obsethed vs wrenegade

[gunniride]

Anyone actually ski both of these? Lots of reviews of each, wondering about side by side comparison.

I really enjoy my OBs that I got from Corndog last year, but curious if the wrenegade would fix a couple of the OB shortfallings.

Obsetheds for me:

Pros:
super easy to ski in most conditions
great float
excels at pivot turns in steep trees
solid on hardpack with speed
outstanding durability on Crested Butte's rocky terrain
enjoy the soft flex for avoiding chronic back pain

Cons:
soft flex and large tips get knocked around in crud
wheelie out on landings due to tail rocker (or lack of skill)
Not really inspiring for big high speed turns in the shorter 179 length

I've always thought a slightly stiffer, flat tailed brother of the OB would be the ticket- is that the "wrenegade"?

[TeleThor]

Pretty sure all the ON3P skis have full twins... Not quite what you'd call flat tailed. However, they (Wrenegades) don't have rockered tails. Is that what you mean by flat?

[Stikki]

I've always thought a slightly stiffer, flat tailed brother of the OB would be the ticket- is that the "wrenegade"?

K2 Sidestash? Nearly same dims, flat tail, metal. I haven't heard much about them but the little I have has been very good. I was hoping HOP would chime in with some spam.

[Professor Chaos]

So you liked the soft flex due to back pain, yet you want a stiffer ski(which may induce pain) that wont get knocked around or slow you down..alright.

In my review of the Wren I compared it to the last gen Seth(prior to rocker and dim change) a number of times(simply cause to me they were similar, especially on paper, just with the Wren being wider throughout). Check that if you havent already.

Here's a quick answer to you question about the Wren.

Pros:
super easy to ski in most conditions - Yes. If you can ski them proper.
great float - Kept my ass afloat in all pow I saw with them. Including some light deep interior pow.
excels at pivot turns in steep trees - I was never hindered in this dept.
solid on hardpack with speed - Yep. Rail groomers.
outstanding durability on Crested Butte's rocky terrain - Had some hard nocks. Not a scratch.
enjoy the soft flex for avoiding chronic back pain - This is too personal to comment on.

Cons: (these all turn into pros for the wren)
soft flex and large tips get knocked around in crud - Makes crud its bitch. Tip knockage is all about your managment of them.
wheelie out on landings due to tail rocker (or lack of skill) - Only tip rocker to help with float. Super solid stomping pads otherwise.
Not really inspiring for big high speed turns in the shorter 179 length - 30.5 m turn radius. I think the last get Seth I skied was 28. I liked it for an everyday ski.

[wren]

The Wrenegade is similarly easy to ski on groomers, and excels in pretty much every other category over the obSethed with the exception of ice. I have not skied the 189 obSethed, but I don't find the 191 Wrenegade to be that cumbersome in the trees. I prefer something with even more rocker for the tight stuff, but being able to take the Wrenegade everywhere, pretty much anyday, makes me forget about this. The Wrenegade also has a little more tip to tail taper and won't hook up as much on big turns in pow or crud, and the stiffer flex gives you the confidence to send it.

To be honest I think the 100-109mm waisted skis are on their way out (except perhaps on the east coast) because the 110-115mm waisted crowd (Wrenegade, Big Bro, Mothership, XXL, etc.) does everything better, except ice.

[hop]

K2 Sidestash? Nearly same dims, flat tail, metal. I haven't heard much about them but the little I have has been very good. I was hoping HOP would chime in with some spam.

I haven't skied the production version but I did get to try some of the protos. I'm not sure how close what I tried is to the production version so I'm hesitant to get too into the review. I also only had a few runs so it's not like the review is that in-depth. I will say that I liked what I skied.

I still prefer the OB; I'm a fan of the slight tail rocker and since I'm not making ski anchors on a regular basis (or ever), the twintip only adds to the ski.

If all goes well I'll have more to say about the production SS in a few weeks.

I also do not agree with Wren saying the 100-109 waist is becoming obsolete on the west coast, but maybe I haven't skied enough 110+ waists to compare. I'm also tainted by European experience which rewards versatility more than pure pow kill performance.

[gunniride]

Pretty sure all the ON3P skis have full twins... Not quite what you'd call flat tailed. However, they (Wrenegades) don't have rockered tails. Is that what you mean by flat?

Thanks for the ideas. To clarify, I guess I meant a non-rockered tail, not a true flat tail for mountaineering.

After reading a bit more about 0N3P skis, the Billygoat sounds pretty fun as well, though it does have some tail rocker, it might bridge the gap between the 179 and 189 OB- perhaps just a bit stiffer?

Wondering how the wrenegade and billygoat compare side to side.

[iggyskier]

Wondering how the wrenegade and billygoat compare side to side.

Fairly different.

Wren is more traditionally mounted, liked to be driven more and will have a feeling of being locked into turns more. It is going to be better on groomers and better in chop. Not as good in trees and tight spaces. If you like a ski that makes big turns and charges it is the best we make. It is pretty easy to ski, IMO, but capable of going as fast as you want to go, so it is a great combo. Larger turn radius than the BG too.

Billy goat has a pretty different feel. It won't be as comfortable on groomers (more rocker requires you to stay on top of them more, while with the wren I find I can just go and forget about the rocker) or ripping big turns, but it will be vastly quicker in tight situations and trees. The biggest difference is going to be the smaller turn radius on the BG, which when you lay it over on edge will turn very fast, and the increased sidecut taper. Because the tail has a pretty loose feel to it, it is very easy to manipulate in situations where you are changing speed and direction quickly. It makes it much easier to pivot the ski and change the direction of the tips or throw the skis out to dump speed.

So that is a quick breakdown of how they differ. if you have any more questions, shoot me a PM or email (scott@on3pskis.com) and I would be happy to answer it.

[skibum93]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone who's gotten their Wrenegades also has tried the Obsethed.