PM Gear-Big Bro 192 Review

[Atrain505]

Well I finally feel like I have enough time on these bad boys to give a comprehensive review. I've skied powder, ice, crud, every wierd fabrication of crust, chalk, hardpack, etc. They've been skiied inbounds and out of bounds, just messing around and charging. And they passed there final test with flying colors at the Canadian Freeskiing Championships.

To put it bluntly the PMGear 192 big bros rule anything else out on the market right now.

Powder-From the deep to the heavy they kill it. A problem with the 188 super stiffs was a bit of tip dive. Pat put a higher profiled tip on these and tip dive issues are completely solved...the much bigger shovel of course helps as well. They float, they cut, they smear, they rock.

Air-You try to find me better stomping sticks than these bad boys. I bet ya can't. The highest they've been so far-30 feet...STOMP...in not so ideal conditions!! And oh they will be going much higher.

Hardpack-These rail GS turns. RAIL! I'm consistently dumbfounded by their performance in this realm.

Straightlines-I feel like I'm on autopilot. Moguls fields become butter. There's a reason everyone wants big stiff boards. Fire up those engines.

Ice-They hold an edge damn well. On other big sticks you sometimes feel like you just have to go straight sideways or else your done. Not with these, rail those turns.

Comparisons-I've skied lots of big skis, but only two recently and in the same day to give them a direct comparison.
I skied the 194's Legend pros. Believe it or not when comparing the 97 waist to the 114 waist I thought there would be a clear winner on turnability and hardpack performance. And there was. I just got it totally wrong. The big bros outrail the legend pros any day.

I skied the 194 Legend Pro XXL's. Pretty similar skis to the big bros just of a lesser breed. The big bros are stiffer throughout-especially in the tip. The big bros are much livelier. The XXL's kinda felt dead under my feet (don't get me wrong still an incredible ski that is tons of fun). The big bro's intiate turns way easier and can turn much sharper. The tips on the XXL's have a bit of flap to them. None so on the big bros.

I've been absolutely blown away by these skis. I won't be skiing anything else for the rest of the winter-even on the hard days (except for the touring setup). These things are just so stable, quick, burly and too much damn fun.
They're worth every penny.

[ill-advised strategy]

so can I buy a pair or what?

[flip]

How big are you?

[Bender]

How big are you?

I'm about 12".

[MTT]

The dimensions are much different with the fattier 192 than the old classic 188 Supers.

However given that this years 188's have much less camber than last year and the tips on the 188's are turned up more!

Wouldn’t this years 188 Stiff be a ski better suited for most of us?

I would like to m hear your take on (THIS YEARS) 188 Classic with less camber more tip up lift and flatter tail.

I think the improvement to the classic 124/99/118 is being overlooked.

That’s a big shame given that they really have these suckers dialed in this year



I think its cool as hell that your getting it done in the Free Ride comps on the Big Brother Bro's

[Phill]

I loved the xxl that i demoed but i did notice a good deal of tip flop at speed. would the big bros be a perfected deep day ski for me? I realize they cant be bought yet but i am very curious and interested in them.

[splat]

We had pechelman expand the magic of the 179s to a 192 with his enginerding expertise. We tested that with a few different layups on Hood in early October. The sidecut was money, but we needed to do a few more layups and nail the flex. pechelman's core design was perfectly on the spot. I actually sneaked out for one day off to try a softer version, which is the pair Tyrone has now and 666 was talkin about. I thought the tip was too soft. But with the core we had, we found that four sheets of 19 oz triaxial glass, it was just right. That's what Atrain and sammich competed on and what teambigdave and a couple others have as a result of the brototyping. There's a couple softer pair around and we'll probably nail the softer flex when we do a batch for sale in a couple months. But for now, we're still haulin ass to get out 179s and 188s.

I need to apologize to everyone waiting for skis while here. We're making headway, I promise. I don't want anyone to think we were dickin around instead of making 179s and 188s. We made the 192s while waiting for 179 edges and 188 bases. It just worked out that way.

[Atrain505]

Flip-5'11" 160.
MTT-The classic 188 super stiff bro is an incredible ski as well. It had one main issue. Tip dive. I heard that wasn't as bad on the regular stiffs. With less camber and a higher tip I think that issue is solved. The 188 already did the job extremely well as a one ski quiver. With less camber and the higher tip it may have perfected it. But I haven't tried a pair so I don't know.
Phill-If your issue with the XXL's was tip flop then the big bros would be the ski. Definetly a stiffer tip with way less flop than the XXL.

[mc_roon]

what was the final decision on the graphics? I may have just forgotten it, but I never remember seeing a picture of them with anything besides the standard BRO graphics

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

No final decision (or name for that matter) on the 192 yet. There are some out there with the classic blue bro topsheet, and some other protos with the clear. Here are some pics of the clear topsheet version on the prototype pair I have that Splat was talking about:

(photos by Cirquerider)

next to a 179 (sorta)


not a good view of the 192 here, but thought this picture of Jed Peters dancin the jig should be posted Can't quite see the camber on the 192's here, but on this pair it is nearly zero.


photo by skier666:

[Xover]

shoe you got enough in you to turn those big boys??

sound like phun sticks; would love to try out a pair from someone round these parts - twoplanka, eon, bueller????

[Professor]

They're worth every penny.

Did I miss something? I thought PM Gear was helping you out this season

[pechelman]

First off, as always, thanks for the kind words Pat.
Glad that my work was satisfactory.

Phill-If your issue with the XXL's was tip flop then the big bros would be the ski. Definetly a stiffer tip with way less flop than the XXL.

Ive never skied an XXL or any model of bros, however, I have noticed this similarity with the 186 LP and the tip "flopping" around. I do not think this is an issue that is rooted in the skis stiffness, but rather the skis weight, in particular, at the tip. With this extra mass, due to the larger shovel, sheets of metal, heavy contruction, it causes the tip to "flop" at a slower frequency, than of a similar stiffness ski that weighs less, ie bro models. If you're interested in how this works, look up "natural frequency" on wikipedia or something or shoot me a pm.

This lower frequency makes it much more noticable to the skier, somewhat similar to how bass is much more omnidirectional than are higher frequencies of sound..not quite the same, but it kinda works as an analogy. In actuality, the higher frequency "flopping" of lighter skis, is indeed so high, that it doesnt give your foot time to actually feel and respond to the entire flopping cycle, but rather just vibrations that are the entire cycle attenuated (ie peaks\valleys chopped off).

After skiing some much much lighter skis this weekend, that are softer than my LPs, Im fairly convinced that the LP tip flop is an issue related to weight.

anyway, thats my 2.
sorry for it being overly enginerdy

[jed peters]

not a good view of the 192 here, but thought this picture of Jed Peters dancin the jig should be posted Can't quite see the camber on the 192's here, but on this pair it is nearly zero.

That's my

"no WAY BRO, are those the new BIG BRO skis from PMGEAR? Super STOKED BRO!" pose.

Oh yeah, and just cuz we're on TGR,

"Best ski ever"

(and no, I didn't ski on them, I'm just jumping on the vibe ahead of time.)

And Ron, I'll be slutting a new batch of bigger (read: fatter) carvers at the wood this weekend if you wanna switch for a couple runs. Just tune your fucking skis ahead of time. Sheesh.

[Atrain505]

Did I miss something? I thought PM Gear was helping you out this season

Figure of speech.

[Bueller]

...
would love to try out a pair from someone round these parts - twoplanka, eon, bueller????

sorry, i live in Chicago.

[workinforturns]

so are there a pair of the 192's around the bozeman area? even montana area? i have never sacked up on sking anything over a 183 and would really like to try it! oh and they would be the fatest skis i have ever ridden as well!
anyone?
LONGSHOT=pat ill pay for shipping if i could demo a pair?

[splat]

Slide down to Targhee and talk to GheePup.
Bet he'd let you take his for a spin if you showed up with some pink powdercords.

[XtrPickels]

commmooonnnn ppppatttt send 'em to bozeman.
I mean, we'll test the basedurability because Bigsky is a mine field right now.
yoouuuu knoowww you want to.

WFTurns... I have some bigdaddies you can sack up to if you want to take them for a ride. and some 188 Ak launchers

[Core Shot]

Ive never skied an XXL or any model of bros

Whaaaaaa??

How can the Bro Model engineer/design guy not be rocking a pair?
Me so confused.

[pechelman]

Whaaaaaa??

How can the Bro Model engineer/design guy not be rocking a pair?
Me so confused.

because i want to make sure the folks that have paid and who have been waiting forever get theirs first.

Besides, Pat was very clear on what he wanted, so that made my life easy....it also didnt hurt to be able to start with the existing 179 design to make the new 179fats and 192. Other than that, it was some thickness-width-stiffness calculations to make sure the new cores were nice and happy to what Pat wanted them.

[SafteySquad]

man pechelman, you are a genius. you're wealth of knowledge is amazing to me. especially in the ski world, haven't you only been skiing for a few years??

[pechelman]

man pechelman, you are a genius. you're wealth of knowledge is amazing to me. especially in the ski world, haven't you only been skiing for a few years??

hah. genuis. not a chance.

i do find most things that relate to anything mechanical interesting though.
Its surprising how many hobbies Ive had over the years that have each have had their own unique design challenges. Skiing is definitely one of them. Guess it kinda worked out that one of my specialities is designing, manufacturing, and analyzing composite components in flexural applications.

actually, this is my 2nd season .
3rd if you want to get super technical and count those 4 days I skied in 04/05.

[skifishbum]

sound like phun sticks; would love to try out a pair from someone round these parts - twoplanka, eon, bueller????

"When you expect it least EXPECT it"
Unless the "superstar gnarster, president of the varsity team, and chief prostilizer can hook a brother up with a pass to the holy land.

Thanks Splat
You da mang
X I may make it over for the mini that Fri.

[Hutch]

Great review, Atrain.

those things need a hotdog sticker, sfb!