Make: Bomber
Model: B-1 Slalom
Length: 165cm
Misc: VIST plate & bindings
I got a chance to try a pair of these for a bunch of runs yesterday on NH "firm" conditions, and came away impressed. When I first saw the brand and the price, I didn't know anything about them, and just figured they were another VT company doing the "local" thing and charging a premium for it. Somehow I missed that they were FIS-compliant race skis until they were on my feet, at which point it became pretty hard to miss.
The marketing says "Extremely Stiff, Torsionally Rigid, World Cup Quality". I don't have a ton of experience with different race skis, but these were quite noticeably stiffer than the other SL skis I've ridden. For a punter like me, that made them awesome for free-skiing, though I'd imagine you'd have to be pretty darned good to manage them in the gates. As far as torsional rigidity goes, these things were ridiculous; it was like they had infinite grip. They had such a solid feel, I completely forgot that my friends and I had been keeping a lookout for shiny snow just one run before, and felt free to just play with turn shape and rebound. I have no idea what "World Cup Quality" is, but if this is it, I'm going to start envying top racers a lot more.
I guess the way these felt to me were like an SL ski turned up to 11. I'd never been on a ski that felt quite like this, and my plan to pick up a $200 pair of used SL skis for periodic usage as ice skates is currently being reconsidered. Why would I even look at a ski that retails for 8x that, without a plate or binding? Yeah, these were that good..