D3 ARC Mid Review

[Horton]

Ski reviews are about describing a ski more than judging. THe D3 ARC is one ski that is going to be hard to write about. Hopefully after the next 10 rides the words will come to me.

 

What I can say is that in the first 9 rides on the ARC I ran equal to or one ball short of to my all time PB 3 times (2 @ 39). That means that I have run 38 on 33% of my rides so far. What this stat misses is that I do not shorten to 38 every ride. I think I have only shortened to 38 4 or 5 times on the D3 ARC. I do not know the actual percentage but the ARC is clearly in MOASS territory.

[jdarwin]

John - really curious to read your yellow/blue comparison.

[Horton]

@jdarwin so far I feel like I can be smoother on blue but yellow is not very different. I might ride yellow Wednesday for a change of pace.

[sfriis]

MOASS territory ?? please explain ;)

[LeonL]

Mother of all slalom skis.

[wskierman8]

@Horton did you ever ride the Quest 45? I have both the Q45 and arc-s in for a demo now and after 10 rides, 6 on the q45 and 4 on the arc the data is pretty clear. 1.5@39 36mph on the q45 and not less than 4 @38 in any set. while the arc has yet to get past 3@38.

 

*Note my favorite ski of all time is the X7 and using the fin settings I used on that the quest feels nearly identical. Stock settings not so much

[Horton]

FYI - I have gone a little quiet in this because I have had a touch of the flu. No point in skiing if I do not feel 100%.

[The_MS]

Tape it up and play with pain.

[Horton]

@MS hard to ski when you just feel like poo

[thager]

Get off the bottle!!!

[Horton]

yea yea I am back to skiing. I took ride # 133 of the year yesterday - that is ride # 13 on the D3

[Horton]

Ride #14

2 @ 39 then back to dock

 

[Howa1500]

Still on the blue??

[brettmainer]

If you look to your right, you will see there is a 3rd ball.

[Horton]

@Howa1500 Yes Blue but back to Yellow tomorrow

[Horton]

@Howa1500 I do not totally understand but for sure like Blue better. I rode Yellow for a few days and skied ok and then went back to Blue and things just flowed better. The difference is small(ish)

[Horton]

@bananaron I think it's going to come down to personal preference. Blue to me seems smoother exiting the buoy. I think skiers who are over aggressive might find yellow to be better. I also don't think the difference is massive

[jdarwin]

I tend to "push" my offside turn on occasion and find the yellow responds well to my "over-skiing" and doesn't pitch me out the front. I can't imagine the blue would be better for me. This ski has exceeded my expectations - now I just need to spend some quality time on it. Just now starting to "tweak" it a bit. Going from 7 deg to 9 deg and moving my front binding up 1/8".

[Howa1500]

@Horton when can we expect a video?!? We are all waiting!!!!

[jimbrake]

@Horton and @jdarwin - bingo. I'm the poster child (or poster old dude) for over-aggressive skiing and the yellow is WAY better for me than the blue. My goal should be to make my skiing more blue-worthy. For now, though, the yellow is awesome.

[skiboat38]

Rode the Blue one for a week and got very comfortable with it, then got on the yellow for a week and found it to be very similar, not as fast or stable out of the turns. My buddy went from the yellow to the blue and agreed the blue was much faster. Last night I switched back to the blue and my passes were effortless (sealed the deal for me). However my buddy got back on the yellow and likes it better. With that said they are very similar, well made, and dealing with D3 has been a pleasant experience compared to past experiences with ........well you know

[Howa1500]

@skiboat38 what settings are you running, I'm struggling with mine

[jimbrake]

@skiboat38 - interesting. My yellow ARC is way faster than the blue I tried. As with any ski, you have to dial in binding position to get to the optimum spot. Maybe I didn't find it on the blue, but I certainly did on the yellow. I also tried to other companies' skis during the same time period and had to really search for the right binding position on all of them. In the end the yellow ARC was the fastest of the four skis I tried, by a long shot.

[Stevie Boy]

@Horton do you think that where you are on the weight range would make a difference to whether you like the feel of the Blue to the Yellow for instance would somebody who is nearer the top end of the weight range for a Yellow find the Blue not so Good or the other way round if you were at the bottom of the weight range for the Yellow are you more likely to prefer the Blue ?

[Horton]

@Stevie Boy seems to have more to do with skiing style than weight

[skiboat38]

My buddy that is switching out with me also thought the blue was much faster but he likes the yellow better. I'm at 2.45, 6.940, .730, wing at 7 degrees and the bindings are on the center holes....going to move them back one hole in the morning.

[Horton]

@Stevie Boy to be more clear. I have talked to a number of skiers about it and most like Blue best but a few are all about yellow. It is crazy. I really do not have a good answer. I have skied up to my PB on both.

 

When I want back to Yellow I did not ski well but I was using my Blue numbers. I suspect that the same settings are not best for both skis. I going to ride Yellow one more time but the review is 80% blue.

[LeonL]

@skiboat38 , I'm getting ready taste the kool aid. Your binding placement? Measurement instead of which hole? Plates are different.

[skiboat38]

@Leon...you know me well enough I don't buy into ski hype easily but make no mistake it's wine not koolaid....I have both of them set up at 29.75

[skibug]

I've ridden both the blue and yellow (68"). So has one of my ski partners. With the skis set up as close to identical as you can get with the numbers 6.950, 2.45, .748, 8 degrees, FB 30.375; we both agree that the yellow is faster and we both skied about 2 to 3 buoys better on the yellow. With that said, anyone testing them out should ride them both and come to their own conclusion.

[LeonL]

Well I got a pair yesterday. Gonna try the blue first. I spoke with Paul Crawford and he talked me into a blue 67" and a yellow 66"? Ski hype!! Well I fell for a lot of hype 3 months ago and it didn't work out for me! Paul recommended 29.75 on the 67" and 2.450 6.950 .745 to start.

[skiboat38]

Something worked....you won regionals?

[Horton]

Review just needs editing....

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Saving up. Thinking I will skip the Quest altogether and save up for the ARC.

[jdarwin]

68" yellow. Moved the bindings 1/8" forward (30 3/8") and the fin to .750. Magic.

[MillerTime38]

@Jdarwin going to try out an ARC, are you running #'s similar to the older D3's? I noticed depth on some posts 2.45, I have always been more like 2.515 to 2.52

[jdarwin]

@MillerTime38 - this is not like any other D3 from the past (especially your X7). You don't need to run the fin as deep. I assume you would be on a 67". Start with 6.944 / 2.455 / .744 and 7 deg wing. Binding stock (29.75" I believe). Season to taste.

[jimbrake]

@jdarwin - wow, that is forward on your bindings. I have to be all the way back at 30 on my 68, but again, it's all about finding the right spot for each person. I'm running 6.975, 2.445, 0.75ish, 7.

[jdarwin]

@jimbrake - I believe 30.25" is stock. But, I'm a back-foot dog so a little forward works for me! You're running your fin much longer than me so back with the bindings would make sense I suppose.

[teammalibu]

@MillerTime welcome back see you Thursday ill bring the ARC!

[Brodie]

I just skied 2 sets on the ARC yellow and really liked it. I skied right up to my average first set and could tell there is more to go. Turns like crazy and cross course speed is amazing. I should be able to at least tie my PB (which I haven't touched this year) with a few more sets. Wish I could try a blue one to compare. I'm 205 lbs on a 68" with near stock settings.

[LeonL]

@skiboat38, what worked at Regionals was a return to my 8 year RCX. Looking forward to a ride on the blue Tuesday, if I can keep @acmx off it! Sorta kidding. He wants to try it, but he says he's never really found D3 to suit him well.

[skiboat38]

Interested to see how it goes......I rode Goode's for 18 years and tried several of Lance's D3's through the years and didn't like them but the Arc is a different animal

[Anthony Furmanovich]

@LeonL Paul also advised the 66 yellow or 67 blue. I am 168lbs 36mph so high end of the yellow and low end of the 67 blue.

 

How did the skis compare? I live in Brazil and will be in the US soon to try the skis, but my time will be limited so I can't try all 3 (66 yellow and blue, 67 blue). Any advice? Horton?

 

@Horton both skis you have tried are 67?

 

Thnks!!

[Horton]

I only rode 67s. If you can only try one I suggest 67 blue

[sfriis]

@Horton, [blue vs yellow]....I noticed you also liked the Vapor 2016 very much - I my self could not ski so good on the Vapor (the arc of the turn felt more narrow and turned to abruptly for mee) - Im usually on a very shallow and cold lake, that demands patience in the finish of the turn. My question is - do you think you like the blue better because the blue turns faster with more thight arc (because of softer front) - or is it more complicated.

[Horton]

@sfriis sort of more complicated... try Blue. The finish of the turn is not abrupt. I think yellow may be better for skiers who push more.

[gregy]

@sfriis I went from skiing great one day to having hard time running a pass on the 16 Vapor yesterday. We had bunch of rain this week. Lake went up several feet and water temp dropped about 20 degrees. Ski was overturning. I moved the fine back .002 based on some of my previous #s. Reset the wing and bingo. Couldn't believe that little move made that big of difference.

[sfriis]

first 2 sets on blue on stock/factory settings (67" 2,455-6,930-0,755).... kind of ended up on the back of the ski out of my off side turn. Moved bindings one hole forward (30 1/8 as Horton) Boom smothest 32 off (55mph) this year my wing is only 7dgr as recommended from factory - I think Hortons 9 dgr. sound as much ? stock/Factory settings seems as a very good starting point with bindings slightly forward.

[RideTheWater]

@sfriis wow 55 mph you're a beast