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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    South Lake Tahoe
    Posts
    3,612

    Ski Review: Trab Evo Polvere

    First the stats on the 171 Trab Evo Polvere:

    Weight: 6.2lbs/pair. (The Trab USA website says 5.9lbs but mine weighed more on my bike scale.)

    Side cut: 123/121-88-109 (I think the first number is the widest part of the tip which is designed for extra flotation; the second number is where the effective edge starts.)

    Turn Radius: 20m (same as the listed radii for both the DPS Wailer 95 and the Trab Stelvio XL.)

    The Polvere is based on the Duo Freerando Light and has the same construction: “Quadraxial carbon reinforced glass wrapped around Trab's patented aramid honeycomb I-Beam core produces a lively ride with excellent torsional rigidity.” It has a bit more sidecut than the Freerando (radius = 22) but has a similar flex pattern to the Freerando and is a bit softer than the Stelvio XL, a similar Trab offering with a 90mm waist and identical 20m turn radius.

    I skied these with my TLT5Ps with both the original liner and Intuition Pro Tours. I added Eliminator foam tongue pads to both liners which I found reduces the forward lean of the boots. I spent one day in the backcountry in about 8”-12” of dust on crust, and three days at a ski area on firm/ice, packed powder groomers, and 8” of beat up pow on a few off piste runs. The held a good edge on groomers and firm, though I didn’t ski them as aggressively as my alpine setups. They had comparable edge hold to my Wailer 95s, a bit less than the Duo Freerando Lights I just sold. They felt pretty dam damp for such a light ski, I felt that my boots were holding back my top speed more than the skis. I didn’t ski them in deep pow, but they had plenty of flotation in the dust on crust and plowed through the beat up pow pretty effectively, though I certainly didn’t ski the beat up pow as aggressively as I would have with my Obsethed.

    I bought these to these to replace the Duo Freerandos as my light weight spring conditions setup. I found the Freerandos were great in forgiving conditions, but found them hard to ski in tricky conditions like mashed potatoes or breakable crust. I haven’t skied the Polveres in the later conditions, but I am hoping the 1cm wider waist will help with that. I deliberately got the Polveres instead of the Stelvio Xls because I thought the softer flex would be more forgiving for tricky snow conditions and when I am tired.

    Trab calls the Polveres a powder ski (Polvere means powder in Italian I am told), but I have fatter skis for those conditions. Main competition in my quiver to Polveres are my Wailer 95s, which weigh about 7lbs. I plan to use the Wailers when weight is not as much of an issue, and I expect more variable conditions.

    For my skins I am using BD adjustable tip loops with the longest length cable to fit around the funky tip protector (get rid of it, Trab), and the Duo tail clip. I will report on how the skin attachments work after I get more time on them.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    1
    Interesting.
    The pair of Polveres (171cm) I weighed came in at 2613 grams, or 5.75 lbs.
    I wonder if it is a difference in production run.
    I have skied them in California snow ( thick stuff) and have been very happy with them.
    They seem to be the ticket for those conditions. Very quick turn initiation.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Posts
    108
    Harpo,

    Thanks for the review on this ski. Any further thoughts on comparison to the Wailer 95? You mention that they have a similar feel on hardpack edge hold but that you would lean towards the Wailer for more variable conditions. Is it mainly the added flotation and stability in the wider platform? I would appreciate any thoughts you have on this.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    Le Lavancher pour le weekend
    Posts
    3,337
    Saw these in a Courmayeur shop this past weekend and they look nice, would love to hear more.
    'waxman is correct, and so far with 40+ days of tasting them there is no way my tongue can tell the difference between wood, and plastic made to taste like wood...but i'm a weirdo and lick my gear...' -kidwoo

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    South Lake Tahoe
    Posts
    3,612
    yeah, I think I would prefer the W95 in most softer conditions because of the wider platform. The W95 have great edge hold for a ski of that width, so the Polvere doesn't have much of an advantage there. Only advantage of the P is that it is lighter. If you get the W95, remember to cut the tail off.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    verbier, milan, isla de pascua
    Posts
    4,806
    Ulty, the trab torsional stiffness is close to zero. I believe it's because of the honeycomb construction.... Who knows

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