- Joined
- Oct 8, 2018
- Posts
- 183
Please and thank you
I thought you bought the Mantra? And a Deacon Pro? Have you skied the Mantra much? Not enough days and not in a variety of conditions
Are you having doubts about the Mantra? No Are there some things about the way they ski that have you questioning them? No Or are you overwhelmed by the PugSki love for anything Stockli. Getting there Have you skied the Stockli? Never stepped on a Stockli
You can't have had many soft snow days on the Mantra yet, can you? Very few Assumed you are in New England....have read some posts about skiing in VT, at Stowe, etc.? If you have skied it, I'm curious about the snow surface, etc.
Let us know what you're thinking and perhaps some here can help. Also remind us of the size of the Mantra. 177
If you did buy the Mantra, and you want to demo the Stockli, to compare, let us know where you might do it. Will be Park City or somewhere in Summit Co. later in the year...unless I take another weekend to VT Might have some suggestions. If you own the Mantra, I'd ski BOTH on the same day, same conditions, back to back and alternating to check them out. And do not overlook the binding setups on each.
If you are contemplating paying the freight for the Stockli, and I assume selling the Mantra's at a loss, you want to neutralize that issue {binding delta} to make sure that what you are comparing is the skis. and no more.
Of course if the Mantra is new, never mounted and never skied, that's a different consideration.
I am sure many here can, and will be helpful.
Interesting on the Mantra. I tried the 184 for a few hours last April. Hard pack to a foot of slush. I can say I loved the ski from mid to tail. Really fun, would do just about any thing you want from smear and drift out the back to hold an edge. Very versatile in that regard. Fun in the slush. I felt the front really didn't know what it wanted to do though. Confused. Certainly could be a mount/binding issue. A shame, because who spends time figuring that out?My suggestion is to ski the Mantra more, in all sorts of terrain and snow. It's a GOOD ski, if you're a decent pilot, and you have it dialed in with respect to mounting point and your binding set up. My daughter is skiing the 177cm this season, having moved from Blizzard, where her comparable ski was a 180cm Bonafide. The last Bonafide that she really like BTW was the red carbon tipped model. She seems to be very impressed with the Mantra. Does it all for her. She's 30, and has s strong background. Skis a good part of 100+ days in a season. As you know punt have found, the ski is quick for a 96mm, and she thinks it's pretty playful. Good edge grip in harder stuff, decent in a fair amount of new snow and crud. It sounds like she would not give it an A in bumps, but she doesn't spend lot of time in older, skied out, and often "odd" bumps. So...like so many, or almost every ski in the higher end two layers of metal, vertical side wall category of skis this width, the Mantra will have it's fans.
I do think the ski is a bit sensitive to being set up for skier preference. She had the opportunity to spend some tie figuring out her best mounting point and her preferred binding delta, before drilling the new pair.
The SR is basically a classic Stockli. It might be a bit more "comfortable", a bit "smoother", and more damp than the Mantra. It's going to have a nice blend of comfortable power, and just a very nice solid ride. It, too, will have a very solid edge grip for a 95mm ski, but then again you have your Deacon Pro's, right? I assume those will be you form snow, hard snow skis.
This is going to come down, IMO to personal preference, and I don't think you can know until you have spend more time in the Mantra. I will say that every person that I know who skis a SR95, or really any Stockli raves about them. In some cases, I think it's validation of having bought them. They have to be that great, right? I know some pretty average intermediate tiers who fall into that category, but I also know very skilled skiers who have access to a LOT of equipment who love the ski.
Where it might get screwy with the Mantra is with the mounting point and overall set up, and it doesn't sound like you may have a lot of time to help to sort through that. Like somebody to check you out, who knows their stuff and say, "I think you be better off with that toe piece snuck a bit forward {or back}", or "I think that you're too high in the heels. You need to shim that toe piece."
The Stocki, from what I observe has a huge sweet spot" and people seems very happy with them and not totally obsessed on playing with the setup. I know a few dealers, and they tune them, structure the bases, mount them up on the mounting point, and people seem to be totally enamored with the skis. All good.
I know that you have described yourself as a "former high level racer, blah-blah." Not sure what that truly means. I also know that you are back to skiing after a 15 year hiatus. Things have changed. There are a TON of great skis made. Very few bad skis. But they all best reward a very well balanced stance, and current technique. My daughter is a former VERY decent racer, and now works in the business.
She tells me that she loves her Mantra set up as is, but that she easily might have been very unimpressed with a different binding and mount. I rarely hear than about any Stockli.
Don't know if this makes any sense. I'd ski the Mantra until you really know it. The demo and compare the Stockli, same conditions and terrain, both skis. Or, if you want to go cold turkey, buy the Stockli and get ready to sell the Mantra while they are like new.
Probably no bad choice here, at all.
My suggestion is to ski the Mantra more, in all sorts of terrain and snow. It's a GOOD ski, if you're a decent pilot, and you have it dialed in with respect to mounting point and your binding set up. My daughter is skiing the 177cm this season, having moved from Blizzard, where her comparable ski was a 180cm Bonafide. The last Bonafide that she really like BTW was the red carbon tipped model. She seems to be very impressed with the Mantra. Does it all for her. She's 30, and has s strong background. Skis a good part of 100+ days in a season. As you know punt have found, the ski is quick for a 96mm, and she thinks it's pretty playful. Good edge grip in harder stuff, decent in a fair amount of new snow and crud. It sounds like she would not give it an A in bumps, but she doesn't spend lot of time in older, skied out, and often "odd" bumps. So...like so many, or almost every ski in the higher end two layers of metal, vertical side wall category of skis this width, the Mantra will have it's fans.
I do think the ski is a bit sensitive to being set up for skier preference. She had the opportunity to spend some tie figuring out her best mounting point and her preferred binding delta, before drilling the new pair.
The SR is basically a classic Stockli. It might be a bit more "comfortable", a bit "smoother", and more damp than the Mantra. It's going to have a nice blend of comfortable power, and just a very nice solid ride. It, too, will have a very solid edge grip for a 95mm ski, but then again you have your Deacon Pro's, right? I assume those will be you form snow, hard snow skis.
This is going to come down, IMO to personal preference, and I don't think you can know until you have spend more time in the Mantra. I will say that every person that I know who skis a SR95, or really any Stockli raves about them. In some cases, I think it's validation of having bought them. They have to be that great, right? I know some pretty average intermediate tiers who fall into that category, but I also know very skilled skiers who have access to a LOT of equipment who love the ski.
Where it might get screwy with the Mantra is with the mounting point and overall set up, and it doesn't sound like you may have a lot of time to help to sort through that. Like somebody to check you out, who knows their stuff and say, "I think you be better off with that toe piece snuck a bit forward {or back}", or "I think that you're too high in the heels. You need to shim that toe piece."
The Stocki, from what I observe has a huge sweet spot" and people seems very happy with them and not totally obsessed on playing with the setup. I know a few dealers, and they tune them, structure the bases, mount them up on the mounting point, and people seem to be totally enamored with the skis. All good.
I know that you have described yourself as a "former high level racer, blah-blah." Not sure what that truly means. I also know that you are back to skiing after a 15 year hiatus. Things have changed. There are a TON of great skis made. Very few bad skis. But they all best reward a very well balanced stance, and current technique. My daughter is a former VERY decent racer, and now works in the business.
She tells me that she loves her Mantra set up as is, but that she easily might have been very unimpressed with a different binding and mount. I rarely hear than about any Stockli.
Don't know if this makes any sense. I'd ski the Mantra until you really know it. The demo and compare the Stockli, same conditions and terrain, both skis. Or, if you want to go cold turkey, buy the Stockli and get ready to sell the Mantra while they are like new.
Probably no bad choice here, at all.