To Buy Demo Skis or Good Used Older Skis? That is the question.

[iakobos]

I finally got back into skiing two years ago after a 25 year hiatus. I skied while in college back in the early '90s. Needless to say, ski technology changed A LOT during that time. Parabolic skis that carve are like driving an automatic car versus the straight skis I learned on that are like driving an old manual transmission. I still don't get to ski very much maybe only 3-4 days a year but I'm pretty good at it. I think I would generally qualify as advanced, mostly Blues and Blacks but no Double Blacks. And while I'm by no means the fastest person on the mountain, I'm clearly faster than most.

I've been renting the last couple of years and skiing Keystone, A-Basin and Breck for a week. Now I have some opportunities for some quick weekend trips to New Mexico coming up and due to time constraints it would be nice not to waist time at a rental shop. It's also possible I won't make it to Colorado this year thus still limiting me to 3-4 days a year on mountain. With that said I've been thinking about investing and, more importantly, how much to invest in a set of skis? I also need to be budget conscious. No more than I ski, spending $800-$1000 for new skis and bindings isn't practical.

For comparison's sake, last year I rented a pair of Salomon X-Drive 8.0 identical to the ones here. They don't seem to be anything special and there were times when I felt like I could go faster on a better ski. However, I had a good enough time with them and would be happy on something equivalent to them. I have an opportunity to buy a pair of Demo Volkl Kendo skis from the local ski shop for $450 including bindings. I'm guessing that would be a noticeable step up from the X-Drives I rented but have no way to be sure? Before I stumbled onto that I was considering different K2 Apache Recon skis off ebay for about $150 with Marker bindings or $185 with Salomon bindings. In their day the Recons were, from what I've read, some of the best. Is there really that much difference between the performance of skis from 10 years ago versus what's offered now?

The reason I lean towards the older skis is because of budget considerations and the amount of time, or lack thereof, I'll actually be on mountain. On the other hand if there really is a big performance difference between skis from 10 years and and now, then I'd certainly consider going for the newer skis and spend the bucks.

[creaky fossil]

3-4 days a year might make you a mid-level intermediate if you're athletic & lucky.

At that low rate of repetition, you don't learn/improve much w/in a season, nor from season to season.

Get something that's relatively easy to ski, & have fun with that ski.

Volkl Kendo is best suited for a practiced hand, not a recreational, sometime skier. Exception to that would be if you're very heavy for your height, then the Kendo may be more forgiving. As in, 5'8" and 225 lbs.

Don't know the X-Drive but I've heard it's stout. In my experience Salomons generally are more forgiving & easier to ski, though, relative to Volkls.

[jorion]

If I were only skiing 3 or 4 days a year I don't think it would make sense to own skis. Just demo every time. You save the hassle of having to tune your skis, storing them, traveling with them, etc.

Plus, you need to figure out on your own what kind of skier you are and what kind of ski you like. Don't mistake your speed and skiing black diamonds for your skill level. It's how you ski, not what you ski. I could safely get down double black diamonds when I was at best an intermediate, that doesn't mean I was a good skier.

You could be a super good skier and have a style that lends itself to flexy, light skis. Or you could be a charger that needs stiff and heavy boards.

You just have to ski to figure out what works and what doesn't. Which honestly might not happen skiing three to four days a season.

[PNWbrit]

Has anyone explained to you how they are color coded for ability level?

Similar to the way ski runs are.

[Damian Sanders]

I have an opportunity to buy a pair of Demo Volkl Kendo skis from the local ski shop for $450 including bindings.

These guys will sell you a BRAND NEW pair of kendo's with a very good 13 din binding for $540, mounted and shipped. They are a high end ski.

http://www.skiessentials.com/2017-vo...-bindings.html

DEMO BINDINGS SUCK. DON'T DO IT.

[skifishbum]

praxis rx

[N1CK.]

If I were only skiing 3 or 4 days a year I don't think it would make sense to own skis. Just demo every time. You save the hassle of having to tune your skis, storing them, traveling with them, etc.

This.
Renting/demoing makes the most sense. Get newer stuff year after year, chance to grab fat skis if you manage to fall into a pow day, skinny skis on groomer zoomer days, no maintenance or travel expenses.

[XXX-er]

if you ski 3 or 4 days a year whatever you buy will be obsolete before you can wear them out ...pay as you go and rent

[Banh Mi]

praxis rx

Rx

[nickwm21]

Do you own boots? That is the first place to start, and unfortunately it's an item where you most likely need to buy new, in a shop...

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[lordf]

if you ski 3 or 4 days a year whatever you buy will be obsolete before you can wear them out ...pay as you go and rent

For my resort skis in Europe I just by ex-demo as they get trashed within a few days of use. Usually something from Kastle or Volkl when the hire shops sell on stuff.

[Kenny Satch]

Have the volkl bridge and the kendo is a thinner version and I find them very easy to ski.

As for transitioning into modern skis please take a few private lessons to get the most out of them.

I didn't transition well when the early shaped skis came out but today you have a plethora of choices that will shorten the learning curve.

Welcome back

[El Chupacabra]

Successful troll is successful.

[Jong Lafitte]

Do you own boots? That is the first place to start, and unfortunately it's an item where you most likely need to buy new, in a shop...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using TGR Forums mobile app

qft

[Damian Sanders]

Successful troll is successful.

Ehhh, I think that now that Epicski is gone, we'll be getting a bunch more questions and new members that are casual skiers.

[creaky fossil]

Ehhh, I think that now that Epicski is gone, we'll be getting a bunch more questions and new members that are casual skiers.

It started at least 5 years before Epic was shut down. Apparently Fill-Pug isn't picking up the slack, either that or the "good news" that in 2017, even rookies want to know what TGR thinks will make them look like a Liftline Badass.

Why didn't anyone say "get the red ones" or "whatever Hoji's on"? 17 posts in and still nuthin'?

they're directed to go to PUGSKI
Praxis Rx

Dang Bobby you beat me to it.

[PNWbrit]

Post #4

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[iakobos]

Thanks everyone for all the responses. I greatly appreciate it.

Has anyone explained to you how they are color coded for ability level?

Similar to the way ski runs are.

I haven't had someone explain it to me per se. Are you talking about the "Skill Range" on skis.com for example?
http://www.skis.com/Volkl-Kendo-Skis...efault,pd.html

[iakobos]

These guys will sell you a BRAND NEW pair of kendo's with a very good 13 din binding for $540, mounted and shipped. They are a high end ski.

http://www.skiessentials.com/2017-volkl-kendo-skis-w-tyrolia-attack-13-bindings.html

DEMO BINDINGS SUCK. DON'T DO IT.

Thanks for the link. Looks like I have three more days to make up my mind if I want that deal.

[iakobos]

Successful troll is successful.

More like a nerd. Not a troll.

[Cocximus]

Buy, you can't find 190+ rentals. You are getting 190+, right?

[XXX-er]

For my resort skis in Europe I just by ex-demo as they get trashed within a few days of use. Usually something from Kastle or Volkl when the hire shops sell on stuff.

well fuck its a good thing he ain't living in yurp then

[iriponsnow]

These guys will sell you a BRAND NEW pair of kendo's with a very good 13 din binding for $540, mounted and shipped. They are a high end ski.

http://www.skiessentials.com/2017-vo...-bindings.html

DEMO BINDINGS SUCK. DON'T DO IT.

What he says- he's SPOT ON!! They are running 20% sale now btw.

To everyone else calling Nerd/Troll, don't make me have HighwayStar call you out for a ski off.

[hawkgt]

Nick speakum truth, boots first, rent planks

[skibrd]

Get boots, really good boots. Next time you are on a ski trip, make an appointment to see a boot fitter and spend the time getting into the right boot. After that, Demo skis, between the cost of flying with them, storing them, etc, you'll save money by demoing 4-3 times a year verse buying. Also, at 3-4 times a year skiing, you'll need 25 years to kill a pair of skis, and at the rate ski design is changing, we might see 4 evolutions of ski design between now and then. Plus, if you Demo you can switch out depending on the conditions during your trip, pow, groomers, etc

Praxis skis, specifically their RX model have a strong following here. The RX is an awesome ski, but at 3-4 times a year on skis, it's overkill.