Comparison Review Thumbnail Review: 2017 Head Supershape Series

[GregMerz]

I'm debating between the ispeed and the Magnum at their little longest respective lengths -- any thoughts?

6'3" - 220 lbs.

Dave, I'm 6'2" 220 and have skied most every permutation of the Supershape that Head's put out. Skied the new Titan this year extensively. I find the 177 length to be a great choice at my size. I will add the yellow one (Supershape Speed) in 177 to the quiver next fall.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I demoed the Titan twice once in a 163 and the other in a 170 and loved it each time.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Am willing to sell some 5 year old NEW skis to get the head skis I want.

Message me if interested.

 

[cantunamunch]

Oh hey that's right you did design for them.

Nice beveled corner, BTW.

 

[Dave Petersen]

Oh hey that's right you did design for them.

Nice beveled corner, BTW.

I am more into skiing carving/racing skis than fat powder boards - the Head Super Shapes are perfect for me.

 

[Uncle-A]

Dave, I am 6' 2" 195 LBS and 70 Years Old my Head Rally in a 170 turns on a dime so if you want to make a lot of turns to control your speed it is a good option. If you want to point them down hill and let them run go to the next length. I have not skied the 2017 Titan but it has good reports here and may be a better choice for you.

 

[jo3st3]

I might be in the minority but I preferred the Rally over the Titan. I already have a real all mountain ski with the enforcer 93 and the Titan felt like a hybrid groomer ski that was maybe better for out west. I was looking for a real carver and the Rally was fantastic.

My only question is 2016/17 vs 2017/18 version given the PRX vs PRD bindings. Other then that, it looks to be only some minor graphic changes unless people know more details. With 28.5 boots, not sure if it makes much ramp difference, but I certainly would want the most safety features in a binding to prevent injury. Any thoughts?

 

[markojp]

Prd has less ramp, but you have a larger boot. Both prx and prd are equally safe.

 

[YolkyPalky]

Hi, sorry if I'm bumping an old thread, but I have a question about Head's Supershape Skis (perhaps iRally in particular). Some have stated above that they felt the Supershapes were not good in the bumps for them. I wonder why that would be? Is it because of the flaired tail sticking/catching too much? I would think a "narrow waisted" ski (by today's standards anyway, I'm 53yo and grew up skiing on toothpicks!) would be good for the bumps, quicker edge to edge and all that. Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[markojp]

They aren't forgiving of back seat bump driving. If that isn't an issue for you, they're fine for general purpose bump stuff.

 

[François Pugh]

Hi, sorry if I'm bumping an old thread, but I have a question about Head's Supershape Skis (perhaps iRally in particular). Some have stated above that they felt the Supershapes were not good in the bumps for them. I wonder why that would be? Is it because of the flaired tail sticking/catching too much? I would think a "narrow waisted" ski (by today's standards anyway, I'm 53yo and grew up skiing on toothpicks!) would be good for the bumps, quicker edge to edge and all that. Thoughts? Thanks.

It's most likely the 13 m turn radius and the fact that they so much want to arc a turn. A longer turn radius (different ski) and a less aggressive edge tune (would help in bumps, but take away from hard snow performance - but if you only ski soft snow....) would improve the i Rally's bump behaviour.

 

[markojp]

It's most likely the 13 m turn radius and the fact that they so much want to arc a turn. A longer turn radius (different ski) and a less aggressive edge tune (would help in bumps, but take away from hard snow performance - but if you only ski soft snow....) would improve the i Rally's bump behaviour.

Spent a good part of the day a few back on FIS SL's in bumps... they rock!

 

[Tom K.]

Hi, sorry if I'm bumping an old thread, but I have a question about Head's Supershape Skis (perhaps iRally in particular). Some have stated above that they felt the Supershapes were not good in the bumps for them. I wonder why that would be? Is it because of the flaired tail sticking/catching too much? I would think a "narrow waisted" ski (by today's standards anyway, I'm 53yo and grew up skiing on toothpicks!) would be good for the bumps, quicker edge to edge and all that. Thoughts? Thanks.

FWIW, I absolutely love my Titans in bumps, but I'm a semi-grumpy old school guy that pretty much hates newer, "slarvy" ski designs.

 

[YolkyPalky]

FWIW, I absolutely love my Titans in bumps, but I'm a semi-grumpy old school guy that pretty much hates newer, "slarvy" ski designs.

Cool thanks for your review. I wasn't sure what "slarvy" means lol, but I assume it's the current fad of oversized-fat skis. I'm with you though, I much prefer a narrow-waisted carving ski with a good parabolic shape. It's funny, even today's narrow-waisted parabolic skis would be considered "fattys" compared to the skinny toothpick skis we used back in the 70's and 80's, and we used them for both deep powder as well as packed groomers!

 

[Uncle-A]

One of the guys I ski with called me the other day and said he wanted my help. His skis are nine years old and he thought it was time to replace. He and I have the same BSL so I have let him ski on my 170 CM Rally's, and that got him thinking I guess. Today he and I stopped at his favorite ski shop and a few hours later he is the happy owner of a 2017-2018 Head Titan in a 170 CM. He also went for a new Delbelo in a 100 flex, his first three piece shell boot, BTW still the same BSL. We will test them out next week, we are both retired so not weekends for us.

 

[PTskier]

Unc, the bindings on the Rallys are so easily adjustable to boot sole length...I can move the bindings quicker than I can dig my glasses out of my pocket to see what I'm doing.

On the previous Rallys we liked the bindings set at least two notches forward of the "right" spot. I haven't tried the new Rallys yet. Moving the bindings takes less than a minute, so no problem to try a different spot then return them to the original spot.

 

[Tom K.]

On the previous Rallys we liked the bindings set at least two notches forward of the "right" spot.

I concur, skiing my Titans one notch forward of the "right" spot.

IMO, one of the coolest things about most system bindings.

 

[Uncle-A]

I took the photo of my 2015-2016 Head Rally and a friend just picked up these 2017-2018 Head Titans. I had checked both of these with a true bar and mine were good out of the factory two years ago and the new Titans also are very good so I just waxed the new ones and will test them out this week. I did notice that the Titans are a little heaver than the Rally's, now the Rally has the PRX 12 binding and the Titan has the PRD 12 bindings but I do not know if that is the difference. I look forward to a few runs on his new skis because we both have the same BSL.

170 Rally - Titan

• Uncle-A
• Jan 30, 2018

 

[YolkyPalky]

I took the photo of my 2015-2016 Head Rally and a friend just picked up these 2017-2018 Head Titans. I had checked both of these with a true bar and mine were good out of the factory two years ago and the new Titans also are very good so I just waxed the new ones and will test them out this week. I did notice that the Titans are a little heaver than the Rally's, now the Rally has the PRX 12 binding and the Titan has the PRD 12 bindings but I do not know if that is the difference. I look forward to a few runs on his new skis because we both have the same BSL.

170 Rally - Titan

• Uncle-A
• Jan 30, 2018

Wow you can really see how the shovel design was changed from the earlier models. I like how the 2018 version is mostly a black ski with little splashes of color. Looks like the 2019 version is moving back toward the older design with much more color on the ski (blue, red, green or yellow depending on model). I think i kind of like the understated black look with just a little color better. OK I know I shouldn't be too concerned with the topsheet design, but still lol.

 

[Uncle-A]

I took the photo of my 2015-2016 Head Rally and a friend just picked up these 2017-2018 Head Titans. I had checked both of these with a true bar and mine were good out of the factory two years ago and the new Titans also are very good so I just waxed the new ones and will test them out this week. I did notice that the Titans are a little heaver than the Rally's, now the Rally has the PRX 12 binding and the Titan has the PRD 12 bindings but I do not know if that is the difference. I look forward to a few runs on his new skis because we both have the same BSL.

170 Rally - Titan

• Uncle-A
• Jan 30, 2018

Yesterday I had the opportunity to ski both on the same day and this is what I found.
1. The Rally is a lot of fun to ski, you can ski it fast or slow.
2. You can not relax on the Titans you have to stay focused, it is less forgiving than the Rally.
3. I am not sure how much weight difference between the two, but the Titan seems heaver.
4. The weight of the Titan helps to smooth some crud.
5. The new shape tip on the Titan was easy to get use to, it was not an issue, it just looks odd.
6. I had no trouble getting the 80 MM Titan up on edge and it carves a nice ark.
7. The Titan held on the ICE as well as the Rally and they are both great on ICE.
8. The Rally makes a better short ark turn with ease.
9. The Titan makes a better GS turn with ease
10. I did not ski any bumps with these skis.