Dynastar Legend X106 vs. Nordica Enforcer Free vs. Others?

[NateR]

Hello all,

Up until this year, my ski quiver has consisted of just my Blizzard Brahmas (180cm) for general skiing, and my SL and GS skis for training/racing.

I picked up a set of Head SuperShape Magnums for a smoking deal a few weeks ago for groomer-only days when I just want to carve nice, short turns. I'm thinking about "evening out" my quiver a bit by getting a more powder-focused ski, as well.

The only powder ski I've ever been on has been the Dynastar Legend X106 (188cm) - a friend lent me his on a powder day a couple of years back, and I absolutely loved them. I'd always had trouble with powder before then (and still do, on my Brahmas), but those skis made it SO easy. They floated without feeling like I was all the way in the backseat, and turn initiation was incredibly easy.

I've been kind of passively watching for a deal on these skis, and it looks like they (and the subsequent 2020 version, the Legend 106) have come down to a great price. While I'm considering just jumping on them given that I really liked them, I'd like to see what other options there are at this point. The primary focus of these skis would be powder, but would like for them to be able to hold a solid edge when I'm carving on hardpack.

I've not been able to find a comparison between these skis and others, such as the Nordica Enforcers in a similar sidecut. What other models should I potentially look at demoing before pulling the trigger on the Dynastar Legend 106? (not necessarily required, but a plus would be ones that have very similar feel, or even just a different topsheet on the same ski, to the past years versions so that I can pick up last year's model)

Skier information: Male, 170lbs, 6'0", Advanced. Located in Idaho.

Thank you

 

[CO Freeskier]

Over on TGR a lot of folks are raving about the Dynastar M Free 108...haven't been on it yet. From what you and the maggots are describing sounds like it could be a great option.

 

[GregK]

The Legend 106 were a solid ski and if the deal is great and you’ve tried and liked it, you may be already good!
The latest Dynastar in that range, the MFree 108 is a ski that’s a little more forgiving in flex, a bit heavier and damper(the Legend is a stiff but quite light ski), has a bit widerturned up tail and more forward mount point with an even more surfy feel than the Legend 106 has.

The only hit on the MFree 108 is sizing options as they don’t have a mid 180s option and the 192cm version that’s getting all the raves on TGR is more substantial than the super fun and playful 182cm version. An in-between size would be a perfect ski for so many! I still like both at 175lbs myself but an 186/187cm version would be perfect if it was a mix of the lengths above and below it.

The Enforcer 104 or 110 are definitely great options that have a pretty similar flex(hair softer) and profile to the MFree but their metal construction and higher weight makes them more damp. More forward mount like the MFree too making them surfy in the trees and in soft snow but still carve well on the groomers.

All of these will be much easier to tackle powder with than the Brahmas but will defer in feel with the Legend 106 being more traditional and the MFree 108 and Enforcer Free skis being more playful especially off piste.

 

[ski otter 2]

I have not been on the Legend 106, so can't speak to that. And there are so many good skis in this category.

On just one small piece of the puzzle: I'm only 5'10"/150 lbs, and found the Dynastar MFree 108 192 no problem because of length. This is because it tracks, as it carves, incredibly, no problem, while still having a fun, loose feel to it that makes it also forgiving and playful with some float, not intimidating at that length, unlike some fat 190+ skis.

That tracking ability combined with just enough dampness makes it good in crud once the unbroken powder is gone. It is still a bit lighter, looser ski, but this longer length is liked so much because it keeps this version from getting tossed in curd, as is the case with the next shorter version, for many.

Not sure it is as good carving on edge on that "hardpack" though - a trade off for its amazing pivot/slarving/tracking ability. I demoed it also on a more "old snow" day, and found it a bit loose edged there, not the best that way; but then, not many 10X skis are.

Also, if you would prefer a very damp ski for crud, more like race and near-race skis in dampness feel, then there are other options; but many of these are also not so good at "holding a solid edge" "carving on hardpack." But for a ski whose tracking/carving ability in powder/crud with some float is tops, while still being forgiving and playful, the MFree is hard to beat.

You could get people to list other 10X possibilities, though; especially ones that also carve old snow well.
But the Dynastars seem like a good place to start, to see how you feel about the trade offs.


Among others that might work, or for demo, a good start (Other folks would know additional options; I just mention ones I know of firsthand):

☻ A discontinued ski one can still get from past years, and thus more cheaply: K2 Pinnacle 105s carve well as long as it's not icy, and handle powder/crud, to me a great ski still. (To me, the current K2 MindBender 108 is almost a candidate too, but my pair is not as damp in crud as I'd like it to be, nor is it great on hardpack.)

☻ Volkl 108 is a charger, great on both hardpack and powder/crud (but at the cost of float).

☻ Fischer Ranger 107 Ti is liked by a bunch of former racers, guys who most value a ski that holds an edge easily. It is not a loose pivot type ski, though. Nor does it float as well as some others. And it requires a bit of attentiveness because of that edge hold, for some. Not a problem for folks who have raced, more than likely - unless they prefer a looser or more versatile feel as a primary option. Handles hardpack, I'm told, but I only skied it on a powder day.

☻ Volkl V-Werks Katana 112/192. One of my favorites, a ski length Bistergear missed. It's a lighter but fairly damp and stiff ski. This Katana has as a style option, if one chooses it, to handle like a fat GS ski in powder and crud, with good float for its width and solid dampness for variable crud at the same time. Because of its lightness and near flatness, it can pivot, and work in trees and bumps fairly well. And it is the only ski I've mentioned that can edge charge on groomers almost as well as much thinner skis, once one gets used to its almost no camber feel.
It also can be skied much more loosely in soft snow, and, I'll say it again, pivot well, if that's wanted, having a light swing weight and flatness. It can both charge and ski in more relaxed ways. Not a demanding ski. And it can handle a very playful skiing style also. It's two limitations: 1. It lacks the high float of a fatter ski for deeper powder. 2. It's pricey.

 

[NateR]

Thank you all for the replies! I'll see if one of the shops here has the M-Free 108 for demo, and take a look at the other options.

Also, is there anywhere that applies information about distance between front and back contact point? (Not sure what term to use - the point where the ski starts and stops contacting the snow when on edge. I feel like this would be a good metric of how long a ski would feel)

 

[PowHog]

The Nordica Enforcer 110 is a plank which decently holds an edge and can rail on groomers, has a damp feel, isn't overly stiff and still very playful. I got them in a 183 length but wish I had chosen 191 for more stability at speed and better crud busting capabilities. At your stats it would be a great option.

Optionally demo Blizzard Rustlers 10 and 11. Latter is for me the best all around ski in that width range I've ever been on - very stable at speed on and off-piste, plenty flotation but still very maneuverable. Slightly stiffer that the Nordica 110s, I run it in a 188 length which is perfect for my 5'9". I mounted them -1 cm back from the line for directional stability and they feel great.

 

[ski otter 2]

First, the K2 Pinnacle 105 186 more than the MB 108 for a safer bet: the white 108 I demoed was noticeably stiffer and better in crud than the yellow one I ended up with, even though the 108 MB white was supposedly unchanged. So a gamble, to me.

The Nordica Enforcer 110 is a plank which decently holds an edge and can rail on groomers, has a damp feel, isn't overly stiff and still very playful. I got them in a 183 length but wish I had chosen 191 for more stability at speed and better crud busting capabilities. At your stats it would be a great option.

Optionally demo Blizzard Rustlers 10 and 11. Latter is for me the best all around ski in that width range I've ever been on - very stable at speed on and off-piste, plenty flotation but still very maneuverable. Slightly stiffer that the Nordica 110s, I run it in a 188 length which is perfect for my 5'9". I mounted them -1 cm back from the line for directional stability and they feel great.

The Rustler 10 is/was turny, so you would have to like that in a ski. The Rustler 11 is more versatile that way, great ski, but wider than you have asked for.

The Enforcer 110, to me, is an odd ski: with very soft tip and tail and stiffer in between, as if with hinges, very noticeably uneven flex, to me, and too soft - in feel, at least. But the Enforcer 115 is better in that way, for me, I'm told - one of the best of the many fat skis around I have not been on, seems like. But again, too wide for what you have asked for.

 

[PowHog]

The Enforcer 110, to me, is an odd ski: with very soft tip and tail and stiffer in between, as if with hinges, very noticeably uneven flex, to me, and too soft - in feel, at least.

I wouldn't say odd, all skies stiffen up underfoot. It has a medium flex but definitely overall softer than the Rustler 11 wich adds to it's playful nature. Having spend quite some time on it I still stand by what I said on it's hardpack performance.

That said it skies really short for it's lengths, this is why I should have opted either for the 191 or for the 188 Rustlers right away. But to each his/her own.

 

[GregK]

All Enforcers have fairly soft tips/shovels but the Enforcer 104/110/115 don’t go QUITE as stiff underfoot vs the narrower versions but are actually slightly stiffer up front. So more of a uniform flex profile that hand flexes softer. The Rustler 11 has a very similar flex to the Enforcer Free line but it goes a bit stiffer underfoot. The Rustler 11 has a the longer turning radius which makes them more comfortable going straight at higher speed than the Enforcers. If the 185/186cm had the turn radius of the 191cm Enforcers they would be much improved!

On a side note, both the Rustler 11 and Enforcer 110/115 have been beefed up without much fanfare the last year or so. The Rustler 11(and 9) have tweaked construction-I’m guessing slightly thicker core like the 10(?) as both the 2021 Rustler 11 and 9 are about 100grams heavier vs previous versions.

The Enforcer 110/115 got the carbon chassis and true tip tech that the 104 has and 94/100 got this year so their weights are up 100-150grams now and I bet flex would have changed a bit too. The 110 will still be limited by its lower turn radius which didn’t change.

Another new sleeper in this width range is the 2021 Candide 3.0. Stiffer than Enforcer Free series tip and tail and longer turning radius. Have been so floored with how good the Candide 2.0 is that I’ve got a pair of the 3.0 coming.

 

[ski otter 2]

For a primary or single resort powder ski, folks have moved away from fatter skis to the 10X size, understandably - for just one soft snow ski. They track well in crud as well as powder, are lighter and dynamically easier on weekend skiers especially, and when paired with a more "old snow" ski, make a great quiver of two for many people.

For the O.P., that also seems to be the case: a fatter powder/crud ski would have to be a third ski, not his second. And he might well have other priorities for a third ski, if at all.

Thanks, @GregK, on the 110s, their changes, and an overview of the Rustlers and Enforcers.

(That Rustler 11/192 is just almost the next fatter ski I'd look at for myself, especially if it's gotten a bit more beefed up for crud, as you suggest. And the older Faction C.T. 3.0 112@~184 was a neat ski to me, especially in soft snow bumps; if only it didn't get tossed in crud; so a stiffer version seems great.
I look forward to your reactions! )

Yeah, it was the first and/or second year of the Enforcer 110s I tested, not sure the lengths back then, but if ~185 was available, I'd probably have tried that one, not the longest. (Maybe the longest version would have been better, different, as @PowHog suggested.) They felt very odd to me in sort of the way I tried to describe, and too soft also, in their flexing, and therefore skiing, when I skied them in powder, crud and powder bumps. Neither the (demoed) 100 (which I loved) nor the 115s have had that same quality/tendency, fortunately. Nor the 104s. Nor the 93s. And for me it was a direct experience - how the first 110 skis actually felt and handled on two soft snow demo days for a few runs each time - so not sure just what made them feel that distinctive way - unique. (My above description was just a close approximation, maybe, for the unusual way they felt.) And maybe the newer ones are different, if stiffer.

I still think of maybe getting the Enforcer 115s. So many good skis, so little time, and bucks. I guess the only reasons I have not gotten them are that they seem to have even less float than the Bibbys, (especially the 190 Bibbys, but both of them), and not be playful a whole lot. But still, too much overlap, for me, with the Bibbys - great at crud at the expense of more float, perhaps.

In addition to Enforcers and my Bibbys, I'd also like a powder ski that has more float than what I work with now, more like my old Pettitors 120 maybe, which are now too heavy on my knees, mostly. But finding another pleasing floater ski that is also good in resort chop/crud and isn't mostly a bit specialized deeper snow ski is a challenge, for now. Of ones I know of and have tried, the Kore 117 comes closest, over the Rustler 11/192, 180, 188? past year versions I demoed.

Right now, with what is available and what I am aware of, the "fatter" powder ski I'd add right now would probably be just this year's Head Kore 117/189, which is damp enough for me in powder crud, and has noticeably more pleasing float than either my Bibbys or my 192 V-Werks Katanas (or than the Dynastar Factory Proto 118, for me). For me, the 20/21 Kore 117/189 has become more playful and fun with the change in rocker and mount point. (Not sure if this makes it a better floater than the old one or not, since I never got the old one demoed in enough powder to really tell, seems like.)

I still feel that if the Kore 117 tracked on edge in powder or in deep as well as the Dynastar 118 or 108 M Free (or as well as my old Atomic Automatics 117?, etc.), I'd have already bought it.

 

[FlimFlamvanHam]

For a primary or single resort powder ski, folks have moved away from fatter skis to the 10X size, understandably - for just one soft snow ski. They track well in crud as well as powder, are lighter and dynamically easier on weekend skiers especially, and when paired with a more "old snow" ski, make a great quiver of two for many people.

Could not agree more. Also, as GregK pointed out, the X106 is a pretty light ski for it's width and I also found it pretty dang stiff. For me that just didn't work and I gave them a good try (also because I got a crazy good deal on them). The big issue with the X106 is it has to be soft and consistent conditions otherwise it's light weight + silly stiffness (esp the tails) becomes a really crappy experience. I've made my thoughts on this ski well known on other forums.

And seeing as you're on two double metal laminate skis in the SS and the Brahma I'm surprised you accept anything less than what you know (damp + heavy + zero taper) in a wider package. The only thing similar on the X106 was the rearward biased mount point

There are so many great choices out there right now in the 10X all mtn category.