Positive-chamber to Park-rocker?

Hogis

Hogis

Member
Yo!

So I've torn my AR7's to pieces and need to buy some new skis.

I ski around the Scandinavia, Im 6'2", 21yrs old and weight in around 76kg/167lbs.

I try to ski everything in my way but 90% of the time im in the park. If im not in the park I usally just cruise around the mountain boosting off bumps and that sort of thing. I like too ski fast, carve hard and pop ollies/nollies everywhere.

Thought about switching things up this year and go for something new instead of just upgrading the AR7s.

I've been looking into the Infamous but my height and the lenght of the ski scares me (6'2", 181cm ski with rocker).

I've never skied a rockered ski before, i read in some Gear talk thread that rockered skis feels shorter.

Will this be something that I will notice? I don't want any shorter skis than the AR7's 181cm (positive chamber).

And I need a new binding..

I had a Salomon STH14 Driver on my pair of AR7's, They are as my skis torn to pieces.

Since I've never been "into" bindings I dont know shit.

I've heard that FK's are reliable and worth their money but as I said, I dont know shit.

So what do you recommend?

TL;DR: How much of a different will it be going from Positive-chamber to park-rocker?

Aswell as going from AR7's to Infamous?

And what binding should I buy?
 
The rocker on the Infamous is more of an early rise/low profile rocker so they won't feel a huge amount shorter. But beware the Infamous is a much softer ski, so won't hold up any better than an AR7 if you're trying to get longer out of them.

FKS are sick, I have 180s and 140s and love them both. No pre-release issues, low ride height and no issues with slop developing like I've had with other bindings
 
Id be weary of any park ski with lots of rocker, but a small amount goes more unnoticed. If surface is available way up north, id go with some no times or blanks.
 
Have you looked into next years Atomic Punx? Still a stiffer ski than the Infamous, and Atomic added some rocker to the ski. I'd imagine it still skis pretty 'traditionally' but that wee but of rocker might be what your looking for, or a good transition to rockered skis at least.

And for bindings, why are you thinking of switching away from STH14 Drivers. Most people here will recommend those or Pivot/FKS14's, just depends who you usually talk to. I'm a STH guy just for ease of brake buying and brake swapping.

Hope that helps!
 
I don't know how much rocker we're talking here but I got a pair of halos this year and I definitely noticed it... feels like the shortest thing I've skied and I sized up from my usual 171 to 176. kinda wish I had gone bigger...
 
The choice between rocker/camber profiles of park skis depends on the type of freestyle skiing you plan on doing. Positive Camber is the all around park profile, which has a lot of pop for rails and boxes, but still had twin tips for landings on jumps. If you plan on doing more jumps and kickers compared to features, Park Rocker allows for easier landings, but still retains some of the pop from a traditionally cambered ski.
 
Op Judging by what you style of skiing it seems you would rather enjoy AR7 vs a Rockerd park ski. I had the AR7 for the last two seasons and it kills it for a Allmnt/ park ski. I tried rockerd park skis and the only advatage I liked was buttering around was easier.

FKS is a binding I would like to try but Salomon STH Driver 14 is a solid choice. Salomon is coming out with a new design for the 13/14 sth driver so you could find the 12/13 fairly cheap.
 
Filthy riches. Rockered, symmetrical, 90 underfoot, stiff underfoot and gets softer out towards the tails. And it comes in a 186 which would be perfect for you

Also just stick with sth14's. I prefer them over fks because you can replace the brakes easily, I see too many people riding with broken fks brakes because they are nearly impossible to replace
 
Thanks for all the replys!

But talking about STH. Im not satisfied with my bnidning at all.

So I wont go STH again, sorry. Im scared everytime I jump into those things.

I've looked into the Filthy Riches and read alot about them on this forum, everybody seems superhyped on them. Almost in every "What ski thread" there's always someone who answered FILTHY RICH.

But I'll check into it more, it looks like a great ski.

When is On3p releasing their new skis (2013/2014) ?

About my riding then.

I'm more into rails than kickers. Even thought I really like hitting big kickers.

I guess im kinda hard to pinpoint since I hit everything. As said thought, Im more into rails.

And I don't want a ski thats stiffer than the AR7.

 
I don't feel safe in them, and the fact that everything is broken.

They're releasing when they shouldn't all the time. I can hit a flat pvc and over rotate by 280 and they will release. If I land something whole ski at the same time, they release. If I carve too hard they release.

Surely STH Drivers are a great binding but I personally don't want them on my skis (at least not now).
 
Your bindings are not set properly I can guarantee you, having owned many pairs of fks/sth16/s916s the salomons are hands down the better bindings. No bindings gives the secure locked in feeling like an STH driver
 
I wont argue against that.

But my bindings are also broken.

What tells me that a pair of new STH Driver won't fail me again?

 
Look into the K2 Recoil. Great directional twin and is bloody bombproof. Not completely rockered so they're easy to get used to and they rip all over the hill

For a binding look into the Jester
 
If your set on switching away from STH/FFG then I would definitely go the FKS/Pivot route. If your cool with buying used aswell, try looking for FKS 155's as they don't have the plastic toe.

I'm still on solly's for their large adjustment range, durability, and ease of swapping brakes. All personal opinion though.

Good luck man!
 
Maybe upgrade to an sth 16 (more metal parts than 14 driver, including a solid steel baseplate) or sth 16 steel/916 (full metal construction). Steels will be a lot heavier, but you will NEVER break them. From your description, it sounds like you either had your DIN setting way too low for your stats, or (more likely) that your forward pressure was set incorrectly. If your forward pressure is too low, your boot can easily slip out of the binding because it's not held tightly enough. If it's too high, if your boot gets knocked out of alignment, the binding won't properly return it to center and you'll prerelease. Either way, improper forward pressure=lots of prerelease. Its also possible that you had your toe height/toe wings set improperly, or that they gradually got too loose. Its not uncommon to have to readjust the toe settings on the plastic model sth driver bindings several times in a season; sometimes just the stress of regular skiing will throw the toe out of alignment. Either way, sth drivers are extremely solid bindings, and I think you either had one of the aforementioned problems or you got a defective pair. I've owned both sth 14 drivers and 916s (which I currently have on my pow skis) and have nothing but good things to say about both of them. FKS are also very solid, especially the 18 din or 15 din models. If you want a 15 din fks, you'll need to look used; they're not in production anymore, but they have the same burly all metal construction as the 18. I personally prefer STH drivers to FKS because they're a lot easier to click into and out of, especially in deep snow, and they have replaceable brakes if you ever break a pair or want to put bindings on skis with different waist widths. I didn't notice a significant difference in performance between my 916s and my old FKS 155s, other than the fact that the 155s were a lot more of a pain in the ass in general and didn't have as positive of an entry.
 
You might want to look at the armada aldente, which is the new henrik harlaut pro model. It is rockered, but it also comes in longer lengths than a lot of other park skis, so you might be a little more comfortable on it. i think poping nollies and ollies all over the place would be fine on a ski designed by henrik harlaut.

And yes, the FKS is an awsome binding. they only release when they really need to, but they dont tear your knees apart. I personally am terified of plastic bindings, and so these are great for me, and i think they would be for almost anyone.
 
Bump.

Im really close to buying some FR's, but my decision anxiety stops me.

I want a ski thats symmetrical, is over 182cm, and got a jibrocker.

I've only heard good things about the FR's but the rocker seems enormous!

Should I just buy the FR's or are there any other skis that fit my requirements?

Also. Ive decided that im gonna go for FKS 14's.

Yay or nay?
 
At 186 I don't think the FRs would ski too short, and they really are great skis. FKS 14's are not as reliable as STH 14 drivers because of the toe design.
 
when its that minimal amount of rocker just in the tips and tails, you wont even notice it, will help make it less catchy off lips, but thats about it. when its a bit more rocker you do notice it, but ive never gotten how people feel rocker skis ski shorter. you just dont have the tips and tails making contact with the snow unless you're really on edge, but that never gave me a sensation of the ski actually being shorter.

i actually love big rocker for park, i skiied my hellbents in the park for half a season when i broke my park skis. learned unnatural 270's on, 450's on, double shifty 7's, switch 5's and a bunch of other stuff on em, it was probably my most progressive couple of months on skis. once you learn how to pop and land differently they actually feel really stable, and open up so many possibilities for crazy butter's, slashes, wierd pops off things you wouldnt normally think of, huge, long butters, etc..

i really just wish someone would make a dedicated park ski, like 95-105 waist, flat underfoot, and big rocker tip and tail. every rockered park ski ive found is dual camber which kills the surfey buttery feel that the flat/rocker combo gives you.
 
I dont like the STH's either, the toe piece doesn't stay in well at all. Even if i grab mute to fast/hard ill rip my ski right off my foot.
 
So, I just bought a pair of FR's haha.

Nuf bout the skis..

Should I go for the FKS 180's or the 140's?

It's around 70$ and 200g weight gain.
 
So I just bought a pair of 186 FR's yesterday.

Now I just need to find a pair of fks180's.

Thanks again for all the replies
 
I don't mean to thread jack, but I'm actually in an opposite situation.

I'm 5'10"ish, 177 cm, and I've been sking 179 K2 Revivals for the past couple seasons of park, pretty much all of my park progression has been on them. They have no camber and have park rocker.

I just bought a pair of 176 AR7s, and I haven't discovered whether I prefer camber or rocker yet, so I guess these skis will tell me haha.

My main question is how much of a difference will a full cambered ski have on playfulness?
 
Bought them off their website, I don't think they're shipped yet. But I don't see a problem.

Had to pay like 160$ in shipping tho, which really sucks.
 
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