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MountainMonster

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Yes, the orange one with the slanted carbon tips and tail, is the reduced radius one
Right, they made the changes to appeal to a wider audience they said, I wasn't one of them.
Just my opinion, others I have spoke to on the hill say they love the new versions.
I hope they work well for you, good luck
 

AlpedHuez

Chasing that Odermatt form
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Right, they made the changes to appeal to a wider audience they said, I wasn't one of them.
Just my opinion, others I have spoke to on the hill say they love the new versions.
I hope they work well for you, good luck
Thanks. Never said I was getting those reduced-radius slanted ones you didn't like (I don't like them either). I'm getting the big bull scooped carbons you did like - 2015/2016. :cool:
Screen Shot 2020-03-26 at 8.33.37 AM.png
 
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markojp

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Oddly, until the 20-21 change in size splits, I always felt between lengths in all the other Bonafides. The new 183 though seems spot on.
 

Philpug

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Oddly, until the 20-21 change in size splits, I always felt between lengths in all the other Bonafides. The new 183 though seems spot on.
Where I was between sizes on the Enforcer 100, with the new 179, it is right on. I am now between sizes on the Bonafide.
 

ski otter 2

Making fresh tracks
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I know for the first years of the Bonafide, a number of people felt they were weight/size sensitive, among the few skis that were to such an extent: under 165 lbs. folk tended to like them less. (And at about 150, I liked them a lot less: they were one of the few skis, including FIS skis, that didn't flex enough to carve properly for me - they just slarved up a storm.

For a time, each year I'd demo them, and each year it was a no brainer "no." Then they started to change them, and for lighter folk, they became more accessible. I didn't try them for a few years in there, but by 18/19, they were a ski I loved (in 180), would have been glad to own - no problems with holding an edge and flexing well at any speed, any style.

Apparently, this was at the expense of bigger and stronger skiers. Again, for me these were one of the few models that really cleaved by size of skier into really different experiences, at least for many.

I liked also the 19/20 (180) version just as well (also a very characteristic carve), and got a pair when they showed up for about $140 net, once I sold the Pivot 18s on them. A bonus was they were starting to de-laminate, and Blizzard sent me a brand new pair in exchange, no charge.

Between this ski and the 18/19, there is a slight trade-off with the turn radius, seems like, but for a lighter weight skier these too are great.

Oddly enough, I've demoed the 20/21 version, and to me, it IS a completely different ski. It's lost all its Bone character, at least for me: the dang things feel kind of like a cross between a Dynastar M Pro 99 (but not as good) and a K2 Mindbender 99 (but again, not as good). Who knows? Maybe I'll continue the streak of being an outlier with this version also, and it will become a best seller. It's a disappearing act, however, for me.
 
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François Pugh

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The 2018 Bonafide had the smaller radius, 18 m for the 180 I deomoed on a trip to Vancouver Island.
I didn't have a problem with tip flop, but the snow wasn't hard either. For quick turns in deep snow in the trees they seemed to me like the easiest ski ever (my experience is mostly race skis or race-like skis), yet they could still carve a good hard turn when you tipped them over. What I did have a problem with was getting them to carve a high speed long radius turn without them trying to carve a shorter radius turn when tipped up sufficiently to hold the g-force of that turn, or to turn at all at high speed when not tipped to a great extent. For half a second, I thought I might end up off the trail and ripped into many pieces due to high speed impact with trees.
 

Jim Kenney

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This is an interesting thread for me because a month before this season I bought one of @MountainMonster 's newer, shorter (173cms) Bonafide rejects...and I like them. I'm slightly on the light side at 5'10" and 170lbs, and I'm old, slow, and turny. I used them for about 50% of my days this winter (mostly at Snowbird and JHMR) and the shorter length helped me in trees and bumps. I'm not particularly aggressive on big steep groomers (or anywhere else), but going up to 180cms might have been helpful for that if I was.

I went for Bonafides because a few years ago I got to use an older pair (2015-16 model) for about five ski days and liked them. They belonged to my son and were 180cms. He has since sold those to a friend and has skied the 2018-19 model in 187cms for the last two years. The young and aggressive Kenney went longer, the old and slow Kenney went shorter :ogbiggrin:
 

raytseng

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maybe completely different is too strong, different enough for me to pass on the 2019 version
@AlpedHuez
Pay attention to the above, I'd be wary of just following just one person's opinion, unless you know you ski exactly like they ski and like the exact same skis they like.
I prefer the current 2018 ones to my 2013, so the 2018 were in the car, and 2013 stay on the shelf as backups. It's not a loss in capability. It isn't even a 1-for-1 tradeoff, it is an overall gain. You give up 5% of high speed stability (which you can barely have places to safely access anyway) for perhaps 20% better slower speed capabilities. The turn initiation and what I felt was a deadzone during short small turns is greatly reduced. But, you could also just get an Enforcer.
 

John Webb

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For me, the models I skied after the 2016 model felt like a completely different ski, not as stable, noticeable tip flop, & less "beefy "


They made a few with minor graphic changes I believe.

View attachment 97872

View attachment 97869 2013 ?
View attachment 97868 2014 ?
View attachment 97866 2015 & 2016 ?
View attachment 97867 2017- 2019 ?
I may be off on year models a bit, maybe @Philpug can clarify.
My 2014 Bones are still my daily drivers. Didn't like the dumb metal bull decals
so I scraped them off. stuck well-had to use a lot of heat to soften the glue !

They were starting to slide and act sluggish but at Jackson Hole Nomad Sports did
a killer complete refinishing and tune up at a very reasonable price.
Can't believe how much better they are now -like new !
ogsmile:daffy::daffy::Teleb:
 

AlpedHuez

Chasing that Odermatt form
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@AlpedHuez
I'd be wary of just following just one person's opinion, unless you know you ski exactly like they ski and like the exact same skis they like.
Never said I was swayed by any one person's opinion here in this thread. The Bones I like are the Bones I like, and they are available to me, at a great price (though I haven't skied them myself, just read widely). I would probably have to demo the 2021 before buying those, however, given the complete overhaul.
 
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murphysf

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For me, the models I skied after the 2016 model felt like a completely different ski, not as stable, noticeable tip flop, & less "beefy "


They made a few with minor graphic changes I believe.

View attachment 97872

View attachment 97869 2013 ?
View attachment 97868 2014 ?
View attachment 97866 2015 & 2016 ?
View attachment 97867 2017- 2019 ?
I may be off on year models a bit, maybe @Philpug can clarify.
The years / photos listed above are all correct.

For reference here is the 2020


2020.png
 
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murphysf

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carbon fiber was added in 2015
 

James

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Never liked the original. Planks. But, maybe more time on them would’ve changed that opinion.
There was a time on epic where it seemed some people thought they couldn’t ski unless they had a Bonafide.

I know an ex college racer who last year demoed pretty much every ski in the category except Stockli and Kastle, and ended up with the 180 Bonafide.
 

cantunamunch

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I was on @Philpug 2011 pair at A-basin - they felt better than the Goode wood cores he also had (Wizard?) but I didn't really like the way the tips were connected (read: felt disconnected).

The funny thing is that I effectively made a 10 year jump in ski tech that weekend - I had spent most of the week on Volant Platinum M's, the Euro V2 model with the Sin shape. That was also the weekend @Noodler showed up with his polished original Sins; it was a bit of a #shinyfest at the beach.
 

ScotsSkier

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Never liked the original. Planks. But, maybe more time on them would’ve changed that opinion.
There was a time on epic where it seemed some people thought they couldn’t ski unless they had a Bonafide.
....

:thumb: Exactly

I was on @Philpug 2011 pair at A-basin - they felt better than the Goode wood cores he also had (Wizard?) but I didn't really like the way the tips were connected (read: felt disconnected).
....

BINGO! I never understood the hype around the originals. I had a 2013 pair and exactly as you say, the tip felt completely disconnected from the body of the ski Never actually let go, but just always felt "flappy" and did not inspire confidence when you wanted to load it up. (which tends to be my normal mode) Tried various things including Solly plates but just never liked it so moved it on.

Against my better judgement :huh::doh: I picked up a cheap pair of the 2016s at the start of the season (also in a 180) as an afternoon work ski for Squaw...and I was pleasantly surprised! Definitely a significant improvement over the originals. Ended up not using them much due to other changes so cant remember now what it was that changed . I suspect it was that they are a bit stiffer and the changes to the tip seemed to have removed most of the "looseness" that I loathed
 
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murphysf

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here is another graphic of the 2014

blizzard2014.JPG
blizzard2014.JPG
 

DanoT

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I have an estimated 200+ days on my 2013 Bonafides. They are now the early season rock ski (4th ski in the quiver). I skied them opening day Nov 21, 2020 and couldn't find any rocks so they got no further use this past season. :ogbiggrin:
 

Philpug

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Blizzard did a throwback graphic to the old Thermo for this season. Pretty cool looking although if they asked me...I would have done the white with the sherbert bases.

D94A3B08-5A98-4E3B-B1C2-921FECBB0E03.JPG


07DA797A-0893-48B1-9A28-BA65E2B27F27.JPG
 

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