2019 Men's 90 mm All-Mountain Ski Comparison

hi skiers I'm Jeff from ski essentials calm today is a video and an article that I know you've all been waiting for this is our comparison of 2019 men's 90 millimeter skis 90 millimeter waisted all-mountain skis to be specific Before we jump into it I want to introduce our our new YouTube studio set big thanks to everyone who helped make this happen we've got a couple different kind of scenarios that we can lay out we'll have some interview style videos coming up kind of some discussions among a group of people so you'll see some some different stuff get set up on this wall but we're pretty psyched with it pretty pretty cool pallet wall and this custom-made handmade ski essentials sign so we're really excited about it big thanks to all of you who follow us on YouTube you're really the reason why this wall has happened and why our videos continue to improve and quality so thank you for your engagement and for liking us and following us on YouTube and I think without further ado we're just going to jump right into it because this is 15 different skis which is more than we've done in the past in these comparison articles but we thought we'd try and take it to the next level on this one we are going to run through things fairly quickly because there is a lot of information on all of these skis so we might skim through some things that you might want more information on if that does happen definitely take advantage of our 2019 ski test results you're going to get a little bit more in-depth information and more kind of anecdotal information on how they ski more subjective information from that that feedback and then also we have full-length reviews of quite a lot of these skis on chairlift chat so take a look you'll probably find that there is a more in-depth review of a ski that you're interested in and if there not don't hesitate to ask us any questions or leave a comment on this article or video so we're gonna start over on this end on this first ski first ski that we're going to look at is the blizzard Brahma you may notice a trend as I run through these skis but I actually tried to kind of organize them in not just a sequential way so we'll kind of jump around a little bit but the Brahma is is an awesome all-mountain ski and definitely an important one in this category it's been around for a few years now it did change last year yes we got a shorter turn radius anymore turned up shovel slightly lower rise rocker as well but the biggest biggest their simplest way to describe the Brahma it's its main focus or really maybe not its main focus but but one of its highlighting performance features is its performance on firm snow the Brahma is quite stiff it's it's a wood core and two full sheets of metal and there's also carbon fiber in here as well all of that kinda adds up to a ski that's pretty stiff fairly demanding you want to be at a advanced or expert level as an ability level you should also be a fairly aggressive skier to really get the most out of the Brahma you know it rips high speed turns on firm snow it's got awesome stability awesome edge grip awesome vibration damping but on the other end of the spectrum it can be a fairly challenging ski in ungroomed terrain soft snow conditions that kind of stuff so you know if you're if you're really the type of guy that spends like 90% of your time on firm snow you loved skiing fast you loved Lincoln carving turns you'll probably love the Brahma and willing to make that sacrifice for a slightly more challenging ski on those occasions that you do get off trail jump into the mogul let's jump into the trees stuff like that so Brahma really pretty demanding but you get that upper echelon firm snow performance almost like a AGS ski next up is the Volkl kendo I think this is a nice one to talk about right after the Brahma because there are a fair amount of similarities so there are some differences too this is 90 millimeters underfoot where the Brahma is 88 that's not a huge difference not really enough to make a performance different and width there I will say with the with the kendo it has a longer turn radius I mean I'll kind of talk about what that does do it in a second here but what car two full sheets of metal still fairly heavy still fairly stiff the shape of the kendo is a little bit different it's really quite subtle but you get a little bit more early taper in the tail I'm a tiny bit more on the tip and that combined with the longer turn radius makes it a little bit easier to pivot and maneuver I think I really really just released the tail edge that the Brahma really really likes to hook up and carve which is awesome and I think that's that's one of its highlights the Kenda will do that but with the longer turn shape them doesn't feel quite as responsive and on the other side a little easier to foot steer it and kind of take that tail edge out so maybe a little easier in soft snow or ungroomed terrain but still definitely a fairly demanding kind of upper-echelon firm snow performance ski that'll still do pretty well in soft snow but it's focus or maybe the the highlighting performance characteristic is just that stability the vibration damping and and kind of its its overall feel edge grip firm snow so the Kesley MX 88 e sorry 89 I was gonna say 84 there is a narrower version of this ski - there's also a wider version the MX 99 Kesley skis they hit a pretty high price tag but along with that you get a hand skee little rubber tip protector on there we'll get rid of so you can see the real graphic so handmade ski so you get kind of it's tough to describe the feel of a castle II and how it differs from some other skis but there is kind of a there's something about the handmade aspect of Kesley skis that that give it a unique feel but again here we've got a wood core and two full sheets of metal that's really the most important thing when to consider when you're talking about the MX 89 and then I want to point out the tail shape too so on the previous two skis we looked at ice you know I mentioned on the kenda you get a little bit of early taper in the tail on the on the MX 89 you can see this flat really squared off tail which we will see in some other skis as we go down this line but what that does to performance is it really gives it a preference to stay through a carving turn so I would kind of compare this to the kendo in a similar way that I compared to the Brahma to the kendo a little bit more preference to to continue that carving turn all the way through the turn and again these are going to be on the more demanding side still very capable in softer snow conditions in fact something I would say about all three of these skis and others as we move forward is that their ability to carve turns through softer snow conditions is kind of one of their highlighting features as a theme and this ski will do it really really well and you know edge grip is awesome stability is awesome vibration damping is awesome on the other end of the spectrum a little tougher to release that tail edge so if you're pivoting through trees or moguls especially at slower speeds you'll find that it's a little bit easier or a little bit harder to release that tail edge and really just requires more skier input so next up and now where's kind of starting to look at some different construction techniques this is a pretty cool ski this is from Liberty this is the V 92 brand for 2019 and really a brand new direction for liberty as a company in general this uses vertically laminated metal so there's actually two metal struts kind of sandwich sandwich vertically between bamboo and poplar but but the idea the overall concept here is two vertical sheets of metal laminated vertically between wood so instead of a horizontal laminate or two horizontal laminates like we've seen in the first three skis you're getting vertical metal so there's actually less metal in it but because they're vertically laminated it actually delivers like really really impressive performance this is one that we were pretty impressed by when we first got on it not to say that we're not impressed by those first three skis but just knowing Liberty as a brand and their history as a company you would not expect the the edge grip and power that this ski has not quite as responsive and energetic in and out of a carving turn as maybe the Brahma or the MX 89 but it's got a really planted stable feel really really good connection to the snow I found awesome it's a very confidence inspiring ski and it's it's also surprisingly easy to release the tail edge there's no tail rocker in this ski and there's really not much early taper back there either so I can't really a tester or give a good reason from a design standpoint why that is but I think the same reason why you don't feel as much pop out of a turn on this ski is kind of the reason why you can get it to to release that tail edge so in terms of just like blindly mocking through choppy snow conditions the v92 handles it really really well if you want a little bit quicker edge to edge feel slightly more responsiveness there are two narrower versions of this ski too so you can kind of pick and choose those are feel a little bit more energetic turn to turn and I will add that it doesn't feel lethargic by any means it's just got a little bit more of a planted feel which some skiers will certainly really really like so moving on and this ski is quite a bit different than the ones we've looked at so far in some sense so vocal or sorry Atomics got some really interesting construction this year there's metal in this ski but they take these channels out of the center of the ski which we see we've seen similar concepts from other brands we'll talk about it as we get to some of these other skis but essentially by positioning those denser heavier materials along the edge of the ski you get really good stability power edge grip but the weight of this ski is significantly lighter so they achieve even in my hand compared to especially the first three skis this is noticeably lighter so what does that mean when you have a ski that's still relatively stiff you know I would say it's just about right there with the Brahma with with any of the skis we've looked at so far in terms of stiffness when you have a stiff light ski it makes it ultra responsive so you know if you really like that feel of a super responsive ski that takes skier input and and uses it instantly you'll probably really really like the Vantage 92 yacht so what's the analogy I'm looking for I would say something like Miata to BMW m5 and that might be a little bit of an exaggeration but that's kind of the idea of a ski like this because it's lighter but still has that stiffness and the torsional stiffness it's going to be very responsive ultra quick and I think a lot of skiers are really going to like that it at least provides an an interesting alternative to heavier stiffer skis for skiers that want that kind of frontside focused feel and next up is the DPS cassia r87 Alchemist I think this is a great one to talk about after the the Vantage 90 Ti they're essentially kind of the same concept here but slightly different dps is another company kind of focused on achieving a lightweight ski while still delivering good frontside performance that's relatively new for them as a company the Cassie art collection in general is relatively new for DPS and they rely mostly on carbon fiber in this ski for its performance so again super light still a fairly stiff ski maybe not quite as stiff as some of the other skis we've looked at so far but certainly not a noodle by any means good torsional stiffness good responsiveness good energy just like a ski like the Vantage 90s lightly different feel Carbon is is ultra responsive as a material so you kind of get that immediate immediate reaction to to skier input which is similar to the atomic just a slightly different feel and then I would point out that the tips and the tails on this ski are starting to get a little different so we have some early taper in the tail and some early taper in the tip as well so those kind of two things to the ski it helps smooth out turn initiation so it's easier to kind of just tip the ski on edge and let it engage or turn on its own takes a little bit less gear input and it also kind of boosts maneuverability in ungroomed soft snow conditions so as a mobile ski compared to I'll go ahead and say it everything we've talked about so far easier to release the tail edge on ski like this which which kind of you know get it to pivot at slow speeds is kind of the the concept that I'm referring to a little bit easier when you have more of a a slight rockered early tapered tail moving right along this is the Salomon XDR 88 TI which i think is a great transition from the skis that we've talked about thus far the top the X DRA dat is really cool ski uses a combination of materials Solomon's CFX fiber is carbon and flax that's woven together and there's also a partial metal laminate in this dia that kind of tapers as it reaches the tips and the tails this is another ski what I would describe the Flex a little bit softer than some of the skis that we've talked about so far and I think it handles tight terrain slightly more easily than especially some of those stiff heavy skis that we talked about and again you're you're making trade-offs anytime you you you do something like that to performance so whereas ski like the Bravo will go all the way back to the Brahma just holds an edge super super well unbelievable stability vibration dampening edge grip it's all like right up there with race skis you don't get quite that level out of the XD RTI but for most skiers you're not going to overpower this ski you're not going to push it past its limits in terms of edge grip on firm snow and on the other end of the spectrum you get a little bit easier performance in kind of the softer snow conditions I've always thought this was a good mobile ski they made it a little stiffer for for this season but I don't really think it took that took away from its its performance in in that ungroomed terrain so if you're kind of a mogul mogul skier type guy you'd probably love the XDR you probably also love the kasi are plenty of options as you're going to see for somebody who wants to ski a lot of different terrain the experience 88 TI from Rossignol definitely another one that I would put in that category alongside the XDR and maybe even the Cassie R in terms of its versatility rosin will really change in this fee for 2019 brand new tip shape that's kind of borrowed from their freeride 7 series skis like the sole 7 and the sky 7 and then new technology in the construction too quite similar to what we see from Liberty there's a centered vertical strip of metal in the experience 88 TI and what I like about what they did to this ski if you remember the previous version of this ski really didn't have much rocker technically they said it did but it really didn't have much at all and it had no early taper so this ski has quite a bit of early taper so that the tip that the shape overall has changed and with that with those changes to the shape you might think that it comes along with less firm snow performance than the previous version but I think these changes to construction this is something that we talked about in the full review of this ski I think the changes to this ski retain its performance on firm snow but just give it that much easier easier performance in soft on groomed snow really really fun in powder I think the tip shape is the tips kind of providing the performance that I feel when I'm in in soft snow on this ski this tip likes to stay on top of the snow a little easier there's a little bit more tail rocker in this than some of the other skis we've looked at not substantial amounts of really taper in the tail but it's still pretty easy to release the tail edge so it's again this was kind of getting to skis with with very even mixes of performance characteristics fantastic one ski quiver for somebody who likes to ski everything on the mountain doesn't really want really want to feel held back and I think you could say that about the XDR as well so now we're going to move to the other side of the sign here and kind of continue the same trend the dynastar legend x88 this is a really interesting ski and one that I like to I make myself think about this ski and and recommend it to people more than more than I thought I would this is unique in the sense that it uses more early taper than anything on this wall arguably as much rocker maybe not quite but a lot of rocker in this ski as well and it's got two sheets of metal so what does that do to the whiskey you get if you back to the first part of this video in the performance benefits we were talking about in those first skis stability vibration damping just raw power you get it out of this ski but because of that shape it's also a little bit more maneuverable so who would this be best for say you're a really aggressive skier or a heavier skier a pretty big guy and you feel like you need that stability and the benefits of two sheets of metal but you don't want it to be that hard to release your tail edge maybe you're still the type of guy even though you feel you need that two sheets of metal you still want kind of more of the even mix of performance characteristics you know you want to ski some trees you want to ski some moguls you want to steal a little bit of everything I think a legend a legend x88 is great for that type of skier and again to me it's unique in the sense that it uses I'm going to go ahead and call it five-point side cut they don't list at us five-point side cut but it almost is in the sense that this early taper is very pronounced and then you get those two sheets of metal moving right along the Navigator 90 is a really interesting ski and I think probably a one you could say this about a lot of skis on this wall one that deserves more attention than it gets I think the legend it X 88 is another good example of a ski that I would I would say that about so navigator 90 ski definitely belongs in this category but where does it sit so Nordica has done some interesting things with these skis the tip shape is borrowed from the enforcer collection which we're going to get to another important ski for this category the tail shape on the other hand and you'll remember when we were talking about more flat squared-off tails this is more inspired by their race skis the Doberman collection so if you remember going back to the MX 89 it's not quite as squared off as the MX 89 but it's pretty squared off compared to a lot of the eschews so he loves to finish a carving turn there's not really any tail rocker in it a little bit of rise out of the tail but not much that little bit is helping you to release your tail edge when you want to but fantastic carving ski it's also one of the shorter turn radius out of all of these skis so if you're really into that kind of quick almost long time something I said in the written portion of the article is I would describe this ski almost like an enforcer and a Sloan ski had a child that's kind of what it feels like when you're skiing it but you can do that through just about any conditions which you would not be able to do on a slalom ski construction of this ski is pretty unique kind of going back to some of those skis that use partial metal laminates instead of the dual layers of metal like we saw in some of these skis this is the hex titanium bridge from Nordica so may be tough to see but you can actually see it in the graphic pretty easily in person Nordica removes essentially hexagonal sheets from the sheet of metal in this ski so that's removing weight and still retaining the feel the overall feel that you get from a horizontally laminated ski or piece of metal so it's still a very smooth ski really good vibration damping not quite at the level of those skis with two sheets of metal not quite the same ability to just kind of tank through snow so slightly less stability but it's lighter I think that's an important characteristics for the last years it's more forgiving than a lot of those skis with two sheets of metal if you're kind of in that in that category where you're maybe focusing a little bit more on groomer performance but you don't want it to be drastically challenging when you get off off trail into firm or into soft snow you know maybe you're more intermediate to advanced level skier and you're worried about the the skier input or the level of technique that it takes to kind of manipulate a stiff heavy ski like that with a flat tail the Navigator 90 is a fin astok choice I think this ski is just a lot of fun and it's a refreshing ski and in the sense that it does a lot of things well not overly demanding and just a fun I think that's the shorter turn shape is part of the reason why it just gives it a fun feel so pinnacle 88 from k2 this is a really cool ski maybe the first thing you notice about this ski is the tip shape and the pinnacle 88 is arguably well without measuring them or putting them on right next to each other and they're all slightly different lengths so that would be somewhat challenging but possibly the longest tip rocker out of any of these skis on this wall so if you remember what we were saying about the experience 88 that tip shape and what it does to soft snow performance you can really say the same thing about the pinnacle 88 so I put this ski in though in the category or the range for a skier who who likes to ski everything going back to the atomic Vantage k2 does similar construction by positioning metal along the edge of the ski they're not carving out channels so you're not getting quite the same weight savings in the pinnacle 88 but you get essentially you're getting the the performance benefits of metal when the ski is on edge and then a little bit more forgiving ski when you're skiing it flatter pivoting the ski maneuvering the ski through moguls trees that kind of stuff definitely had a super versatile ski you if you're kind of if you're shopping in this category and you're only planning on buying one pair of skis and you're the type of skier that likes to ski a little bit of everything the pinnacle 88 should definitely be on your list enforcer 93 this is a important one and a popular one in this category for sure what I was just saying about the pinnacle 88 and its ability to ski just about everything on the mountain you can absolutely say that about the enforcer 93 and I think that's what's made it a pretty popular ski but remember two full sheets of metal in this ski they're thinner thinner sheets of metal than a lot of what we've looked at but there's still two sheets of metal so it's fairly heavy its shape allows it to pivot and smear turns a little bit easier than say something like the Brahma and on the other end of the spectrum it doesn't quite have the groomer power as again I'm going back to that end of the spectrum the Brahma or the MX 89 those skis that really deliver like a GS ski type feel not quite that level of groomer performance but pretty darn close and then a more forgiving ski in soft snow compared to a lot of those skis with two sheets of metal so again there's trade-offs there and I would say this is another one that's kind of if you're buying one pair of skis or if the ski that you ski most of the time you want it to be able to do everything on the mountain the enforcer 93 is a great option but again I want to remind you or re-emphasize that there are a lot of skis that that can go into that category and because there's so many options out there right now you know you get the ability you can say hey am i more of a Cassie R type guy maybe I don't want it to be a little lighter maybe I want a little bit more heft to my skis maybe I'll go experience 88 so I can get that vertical strip of metal maybe I you know you could keep going maybe you're all the way up to to the level where you feel like you need those two sheets of metal and you still want a very versatile ski that's where the enforcer 93 comes into play we got three more I think we can finish this out so next up is the blizzard Rustler 9 this is a really cool ski brand-new for for 2019 you may have seen our full review on it which you may have seen our full review on a lot of these skis but this is really interesting again if you go back to my concept of some of these skis are designed for a little bit of everything some of them the manufacturers are gearing them a little bit more soft snow here firm snow there I think it's natural that we have to compare this ski to the Brahma so the Brahma has two full sheets of metal mostly camber a little bit narrower the Rustler 9 is the other 92 or 94 millimeters underfoot depending on the length you get it's wider in the longer lengths it uses partial metal much more rocker and more early taper as well so if you've been following along you already know that this ski is more soft snow oriented than the Brahma now again if you're the type of guy that you want you don't really feel like you want to be switching skis all the time and you want like an even mix of performance characteristics and one pair of skis you could argue that this is slightly more versatile than the Brahma in the sense that you can take in the trees take it into moguls taken in too soft snow let's keep this on like an 8-inch powder Dane actually did really well more versatility out of the Brahma now are you sacrificing anything yes of course which which is kind of a theme through all of this it's it's what you want to give up to get and what you want to focus on as a skier so not quite the same just stability edge grip power as a ski like the Brahma but something that I've mentioned about this ski before is I actually think it feels a lot like the Brahma right underfoot so if you can kind of focus your skiing and and focus on delivering power right underfoot when you're on firm snow and kind of engage the tips and Tails that might sound silly but to me it's got a lot of the Brahma feel right underfoot and then the the different tips and Tails make it significantly more so well yeah fairly significantly more versatile or more forgiving in soft snow conditions so the qsd 92 from Salomon this is another one that I kind of is following the same trend as a ski like the Rustler 9 compared to the Brahma here we've got the XDR 88 and then the qst 92 from Salomon I think just another cool ski to kind of put in this category and talk about the differences similar construction concept to be honest as the XD are focused on on carbon fiber and flax but this ski is lighter overall the next dr a little bit easier to throw around and then its shape is also again geared more more towards soft snow so longer rocker and the tip more early taper a little bit longer rocker in the tail so all of these things and the extra width give it just better soft snow performance so this is kind of one where between the XDR and the qst nine to two and we get this question a lot which which would be more for me I think you can just kind of drill it down to do you spend more time on groomers probably XDR or do you spend more time off groomers probably qst ninety two very very playful ski I love the way that this ski kind of transitions from different snow conditions I think it's got a lot to do with the flax the flax actually boosts its vibration damping which really really helps and definitely a cool ski if that's kind of what you're after if you want to relatively lightweight ski that's somewhat playful and and that doesn't mean that it can't carve turns on firms now you don't get the GS ski feel of some of those skis with two sheets of metal but it can still do it it'll take a lot you'd have to really put a lot of power and skier and put into it to really feel like you're not holding edge to the point where you feel unstable on it so I think a great ski for a lot of people especially skiers that kind of prefer that that playful feel and to round things out here the core 93 from head I think this is another important one in this category I'm definitely one where I would say the width and the shape of this ski kind of like the last three skis we've talked about we're starting to look more towards soft snow performance with this ski than firm snow performance the the core 93 is actually still fairly stiff head uses a combination of graphene and choroid and carbon and Karuma wood and this ski that actually achieves a impressive light weight but it still delivers a pretty stiff ski so you actually get fairly good groomer performance out of this ski a reasonable amount of power not quite the vibration damping as a skiing with two sheets of metal but it's really similar it's a pretty impressive construction from head and and I think people are starting to to notice that that impressive construction but it's kind of between this this is one that people always want to compare to the enforcer ninety three and between the two pretty similar skiers but I would say the core 93 is more if you're focused or value a lightweight ski not a drastic difference in weight between the two but over a long day of skiing you're gonna feel it and it's kind of a question of whether you want it to feel a little lighter on your feet a little quicker or more stable more damp kind of that planted to the snow smooth feel but really cool ski I think a lot of people are glad that had increased the core the core line to include the ninety nine so so check out the ninety nine if you're interested in that construction but but want a wider ski so that's it that's fifteen kind of around 90 millimeter waist all-mountain skis again I feel like I rushed through this even though I'm quite sure this video will exceed 20 minutes in length but if you want us to circle back around to any of these skis definitely leave leave a question in the comments in the video or on the article itself again we invite you to to check out our full length reviews or the the ski test feedback from all these skis there's a lot more information about each one of these skis on our website so take a look at that hopefully you can kind of use this video as a guide to then go do a little more research or or maybe on the other end of the spectrum maybe you've done some research thus far and this video hopefully is confirming kind of your thoughts and opinions of what's right for you we're going to do more of these next week we're going to do the 100 millimeter men's all-mountain ski category after that we'll all kind of circle back around to women's skis we're gonna hopefully cover our 90 millimeter 100 millimeter frontside ski is freeride ski is really as many as we can kind of between now and let's say early mid December so you'll see more of these comparison articles and if there's a ski that you know we have that you want to see us talk about in the next one you can let us know leave a comment on this article and we will try and get to it some of our staff is down Killington today which is really exciting they're testing the DPS phantom wax which is it shouldn't even call it wax at all it's wax less glide technology we're gonna have some videos and articles on that too so most importantly we're officially back on snow which is really exciting any time we're we're getting on snow here at ski essentials we're really excited about it because we are after all gear for skiers by skiers so again here are 15 90 millimeter all-mountain skis let us know if you have any questions and we will see you on the slopes

Channel: Skiessentials.com

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Keywords: SkiEssentials.com, Chairlift Chat, Gear Reviews, 2019 Ski Review, 2019 Ski Comparison, All Mountain Ski Comparison, 2019 All Mountain Skis, 2019 All Mountain Ski Comparison, 90 mm Ski Comparison, 90 mm Ski Review

Id: F8PW60ML_mo

Length: 37min 0sec (2220 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 25 2018