Mantra M-5 Review

[Racerden]

Finally have some time on my 184 M5's in Mammoth, in-bounds packed powder. Being a Mantra guy since the M2's here's what I experienced:
-They ski 'shorter'. Compared to the previous Mantras, my 184's fell like 177's- 178's.
-Binding position at neutral works well. You could go forward a few MM's to circumnavigate the need for more boot forward lean if that's your style
-You immediately feel the lighter construction
-They do rip, the gas pedal is in a different location...farther forward
-They are playful, don't need to go 30+ to get 'em to go around
- A 'straight over the binding' stance makes these creditable (like most skis)

Still waiting to see how they handle new and chopped new up snow, hope this helps.
DV

[Bandit Man]

Nice summary. Report back when you have more time on them, especially about crud/chop performance.

Still loving my 184 M4’s

[yeahman]

Never had Mantras before so I cannot compare to previous versions, but I demoed the M5's last week for two days in chalky buff and hardpack at Big Sky, had a blast and purchased. Wish they made them in 180 but given the choices I stayed with 177 because I'm not a big guy and they seemed totally stable at speed regardless. Also I am not really looking for extra float as these are my low tide skis. Bottom line is they rip and are super fun to ski. Can't wait to get back out on them.

[ACH]

I skied my 184 M4s back to back with 184 M5s last March. Right side of Nash, to right side of Adrenaline, to left side of lower Nash. Conditions were firm, chalk and chop. My impression is that M5 felt a bit lighter and had what I would characterize as a more generous sweet spot than the M4, while giving up nothing in terms of speed and control. I will most likely end up on a pair of the 191s.

[yeahman]

Had the M5's out in soft snow this weekend, up to six inches and more in spots. Totally impressed with how they handled it. At 96 underfoot I really felt they out-performed the Kartel 108s I was on the day before in similar conditions. Float was good, and deflection in the chop seemed minimal, really felt in control, and when the subsurface reared its ugly head, the edge hold was money. I dunno, maybe they just fit my style of skiing but the other skis in my quiver are going to have a hard time getting much playing time in the foreseeable future...these things just seem to do what I want without hardly being asked. Now I'm wondering if the 100Eights are just a wider M5...could be worth looking into.

[Micol]

Never had Mantras before so I cannot compare to previous versions, but I demoed the M5's last week for two days in chalky buff and hardpack at Big Sky, had a blast and purchased. Wish they made them in 180 but given the choices I stayed with 177 because I'm not a big guy and they seemed totally stable at speed regardless. Also I am not really looking for extra float as these are my low tide skis. Bottom line is they rip and are super fun to ski. Can't wait to get back out on them.

You were ripping that day I saw you on these.... and getting down like a water skier dropping an elbow on the surface (imo)on the carves.....so, i was influenced and was able to pick up a pair of these in 184 new off gearswap. my daily driver had been a billy goat 191 or 92 (whatever they are) with RES....me 6/2" 200 skiing them forward and hard. I was fine with the BG's but with the conditions at big sky changing in a single run with no way out but down (chutes) they just were not getting the job done for me in the variable. And BG's really aren't great for boiler plate hard pack.....so I First bought a pair of $35 vintage AC4's and solved the hardpack problem, but they were crap in bumpy off piste and did not like any measure of powder (so no chuting). Then got some blizzard bushwackers from a fellow mag, seemed awfully similar to the AC4 to me. Talked to a guy that weighs 160 and he gets a completely different feel from the bushwackers, so there's that.....I thought they performed poorly in bumped out crap and pow....I really needed something i could take into variable condition chutes with tight chokes that are.....wait for it....bumped out hardpack crap....but then exit into an apron of pow or maybe unknown conditions and don't want to be carrying speed....the billy goat long boats are just too big to handle straightlining the choke into unknown.....too much speed for me while trying to maintain a semblance of self preservation so I can ski another day...( no time,$$$, or room for injuries)

The mantra M5 mounted with soly somethin or others.....skiing in dynafit One touring boots, damp enough in offpiste to deflect the bump crap, carve like a butcher in the firm, can handle the mogul fields and not deflecting in the tails like the AC4 and bushwackers... can go mach whatever and lay em over on the side (even in touring boots lol) Wow! so this is what finally tuned German engineering produces...count me a fan...these new really glide forever, i now can really really tell ive been skiing detuned older stuff..seemed like i just coasted so many places today that I normally would be working it to traverse flat......conclusion....I love these skis!! ...people were saying get kastle bmx 105's, but these mantras will do everything I was looking to solve at big sky....and this pair came up on gear swap brand new flat never mounted for $450....so trigger pulled....outcome exceptional....


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[yeahman]

I love these skis!! ...people were saying get kastle bmx 105's, but these mantras will do everything I was looking to solve at big sky....and this pair came up on gear swap brand new flat never mounted for $450....so trigger pulled....outcome exceptional....

That's great MiCol. The M5s have really upped the fun quotient for me during this recent low tide stretch at Big Sky. I actually look forward to skiing shitty conditions on the M5s lol, just so fun to carve and the edge hold is great. An awesome hardpack ski that can easily handle 6-8 inches of pow too. Glad you are digging them.

[dufferdan]

My first gen Mantras have 250 days on them and are done. They are 177’s and I loved them, until they were blown.

The M5’s have my attention. I am 5-10, 180-185 lbs. would the 184’s be a decent fit? Been skiing 52 years and technically reasonably solid.


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[kid-kapow]

At 96 underfoot I really felt they out-performed the Kartel 108s I was on the day before in similar conditions. ... . I dunno, maybe they just fit my style of skiing but the other skis in my quiver are going to have a hard time getting much playing time in the foreseeable future...these things just seem to do what I want without hardly being asked. Now I'm wondering if the 100Eights are just a wider M5...could be worth looking into.

If a 96mm ski with 25mm less splay outperforms a 108mm wasted ski in fresh - and it is not primarily driven by new ski stoke - then that might be indicative of the latter ski not fitting how you ski (like at all ). Especially so since k108s ski fresh snow pretty damned well - even if they are no wren/BGs when trucking through stuff. The mount points are very, very different on those two skis though. But still, good to hear that you are liking your m5s.

I've always thought of 100eights as BMTs on a budget. Their construction and geo are both a fair bit different than M5s. That being said, if you prefer the Völkl feel and want a more traditionally mounted ski than you can probably do a lot worse than 100eights They seem like fine skis. I would not be terribly surprised if they rolled out a wider (than M5 102s) for 2021. 108ish skis with metal should be an instant winner for a lot of folks.

I've never tried M5s - would love to do so though, but I do have a pair of Mantra V Werks waiting for the spring skiing season to commence (I was really surprised at how differently a M5 and MVWs handflexed. The former is significantly stiffer than the latter. No great surprise when considering the weight I guess, but still - I expected the MVWs to be stiffer. oh well)

[yeahman]

If a 96mm ski with 25mm less splay outperforms a 108mm wasted ski in fresh - and it is not primarily driven by new ski stoke - then that might be indicative of the latter ski not fitting how you ski (like at all ). Especially so since k108s ski fresh snow pretty damned well - even if they are no wren/BGs when trucking through stuff. The mount points are very, very different on those two skis though. But still, good to hear that you are liking your m5s.

I put 15-20 days on the K108s at Big Sky early season and thought they were great in a variety of conditions. I had a lot of fun skiing them. I can't really recall what specific conditions prompted that observation, but I probably could have phrased it differently. Ultimately I decided to skip the 108 daily driver category this year and either ski 96 or 118. It's worked out pretty well. A couple times I've had to go to the car and switch but NBD. I've always been a straight ~108 guy who owned one pair of skis so this is just trying something different. And for the first time I feel like I'm approaching the off season without the need to buy a new pair of skis for next season. I feel like I'm pretty well set. The horror!! What will I do with all that extra money?! Oh yeah, buy skis for my kids, damn.

Curious to hear what you think of the V Werks.