Unliked Deacon 84 Hack

[JayH]

Hi I have a pair of Deacon 84s (172) that I do not like to ski on. I don’t have a good vocabulary to explain why. The best I can say is they feel catchy rather than carve-y to me - as if they have strong edges but I don’t feel I have good control over the edges like I do with my other carving skis and my all-mountain skis.

I have struggled over what to do. A couple reference skis I really like are the Supershape Magnum 163 & 170s with a PRD system binding on a track, and the Mantra M6 177 with a direct mounted Attack 13 (not a demo or Protector).

I accordingly do not favor a higher binding, or a lower binding necessarily as a skier. But I am wondering if the lower stand height on a ski I expect to carve a decent turn could be the problem. Any other suggestions prior to taking the loss and selling them used? Raise them with a plate? In principle having a wider carver is good for when there is new snow but there is still not good coverage off-piste yet.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tch]

Standard first question: have you had them tuned well by a reliable shop?
Always the most obvious issue.

 

[BC.]

Take to shop this fall…get a quality 1/3 tune, and If you still don’t like them…sell them. It’s a very popular ski..and would be an easy sell as long as you priced them to sell.

 

[Andy Mink]

Tune first. It sounds like the edges are either high in relation to the base or it could be they're not consistently sharp along the length of the ski making it feel like they never do the same thing twice...because they don't.

 

[JayH]

Hi I have a pair of Deacon 84s (172) that I do not like to ski on. I don’t have a good vocabulary to explain why. The best I can say is they feel catchy rather than carve-y to me - as if they have strong edges but I don’t feel I have good control over the edges like I do with my other carving skis and my all-mountain skis.

I have struggled over what to do. A couple reference skis I really like are the Supershape Magnum 163 & 170s with a PRD system binding on a track, and the Mantra M6 177 with a direct mounted Attack 13 (not a demo or Protector).

I accordingly do not favor a higher binding, or a lower binding necessarily as a skier. But I am wondering if the lower stand height on a ski I expect to carve a decent turn could be the problem. Any other suggestions prior to taking the loss and selling them used? Raise them with a plate? In principle having a wider carver is good for when there is new snow but there is still not good coverage off-piste yet.

Thanks in advance.

Standard first question: have you had them tuned well by a reliable shop?
Always the most obvious issue.

Can I take the 5th? It’s tempting to lie and say I have - but I think I only got binding calibration.

 

[Andy Mink]

Can I take the 5th? It’s tempting to lie and say I have - but I think I only got binding calibration.

Since you're at Donner you could take them to Blue Zone or drive down to Reno to Bobo's. Bobo's has the latest, greatest Wintersteiger tuning machine and it does really good work. The other thing that can cause wonky feeling skis is a structure that is too aggressive. Deep (relatively) structure will get grippy, especially on packed corduroy, and not allow for easy transitions. Hockey stops can feel down right scary as you don't have a predictable side slip.

 

[motogreg]

FWIW, I've had a couple volklSrecently that were railed out of the wrapper....

 

[Philpug]

Since you're at Donner you could take them to Blue Zone or drive down to Reno to Bobo's. Bobo's has the latest, greatest Wintersteiger tuning machine and it does really good work. The other thing that can cause wonky feeling skis is a structure that is too aggressive. Deep (relatively) structure will get grippy, especially on packed corduroy, and not allow for easy transitions. Hockey stops can feel down right scary as you don't have a predictable side slip.

Not BlueZone, their machine is not up to snuff at this point, Yes to Bobo's or in Truckee, Start Haus.

 

[SpeedyKevin]

Not BlueZone, their machine is not up to snuff at this point, Yes to Bobo's or in Truckee, Start Haus.

The machine at SmoothRides? Thought they figured everything out

 

[Philpug]

The machine at SmoothRides? Thought they figured everything out

Thats what they want you to think.

 

[Brian Finch]

I felt that that ski failed to age well. The plate / track developed a ton of wobble & then I felt an exaggerated dead spot in the transition -YMMV.

As others have stated, tune first & then see.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Hi I have a pair of Deacon 84s (172) that I do not like to ski on. I don’t have a good vocabulary to explain why. The best I can say is they feel catchy rather than carve-y to me - as if they have strong edges but I don’t feel I have good control over the edges like I do with my other carving skis and my all-mountain skis.

I have struggled over what to do. A couple reference skis I really like are the Supershape Magnum 163 & 170s with a PRD system binding on a track, and the Mantra M6 177 with a direct mounted Attack 13 (not a demo or Protector).

I accordingly do not favor a higher binding, or a lower binding necessarily as a skier. But I am wondering if the lower stand height on a ski I expect to carve a decent turn could be the problem. Any other suggestions prior to taking the loss and selling them used? Raise them with a plate? In principle having a wider carver is good for when there is new snow but there is still not good coverage off-piste yet.

Thanks in advance.

I might be wrong but that sounds like edge-high ski. Have you checked them for flatness?

 

[JayH]

I felt that that ski failed to age well. The plate / track developed a ton of wobble & then I felt an exaggerated dead spot in the transition -YMMV.

As others have stated, tune first & then see.

Good to know about the reliability problems. They would get limited use. Will definitely be getting them tuned before giving up. StartHaus is really convenient for me.

 

[anders_nor]

some of the stock tunes of theese are utter shit. my gf's new pair was so bad the guys called me and were frustrated at grind shop, having to do pass, after pass after pass and still railed.

lost over 50% of the ski life.. before she could use them, but now loves them.

it shouldnt be like that at all

 

[fundad77]

Get a full tune with base grind. If you still don't like them then detune with a gummi an inch on the tip and tail. These are great skis but if you don't like them after trying the obvious then sell. I have sold multiple skis with 10 or less days on them.