PM Gear Bro 183 Fat Review (2011, first production run)

[1000-oaks]

Might be a little premature to get a review thread started, but why not...


Just received the new Bro 183 Fat today, initial observations:

- Nicely made! Quality and finish is very good, actually surprisingly good for a boutique ski maker.

- These bad boys are pretty straight compared to a lot of skis, not that big hourglass sidecut like on K2's.

- Lightweight. 183 Bro Fat weight: 1,870g per ski.

- Dimensions: 136 / 111 / 125

- Love the long tip profile and shark-nose shape, can't wait to try it out.

- Nice tail profile, just enough upturn to be able to back up when needed.

- I'm no hand-flex pro, but I'd put them at a medium-stiff flex, with a considerably softer tip than tail. Way stiffer than my 188 JP vs Julian rock skis (thankfully), but softer than the pair of new 192cm Fischer Watea 101 sticks I have on Fleabay right now. Flex seems pretty similar to my wrestler-graphic 190 Sumos, if the length difference isn't throwing it off.

- Haven't done any measuring yet, but eyeballing the mounting line it appears to be reasonably back on the ski. (Which is exactly how I like it, awesome.) In fact, if I line up a 190 Sumo with the Bro 183 at the mounting lines, the Bro is actually a bit LONGER from the line forward, but with a shorter tail.


I'll be mounting Baron's with BindingFreedom.com inserts soon as they arrive, so I'll document that shortly. (Will probably pick up a pair of Tour F12s when they go on sale in the spring, so I can swap bindings back and forth.)

Now all we need is some more snow in SoCal! Don't think I'll be bringing brand-new Bros to sharkfin-infested Baldy just yet.


Update: Getting closer to being done with my Bros.

http://www.phototurbo.com/temp/bindingfreedom12x8.jpg

[Flaukamite]

Would love to see some pictures of the skis both with/without plates.

[1000-oaks]

Got the Fat Bros on the snow for the first time today, what a great ski! Conditions sucked but the Bro's rocked.


Me: 5'9", 165 lbs, 40, was on the ski team in high school (midwest) but undoubtedly the slowest guy on the slalom team, did some ski instructing in college on east coast and had a few 75+ day years at Sunday River, moved out west and snowboarded from 1991-1999 on Burton Craig Kelly Screaming Tree and Supermodel 181 powder boards. Came back to skis when fat skis like the K2 Maiden AK hit the market. Currently really out of shape after not getting any exercise for the last year and a half thanks to a weekday desk job and a weekend photography side business.

Favorite terrain: tree pow & sidecountry bushwhacking, always sniffing around for the leftover stashes of the good stuff even if it's just trying to link a few one-turn triangles of untracked behind trees. Don't care how small a patch of pow it is, I will find it and kill it with rabid ineptitude.

Skis I've really liked: 179 K2 Maiden AK (yeah I know they're soft & heavy, but they're super fun), Volkl Sumo (awesome pow sticks, but 190 is a little stiff & long for me in trees, 175 is too short & soft). Big fan of skis that hold and spring off the tail (for my weight), which rules out the stiff sticks that the bad-asses here ride.

Skis that were okay: 179 K2 Pontoons (float great but heavy & not very lively, maybe I didn't push them hard enough), 179 Seth Vicious (red Dali, not a bad ski but too narrow for my taste), 179 K2 Silencer (great low-tide beater ski for the $99 they cost end of season), 180 Rossi Bandit B3 (pre-B4 99mm waist model, real light but kind of planky and dead feeling)

Hated skis: Armada ARV (SO torsionally soft, can't hold an edge or carve worth a DAMN, were cheap but was happy to be rid of them. Fine for the park I suppose, which I sometimes cross when headed to the trees.)


Conditions: rain-soaked 8" of pow with 1/4" death ice crust, which turned into decent mashed potatoes in the afternoon.

Gotta say the 183 Bro Fats seem to be everything I was looking for! Super lightweight, very poppy & energetic yet track with precision, torsionally stiff enough to hold mean carves without the slightest whimper, VERY quick underfoot when carving short turns, and seemed to float well although a real pow day is needed to say for sure. Rode them with Baron's mounted on the line (with 5mm inserts) and Scarpa Skookums, which took about two pounds off each foot compared to my Atomic T11 alpine boots and 190 Sumos.

Can't wait to get them back on the snow, for years I've been wishing someone would make a ski the very dimensions & flex of the 183 Bro Fat, thanks for making it a reality Splat!

(I'd suggest a 183 Bro Superfat at 150-125-142 with tip rocker for the really deep days, but who knows, maybe this 183 Bro Fat will kill my urge to find a fat ski between the 175 and 190 Sumo.)

[Piggity]

Nice T.O.! Throw some more pics up if you get a chance.

[splat]

Yeah. Yur pics are purdy!

[cliffhucker]

Hands down one of the single funnest skis i've ridden, and at ~8 lbs they are light enough to lug around in the b.c., and yes, those pix are pretty

[1000-oaks]

I've read a few posts by guys saying their Lhasas are a bit slow to initiate turns but rail once they do...I don't get that at all. Looking at the dimension chart the 183 Bro Fat looks pretty similar to the shovel on a 186 Lhasa, so I would think turn initiation would be nearly the same. These babies carve any radius turn you want, and they do it NOW - and hold the edge like nobody's business. Even at 111mm underfoot and with a much longer turn radius, I think they're much more nimble and feel more "race ski" on the groomers than the 99mm waist 179 Seth Vicious (red Dali) I used to have. And the 125mm wide Bro Fat tail kicks ass, being an old-school guy I haven't got too excited about pintails yet. (The PM Gear chart is wrong where it says the 183 Bro Fat tail is 120mm, it's really 125mm.)

[1000-oaks]

Thanks on the pix, I'll shoot some more once I'm done with my taxes...ugh.

[splat]

Thanks for correcting the dims, TO.
French slacker intern who made that chart couldn't do things very well.