.

I own a pair of pretty fat (98mm) Black Diamond Verdicts which are a touring set up, I usually ski on these even when doing a piste based weekend trip with the lads. A couple of years ago I ended up flying with an airline that seemed to want a lot of money to transport them, and I'd just had a weekend of skiing boiler plate on them (not much fun to be honest), so I cut my losses and left the fatties at home and rented a pair. Conditions were heavy spring snow so I asked the guy in the shop for advice (who was pretty friendly and knowledgeable) and he suggested I tried the Renu. I was sceptical about them being marketed as an “environmentaly friendly” ski, I worried that it was just some nonsense to cover up for the fact that they are an average ski but he made me take them and promised that if I didn’t like them I could take any other rental pair in the shop instead for the same price (they were not even top of the range in rental price). So I took them and was all set to ski for a couple of hours then come back and exchange them. In the end I skied for about 2 days in them before I decided I needed to own them, they were great in heavy crud and slush (no powder that week), and they were more than OK on hard pack (certainly far, far better than the BDs). The environmental thing is probably a load of rubbish to be honest, but they are light, stiff for their weight and just handle so nicely . At the end of the week I asked about buying a pair of ex-rentals thinking I'd get a good deal as it was late season. No chance, they wanted well over €500 for a pair that had been used all season, apparently I was not the only one with this idea and the guy in the shop said they were a bit of a cult ski that season. So I forgot all about them and went back to my normal set up then last Jan I had another weekend trip where it was going to be a pain to take my fatties so I went to rent again. I had forgotten about the Renu so I was poking around in the stock and chatting with the rental guy, he pulled out a few different ones but so many of them were really wide, and although there was some powder to be had I knew I wouldn't enjoy a massive ski. Then I saw a pair of the Renus and asked for those. They guy said something along the lines of "ah, so you know then..." and smiled at me. I told him I wanted to buy a pair but that they seemed expensive and he said I should move quick because they were no longer made and that in his view the replacement (I assume the Savage) was not as good. So I asked again about buying ex rental, this time I’d probaobly have paid €500 but they only had really “well used” ones by now, so I went away to think about it. Then I got home and posted the message above, got the reply and bought a pair from Snow Trax. I skied a week of very varied snow on my own new pair – powder, piste, heavy slush and found that they just ruled in all of these.

There is a bit of a post script though – I found that after a few days a 2-3mm gap appeared between the base and the edges, and not just in one place but in a few spot along the length. I sent them back to Snow Trax and they replaced them as it was clearly a manufacturing defect. So, worth checking for this if you do buy a pair. I’m pretty sure it was a one off issue, but I’ve not skied the replacement pair yet (!). Oh, and well done Snow Trax for customer service.

Honestly, for £230 I don’t think you can go wrong. If you buy the 177s I’ll gladly take them off you if you don’t like them, I’m already worried about what I’ll do if I kill these somehow.

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Thanks so much sah - really useful review and I think you've convinced me. Slightly worried about the edge coming off but as you say hopefully and one off!

My current ski's are only 70mm in the waist (K2 Crossfires) and although I absolutely love them they just don't lift at all in powder (I am 105kg and only have the 174cm skis). They also get knocked around a fair bit in crud hence looking for something wider to take with me to Lake Tahoe in January.

I had been looking around the 85mm width but it seems that wider skis nowadays are getting great write-ups for their piste ability, and the benefit of going wider is that I'd have a narrow pair for piste-based trips and a wider pair for when that suited better. Have you tried anything else narrower than your Black Diamonds on the piste? When I was at Whistler a few years back I demo's quite a few of the wider skis (mainly Atomic Nomads...the Savage and Blackeye from memory) and although they were better at crud and powder than mine they felt too heavy and "dull" on the piste and less playful.

Thanks again for a great write-up...apart from the fact you've just cost me a few hundred quid I really appreciate it!

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I rented a pair of much narrower skis for a day a couple of years ago when I'd had enough of skiing boiler plate with my fatties, they were Nordica Spitfires which were about 70mm from memory. They were OK on the piste (took a bit of getting used to going form 98mm), but I wouldn't buy a pair like that, I don't particularly want to ski hard pack so a specialist hard pack ski is not for me. I don't think I'd ever buy a ski less wide than the Renus because I much prefer to be off piste, but maybe when conditions are seriously hard I might rent a narrower pair again in future.

snow reports

Just received my Renu skis in the post, mounted with Marker Jester bindings. They look incredible...far better in the flesh than the photos

Haven't had a chance to ski them yet but so far very happy...also got a great deal from Glisshop - £245 for new skis and high end bindings seems like a very impressive price, delivered free and they even texted with an hour delivery window. Communication was great via email

Just need to get them on the slopes now!! Got a trip booked in a few weeks to Italy but might be a little icy for them...luckily im going to west coast of America in jan!!

Help!!

Atomic Nomad Savage vs. Renu

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