Razor Rides 8 -13

[Horton]

The ski has turned out to be very tunable. I will return to bone stock sometime before the end of the test but for now the old Fischer #s are solid. 29.5 / 6.878 / 2.453 / .743 (slot) or .666 (Needle). Thanks to Darwin for sending these along.

 

Previous to the current settings (closer to factory numbers) the ski always felt frantic. Turns were super fast and resulted in buckets of angle. With the fin further back On and Off side were more even. The ski was a monster on both sides. The downside is too much angle can mean too much load resulting in a shallow of outbound path.

 

With the fin further forward, shorter and shallower the ski is a bit tamer. It is still an aggressive ride but feels calmer underfoot.

 

Off side turn is still fantastic. The ski comes around very fast and forgives an over aggressive skier. Weight distribution does not seem overly critical.

 

On side turn requires a little more front foot pressure than it did with the previous settings. Compared to other high end skis I would call the need for front foot pressure at On Side moderate. (Some skis let you tail ride and some require you to stomp your front foot.)

 

Every ski works better with a tight handle all the way to the ball line and weight on your front foot. The Razor is no different. As I stick with these settings for a number of rides I will refocus on my own skiing and should learn more about what this ski likes.

 

My only conclusion so far is that the Razor is the real deal. I ran 5 @ 38 last night (Perfect Pass). For me that is pretty darn good for this time of year. If I had to ride the Razor all season, I would be perfectly happy.

 

[Horton]

Notes here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?hl=en&hl=en&key=0AjP0dYzQ9HLndGh5SjJWNmlyZnloLXlORTJ5N3M5MWc&single=true&gid=0&output=html

[jdarwin]

John - are you certain about that tip number? 6.787 is a good bit shorter than me. 6.877 maybe?

[KM]

@Horton. Been reading your Razor review. What size and flex (A or B) have you been testing?

[Horton]

Joe - Yea go had numbers backwards

 

KM - A version

 

[Horton]

I had two 30 - 32 mph skiers ride the Razor last night. They both felt it was unstable outside the course but that could be my settings.

 

Besides that one of them looked really good to me. He commented it slows down in the pre-turn faster than he expected and turned great. I do not think he has ever had that much angle before - it surprised him.

 

The other skier..... well it was too dark. We will try that again when he can see.

[jdarwin]

A little more depth in the fin will stabilize the ski. We're running it shallow of stock. Of course, that design tends to "hunt" when in the glide.

 

I'm going to try adding .005 of depth per set to determine how deep this fin can run and still turn the on-side well.

[Horton]

Joe - Stop. We found good settings. Go Ski!

[jdarwin]

Aw, c'mon John. You of all people should understand. It's NEVER perfect!!

[jwr]

I was wondering what guy looked really good to you?

[Horton]

Joe is a good looking man. Is that what you mean?

 

 

(Dean Owens rode the Razor last night and his skiing looked good to me)

[jwr]

Sorry, made me laugh when I read that. Dont mind me I'm an idiot

[jdarwin]

OK, John. Settled on some numbers last night. The ski performed fantastic: 6.875 tips / 2.458 / .660 needle / 8 deg / 29.5" bindings. From all the combinations I tried, these work the best. Now it's time to go ski.

 

[6balls]

I rode the Razor again today. As long as I reach down the buoy line and am patient, the ski finishes both sides maintaining speed, takes the right angle, and is mighty fast. It also is terribly responsive and if I ask it to turn tighter, it complies by ripping a super quick turn. Creates skiing that is not as smooth, but probably nice to have that kind of turn in arsenal when needed. I'm still riding stock "shortline" settings.

 

[Horton]

@6balls you must try the Fischer/Darwin settings. Totally different ski.

[Razorskier1]

Glad to see guys riding and tweaking on the Razor. I skied my first set of the season last night and ran ten 32s back to back just to work on timing, intensity reduction, and handle control. I had the ski from early sept last year and started running 38s much easier than ever before on "stock shortline settings. On those I can run smooth and soft or, when needed, can be agressive enough to go from late to early in one ball. Different settings might require less user input. It made the ski better when I put the bindings at 29.3 vs 29.5. I am inclined to leave it alone, but might try the "JD settings" at some point. Either way, I love what the ski can do!

[Horton]

Ooooooo that makes sense.

 

Personally, I need to just ski and think about how the final review will read but I like the idea of bindings back a little.

 

Unfortunately there is a limit to the tweaking I can do in a 25 ride review + I am skiing really good the way it is set up.

[jdarwin]

John - let Smart ride it. It may be the ski he brings to my record.

[Roger]

I wonder how much different from the Fischer it really is. I watched two former Fischer skiers ride it last week in a tournament and I have to say, they looked just like they did on the Fischer. I asked one about it and he said he thought they were similar but that the Razor seemed to him a bit more stable.

[jdarwin]

Roger - I had two Fischer's (orange and yellow). The Razor's flat spot is bigger and therefore the ski is more stable. Another difference is the carry thru at the back of the buoy. The Fischer would tend to "stick" at times. The Razor maintains speed better. Probably a result of the repositioned rocker. There are similarities for sure but it is a different ski. The fact that the Fischer fin settings I used seem to work well is an indication of how similar the skis are. Jim Ross can speak to this better than I since he transitioned straight off a Fischer onto the Razor.

[Razorskier1]

JD is right. I rode a Fisher Orange from the time it was available until last fall. In early September I got the Razor. The Razor definitely has a bigger flat spot on the ski, making it less "twitchy" than the Fish. The Razor feels meaningfully faster and better at both carrying out and finishing smooth and fast. If I stay square over the bindings, the Razor is incredible. I ran 38 on both skis last year. However, when I made the pass on the Razor it felt wide, early and easy. On the Fish, they felt like everything was happening really fast. The Razor gets me out to the bouy line early and just keeps running around the ball. Similar in some respects, but I would argue that it feels like a totally different ride.

[Roger]

JD and Razor, thanks for responding.

[6balls]

I had difficulty w/stability on the Fish, but first set on Razor went back to back 35's and 3 @38. I'm not as quiet on the ski as I want to be yet, and I believe my better success on the Razor vs. Fish was the bigger sweet spot and it's greater stability. Riding a Razor full time now, looking forward to the season.

[Volker Engelhardt]

Horton, where is the video w wing ? - found it ->fb razor site

[Horton]