Following up on earlier post https://www.pugski.com/threads/scotsskier-moves-to-augment-skis.16405/
After a few hiccups, and thanks to @Augment Skis, my 2020 Augment race skis arrived and are ready to go.! Just had to mount the Look race bindings on the R22 plate, (R21 on the SG and DH), waxed and scraped and ready to go. Quality and finish is, as always, superb with a great grind (see pics) and consistent bevels. A great improvement on most race stock skis that need a full grind and prep before you ski them!. And, even more importantly, with Augment what you get is the real deal race room skis, something that is normally impossible for us mere mortals without the right connections!
Specs and flex on my selection:
165 WC GS FIS slalom - 12.5m Radius, 118/67/103, flex 4
188/30 FIS WC GS - 98/65/83, flex 5
205/40 SG - 95/65/82, flex 5
211/50 DH - 91/65/78, flex 5
For bindings I mounted Look PX15 Rockerflex on the slaloms (they are 15 ounces a ski lighter than the PX18s, important for me on a slalom ski) and Look PX18 Rockerflex on the GS, SG and DH.
So, next day, straight out of the box I took one free run on the SGs to get the feel of them (felt good - and fast!) then jumped into a 35m U14 SG training course for a few runs. Now I have come to expect great things of Augment based on my past testing but still, Wow! I had not previously tested their speed skis but these exceeded all my expectations. Great turn in, stable and responsive. No issues even in a 35m course (and typically in Masters we see SG courses in the 40-45m range) and performance was well ahead of any SG ski I have previously used (and I have raced a wide range of different SGs from all the major brands). In fact so good (and so much fun J ) that, while I had planned to just do a couple of gate runs, I ended up doing 6
.
Like all the Augment race skis they have that distinctive incredibly smooth ride while still having class leading performance. Think of them as a race ready Porsche GT3!
I don’t know how Augment get this “secret sauce” – aside from superb build quality and attention to design detail - but this distinct “feel” - of responsiveness, accessible power and smoothness – extends across all their product lines, not just the race
So, on to the GS skis to slow down (well, relatively!) and it was like reuniting with an old friend. The FIS GS seems to be unchanged from last year apart from the graphics and, as I have highlighted in previous tests, this is still THE best GS ski I have ever been on, bar none. And not by a small margin either!. This for me is the Holy Grail of GS skis. Stunning performance and response.
On to the slalom skis a few days later. The 2020 FIS slalom ski has changed quite a bit from the 2019 version I had previously tested and the changes were exactly in line with what I would have requested if I had a direct line to the designers. The R22 plate has been moved forward approximately an inch and, from a back to back comparison the tip seems to have been narrowed a couple of mm. Interestingly, the marked dimensions are the same as last years ski but, base to base, the tip on the 2020 is definitely slimmer. On the 2019 ski I found I had to move the binding forward one position on the plate to get it to work the way I liked it but I mounted the 2020 ski in the factory position for initial testing. Oh and the graphics -white topsheet with some subtle graphics – on the 2020 is, IMHO, much sharper looking than the black 2019.
Nothing like testing a race ski in a proper environment though! So, first run, straight into gates…
. And hey, they work the way I like them to! Lots of pop and power, hook up almost before you think about it and – as I had hoped – they like to get back in the fall line quickly. That was my one hesitation about the 2019 slalom, it came across the hill great but took a little more effort to get it moving back downhill. Moving the binding forward as mentioned earlier had pretty much eliminated the issue but the 2020 works even better, straight out of the box! A few runs in gates confirmed this. Definitely a new top of the class in FIS slaloms for me, beating out my previous favorite, the Rossignol Hero. After ordering the slalom in Flex 4 - based on having tried the 2019 in flex 2 – I had been second guessing myself a little bit as to whether I had got it right 
. And hand-flexing alongside the 2019 they actually felt a little stiffer!. Hmm? Had I made the right decision? Should I have gone softer considering my advancing years? Well…..I needn’t have worried! Flex felt spot on for me and the pop when you load up the ski properly at the top of the turn is awesome…
Ok, looks like Augment have knocked it out of the park again! Thank you Augment skis North America
for your support and providing real deal race room skis!
One last test….and as fortune would have it the FIS International Masters races were scheduled for the following weekend…. watch this space...
After a few hiccups, and thanks to @Augment Skis, my 2020 Augment race skis arrived and are ready to go.! Just had to mount the Look race bindings on the R22 plate, (R21 on the SG and DH), waxed and scraped and ready to go. Quality and finish is, as always, superb with a great grind (see pics) and consistent bevels. A great improvement on most race stock skis that need a full grind and prep before you ski them!. And, even more importantly, with Augment what you get is the real deal race room skis, something that is normally impossible for us mere mortals without the right connections!
Specs and flex on my selection:
165 WC GS FIS slalom - 12.5m Radius, 118/67/103, flex 4
188/30 FIS WC GS - 98/65/83, flex 5
205/40 SG - 95/65/82, flex 5
211/50 DH - 91/65/78, flex 5
For bindings I mounted Look PX15 Rockerflex on the slaloms (they are 15 ounces a ski lighter than the PX18s, important for me on a slalom ski) and Look PX18 Rockerflex on the GS, SG and DH.
So, next day, straight out of the box I took one free run on the SGs to get the feel of them (felt good - and fast!) then jumped into a 35m U14 SG training course for a few runs. Now I have come to expect great things of Augment based on my past testing but still, Wow! I had not previously tested their speed skis but these exceeded all my expectations. Great turn in, stable and responsive. No issues even in a 35m course (and typically in Masters we see SG courses in the 40-45m range) and performance was well ahead of any SG ski I have previously used (and I have raced a wide range of different SGs from all the major brands). In fact so good (and so much fun J ) that, while I had planned to just do a couple of gate runs, I ended up doing 6
.Like all the Augment race skis they have that distinctive incredibly smooth ride while still having class leading performance. Think of them as a race ready Porsche GT3!
I don’t know how Augment get this “secret sauce” – aside from superb build quality and attention to design detail - but this distinct “feel” - of responsiveness, accessible power and smoothness – extends across all their product lines, not just the race
So, on to the GS skis to slow down (well, relatively!) and it was like reuniting with an old friend. The FIS GS seems to be unchanged from last year apart from the graphics and, as I have highlighted in previous tests, this is still THE best GS ski I have ever been on, bar none. And not by a small margin either!. This for me is the Holy Grail of GS skis. Stunning performance and response.
On to the slalom skis a few days later. The 2020 FIS slalom ski has changed quite a bit from the 2019 version I had previously tested and the changes were exactly in line with what I would have requested if I had a direct line to the designers. The R22 plate has been moved forward approximately an inch and, from a back to back comparison the tip seems to have been narrowed a couple of mm. Interestingly, the marked dimensions are the same as last years ski but, base to base, the tip on the 2020 is definitely slimmer. On the 2019 ski I found I had to move the binding forward one position on the plate to get it to work the way I liked it but I mounted the 2020 ski in the factory position for initial testing. Oh and the graphics -white topsheet with some subtle graphics – on the 2020 is, IMHO, much sharper looking than the black 2019.
Nothing like testing a race ski in a proper environment though! So, first run, straight into gates…
. And hey, they work the way I like them to! Lots of pop and power, hook up almost before you think about it and – as I had hoped – they like to get back in the fall line quickly. That was my one hesitation about the 2019 slalom, it came across the hill great but took a little more effort to get it moving back downhill. Moving the binding forward as mentioned earlier had pretty much eliminated the issue but the 2020 works even better, straight out of the box! A few runs in gates confirmed this. Definitely a new top of the class in FIS slaloms for me, beating out my previous favorite, the Rossignol Hero. After ordering the slalom in Flex 4 - based on having tried the 2019 in flex 2 – I had been second guessing myself a little bit as to whether I had got it right . And hand-flexing alongside the 2019 they actually felt a little stiffer!. Hmm? Had I made the right decision? Should I have gone softer considering my advancing years? Well…..I needn’t have worried! Flex felt spot on for me and the pop when you load up the ski properly at the top of the turn is awesome…Ok, looks like Augment have knocked it out of the park again! Thank you Augment skis North America
for your support and providing real deal race room skis!One last test….and as fortune would have it the FIS International Masters races were scheduled for the following weekend…. watch this space...
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.. After the SG and GS I was faced with having to win my class in slalom to win the Western Regional Championship......and TBH slalom is not my strongest event....so, I had to go for it....and straddled...
....ah well, as i tell my athletes, if you are finishing slalom all the time you are not trying hard enough....
