Soft Snow Gymkhana - The Heritage Lab FR110

[N1CK.]

heck, I should have grabbed a pair of those in 186 when I had the chance. those look like the funs.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Look what the ski fairy dropped off today! Fuck yes.

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[Island Bay]

I guess these two might get the most on snow time of my quiver the next season.

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This photo makes me all kinds of happy

[54-46]

I guess these two might get the most on snow time of my quiver the next season.

support the raddest project going: http://heritagelabskis.com

Like the Forza 2.0 toe pieces. Wondering how Forza 1.0 (orange/yellow) or Forza 3.0 (Rasta) would go on these. 1st world issues!


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[arild]

Like the Forza 2.0 toe pieces. Wondering how Forza 1.0 (orange/yellow) or Forza 3.0 (Rasta) would go on these. 1st world issues!


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I hope forza 1.0 makes a return. Definitely the fastest of them.

support the raddest project going: http://heritagelabskis.com

[adrenalated]

Got mine yesterday.

From just a visual inspection, construction quality looks top notch (as expected). Nice tight joints between all the pieces. Good base structure. Nice matte, textured topsheet.

The two other skis in my quiver most directly comparable (but still significantly different) are 186cm ON3P Wrenegade 112s and 186cm ON3P Billy Goats. Can't remember the exact model years but circa 2014. It's the cult classic BG that everyone raves about and the Wren that still had a flattish tail.

The FR110 measures a true 186cm straight pull just like the ON3Ps. Hand flex wise, they are a bit softer throughout than the Wrens (definitely softer underfoot and more round). They're similar stiffness underfoot as the BGs and perhaps a bit stiffer tip and especially tail. Splay/rocker is a bit difficult to compare since it's a reverse camber ski but overall tip rise is about the same as the BG and tail is a bit lower. More rise overall than the Wrens, especially in the tail.

Overall I think these are going to be very complimentary to, but very different than the other skis in my quiver. The BG will still probably be my go-to on a pow day and the Wren still my hatefuck the mountain ski, but the FR110 looks like a great day after a storm, poke around the trees, sidecountry, little bit of everything ski. Stoked to get them on snow!

[cmsummit]

Look what the ski fairy dropped off today! Fuck yes.

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Damn....IT moved.

Really kicking myself for not getting in on the pre-order.......would love a Sickle-ish ski in the quiver again. So, if anyone is having second thoughts, I'm accepting PM's.

[Velomayniac]

I can't believe a Hellbent recreation was made! HB122. That's insane. I actually wish it was the 132mm model that had a little camber, I'd be all over that, but this is still super rad.

A stiffer 118mm K2 Obsethed would be ultimate one ski quiver for me, if any more old K2 designs are being looked at lol. That ski was like a prime Billy Goat with sidecut, or a more freestyle orientated Praxis Rx. A little worse in maritime snow, but a lot better on edge.

The FR110 will probably be my first HL ski though.

[Marshal Olson]

I can't believe a Hellbent recreation was made! HB122. That's insane. I actually wish it was the 132mm model that had a little camber, I'd be all over that, but this is still super rad.

A stiffer 118mm K2 Obsethed would be ultimate one ski quiver for me, if any more old K2 designs are being looked at lol. That ski was like a prime Billy Goat with sidecut, or a more freestyle orientated Praxis Rx. A little worse in maritime snow, but a lot better on edge.

The FR110 will probably be my first HL ski though.

It's funny you mention the Seth 118. I have dreams of running the HB122 shape in the FR110 mold and built with the FR110's construction/flex to compliment the HB122 mega rocker surf machines. Would be VERY similar tbh.

[Marshal Olson]

Got mine yesterday.

From just a visual inspection, construction quality looks top notch (as expected). Nice tight joints between all the pieces. Good base structure. Nice matte, textured topsheet.

The two other skis in my quiver most directly comparable (but still significantly different) are 186cm ON3P Wrenegade 112s and 186cm ON3P Billy Goats. Can't remember the exact model years but circa 2014. It's the cult classic BG that everyone raves about and the Wren that still had a flattish tail.

The FR110 measures a true 186cm straight pull just like the ON3Ps. Hand flex wise, they are a bit softer throughout than the Wrens (definitely softer underfoot and more round). They're similar stiffness underfoot as the BGs and perhaps a bit stiffer tip and especially tail. Splay/rocker is a bit difficult to compare since it's a reverse camber ski but overall tip rise is about the same as the BG and tail is a bit lower. More rise overall than the Wrens, especially in the tail.

Overall I think these are going to be very complimentary to, but very different than the other skis in my quiver. The BG will still probably be my go-to on a pow day and the Wren still my hatefuck the mountain ski, but the FR110 looks like a great day after a storm, poke around the trees, sidecountry, little bit of everything ski. Stoked to get them on snow!

Dude nice. The FR110 are keeping great company in your quiver.

And nicely picked up on flex pattern. The FR110 is a little more round compared to the cambered skis in the HL colleciton (ie HL105). On the cambered skis, they are a bit stiffer underfoot to increase edge purchase and power, the camber spreads skier weight across the EE, the bevel is hand prepped at the intersection of EE and rocker to ensure the cambered ski drifts really nicely, and then the tail's flex pattern is designed so the tail tracks the tip and carves round in variable snow. Since the reverse skis are bent to radius-matched shape already, and the reverse concentrates skier weight under foot, having a round flex pattern really helps make the ski smooth on hardpack/windboard and track super nicely in variable.


Couldn't be more excited for snow to fly and folks to get on them.

[adrenalated]

And nicely picked up on flex pattern. The FR110 is a little more round compared to the cambered skis in the HL colleciton (ie HL105). On the cambered skis, they are a bit stiffer underfoot to increase edge purchase and power, the camber spreads skier weight across the EE, the bevel is hand prepped at the intersection of EE and rocker to ensure the cambered ski drifts really nicely, and then the tail's flex pattern is designed so the tail tracks the tip and carves round in variable snow. Since the reverse skis are bent to radius-matched shape already, and the reverse concentrates skier weight under foot, having a round flex pattern really helps make the ski smooth on hardpack/windboard and track super nicely in variable.

Man, it's like you really thought this through or something

I had meant to add - the flex pattern feels like it's PERFECT for the shape of the ski. I mean I'm only hand flexing but it just feels like exactly the smooth, round, stiff but not too stiff pattern you'd want from a low reverse camber ski with a ~25m turn radius.

[toast2266]

The ski fairy has been making its rounds - got mine today.

They look awesome - like everyone else said, very nicely put together.

I was curious to see how they'd compare to the whitedot directors that I had to retire last year. They're definitely similar, but the fr110's have a bit more rocker, and the rocker lines run deeper. The directors have a longer flat spot under foot. Directors are a smidge stiffer through the tip, and a full notch stiffer through the tail. Fr110's are significantly heavier though - about 150g more per ski (2200g vs 2350g). And to the extent that I can speculate about this just from handling them, the fr110's feel like they'll be a good bit more damp.

I really liked the directors in the right conditions, and I'm super psyched to get the fr110's on snow. It seems like they might manage to be just a slashy (lots of rocker), maybe even more poppy (slightly softer tail), and maybe a bit less chattery in firm conditions (more damp).

But for now, 3 more months of bikes.

[Pinned]

Like the Forza 2.0 toe pieces. Wondering how Forza 1.0 (orange/yellow) or Forza 3.0 (Rasta) would go on these. 1st world issues!

It looks like my FR110s are gonna go out any day now, and I think I'll have a fresh set of Forza 3.0s for them. But I think the 1.s would look even better!

[bw_wp_hedonism]

Ski fairy came this morning. Skis are gorgeous!





I can tell just from some fondling that these are going to be buckets o fun.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ok so possibly beating a dead horse but I couldn't find anything definitive in my bumbling search attempts. Mount point?

Arlid and other's thinking around -8?

I have some OG Devs that I think were a bit too forward and I felt like at high speed in some interesting snow I might get bucked over the front. I have owned many reverse skis starting with Spatulas and several Volkl and I like how my Volkls have what seem to be a pretty directional rearward suggested mount point.

[arild]

Ok so possibly beating a dead horse but I couldn't find anything definitive in my bumbling search attempts. Mount point?

Arlid and other's thinking around -8?

I have some OG Devs that I think were a bit too forward and I felt like at high speed in some interesting snow I might get bucked over the front. I have owned many reverse skis starting with Spatulas and several Volkl and I like how my Volkls have what seem to be a pretty directional rearward suggested mount point.

Hey! Rec mount, with waist, reverse camber profile etc in mind, is about -6, but I know Marshal mounted his -8.5, and I did -8. We're pretty regressive about this stuff, though.

If you like being able to drive the skis without pressuring the shit out of your shins, you should be happy at -5 to -6, then further back if you can't stand seeing the toes of your boots when looking down. The skis were also designed with around -6 in mind, so for now, that's my honest recommendation, although I didn't get to ski them last season.

That's probably not super helpful, but i think MO let his protos out to play amongst a few mags end of season, they might have something to say?

Cheers.

support the raddest project going: http://heritagelabskis.com

[kid-kapow]

Mount point?

[adrenalated]

Ok so possibly beating a dead horse but I couldn't find anything definitive in my bumbling search attempts. Mount point?

Arlid and other's thinking around -8?

I have some OG Devs that I think were a bit too forward and I felt like at high speed in some interesting snow I might get bucked over the front. I have owned many reverse skis starting with Spatulas and several Volkl and I like how my Volkls have what seem to be a pretty directional rearward suggested mount point.

I'm currently planning to go -8cm but that's pretty forward by my tastes on most skis. That said, I bet a bunch of people will get them on snow before I have much to ski locally so I'll probably hold off on putting holes in them until some more feedback floats in.

[CaliBrit]

I’ll be putting demos on mine and I’ll do a mount point comparison. Starting at -8.

[toast2266]

For whatever it's worth, I was pretty happy with the whitedot directors I mentioned above at -7. Dimensions are very similar to the fr110's. Directors are a little stiffer, but in the same ballpark.

But I feel like the mount point discussion for a ski like this kinda depends on what your other daily drivers are. Nudge it forward or back depending on how traditional or progressive the other skis in the quiver are.

[kc_7777]

Really want these. They check all my boxes. Dragging my feet from ordering at the moment. My Pilsner Hojis would directly conflict.


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[lucknau]

Really want these. They check all my boxes. Dragging my feet from ordering at the moment. My Pilsner Hojis would directly conflict.


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If I recall correctly, there’s a noticeable weight difference between the two. I believe this justifies your decision to go ahead and get a pair.


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[Marshal Olson]

Really want these. They check all my boxes. Dragging my feet from ordering at the moment. My Pilsner Hojis would directly conflict.


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in all fairness, and as much as i'd like to get you on a pair, the 2013-2014 hoji would be quite similar imo. main difference being that the 180 FR110 (180.5 straight tape) would be a tweener legnth in practice vs the 187 (closer to ~185 straight tape) and 179 (<178 straight tape).

The 186 FR110 is about 150g heavier and 1.5cm longer than the OG 187 hoji based on blister archives

EDIT TO ADD: I do think the FR110 will carve much better too

[bw_wp_hedonism]

Marshal, quick one: this ski has been compared to the sickle, the hoji, and the devastator (so far). Can you comment on the skis from which you took inspiration? Is the FR110 a love child borne of the 3? Or are there others?


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[54-46]

Ok, so super fun testing yesterday. Really glad to have gotten it in, and Thanks for OldSchool1080's for the loaner Sickles. Standard caveat that this is just one guy's opinion, with inherent bias.

HIGH LEVEL. The sickle might be one of the most predictable "jack of all trades" skis I have ever been on. Huge sweet spot. Super round and easy to ski slow on a cat track. Loose and drifty off edge mid-speed. Engaged and carvy fast on groomers. In the below comparisons, I am A-Bing two skis, not trying to do indepth reviews, and not going to benchmark them with a lot of other skis, since I found them much more similar than different.

MODEST SPEEDS. The Sickle is a very easy ski to manage with light input. It is dead easy. Just does whatever you want skiing from the ankles. In comparison, the FR110 was still super easy, but may like a little more input, and in exchange can make more turn shapes at slower speed. With the FR110 keep your weight forward as you come across the fall line, and the ski releases into a super nice drift. Move your weight back and it rounds quite well. The Sickle is easier and requires less input, but doesn't have as many tricks up its sleeve IMO & needs a little more input to release and drift turns.

HIGH SPEED / CONSISTENT. Again, the sickle hooks up really well. With speed, its personality feels a little more subdued than the FR110. It is super there and confident, where the FR110 has a little more perkiness to its nature at speed. The FR110 is a little more torsionally rigid overall and a little stiffer underfoot, so I would say they hold an edge similarly, but a little differently. The Sickle grips a long EE (182 Sickle has +10cm EE vs. 186 FR110) and is quite round of a flex pattern, where the FR110 has more taper, more rocker, so looser at shallow edge angles, but tracks as cleanly for me once I was up on edge at relatively higher edge angles. At medium-fast speeds where the FR110 was nice and locked in, the Sickle was starting to come unglued from the snow.

SOFT SNOW / CHOP. Part of this may be due to length, but for me, skiing into hot pow, slush bumps, etc the FR110 thrives, where the sickle was more just competent. The combination of almost no taper, and basically dead flat rocker gave me a few "oh shit" moments in snow that the FR110 didn't flinch at.

FLAT RUNNING / REFROZEN. The FR110 is a notably more bumpy ride when running bases flat on refrozen / hardpack type snow. The Sickle tracks super smooth, where the ends of the FR110 are flapping around a little bit. In this snow, it took a good amount of speed and getting up on edge to approximate the smooth ride that the Sickle provided in this snow condition, no matter what you did to it (low angle turns, drifts, bases flat, etc).

CONCLUSION. The FR110 is a little more loose, a little more biased toward speed, and a little more biased toward soft snow. The Sickle reminds me of a Freeride Carving ski - super clean and round, very versatile, and never nervous. My view is that for folks that like the Sickle, and wish it was better in soft snow and chop or carried speed a little better in broken snow, then I think the FR110 would be awesome for you. For the folks who love the extreme predictability and plantedness of the Sickle on firmer snow, the FR110 may be a bit more lively and loose than what you are looking for (though, again, they are pretty similar compared to pretty much any other skis I have tried).

For folks without Sickle experience, I'd say it reminds me most of a hybrid of an EHP in soft snow and Devestator in bumps, corn, groomers, crud, etc.

Former Sickle owner here - I always felt the Sickle could have been better in soft/cut up and at times got a “hot tub cover” effect. It was also kind of “glassy.” Sometimes got a little hung up in bumps (but that coulda been me.).

Been on a few reverse or flat camber skis like Sickles, ON3P Caylors, Candide 3.0, BC Daemon/Nocta/Corvus. I am mindful of trading power/stability for maneuverability.

(FWIW, I tried but didn’t mesh well with tapered mustache skis like a CRJ.)

The way the FR110 is described by Marshal sounded to me like it was different enough from the Sickle in a similar quiver slot to go for it. (Usually 2-3 ski quiver)

Hope my triangulation is correct. Happy to see comments about the quality. 3 months to season. Enjoy fall!


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