Surface The Lab

[J-C]

Hey guy, I was wondering if anybody had experience with these ski and how they perform. Evo has a pretty good sale on them right now but I'm just not sure how 131mm underfoot will perform. I'm moving from the east cost to Nelson, Bc so I don't have much knowledge on what with works better.

 

[shin-bang]

Yea I've always wanted to try them. But how would you wax them unless you have a convex scraper tho?

 

[muchskiing]

131 underfoot is a lot of ski to move around - moved to utah last year and only had a few times where these would have been necessary in my mind. if you are going for a one ski quiver, anything in the 105-115 underfoot will be prime time

 

[J-C]

131 underfoot is a lot of ski to move around - moved to utah last year and only had a few times where these would have been necessary in my mind. if you are going for a one ski quiver, anything in the 105-115 underfoot will be prime time

That's more what I'm going for. I already have some 102 so I want skis more for those really deep days. I know they are probably better options but for the price they are at i'm leaning towards them

 

[XtRemE11]

ive got the labs and really like them. they carve fine on hardpack, actually really well for what they are, a little funky right when you initiate the turn but once they're on edge they carve really well. super fun on hardpack days to just mess around.

in powder its definitely a ski that gets better the harder you push them. they are ridiculously fun, surfey and slashy if you're just cruising, but when you really up the speed and get more aggressive they've got a lot of potential, they've got a lot of pop and energy to them but you need to ski them hard to feel it, otherwise they feel a little dead. if you're the type of skier that likes to charge hard in a surfy way, as in fast slashes, big pops, muscling them around a bit, they're prefect. they dont really do one or the other super well (charge or surf) but they do a little bit of both very well.

I wouldnt reccommend them to anyone smaller or somebody that doesnt have pretty strong legs. Im like 160lbs, a pretty darn strong skier for that weight and they get pretty tiring.

If they made these in the normal new life width, maybe a little softer, with a little more length they'd be my perfect ski.

I took them into two different ski shops, one to mount them, and another to wax them, and they both talked so much shit on them saying "they wont work on anything other than 12 + inches" both said it was a stupid design, etc. but its kind of satisfying knowing how wrong they are.

 

[J-C]

ive got the labs and really like them. they carve fine on hardpack, actually really well for what they are, a little funky right when you initiate the turn but once they're on edge they carve really well. super fun on hardpack days to just mess around.

in powder its definitely a ski that gets better the harder you push them. they are ridiculously fun, surfey and slashy if you're just cruising, but when you really up the speed and get more aggressive they've got a lot of potential, they've got a lot of pop and energy to them but you need to ski them hard to feel it, otherwise they feel a little dead. if you're the type of skier that likes to charge hard in a surfy way, as in fast slashes, big pops, muscling them around a bit, they're prefect. they dont really do one or the other super well (charge or surf) but they do a little bit of both very well.

I wouldnt reccommend them to anyone smaller or somebody that doesnt have pretty strong legs. Im like 160lbs, a pretty darn strong skier for that weight and they get pretty tiring.

If they made these in the normal new life width, maybe a little softer, with a little more length they'd be my perfect ski.

I took them into two different ski shops, one to mount them, and another to wax them, and they both talked so much shit on them saying "they wont work on anything other than 12 + inches" both said it was a stupid design, etc. but its kind of satisfying knowing how wrong they are.

Thanks man +k

 

[.lencon]

Yea I've always wanted to try them. But how would you wax them unless you have a convex scraper tho?

Its only like 3mm of "deep dish" so its just enough to get them edges up. You could easily wax them normally or buy a thinner plastic scraper and bend it a tad.

 

[ggfski42]

I can't speak for these exact skis, but I bought New Life's last year and I am really impressed with their durability. Surface has stepped up their game in the past few years IMHO.

 

[XtRemE11]

Its only like 3mm of "deep dish" so its just enough to get them edges up. You could easily wax them normally or buy a thinner plastic scraper and bend it a tad.

Yeah waxing takes a little longer but use a flexible scraper and its fine.

 

[XtRemE11]

speaking of wax, reminds me of another thing i should mention. I wasnt super impressed with the base material, even when freshly waxed they seem slow, just keep up on the waxing, and do a good job and they're fine, but not as fast as other skis can be.

 

[K-Dot.]

Really fun jibby pow skis. They also ski most variable terrain better than you'd expect. Slashing and buttering on them is a dream because of the side to side rocker. I have mine centered and spinning on them is fairly easy for how much ski you're throwing around. Top sheets on mine aren't the best and the bases do get slow after a while. Waxing them is the same as any other ski, the curved base hardly affects it. At first the edges being higher than the ground feels a little weird but you get used to it quickly. Switch skiing with them is amazing, its much like OG EP pros where you arent worried about having to keep your tails up, the ski does the work for you. They become pretty responsive at higher speeds and you can really push the whole ski. However they are definitely a slower ski in general. I don't know if its the base shape or the base material but on flats you'll notice it a little bit. Otherwise it's not really even worth noting.

Bottom line: I wouldn't choose any other ski for the deep days. The way they surf and slash is unlike any other ski I've ridden.