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Same skis, different skiers, different results...

Philpug

Notorious P.U.G.
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Reno, eNVy
All true... However I had plenty of experiences when people liked wrong skis for the wrong reason. I still remember an example when a friend bought a new pair of skis after a demo. He is a 5'3" guy, pretty lightweight, and to be honest, a fairly bad skier. To my shock he ended up with a pair of essentially 165 slalom race skis that he skied as an all-mountain pair. What he liked was the stiff tail that he could ride in a backseat, push the tips around, and not wheel out. What I explained to him was that even though the skis worked for his current technique, they were a huge impediment to his progress, an intermediate would not be able to ski fast enough or apply enough tip pressure to bend a very stiff ski properly, so he would be stuck in the tail riding mode forever.
You were dealing with the information given you and you made what seamed to be the right choice..at the time. We all have done it.
 

James

Out There
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Dec 2, 2015
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24,453
Well none of this explains why some people dislike say the Kendo and the original Bonafide. Hated both, btw. Meanwhile @KingGrump loves the Kendo, and for a period some couldn't get out of bed without a Bonafide in the closet.
 

ScottB

Making fresh tracks
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Oct 29, 2016
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Gloucester, MA
I have seen similar things happen when someone I am skiing with gets on a different pair of skis. We took our small Boy Scout troop skiing quite often, and parents were always welcome. A lot of times I would provide skis (or someone else would). We were dealing with people who haven't skied in a while, typically. the wider the borrowed ski, the more trouble people had with it. What I chocked it up to was "pivot style" turns versus carved/slaved turns using your edges.Old school straight skis needed rotary pivot to get them to come around at some point in the turn. Same thing happens when an East Coaster goes out west for the first time, gets in deep snow and can't pivot/slide their turns. My youngest brother still prefers straight skis and pivots his skis, then edges them to finish the turn. That is "his style". When he gets on mordern wide skis, he usually doesn't like em, under 80mm and he can work his style even with shaped skis.

I am not sure how old the B4's are, but the Kore's didn't fit his skiing style for sure. Last time I skied my old straight skis, I almost fell over on the first turn. I forgot to pivot them and they didn't come around like I was expecting just from rolling them on their edges. My upper body was way out of sync with my lower body.
 

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Team Gathermeister
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Nov 14, 2015
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12,630
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Maine
I spent a day at Taos on the 18-19 model. I had a fun day but the ski didn't speak to me off piste. Kinda planky.
 

Guy in Shorts

Tree Psycho
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Feb 27, 2016
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2,168
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Killington
While skiing at the Big Sky gathering with @Philpug

Phil: Just demo the new Kendo. You won't like it.
Me: Why?
Phil: Because I love it.
Both of us laughed.
Told @surfsnowgirl on the chairlift on Sunday that I tend to own skis that Phil tosses into the castoff pile.
Renoun Endurance 98 Version 2.5
Volkl Manta M5
Pretty sure he would not be too keen of my Faction Dictator 3.0.
Would love to hear if he is fan of the best powder ski ever made, the Volkl V-Werks Katana.

BTW - Loved the Head Kore 99 just as much as the OP.
 

ski otter 2

Making fresh tracks
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Nov 20, 2015
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2,920
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Front Range, Colorado
I skied the Kore 105 back to back with the Faction 98 Prime 2.0 and 108 3.0 (their lightweight carbon offerings) on a powder/crud day. The comparison may have been the reason I didn't like the 105s - a relative thing. The 3.0 stuck with me as a great ski, but pricey like the V-Werks skis. A year or two later when I got on the Kore 93 and Kore 117 it was different - what amazing skis. Even though there may be no bad skis, there are definitely skis I like and ones I don't - the good Lord knows why, often. But in the context of what might work for someone else, it's kind of neat there is so much diversity of skis and skiers: I skied with a guy on Kore 105s just this past Wednesday on "Cyclone Bomb" day here in Colorado, in lots of snow, and he made those Kore 105s just sing.
 

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