Getting a longer ski for next season, but how much longer? Rossi Black Ops Sender Ti, 180 or 187

[goosechase]

Howdy-

I am 6ft, 140lbs. Last two years (about 100 days) I've been riding 174cm Camox. I love those short skis because it feels like I'm skiing on easy mode, and they're fun to whip around, but there are definitely days I feel like: I wish these were longer, could go faster, wish I could push them harder, wish they were more properly suited for pow, etc.

I have pretty much settled on last year's Black Ops Sender Ti as the ski I'm going to buy. Now I don't know if I should go for the 180cm or 187 length.

I have never skiied anything close to 187 so I don't know how big of a jump that will feel like. Imagining skis that are like 5 inches longer than what I ride now is definitely intimidating. Plus, I am light for my height and I got chicken legs...

At the same time, I am definitely looking to level up in a sense.

Keep in mind this is gonna be my daily driver for sure.

Would love to get some insight from anyone, especially if you own or have ridden Rossignol/Black Ops series and could speak to how the different lengths ski.

Thanks!

 

[BentyDoze]

Howdy-

I am 6ft, 140lbs. Last two years (about 100 days) I've been riding 174cm Camox. I love those short skis because it feels like I'm skiing on easy mode, and they're fun to whip around, but there are definitely days I feel like: I wish these were longer, could go faster, wish I could push them harder, wish they were more properly suited for pow, etc.

I have pretty much settled on last year's Black Ops Sender Ti as the ski I'm going to buy. Now I don't know if I should go for the 180cm or 187 length.

I have never skiied anything close to 187 so I don't know how big of a jump that will feel like. Imagining skis that are like 5 inches longer than what I ride now is definitely intimidating. Plus, I am light for my height and I got chicken legs...

At the same time, I am definitely looking to level up in a sense.

Keep in mind this is gonna be my daily driver for sure.

Would love to get some insight from anyone, especially if you own or have ridden Rossignol/Black Ops series and could speak to how the different lengths ski.

Thanks!

Hey I'm going from 180 to 186 this year on faction dictator but about 10 pounds heavier than you ( not much diff) and not too worried cuz I won't see very much pow

id be careful on that big jump from 174 to 187 seems a lot of extra length to get used to,idk

 

[alpha.moose]

The black ops will feel a lot more directional and less playful than the camox. At your weight, I think the 180 would be the better call. I think you would lose a lot of maneuverability without proportional gains in stability at your weight. Just my 2 cents.

 

[bennwithtwons]

Go big son

 

[SamuelForsgren]

Can you americans write how long you are in cm and weight in kg especially here when you write ski sizes in cm and youre size in feet or wathever method you got. Nobody outside of Usa and Brittain understands those weird measurments use the meter system like everybody else. And longer skis = better steez

 

[wasatch_rat]

Depends on how aggressively you ski. I'm a big believer that you get used to any ski that you ski on consistently, and that a bigger ski will often force you to become a better skier. With that said, at your weight, and coming from a 174, the 180 will probably be the most fun. You'll probably be stoked on the stability with either of them though, so I wouldn't dwell on it too much.

 

[wasatch_rat]

Can you americans write how long you are in cm and weight in kg especially here when you write ski sizes in cm and youre size in feet or wathever method you got. Nobody outside of Usa and Brittain understands those weird measurments use the meter system like everybody else. And longer skis = better steez

Or just google cm to inches. Not that hard. We do it all the time here. I mean I agree that we should switch to the metric system, but most people on NS are american, and off the top of our head most of us don't know our height in cm any more than you would in inches.

 

[Dilldoes]

Can you americans write how long you are in cm and weight in kg especially here when you write ski sizes in cm and youre size in feet or wathever method you got. Nobody outside of Usa and Brittain understands those weird measurments use the meter system like everybody else. And longer skis = better steez

95% of this sites users are Amercian.....

Dick.

 

[bennwithtwons]

Sure, how’s this?

166.5cm, 67kg, BSL 287mm (24.5 Dalbello)

for rail skis, 175-182cm (antigens, auburns, LTEs, transfers, dimes)

for jump/pipe skis, 178-185cm (LTEs, walls, no times)

for all mountain, 182-188cm (sequences, talismans, helixes, scratch BCs)

for pow, 189-194cm (bodrums, subtractions, genomes)

Can you americans write how long you are in cm and weight in kg especially here when you write ski sizes in cm and youre size in feet or wathever method you got. Nobody outside of Usa and Brittain understands those weird measurments use the meter system like everybody else. And longer skis = better steez

**This post was edited on Aug 27th 2022 at 12:04:26am

 

[alude]

You can look here for our measurements of these skis...

When trying to decide about scaling up/down, I would typically look at the running length, sidecut length, stiffnesses and weight.

The running length (the part of the ski that touches the snow when the ski is flat) of both BO are similar to your Camox 174. That generally means that it will feel the same on groomers if you don't edge much, or during turn initiation. The thing to look for in these skis is that you get more tail contacting the snow and a more rearward tip contact point. That will produce a different feel. Note that both lengths of BO have more or less tip/tail lengths...

The sidecut length is the length between the tip and tail widest point. If you edge your skis a lot, that full length should be able to engage, particularly in soft snow, and you will feel that. The BO 180 is similar to your Camox, but the BO 187 is much longer.

All that means that the BO 180 gets mostly longer through the parts of the ski that don't touch hard snow. You will feel the longer length it in soft snow and powder. You will get 2039 cm^2 of surface area with the BO 180 vs the 1830 that you have now with the Camox. That is a decent step up for a daily driver.

Finally, stiffness-wise, the bending stiffness of the BO 180 (higher 60% of the skis) is already much higher than the Camo 174 (lower 25%). The BO 187 is even higher (higher 80%). Going all the way to 187 might be a bit much for a "light frame with chicken legs".

Torsional stiffness is roughly the same.

Mass-wise, you go from 1773 grams to 2054 or 2157. That is kind of a big jump, but you will get more speed and stability out of it but it will be harder to throw around.

What kind of terrain do you ski? On the east coast, shorter is usually better to fit between tight trees.

Hope this helps.

 

[goosechase]

Thanks everyone for your input. Glad I even got to inspire a metric vs. imperial debate lol.

And especially thank you to [tag=281927]@alude[/tag] for the informative response. Great explanation of the result of different configurations of running length + sidecut length- you taught me something new today.

Also, just checked out your website soothski, this is awesome.

To answer your question, I am a West Coast skier and I ski moguls and steeps. When the snow is fresh, I'll find myself in the trees. Mammoth has been my home mountain for two years so I'm most often skiing variable conditions (dust on crust, windblown snow, mixture of soft & hard crud).

I'm going with the 180, definitely feels like the right choice for me.

You can look here for our measurements of these skis...

When trying to decide about scaling up/down, I would typically look at the running length, sidecut length, stiffnesses and weight.

The running length (the part of the ski that touches the snow when the ski is flat) of both BO are similar to your Camox 174. That generally means that it will feel the same on groomers if you don't edge much, or during turn initiation. The thing to look for in these skis is that you get more tail contacting the snow and a more rearward tip contact point. That will produce a different feel. Note that both lengths of BO have more or less tip/tail lengths...

The sidecut length is the length between the tip and tail widest point. If you edge your skis a lot, that full length should be able to engage, particularly in soft snow, and you will feel that. The BO 180 is similar to your Camox, but the BO 187 is much longer.

All that means that the BO 180 gets mostly longer through the parts of the ski that don't touch hard snow. You will feel the longer length it in soft snow and powder. You will get 2039 cm^2 of surface area with the BO 180 vs the 1830 that you have now with the Camox. That is a decent step up for a daily driver.

Finally, stiffness-wise, the bending stiffness of the BO 180 (higher 60% of the skis) is already much higher than the Camo 174 (lower 25%). The BO 187 is even higher (higher 80%). Going all the way to 187 might be a bit much for a "light frame with chicken legs".

Torsional stiffness is roughly the same.

Mass-wise, you go from 1773 grams to 2054 or 2157. That is kind of a big jump, but you will get more speed and stability out of it but it will be harder to throw around.

What kind of terrain do you ski? On the east coast, shorter is usually better to fit between tight trees.

Hope this helps.