Quick report on HO S2 (67.5) 2013 vs Radar Strada (68) "the black one"

[Deep11]

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I switched to the S2 about 7/12 ago. I now have my PB on it and am fairly consistent (90% 14m and 60% 13m), so thought I would hop back on the strada to see how it felt:

Both skis are factory settings - fin and boots, both sets of boots are Strada double boots.

Did a couple of free passes to get balanced then set off into the course trying to ski exactly as normal to see what happened.

.Main differences:

On the pull out I like to engage the edge slowly then rotate and accelerate - the strada wouldn't let me engage slowly. As soon as I engaged the edge the same as normal it was off.

Same at the turn in - I am trying to develop a progressive late load at the gate, using same markers and glide when I move COM toward the gate the strada turned engaged the edge and was off - result = way too early through the gate. (Fixed by going slightly later and putting less weight on the edge to turn in.)

In the course wake to wake and turns were pretty much the same but the end of the turn was seriously punished if I lost connection or dropped the inside hip. ( fixed by really concentrating on staying balanced through the turn and not letting hip lose connection on exit of the turn)

 

In effect then the Strada seemed to need less input to make things happen (fast) but was a little less forgiving than the S2, which sits well with my initial views of the S2 - on the first set i ran on it II remember commenting that it was more forgiving at the end of the turns.

This was only one set and ran a couple of 14m and 4@13 a couple of times - reckon that after a few sets I would be back and balanced in it, both skis get it done, but that's not really the point of a direct comparison.

 

Hope this is helpful to someone.