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Thread: Review: 183 Bro

  1. #1
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    Review: 183 Bro

    The Ski: PM Gear Bro Model
    183cm Stiff Flex (125-99-114)
    Mounted with Tyrolia Demo bindings
    Borrowed from the Powderhorn Rental/Tuning at Solitude courtesy of skifishbum

    The Skier:
    6', 170lbs with the clothes and whatnot
    Aggressive, advanced by most standards. Lagging the pack by maggot standards.
    Dalbello Krypton Cross boots
    Similar skis used: 186 Mojo 90s, 188 Stiff Bros (courtesy of same place/mag)

    Conditions: Day old shin-deep pow, cut-up crud, groomers, bumps

    I ventured over to the newly formed Bro demo center at Solitude to ski with some maggots, hang out with the man himself (skifishbum), and give the new 183 Bros a whirl. I skied the 188 Stiffs last year and had fun on them, but felt that they were a bit much for me. In situations where I really needed to throw the ski around and control exactly where I was going (namely the dreaded bumps) I was getting worked by the bigger ski. I was falling back on the ski and really moving them around by the tails. In hindsight, I think this was also due to my old overly-stiff boots. I need to ski the 188's again to verify this. Anyway, on to the 183's:

    First, and most important, the looks: I wasn't high on the new topsheets from interweb pictures, but in person they look good. I've got a softspot for the baby blue airplane look, but the new topsheets are matte and that helps keep them from being too busy. The construction on the 183's seems absolutely money. AK Skis really knows what they're doing. The bases are strong as all heck, as I was playing around in untracked and inevitably hitting a few submerged rocks (sorry demo center!) and came out of the day with a small scratch on the tail of one ski.

    I've been skiing 185 Praxis recently in powder, so I was looking forward to seeing how these did. As soon as I started moving, the tips planed up and I was able to weight the front of the ski without tip dive. I made some big and fast (for me) turns and the ski just kept on surfing. When I got below the untracked and into some cut up stuff I felt confident in the ski to just keep running through it. The Mojo 90's have been my primary ski for the last few years, and this was a feeling that I was not at all used to. It may be the smaller radius of the Mojo's that keeps them from being less confident, or something else entirely. Either way, the Bros went right through it. They felt similar to the 188s in pow and crud. I didn't feel like they were ever too short.

    I hit some small to medium sized bumps throughout the day and was really impressed at the Bros ability to keep making big turns and basically ignore the bumps. While I tried not to go right over the top of them, I was able to vary the radius of my turns to hit the smaller sides of the bumps and just absorb the hits. There was a confidence to the skis that, again, I haven't felt with the Mojos. I don't think there is much difference in the flex between the Bros and Mojo 90s, if anything the Bros are a smidge stiffer. This was the place that I felt the biggest difference between the 188s and the 183s and the reason I would choose the 183s at the moment. When I skied the 188s in similar conditions the bumps and variations put me in the backseat and I couldn't keep the tips pressured enough to drive the ski through. I never felt that with the 183s. I do want to ski the 188s again with the new boots to rule that out as a factor though.

    On groomers they rip, as do the 188s. That was something that really surprised me about the 188s when I skied them. As long as you're moving fast and making big turns, they just rail on the soft groomers. I haven't encountered ice on either so can't speak to that.

    The only thing that didn't do it for me was "hucking", as I double ejected twice on 8-10' drops in Honeycomb. I blame the bindings and my stupidity more than the skis though. Not surprisingly, jumping to flat deep pow resulted in the skis staying in the place they landed and me cartwheeling a few times. It speaks to the skis though that I was confident enough to try that stuff, as that's about my limit these days and I was trying it within 3 hours of being on the skis.
    dayglo aerobic enthusiast

  2. #2
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    ^^ That is one of the reason I am loving mine. It's like wearing several pairs of skis all at once! The demo circus was in town this weekend, and I didn't even feel like trying anything else out.

  3. #3
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    The 183 sidecut is much more like the 179 32m radius than the 188's 40m radius, Robin.
    It has much more of a feeling of just going anywhere you want and holding a true edge throughout any sized turn.
    You gotta ski the 183 just to have your mind blown.
    I want to redesign the 188 to have that same sidecut.
    Aldo did a great job replicating and transferring the 179 sidecut to the 183, 174 and 164.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by splat View Post
    I want to redesign the 188 to have that same sidecut.
    I am with you on that.

  5. #5
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    I'm considering getting rid of my Goat BC setup and picking up a pair of 183 bros to be my new tourer.

    Thoughts?

  6. #6
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    Splat...could you check out my post at the end of the "are BROs too soft" thread....I don't want to just repost it here and pirate this thread. Thanks

  7. #7
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    are 183 demos available in whistler?

    splat

    is there a shop in whistler where I can demo a pair of the 183s (or 179s, for that matter) in whistler? I'll be up there mlk weekend, jan 19-21

  8. #8
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    Daywalker, you're the same size as me, so it's nice to read that review. Too bad I can't afford them, because all I do is work in ski shops.
    No longer stuck.

    Quote Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn View Post
    Just an uneducated guess.

  9. #9
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    nice write up
    I cant wait to order mine

    splat: how much camber do the 183's have?
    and care to extend the mag discount to say...the end of the summer when I have money?
    Live

  10. #10
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    Can anyone compare the 183 Bro to the 180 Explosiv 2?
    Quote Originally Posted by wintermittent
    And furthermore. What is up with turkey bacon? Healthy bacon? Unpossible.
    Quote Originally Posted by snowsprite
    That is like masturbation. People resort to it when they can't have the real thing!

  11. #11
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    btw, what is the actual length with a tape measure from tip to tail? My 185cm Nordicas are about 182! where the fuck do they get these lengths from?
    No longer stuck.

    Quote Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn View Post
    Just an uneducated guess.

  12. #12
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    Where are you guys mounting your 183's for an everyday ski? On the line?

  13. #13
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    i think theyve been mounting them on the line or 2mm forward
    Live

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by skiingsamurai View Post
    i think theyve been mounting them on the line or 2mm forward
    That is correct.

  15. #15
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    Varying turn radius, very interesting.

    I never really thought about it, but it's totally true. I am on 179 fats, and it's obviously easy to vary turn size in soft snow, but it's super easy on groomers, too. One of our favorite runs returns to a long groomer, and I normally rage retarded fast super g turns through the gapetastic gapers, with no edge hold issues whatsoever. I was skiing with some intermediates on saturday and having NO problem carving very controlled short radius turns on groomers.

    Very cool feature.

  16. #16
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    Resurrecting a very old thread. I'm about to get my hands on some 2008 183 stiff Bros (made by AK). Does anyone have the weight for this ski?

    Yes, I searched (JONG). It sounds like the AKs are heavier than the Reno-made version, possibly on the order of 9 lbs. This guy says the 2010 (183 Fats) weighs 3546g flat. And this says "7.6 lbs per pair of 179 BROS (3440 g per pair)." Can anyone confirm weight?

  17. #17
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    From the official ski weight thread:

    07/08 Bro 183 softs (made by AK) 2060g

    = 9.06 lbs

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds! View Post
    From the official ski weight thread:

    07/08 Bro 183 softs (made by AK) 2060g

    = 9.06 lbs
    Hmm, a bit heavier than I was hoping for my new spring touring stick, but thanks for the info.

  19. #19
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    My orange top/black base 183 hybrid fats are 1,758g. Don't know why the current generation clear-top full-carbon ones are heavier.

  20. #20
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    Finally scored a nice pair of AK-made Bro 183's (said to be the 2009 vintage, which only came in "stiff"), and they're 2,045g each. Healthy amount of camber (though bases are easily compressed against each other with one hand), zero rocker of course. Not sure how many days are on them, they definitely show use but are in very decent condition for a five year old ski. The flex through the body is a little stiffer than my 2010 183 Fats, but they seem to have softer tips and tails (especially the very tips), at least in relation to the rest of the ski. The topsheets are a weird rough textured surface, maybe similar to the new matte DPS topsheets? Feel like they could be ice magnets, but we'll see. The graphics look better in person than they do in photos.

    Should be a real nice stick for Mammoth & SoCal.

  21. #21
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    I have a pair of those and they are a great ski, bomber as hell. While not used all that often anymore, they have a lot of days on them and still going strong. The tops don't have an icing issue, in fact nothing sticks to them, so no "Change for a Nickel" sticker on mine.

    I agree it is a constitutional right for Americans to be assholes...its just too bad that so many take the opportunity...
    iscariot

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by hutash View Post
    No "Change for a Nickel" sticker on mine.
    Wouldn't that sticker be redundant on a pair of Bros anyway?

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