Individual Review 2020 Elan Ripstick 96 Black Edition

[Jersey Skier]

Can anyone compare these to the SR95’s. @BS Slarver

 

[Tony S]

Can anyone compare these to the SR95’s. @BS Slarver

In a given length, the SR is a much bigger car. The Stöckli 175 that I tried was clearly too much for me (5' 7"' 140). I couldn't really do anything but cruise the autobahn with it at 150kph. Meanwhile the 174cm Ripstick seems like a good length. YMMV

 

[Jimski]

did you leave the bindings on the line or try moving them back? The mount point needs to go back at least 1 cm. Once you do this, the ski will quiet down.

Ron — thanks for the suggestion but, no offense intended, it’s a bit unrealistic. How would I know that I needed to move the mounting point on this particular ski, from this particular demo shop? How do you know this demo shop didn’t already move the binding back from the line? To be honest, even if I did know that I should move the mount point, I wouldn’t know how to do it. Nor do I bring a tool kit with me on ski trips.

 

[Jimski]

[QUOTE="Tony S, post: 448664, member:

FWIW, you tend to gravitate to stiff skis like the Kendo. I think you would do well to try to make a narrower, softer ski work for you in this category. At your size it'll make your life much easier in the bumps. The stability you're looking for on groomers will come with better carving, less waist width, and higher angles, not more beef. The previous generation Kästle FX 85 would be perfect IMHO.
[/QUOTE]

Tony — thanks! My Kendo was in response to my ski before that: a Blizzard Bushwacker. The skis I’m demo-ing this year are in response to the Kendo, which is not particularly bump-friendly. In defense of the Kendo, however, it would be fine on the scraped out steeps I described earlier. In any case, I appreciate your thoughts and advice.

 

[François Pugh]

Tony — great review! I could be your twin... uh, except I’m 6 lbs lighter, 2 inches taller, 9 years older, and 15 times less proficient a skier.

I demo’ed the green Ripstick 96 my first 2.5 ski days here at JH. I liked it a lot, but I’m not sure I’m in love with it. It was a lot of fun in the new snow we got early in the week. And it was confidence-building in the bumps. But JH has a LOT of steep groomers, which tend to get scraped out by mid-day. The Elans never actually bailed on me, but their chattering made me nervous (Disclosure: I demo’ed Enforcer 93s at Taos last month).

Some questions:

1. The demo guy put me on 167s. Do you think the trips down steeps might have been smoother had I been on the next length up? (174?)
2. Besides graphics, what are the differences between the black and green editions? (Does the black have metal?)
3. This latter half of the week I’m demo-ing the Head Kore 93 in 171. It seems steadier on the steeps and still fine in ungroomed. Did you try these? If so, how would you compare them to the Ripsticks?
   
   
4. Thanks!!

I spent a day on the Elan Ripstick 96 in the 181 cm length a couple of years ago. I weighed 150 lbs at the time. I didn't ski anything really steep, but I managed to get them up to about 60 mph on a groomer or two. They were fine for me at that speed, but they did take an awful lot of real estate to slow down when I slammed on the brakes due to unpredictable skiers (far, far) ahead of me.

 

[Tony S]

 

[BS Slarver]

@Jersey Skier - sorry I didn’t see this till now.

I still have the 18/19 SR95 in the 184 as well as the RS Black in the 181. I find the Stockli with its 2 sheets of metal and larger TR requires far more attention from you top to bottom, - it’s a completely different animal.

Your and my SR 107 is much more playful than the last version of the SR. NOTE - I have not been on the current generation SR95 and if I was I would have gone down to ~175ish

I find the 184 the SR punches well above its length for me at 58, 175 and 5’9” When I was 20 years younger, 20lbs heavier and in MUCH better shape I would probably have preferred the SR over the Elan

I moved to the RS-B as my DD as it’s just FLAT OUT FUN ! I wanted something that was more on the finesse side / lighter end of the scale and could check more boxes for a DD. Going bell to bell without day after day without having to drag my tired bones off the hill was also a high priority.
Suffice to say that at Jackson I had both of these skis in the van along with Renoun 90s and the RS- B was used all 3 days.

 

[Ron]

Ron — thanks for the suggestion but, no offense intended, it’s a bit unrealistic. How would I know that I needed to move the mounting point on this particular ski, from this particular demo shop? How do you know this demo shop didn’t already move the binding back from the line? To be honest, even if I did know that I should move the mount point, I wouldn’t know how to do it. Nor do I bring a tool kit with me on ski trips.

None taken. when demoing a ski, I always verify where the binding set up for. if a ski feels jittery or I feel like Im too far over the tips when demoing (for instance), I will move the binding back some to see if its a tuning issue or a binding/mount point issue. Demo ski's are almost always mounted with demo bindings which don't require any tools to adjust. No worries! give it a try next time.

 

[James]

Everyone waits for @Ron to demo coats, find out he can’t move anything, then sell them.

 

[Ron]

@Jersey Skier - sorry I didn’t see this till now.

I still have the 18/19 SR95 in the 184 as well as the RS Black in the 181. I find the Stockli with its 2 sheets of metal and larger TR requires far more attention from you top to bottom, - it’s a completely different animal.

Your and my SR 107 is much more playful than the last version of the SR. NOTE - I have not been on the current generation SR95 and if I was I would have gone down to ~175ish

I find the 184 the SR punches well above its length for me at 58, 175 and 5’9” When I was 20 years younger, 20lbs heavier and in MUCH better shape I would probably have preferred the SR over the Elan

I moved to the RS-B as my DD as it’s just FLAT OUT FUN ! I wanted something that was more on the finesse side / lighter end of the scale and could check more boxes for a DD. Going bell to bell without day after day without having to drag my tired bones off the hill was also a high priority.
Suffice to say that at Jackson I had both of these skis in the van along with Renoun 90s and the RS- B was used all 3 days.

Agreed, I also owned the 18/19 SR95. the SR95 is also not as lively or reactive as the BE. its just as stable (if not more) and more damp but the BE is certainly more quick and definitely more energy and pop. I find the BE is better in bumps too. Fun is a good adjective for this ski. The other really two significant differences are the versatility; the BE is far more versatile and the weight of the ski's. I'd bet the BE is a third of the weight of a SR95. .

 

[Jersey Skier]

Agreed, I also owned the 18/19 SR95. the SR95 is also not as lively or reactive as the BE. its just as stable (if not more) and more damp but the BE is certainly more quick and definitely more energy and pop. I find the BE is better in bumps too. Fun is a good adjective for this ski. The other really two significant differences are the versatility; the BE is far more versatile and the weight of the ski's. I'd bet the BE is a third of the weight of a SR95. .

Is it a damp lightweight ski? My tired body prefers dampness. Ax78 andMotive 95’s as daily drivers.

 

[Ron]

Is it a damp lightweight ski? My tired body prefers dampness. Ax78 andMotive 95’s as daily drivers.

your tired body prefers smoothness? Yep, Check that box on the BE. Dampness doesn't have to mean heavy however, I stated the SR95 is more damp.