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Head isl rd vs Head isl - what's the difference?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Can anyone tell me the difference between the Head isl slalom ski and the Head isl rd?

Ta

Jean
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
The rd stands for race department, they are the full on race version.

Great skis Very Happy
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If they are anything like the GS RD skis they will be both heavier and stiffer than the non RD skis if you have the strength or weight to make them perform you will find them fantastic if not they will really make you work hard.

I never regretted getting my Head GS RD skis, for an on piste ski I think you will have to go a very long way to improve on them, BUT I can leg press 260kg on either leg and I'm well over 100Kg in weight combined with nearly 40 years of ski experience, if you don't have the strength and skill to use such skis you will just waste your money, if you do you will never want another lesser pair of on piste skis snowHead

Just to really upset the racers I wear a pair of Rossignol Soft 1 Ski boots when using my GS RD skis, something that a. 99% of people couldn't do and stay in control and b. 99% of experts will tell you is really stupid. I freely admit that it's not the best idea in the world, however the comfort I get using those boots surpasses any others I've tried over the years, giving me a good snug fit without causing me pain, when recreationally skiing I'd rather ski in comfort than put on race boots and ski faster but in pain. It does mean I depend on ankle and calf strength more than I would in a stiffer boot, but I have plenty of that, sufficient in fact to be able to make a race boot flex almost as much as a recreational boot Embarassed Laughing
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The RD skis are stiffer but are more rewarding to ski on if you are able to deal with them.

D G Orf, Thank you soooo much for telling us how strong you are!
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D G Orf wrote:
If they are anything like the GS RD skis they will be both heavier and stiffer than the non RD skis if you have the strength or weight to make them perform you will find them fantastic if not they will really make you work hard.

I never regretted getting my Head GS RD skis, for an on piste ski I think you will have to go a very long way to improve on them, BUT I can leg press 260kg on either leg and I'm well over 100Kg in weight combined with nearly 40 years of ski experience, if you don't have the strength and skill to use such skis you will just waste your money, if you do you will never want another lesser pair of on piste skis snowHead
:



Thanks for the full “low down” on your ski and physical ability.

Race department skis can be good for any decent skier, In my experience RD GS skies can help you improve your level of skiing by a huge amount, if you notice most Austrian ski instructors particularly Landeslehrer and above will all use GS skis (less so offpiste obviously, but some still do...) it’s seen as common practice in the industry to do so, as it’s said if you can ski everything on a GS ski reasonably well, you can ski pretty much anything full stop!
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IME RD skis seem to be paired and dimensioned, so you can be sure that both skis have pretty much the same flex/rebound pattern, but I've never managed to work out exactly what the numbers mean.
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Philbo, skilehrer89, This is not a boast it's just a practical issue, I have friends who are very experienced ski teachers and they would not choose to use RD skis because of the extra stiffness and weight even though their ability far exceeds my own, to get the most out of RD skis you either need better than average skills on the snow or a weight/strength advantage, for recreational/holiday skiers true RD skis would generally be too stiff which means they would tire more rapidly unless they have the forementioned weight/strength advantage.

Note there has at least in the past been two levels of RD skis from Head (and possibly others) a Cap type ski labeled up as RD and a non cap ski also labeled up as RD, now if I understand things correctly the Cap skis are a step up from the regular versions of the skis whilst the non Cap skis are true Race Skis and generally only available from a few specialists, in the UK this used to pretty much be Ski Bartlett (I have no idea if this is still the case).

skimax, I have no idea how much ski experience you have, I'd say the following, if you are an experienced skier and this is not your first pair of skis then by all means consider the RD Heads, they will help improve your technique and they will give really good performance, but if you are less experienced or this is your first pair of skis I'd advise you to not get the RD skis because RD skis are unforgiving, they react faster and harder which racers (and to a lesser extent experienced skiers) want, think of them a little like a car, the i-SL skis are the equivalent of going into a showroom and driving out in a Porsche, the i-SL RD skis are the equivalent of going to Porsche and getting a race spec car, on the outside they look almost the same but stick a 30 year old driver in the car from the showroom and he'd probably be fine, stick him in the factory race car and things might get a bit twitchy

Oh and Philbo, skilehrer89, I probably only have the strength because I'm so badly overweight, I'd much rather be weaker and slimmer Embarassed I ski on a pair of Head i-GS RD skis not because I want to blaze down the mountain showing off but because they suit my old style of skiing and their extra stiffness helps counteract my obesity, I can use my weight and strength to push them to near optimum performance and not suffer from tiredness a better skier than I could probably do the same with ease, but they do not suit an inexperienced or even an average skier who would find them heavy to carry and possibly hard to control, I'm not the only one to think so the year I brought my Head skis they were tested for one of the ski mags by one of the Bell brothers who said more or less the same thing.
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I guess the Op would have found his answer by now being a couple of months since he asked the question, as he wasn't asking about gs skis they may well have been mainly for UK use, maybe a bit of plastic or dome racing, so the issues of fatigue may not even be an issue.
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D G Orf, Head haven't had a cap ski with RD on it for many years. In fact, I'm not sure of any head skis with a cap construction. One of the reasons I use them is that they are good, traditional sandwich construction skis.
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Philbo, Well I did say it was a while ago and I wasn't sure what they did now, however similar comments still apply for the GS skis even if not for the Slalom as I notice that the official GS ski has a turn radius of I think 35M whilst the other GS RD skis have something nearer 25M , I know other manufacturers do similar things i.e you may get a Ski that says RD on it but in fact it doesn't meet FIS specs for racing. True race skis require either a higher level of skill to control or in effect an increased level of weight/strength when compared to ordinary skis, as I also said before this should not be taken as a boast I just don't want people to go out and buy a pair of skis that they will find difficult to control or that wears them out when skiing recreationally
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Another difference between the skis is that the RD uses a much much better race plate, the non RD uses the cheapo thin plastic binding plate as per the recreational skis..
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D G Orf wrote:
I notice that the official GS ski has a turn radius of I think 35M whilst the other GS RD skis have something nearer 25M , I know other manufacturers do similar things i.e you may get a Ski that says RD on it but in fact it doesn't meet FIS specs for racing.

Both of those are FIS spec skis, it is valid to label them as RD.

You are not helping to answer the OP's question, just stop.
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skimottaret wrote:
.....the non RD uses the cheapo thin plastic binding plate as per the recreational skis..

That plate is shoite, bordering on dangerous. I've seen loads of pull-outs from them. Anyone that has them should at least Araldite in the binding screws. Pity 'cause Head make some great skis. Best to buy 'em in the flat & put on a decent plate.
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Quote:

I notice that the official GS ski has a turn radius of I think 35M whilst the other GS RD skis have something nearer 25M


Just to clarify - The IGS RD for next season comes in several sizes and radii. The ladies non WC ski has a radius of 30m, Mens WC ski has a radius of 35m whilst the standard IGS RD has a radius of <23m for women and <27m for men this complies with FIS regs for next season.

The 35m for men (30m for women) ski is only necessary at Europa cup and above.
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spyderjon, I have had three pull out on me and got injured once as a result, have given up on the rec plates on the Titans... You will be getting some installation business soon Smile
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 Poster: A snowHead
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I don't think that D G Orf was boasting about his ability, but rather clarified what is needed for race stock skis. 'Able to deal with skis' can be little bit misleading because different skis require different effort for dealing. WC slalom skis are very stiff and edge change is super fast, tails release out of the turn immediately. You need to be strong/athletic to be able to flex them properly or controlling the skis will be hard. Less than solid techinque and World Cup skis will happily have your ACL for lunch without a prior warning.
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never summer, thankyou, that's much better than I managed to put it but sums up what I was trying to say Embarassed
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skimottaret wrote:
I have had three pull out on me and got injured once as a result


I have that plastic plate on my pair of iSL RD skis. From a safety point of view, should I be looking to change my plate? Or, as you are familiar with my skiing ability, am I OK to remain on the plastic one? Essentially, I don't charge on these skis (yet), so wondering if the plastic plate will suffice for the time being.

Alternatively, should I just use Araldite as Spyderjon suggests? I love my ACLs wink
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c0Ka|Ne, The plastic RD plate (see here or here) is fine, it won't pull out.

What is fitted to your skis ?
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First picture, with the white/yellow binding (5th ski from the right, the tip of the plate is red)
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c0Ka|Ne, you're sugnificantly lighter than skimottaret so much less likely to pull out binding screws.
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c0Ka|Ne, You are on the RD and those plates are just fine as rjs says... No need to araldite.
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rob@rar wrote:
c0Ka|Ne, you're sugnificantly lighter than skimottaret so much less likely to pull out binding screws.


skimottaret was looking dangerously underweight last time I saw him, so I just assumed that was still the case. Thanks for the input though!


Last edited by After all it is free Go on u know u want to! on Mon 6-08-12 15:29; edited 1 time in total
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c0Ka|Ne, har har,,, was getting the weight down but sadly have blimped out again after a sore back and two holidays...
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I'm going to pay for my insolence, aren't I?
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c0Ka|Ne, Laughing Laughing
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Philbo, and others,

My current teaching planks are falling apart so looking at some nice turny (if that is a word) skis for teaching inside with. Have a couple of pairs of iSL RD's (and some GS RD as well) so playing skis are well catered for, but wonder what the bog standard SL's would be like day-to-day as the RD's are a little serious to teach on 8 hrs plus a day. Currenly using Salomon Streetracer10s that are about to die.

Had a quick play on some Magnums and found them very soft compared to what I am used to. Another option might be Titans.
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scooby_simon, I use iSupershape for indoor teaching, 12.1 m @ 170 cm, I find them perfect for the fridge.
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scooby_simon wrote:
but wonder what the bog standard SL's would be like day-to-day as the RD's are a little serious to teach on .
I use the standard SLs for my teaching ski at Hemel. Very happy with them. Didn't see the need for a full RD ski for teaching indoors, and the standard SL is more than capable any time I want to push them a bit.
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spyderjon wrote:
skimottaret wrote:
.....the non RD uses the cheapo thin plastic binding plate as per the recreational skis..

That plate is shoite, bordering on dangerous. I've seen loads of pull-outs from them. Anyone that has them should at least Araldite in the binding screws. Pity 'cause Head make some great skis. Best to buy 'em in the flat & put on a decent plate.


I've seen issues where the binding isn't completely touching the plate even though the screws are tight. Having mounted several bindings on the HEAD plates myself it takes quite a lot of downward pressure on the binding against the plate as the screws are tightened to ensure that the binding is flush with the plate. Maybe the pull-outs have been caused by the bindings not being absolutely in contact with the plates, leading to high leverage forces acting on the screws?
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